Steven SpielbergIt is difficult to imagine a person who has not heard of Steven Spielberg. He is one of the most famous, if not the most famous, American directors of the century. His films have fascinated and helped develop the imagination of contemporary society and remain among the most successful films ever made. Spielberg was born in Cincinnati on December 18, 1946. His father was an electrical engineer and his mother a pianist. Steven seemed to get the best elements of both. Spielberg was immediately fascinated by cinema and began making amateur films at an early age. At 13, he won a local competition for his 40-minute film, Escape to Nowhere. Ironically, Steven failed to get into film school, so he decided to major in English Literature at California State University. After graduation, he left for Hollywood, where he was determined to succeed. In 1974, he received his first break on The Sugarland Express. The film won an award at the Cannes Film Festival for best screenplay. The following year saw the explosion of JAWS. This highly successful horror film, depicting a man-eating shark, captured the world's attention and has become part of contemporary pop culture. The film was nominated for best film at the Oscars and won several Oscars in technical categories and for its very particular soundtrack. JAWS wasn't his only film to appear on the American Film Institute's list of the "100 Best Films of the Century." Many of Steven Spielberg's works made it to that list, and many are so timeless that they will live on in the hearts of generations to come. Films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, ET, Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park have become legendary. In Spielberg's downtime, he put together a little personal film about a suburban boy who befriends an Earth alien, also known as ET for Extra-Terrestrial. It hit theaters in 1982 and became an instant classic and is still the defining film of his landmark career. This magical and extremely sentimental film surpassed even George Lucas' Star Wars to become one of the biggest domestic money-makers of all time. He has the unparalleled talent of capturing people's imaginations and dreams, but at the same time tapping into humanity's darkest nightmares. In 1993, Spielberg made Schindler's List, a disturbing epic that showed Holoca... middle of paper... ...to him that "Sharp Tooth" wasn't really real and that he shouldn't hide under the covers at night. When I was younger I would ice skate and pick out Spielberg movie theme songs like “Somewhere Out There” from American Tail and the title song from Indiana Jones. In conclusion, Steven Spielberg is probably the most famous and recognized producer/writer/producer. director in the world. His list of films is endless, as are the awards he has been nominated or won for. My generation grew up with his films and no matter what age a person may be, there is a Steven Spielberg film out there to watch and love. Bibliography: References Taylor, P. (1992). Steven Spielberg: The Man, His Films, and Their Meaning.Continuuminternational.Powers, T. (1996). Steven Spielberg: master storyteller. Lerner Publishing Company.Brode, D. (1994). Steven Spielberg's films. Carol Publishing Group.Crawley, T. (1990). The story of Steven Spielberg. Morrow, William & Company.McBride, J. (1997). Steven Spielberg. Simon and Schuster Trade.Knight, B. (1998). Steven Spielberg: the master of movie magic. Burdett silver print.