Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg is one of the most significant personalities of the film industry. He is a producer, film director and screenwriter who has created innumerable massive hits. Consequently he is also one of the wealthiest people in the world with a net worth of $3 billion.

Spielberg was born on 18th December 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Signs of future success in film making were seen in Spielberg from a very young age. At 13 he won a prize for making a 40-minute film called ‘Escape to Nowhere’. At 16 he wrote his first independent movie which was a science fiction called ‘Firelight’. The film cost him 500 dollars and was shown in a local cinema. Spielberg got a profit of one dollar from this film. After that he attempted many films inspired from WWII. His parents’ divorce made him move to California with his father and where he completed high school in 1965. Later he applied to UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television but was not accepted therefore he settled for California State University in Long Beach. He interned at Universal Studios without any pay and this was the start of his career in filmmaking. There he made a short 26 minute film ‘Amblin’ in 1968. When the vice president of Universal’s TV arm production saw Spielberg’s attempt he offered him a long-term deal with Universal Studios making him the youngest director in history.

In 1969 Spielberg decided to drop out of University to devote all his time in being a professional director. However he returned to Long Beach to complete his unfinished degree in 2002 and graduated with a BA in Film Production and Electronic Arts. His first major movie as a director was ‘The Sugarland Express’ (1974) in which he proved himself as a rising star. His next film ‘Jaws’ (1975) turned him in an international celebrity. ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ (1981) was yet another golden effort in which Harrison Ford played Indiana Jones. In 1982 he hit his jackpot with ‘E.T the Extra Terrestrial’ which became the highest grossing movie of all time. He produced the blockbuster film ‘Back to the Future’ in 1985. The 90s however favored him most as a producer with films such as ‘Men in Black’ (1997), ‘Deep Impact’ and ‘The Mask of Zorro’ (1998). Known as one of the best movies of his career ‘Saving Private Ryan’ was released in 1998. Other large grossing films include ‘Catch me if you Can’, ‘War of the Worlds’, ‘The Terminal’, ‘The Adventures of Tin-Tin’ and ‘Lincoln’. He played cameo roles in ‘Gremlins’, ‘The Blue Brothers’, ‘Vanilla Sky’, ‘Austin Powers in Goldmember’ and some Warner Brothers animated movies including ‘Paul’ and an episode of ‘Tiny Toon Adventures’.

In 1994 Spielberg co-founded DreamWorks studios. Time magazine ranked him among the ‘100 Most Important People of the Century’ and Premiere listed him as one of the most powerful and prominent people in the motion picture industry. He has won numerous awards and recognized on several platforms. He was made honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2001. According to a Wall Street sell-side analyst there are only two brands in this industry; Disney and Spielberg.