Spike Lee has gone from collecting returnable glass bottles to collecting international film honours.

In 1986, at the age of 31, the outspoken American was forced to resort to recycling to finance his debut movie, She's Gotta Have It.

Now, sitting with Emirates Business, he wears a diamond earring and a flashy Corum watch.

Yet, despite his personal wealth, Lee faces a continual struggle to find funding for his films – a situation that has led the maverick movie producer-director to cast an eye further afield in search of future finance.

"My first film cost $175,000 (Dh642,000) and I just never had that kind of money," says Lee, who, dressed in virginal white polo-shirt and pants and fresh white Nikes, is lazing on a cream lounger.

"I wrote to everybody in the world asking for donations and told them if they sent me any kind of money, they would get a credit at the end of the movie.

"During filming, we saved all the empty soda cans we could and bottles for that nickel deposit and that nickel was to pay for two or three new rolls of film."

The Atlanta-born director's efforts were vindicated as She's Gotta Have It – shot in 12 days to keep the budget as low as possible – grossed more than $7 million in the United States. A 4,000 per cent return on his initial budget. Not bad for a debut.

Lee has since gone on to direct a further 20 movies, including Malcolm X and Inside Man, the latter of which cost $45m and amassed $290m worldwide (a 644 per cent return). He now has his own production company, 40 Acres and a Mule, a development deal with advertising agency DDB and a clothing line. Yet the 51-year-old continues to endure the same film-funding problems he faced when he was a fresh-faced graduate of New York University.

And Lee is not the only director suffering. Hollywood is feeling the effects of the credit crunch and many directors, including three-time Oscar-winner Woody Allen, are being forced to travel abroad in their quest for financing – a development likely to lead to affluent regions of the Middle East and Asia attracting more international production houses.

"Here's the thing," says Lee, who has won two Emmys and a Bafta and also been twice nominated for an Academy Award.

"Woody Allen's past four films have been shot in Europe – three in England and the last one in Barcelona. That's where the finance is. Film-makers need to go anywhere they can to get money.

"There is a tonne of money in Dubai, so I've gotta get on a plane; I gotta start making connections. I don't want to be in a position where if I want to do a film and the Hollywood studios don't want to make it, then it doesn't get made. I gotta know that no can't be a final no. I gotta go to other sources of finance." Lee, often viewed as a revolutionary director for his provocative, socio-political critiques, says he will be making his first visit to Dubai in November.

The New York resident has been invited to the opening of the Atlantis The Palm hotel. The father-of-two says he is looking forward to visiting the emirate he has heard so much about – particularly The World archipelago.

But he ruled out his latest film, Miracle at St Anna, premiering at Dubai Film Festival, which begins two months late of his preferred release date. The movie is an adaptation of James McBride's book of the same name and was shot on a budget of around $45m.

Lee says he was shocked to find funding was an issue, considering he is telling the story of an all-black US infantry division who fought in the Second World War. The film eventually had to be shot in Tuscany, Italy.

"I couldn't understand that as an American, shooting a film about American troops, based on a book written by an American, I'd have to start looking outside of America, outside of the Hollywood system," he says.

"I've had to start looking globally to get financing because that is the state of film in the US."

Lee, who has also directed music videos for Michael Jackson and Grandmaster Flash, says America is slipping in its stranglehold of the movie industry and the situation is opening the door to countries such as Singapore and the UAE.

"There is more flexibility and dominance over America these days," he says.

"The United States dollar is not what it used to be and it's not just Hollywood that is suffering, it's like that across the country. In Hollywood, you are told, 'Man, once you've had a big hit it's easy to get the next big hit.'

"I believed that, but Inside Man was my biggest hit and it didn't happen."



Lee's top-grossing films

$88m: Inside Man
$48m: Malcolm X
$38m: The Original Kings of Comedy
$32m: Jungle Fever
$27m: Do the Right Thing
$19m: Summer of Sam
$16m: Mo' Betta Blues
$14m: School Daze

Mule branding success

40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks is Spike Lee's production company.

After the success of films such as Do The Right Thing and Malcolm X, Lee expanded the 40 Acres brand by opening small clothing stores with merchandise that bore the 40 Acres emblem. Lee has also entered into collaborations with clothing companies such as Nike, Ecko and Brooklyn Denim. 40 Acres & A Mule has an advertising division with worldwide advertising agency DDb called Spike DDB, located in New York.

Together, they have made famous Super Bowl commercial spots for Nike and Lay's potato chip. They have produced hundreds of commercials and music videos in addition to Lee's films.

UAE courts Hollywood

It's no secret the UAE is courting Hollywood. Dubai Studio City (DSC), Abu Dhabi Film Fund and Hydra Properties have all attracted the industry's movers and shakers with their giant pools of cash.

It remains to be seen if the country's infrastructure is ready to exploit this opportunity.

When Emirates Business spoke to DSC's Executive Director, Jamal Al Sharif, he said the dawn of a new film industry had finally reached these shores. It is speculated that cumulative film investment in the country looks set to cross the Dh2-billion mark over the next year, as local and international production houses continue to pump money into the country's economy. (Bindu Rai)