People: Dec. 16, 1996

SPIKE'S NEWEST JOINT

Some people see a job in advertising as a good way to break into film. Then there's SPIKE LEE, whose film career has helped him break into advertising. Lee, who has been making commercials on the side since 1988, now has half his own advertising agency, Spike/DDB, a joint venture with DDB Needham. He's going after the urban market, black and white. "I like to tell stories," says the director. "In commercials I have 30 seconds. In music videos I have four minutes, and in movies like Malcolm X I have three hours and 15 minutes." Lee's brain...

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