Discussion Papers Series
Steven Spielberg
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1946, Steven Spielberg rose to the pinnacle of the film world as a director, screenwriter and producer. Three of his productions -- Jaws (1975), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and Jurassic Park (1993) -- broke records as the highest-grossing film in the year they were each released.
He also teamed withGeorge Lucas to create the Indiana Jones series of films. Taking on large-scale themes of humanistic and historical import, Spielberg also directed The Color Purple, Schindler’s List, winning Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director, Amistad, Saving Private Ryan, for which he won his second Best Director Oscar, and Lincoln.
He solidified his commitment to keeping alive the memory and lessons of the Holocaust by founding the USC Shoah Foundation – the Institute for Visual History and Education. Established to collect and preserve testimonies of survivors and other witnesses to the Holocaust, the Institute maintains one of the world’s largest video digital libraries — nearly 52,000 video testimonies in 32 languages from 56 countries. (http://sfi.usc.edu/)