Spike Lee downsizes production company

Director Spike Lee has closed down the Los Angeles branch of his 40 Acres And A Mule Filmworks and cut back on the development of its New York headquarters in an effort to downsize.

The operation's longtime Los Angeles-based co-principal, Sam Kitt, is stepping down and pursuing outside projects while continuing to work with Lee. 40 Acres development head Steve Lee is also pursuing outside projects.

Kitt calls the reshuffle a "tactical retrenchment", due to the expiration of an exclusive first-look deal at Disney. The studio released three of Lee's last five feature projects, including 25th Hour.

Kitt says: "Deals come and go, but Spike continues to make his movies. We're going to continue to push ahead with these projects, and I'm sure there will continue to be more stuff in the future."

The camp's latest effort, She Hates Me, made only $57,049 (€46,500) from 11 theatres in its first weekend of release in America.