Spike Lee Remembers a 'Red Hook Summer'

A new film by director Spike Lee has its roots in Brooklyn.

"Red Hook Summer" is about a teenager from Atlanta, Georgia, who's spending the summer in the Red Hook neighborhood projects — with a grandfather he's never met.

Lee met with author James McBride at a coffee shop to talk about collaborating on a project. The two men both have teenage kids and the discussion evolved from there, Lee told actor John Turturro, who was guest-hosting on WNYC's Leonard Lopate Show.

"We'd talk about how when was the last time we saw a black teenager film that wasn't a gang-banger," he said. "And then it just evolved from that. James grew up in Red Hook. He grew up in the church. The church you see in the film, his parents founded that church."

Lee says the teen actors who played the lead roles are from the Ronald Edmonds school in Brooklyn, which used to be Lee's old school, Rothschilds Junior High School 294.

"Red Hook Summer" opens Friday.