David Brown (producer) debut, for a motion picture. Thereafter, the pair were credited as producers or executive producers of more than a dozen films, including the courtroom drama "The Verdict" (1982), directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Paul Newman; the science-fiction "Cocoon" (1985), directed by Ron Howard; and the comedy-drama "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989), directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman. "Driving Miss Daisy" won four Academy Awards, including the Best Picture award. Without Zanuck, Brown went on to produce films including the drama "Angela's Ashes" (1999) and the romance "Chocolat" (2000). He and partner Zanuck were jointly awarded
Spike Lee a budget of $175,000, he shot the film in two weeks. When the film was released in 1986, it grossed over $7,000,000 at the U.S. box office. Lee's 1989 film "Do the Right Thing" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1989. Many people, including Hollywood's Kim Basinger, believed that "Do the Right Thing" also deserved a Best Picture nomination. "Driving Miss Daisy" won Best Picture that year. Lee said in an April 7, 2006, interview with "New York" magazine that the other film's success, which he thought was based on safe stereotypes, hurt him more