Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg is an American film director and producer widely regarded as one of the most commercially successful and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema.
Rejected by film school more than once, Spielberg broke into the industry through television instead, eventually directing the film credited with inventing the modern summer blockbuster.
An Early, Determined Filmmaker
Spielberg began making amateur films as a child using his father's camera, and was reportedly rejected multiple times by film school before eventually breaking into the industry through television work in the late 1960s.
Jaws and the Summer Blockbuster
Spielberg's 1975 film Jaws is widely credited with creating the modern concept of the summer blockbuster, an enormously influential shift in how major studios released and marketed films going forward.
Defining Popular Cinema
Spielberg went on to direct numerous era-defining films across multiple genres, including E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, the Indiana Jones series, and Jurassic Park, several of which became the highest-grossing films of their respective release years.
Schindler's List and Serious Drama
Beyond blockbuster entertainment, Spielberg directed the acclaimed historical drama Schindler's List in 1993, depicting the Holocaust, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and earned Spielberg his first Best Director Oscar.
Founding DreamWorks
Spielberg co-founded the film studio DreamWorks in 1994 alongside Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, further extending his influence across the film industry beyond his own directorial work.
