PPT Slide
- grew up in the suburbs of New Jersey and Arizona
- At 21 he was hired to direct television shows, then television movies for MCA
- first theatrical feature Sugarland Express (1974) received little attention but success of Jaws (1975) empowered Spielberg to initiate his own projects
- influenced by Alfred Hitchcock’s ability to create suspense and Walt Disney ability to create a self-enclosed fantasy universe
- Controlled filmmaker whose films are in many ways predictable
- Adventure films: Jaws (1975), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989),
- Science fiction and fantasy: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), E.T. The Extraterrestrial (1982), Jurassic Park (1993), The Lost World (1997)
- Historical/literary dramas: The Color Purple (1985), Empire of the Sun (1987), Schindler’s List (1993), Amistad (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998)