Steven Alan Spielberg is one of the most successful directors in Hollywood, four-time Academy Award winner, screenwriter and producer. His famous films have grossed over ten billion dollars at the box office.
Spielberg is an outstanding director with an amazing talent for creating iconic films that have gone down in the history of cinema. They are still watched by millions of viewers around the world.
Despite his impressive age, and Stephen will be seventy-three years old in 2019, he continues to delight his fans with new works, annually releasing another film masterpiece.
Stephen is also one of the highest paid filmmakers and film producers in the world. His fortune in the late 1990s was estimated at more than $ 300 million. In a few years it was already 2 billion, and now it is approaching 4 billion.
Biography facts
Stephen was born into a Jewish family. His ancestors emigrated from the Russian Empire and settled in the United States. The boy's father worked as an electrical engineer and was engaged in the development of computer technology. Mom was a professional pianist and restaurateur. Later, she had to give up her career and devote herself entirely to family and children.
During his school years, Stephen became interested in cinema. Seeing the son's interest in creativity, the parents gave him a gift - a movie camera. He immediately began to shoot his first amateur films. His sisters acted as actors. The boy was attracted by horror films, fantastic action films with an alien invasion. Therefore, he tried to shoot his first pictures in similar genres.
The sisters dressed up in all sorts of outfits and doused each other with cherry juice, which was supposed to represent blood. Stephen came up with scripts and experimented constantly.
Once he even shot a tape dedicated to the war. Firecrackers were used as special effects, and for the filming of one episode, the boy set fire to the curtains hanging on the windows. The fire was immediately extinguished, but after that the parents did not allow the young filmmaker to shoot such scenes at home.
When Stephen was twelve years old, he took part in the amateur short film festival, showing his work "Escape to Nowhere". As always, the main roles in the film were played by sisters and parents. The film is based on stories about the war, told by the boy's father. The audience and the jury really liked the film and won the main prize.
A few years later, Spielberg shot the painting "Fire Fires". Fantastic tape told about an alien invasion and kidnapping. The parents gave money to shoot the picture. The filmmaking cost Stephen six hundred dollars. At the same time, everyone who took part in the making of the film was fed by the family for free, and the father himself was engaged in the creation of the scenery.
The picture turned out to be quite successful and was even shown at the local cinema. We can say that from that moment the professional career of the future great filmmaker began.
Creative way
After graduating from school, Spielberg went to enter the art school, but he was not accepted. The second attempt failed again. Both times the selection committee called Spielberg mediocrity. Then Stephen entered a technical college and continued to work independently on new projects.
Having created a short film "Emblyn" and showed it at Universal Studios, he was able to conclude a contract to shoot a full-length film called "Duel".
World fame and fame came to Spielberg after the release of the cult films "Jaws" and "Close Encounters of the Third Degree". The films grossed record amounts at the box office, and the director himself received huge royalties.
With the release of each new film, Spielberg gained more and more popularity in the cinema. His paintings have always been distinguished by an excellent script, excellent direction and great acting.
In the early 1980s, the famous film Indiana Jones. In Search of the Lost Ark”, having collected a staggering box office at the worldwide box office - 400 million dollars. This project was recognized as the most successful motion picture of the year. Later, Spielberg directed three more parts of Indiana Jones, starring the unchanging starring Harrison Ford.
A few years later, Spielberg became the founder of his own film company Amblin Entertainment, which has released more than a hundred films on screens. Stephen at that time was no longer only a director, but also a producer.
In the creative career of Spielberg there are special films shot in the genre of war drama. They were "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan". Both films received high marks from viewers and film critics, and won many film awards and prizes. Schindler's List won seven Oscars.
Rental fees and royalties
One of the first films to collect a record box office at the box office was the film "Close Encounters of the Third Degree" - $ 300 million. A few years later, the movie "Alien" was released, which brought in almost 800 million dollars.
The famous mystical film "Poltergeist" grossed more than 120 million, "Back to the Future" - 381 million, "Back to the Future 2" - 332 million, "Back to the Future 3" - 244.5 million, "Schindler's List" - 321 million, Men in Black $ 589 million, Saving Private Ryan $ 481.8 million, Jurassic Park over $ 1 billion. In total, Steven Spielberg's films have grossed more than $ 10 billion at the box office.
Spielberg received the highest fees for films: "Jurassic Park", "Jurassic Park 3", "War Horse", "Indiana Jones".
Many sources claim that Spielberg was, until recently, the richest producer and director in the world. His fortune in the early 2000s was estimated at $ 2.8 billion. Today, the equally famous George Lucas is ahead of him. According to Forbes magazine for 2018, Spielberg's fortune was estimated at 3.6 billion dollars, and J. Lucas's at 4.6 billion.
Interestingly, Lucas' Star Wars also brings income to Spielberg. Many years ago, Lucas claimed that his picture would be quickly forgotten, but Steven's film "Close Encounters" will always be remembered. It was then that Spielberg proposed to Lucas to conclude a kind of deal, according to which each would pay the other two and a half percent of the proceeds from the rental of these films. So Spielberg was able to earn and continues to receive royalties from the film, to which he has nothing to do.
