Spike Lee To Receive The Writers Guild of America East’s Ian McLellan Hunter Award at the WGA Ceremony

Spike Lee - Eamonn M. McCormack / Stringer

African American filmmaker Spike Lee will be honored with the Ian McClellan Hunter Award from the Writers Guild of America (WGA) East at the Writers Guild Awards in March 2023. The honor recognizes writers who made significant contributions to film and TV through takes on timely issues and social concerns. The WGA East accolade was established in 1992 in honor of the screenwriter Ian McClellan Hunter who was behind Roman Holiday and the pioneering TV series Beulah.

Michael Winship, the president of the WGA East, lauded Lee for his long career in filmmaking and for making meaningful and inventive movies that entertained, challenged, and educated viewers about the racism and prejudice that frequently followed Black people in America. With the release of his 1986 film, She's Gotta Have It, Lee became one of his generation's most influential directors. He was nominated for his first Oscar for the script of Do the Right Thing in 1989, and he went on to win an Oscar for BlacKkKlansman's adapted screenplay in 2018.

In his works, Lee has persistently examined racial relations, problems in the black community, the function of the media in modern society, urban crime and poverty, and other political issues. Other accolades he received include a Student Academy Award, a BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, two Emmy Awards, two Peabody Awards, the NAACP's President's Award, the Cannes Grand Prix, and the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for his work. The Library of Congress chose Lee's She's Gotta Have It, Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, and 4 Little Girls for preservation in the National Film Registry for their cultural and historical significance.

The Writers Guild Awards will be presented March 5, 2032, at simultaneous ceremonies in New York, at Manhattan’s Edison Ballroom, and in Los Angeles at the Fairmont Century Plaza.