STEVEN SPIELBERG

Steven Spielberg

• Great American filmmaker
• directed many popular movies: E.T., Jaws, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Indiana Jones, Schindler's List
• worth about 2.6 Billion

Early life

• Born: December 18, 1946
• Cincinnati, Ohio
• Orthodox Jewish family
• bullied in high school for being Jewish
• became an Eagle Scout; got a photography merit badge

EARLY CAREER

• California State University
• unpaid intern at Universal Studios; editing department
• first film was "Amblin": 26 minute short film; he wrote and directed it

Saving private Ryan

• about a group of U.S. soldiers led by Capt. Miller (Tom Hanks) sent to bring home a paratrooper whose three older brothers were killed in the same twenty-four hours, June 5–6, of the Normandy landing.

saving private ryan

• grossed over $481 million worldwide and was the biggest film of the year at the North American box office

JURASSIC PARK

• this scientist finds a way to recreate dinosaurs in a lab and then makes them into a theme park, but the dinosaurs break free

JURAssic park

• generated over $618 million worldwide despite mixed reviews, and was the second biggest hit of 1997

INVENTIONS

• Spielberg invented a device that not only allows users to edit a document from anywhere in the world, but also lets you speak into a machine that will transmit your edits into cyberspace.
• This device provides the movie reviewer with an improved way to interact and comment upon documents while on the move.

CHARITY

• Spielberg donated $750,000 to the American Red Cross
• He also donated another $750,000 to The Bush-Clinton Fund
• The Righteous Persons Foundation was established with Spielberg’s earnings from “Schindler’s List” to fund projects which impact on modern Jewish life
• The organization projected to distribute more than $40 million over its first decade