Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Though best known as a groundbreaking comedy filmmaker, AFI Life Achievement Award recipient and AFI Honorary Degree recipient Mel Brooks often preferred to work behind the scenes in support of artists he believed in. Many of those artists had direct ties to AFI, including his wife, Anne Bancroft (AFI DWW Class of 1975), Stuart Cornfeld (AFI Class of 1975) and David Lynch (AFI Class of 1970).
Through his production company, Brooksfilms, Brooks frequently declined onscreen credit so his comedic persona would not overshadow the work itself. Most notably, he served as an uncredited producer on Lynch's Academy Award®-nominated film THE ELEPHANT MAN, helping bring the project to the screen while ensuring audiences judged it on its own merits. Throughout his career, Brooks championed independent filmmakers and ambitious creative voices, often from behind the scenes.
In this clip from the AFI Archive, Lynch talks about how Mel Brooks was "the guy who put me on the map."
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Though best known as a groundbreaking comedy filmmaker, AFI Life Achievement Award recipient and AFI Honorary Degree recipient Mel Brooks often preferred to work behind the scenes in support of artists he believed in. Many of those artists had direct ties to AFI, including his wife, Anne Bancroft (AFI DWW Class of 1975), Stuart Cornfeld (AFI Class of 1975) and David Lynch (AFI Class of 1970).
Through his production company, Brooksfilms, Brooks frequently declined onscreen credit so his comedic persona would not overshadow the work itself. Most notably, he served as an uncredited producer on Lynch's Academy Award®-nominated film THE ELEPHANT MAN, helping bring the project to the screen while ensuring audiences judged it on its own merits. Throughout his career, Brooks championed independent filmmakers and ambitious creative voices, often from behind the scenes.
In this clip from the AFI Archive, Lynch talks about how Mel Brooks was "the guy who put me on the map."
►Subscribe to AFI on YouTube: bit.ly/SubscribeAFI
►Follow AFI:
instagram.com/AmericanFilmInstitute
tiktok.com/@americanfilminstitute
facebook.com/AmericanFilmInstitute
twitter.com/AmericanFilm
►Sign up for AFI Newsletters: afi.com/sign-up/?method=signups
#movies #afi #film #americanfilminstitute
