Going back in time to 1975, Spielberg changed the shape of cinema by redefining

the term “summer blockbuster” with Jaw’s. Studio executive’s were encouraged
by responses from advanced screenings and decided to distribute it on a much
wider scale. This inadvertently spawned a Hollywood format of:

SLIDE:
• Identifying an audience (usually males 14 – 24) whose hunger for sensation
was limitless, and easily satisfied.
• Appealing to a mass audience.
• The concept of mass opening simultaneously across multiple Countries.

This followed suit with Spielberg’s long term friend, producer and film maker
George Lucas and his Star Wars saga first released in 1977. In the years to come,
critics have blamed Spielberg and Lucas for dumbing-down Hollywood movies,
favouring box office returns instead of thought provoking independent films.
Discussing their influence on world cinema, Lucas states:

SLIDE:

Spielberg and Lucas

“I think the effect Steven and I have had on the business is to help promote the
independent art film.”
“That’s the thing the New York critics don’t want to acknowledge. They think the
films today are worse than they’ve ever been. Personally, I think they are better than
they’ve ever been.” (Jack Matthew’s interview, George Lucas Quote. Kline. 1999:
229).

Lucas would go on to create his own production company, namely Lucasarts,

whereas Spielberg continued to work for big Hollywood studios. However, they
collaborated on many features, Spielberg commissioning Lucas’ effects division
Industrial Light and Magic to create realistic dinosaurs for 1993’s Jurassic Park.
This avant-garde use of computers inspired many future directors, including The
Lord of the Rings Director Peter Jackson. Jackson’s authorised biography
states:
SLIDE:

Peter Jackson Jurassic Park

“Seeing the digital dinosaurs in Spielberg’s Jurassic Park in 1993 made as dramatic an
impression on Peter Jackson as his first encounter with the stop-motion monsters
created by Willis O’Brien, sixty years earlier, for King Kong”. (Sibley, 2006:257).

SLIDE:

Taking a brief break from directing in 1994, he co-founded DreamWorks Studios with
Jeffery Katzenberg and David Geffen. DreamWorks was sold to Paramount Pictures
in February 2006 before a new deal was struck with Disney earning the rights to
distribute their films in February 2009. Continuing to Direct a string of hit’s into the
new millennium, Spielberg has branched into producing for films, Television and
computer games.

But what does the future hold for Spielberg?

SLIDE:

Tin Tin Transformers

Super 8

Not taking his foot of the accelerator, he is linked with a variety of projects across a
range of media including:
• Directing/ Producing a trilogy of motion captured Tin Tin films with Peter
Jackson, the first due in December 2011.
• A film adaptation of War Horse released with DreamWorks and Disney also in
December 2011
• Continuing to produce the Transformers trilogy with Michael Bay’s The Dark
Side of the Moon.
• Imminently releasing Super 8 with JJ Abrams.
• Producing credits on TV series Terra Nova and Falling skies
• THE LIST GOES ON... fair to say his future is bright

TO CONCLUDE:
SLIDE:
• He saw his passion in films as away to be socially noticed / accepted.
• Redefined the summer blockbuster and established the Hollywood format
• Films influenced by his own family history and visionary directors including
Hitchcock, Kubrick etc...
• Influenced many directors working today including Peter Jackson, JJ Abrams
etc...
• He has become a one man conglomerate.
Bibliography

Kline, Sally (1999).George Lucas Interviews. University Press of Mississipi, USA.

Lucas Quote from Mathews, Jack interview with Lucas, George for Los Angeles
times 1999.

Sibley, Brian (2006). Peter Jackson A film makers Journey. Harper Collins
Entertainment, London, England.

Illustrations

Spielberg and Lucas http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/080416/spielberg-

lucas-84_l.jpg Accessed 28/03/11

Peter Jackson http://www3.images.coolspotters.com/wallpapers/119489/peter-

jackson-mobile-wallpaper.jpg Accessed 28/03/11

Jurassic Park http://www.everythingaction.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/t-rex-

jurassic-park.jpg Accessed 28/03/11

Founding Dreamsworks, Spielberg, Katzenberg and Geffen.

http://www.slashfilm.com/spielbergdreamworks-for-dummies/ Accessed 28/03/11

Tin Tin http://snarkerati.com/movie-news/files/2009/03/tintin.jpg Accessed 28/03/11

Transformers http://www.flicksandbits.com/wp-
content/uploads/2010/10/transformers-dark-of-moon-logo.jpg Accessed 28/03/11

Super 8 http://www.onlinemovieshut.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/super-8-
movie-poster.jpg Accessed 28/03/11