PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Born in Cinicinatti, Ohio
in 1946,
moved to Phoenix, Arizona
in 1950
"When I was seven, eight, nine years old I was embarrassed because we were Orthodox Jews. I was embarrassed by the outward perception of my parents' Jewish practices"
Spielberg also said he suffered from acts of anti-Semitic prejudice and bullying: "In high school, I got smacked and kicked around."
His first home movie was
of a train wreck involving
his toy Lionel trains at age 12
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
In 1958, he became a Boy Scout, "My dad's still-camera was broken, so I asked the scoutmaster if I could tell a story with my father's movie camera. He said yes, and I got an idea to do a Western. I made it and got my merit badge. That was how it all started.
In 1963, at age sixteen, Spielberg wrote and directed his first independent film, a 140-minute science fiction adventure called Firelight, which would later inspire
Close Encounters.
After his parent's divorce and a move to California, Spielberg graduated high school in 1965, applied to the University of Southern California's film school, but was turned down because of his "C" grade average
He then attended
California State University,
Long Beach
While a student, he was offered an unpaid internship at Universal Studios with the editing department
He was given the opportunity to make a short film for theatrical release, the 26-minute,
Amblin' (1968)
The studio VP Sidney Sheinberg was so impressed he offered Spielberg a 7-year directing contract. It made him the youngest director signed to a long-term deal with a major Hollywood studio
He dropped out of college to begin professionally directing TV productions with Universal