Marco Starczewski's List: OBM Podcast

• The tribute to Spielberg featured a short, filmed biography narrated by Tom Hanks and included thank-yous from World War II veterans for Saving Private Ryan, as well as a performance of the finale to Leonard Bernstein's Candide, conducted by John Williams (Spielberg's frequent composer).
• In 1999, Spielberg, then a co-owner of DreamWorks, was involved in a heated debate in which the studio proposed building on wetlands near Los Angeles, California, though development was later dropped for economic reasons.
• The general idea for the logo was the brainchild of company co-founder Steven Spielberg, who originally wanted a computer-generated image,
• A famous example of Spielberg working with the same professionals is his long-time collaboration with John Williams and the use of his musical scores in all of his films since The Sugarland Express (except The Color Purple and ).
• Its unprecedented popularity led to two concerts in 2006: fundraising gala events featuring personal recollections by film directors Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. Continuing demand fueled three more concerts in 2007, which all sold out.
• DreamWorks began in 1994 as an attempt by media moguls Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen (forming the SKG present on the bottom on both the DreamWorks and DreamWorks Animation logos) to create a new Hollywood studio of which they owned 72%.
• He is also one of the co-founders of DreamWorks movie studio.
• Amblin Entertainment is an American film and television production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall in 1981.
• Amblimation was the animation production arm of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment.

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• Steven Spielberg, one of the industry’s most successful and influential filmmakers, is a principal partner of DreamWorks Studios. Formed in 2009, Spielberg and Stacey Snider lead the motion picture company in partnership with The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group.

• Before “Lincoln,” Spielberg directed the 3D animated film “The Adventures of Tintin,” winner of the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film. He also directed “War Horse,” based on an award-winning novel, which was adapted into a major stage hit in London and New York, winning the Tony Award for Broadway’s Best Play. “War Horse” was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture. In 2011, he also produced the box-office success “Super 8” directed by JJ Abrams and executive produced the third “Transformers” film directed by Michael Bay which has grossed over $1 billion at the worldwide box office.

   

  Spielberg’s career began with the 1968 short film “Amblin,” which led to him becoming the youngest director ever signed to a long-term studio deal. He directed episodes of such TV shows as “Night Gallery,” “Marcus Welby, M.D.” and “Columbo,” and gained special attention for his 1971 telefilm “Duel.” Three years later, he made his feature film directorial debut on “The Sugarland Express,” from a screenplay he co-wrote. His next film was “Jaws,” which was the first film to break the $100 million mark.

• In 1984, Spielberg formed his own production company, Amblin Entertainment. Under the Amblin banner, he served as producer or executive producer on such hits as “Gremlins,” “Goonies,” “Back to the Future I, II, and III,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?,” “An American Tail,” “Twister,” “The Mask of Zorro,” and the “Men in Black” films. In 1994, Spielberg partnered with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen to form the original DreamWorks Studios. The studio enjoyed both critical and commercial successes, including three consecutive Best Picture Academy Award® winners: “American Beauty,” “Gladiator,” and “A Beautiful Mind.” In its history, DreamWorks has also produced or co-produced a wide range of features, including the “Transformers” blockbusters, Clint Eastwood’s World War II dramas “Flags of Our Fathers” and “Letters from Iwo Jima,” the latter earning a Best Picture Oscar® nomination, “Meet the Parents” and “Meet the Fockers,” and “The Ring,” to name only a few. Under the DreamWorks banner, Spielberg also directed such films as “War of the Worlds,” “Minority Report,” “Catch Me If You Can,” and “A.I. Artificial Intelligence.”

   

• Spielberg has not limited his success to the big screen. He was an executive producer on the long-running Emmy-winning TV drama “E.R.” produced by his Amblin Entertainment company and Warner Bros. Television for NBC. On the heels of their experience on “Saving Private Ryan,” he and Tom Hanks teamed to executive produce the 2001 HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers,” based on Stephen Ambrose’s book about a U.S. Army unit in Europe in World War II. Among its many awards, the project won both Emmy and Golden Globe Awards for Outstanding Miniseries. He and Hanks more recently reunited to executive produce the acclaimed 2010 HBO miniseries “The Pacific,” this time focusing on the Marines in WWII’s Pacific theatre. “The Pacific” won eight Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Miniseries.

   

  Among the shows Spielberg also executive produced were the Emmy-winning Sci-Fi Channel miniseries “Taken,” the TNT miniseries “Into the West,” the Showtime series “The United States of Tara,” and NBC’s “Smash.” He is currently an executive producer on TNT’s “Falling Skies” and CBS’ “Under the Dome,” based on the novel by Stephen King.
• Apart from his filmmaking work, Spielberg has also devoted his time and resources to many philanthropic causes. He established The Righteous Persons Foundation using all his profits from “Schindler’s List.” He also founded the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, which in 2006 became the USC Shoah Foundation - The Institute for Visual History and Education. The Institute has recorded more than 52,000 interviews with survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust and other genocides and is dedicated to making the testimonies a compelling voice for education and action. Additionally, Spielberg is the Chairman Emeritus of the Starlight Children’s Foundation.

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• "I don't want just the elite. I want everybody to enjoy my films." With a string of blockbusters that includes three top-grossing record holders—Jaws, E. T.: The Extraterrestrial, and Jurassic Park —director and producer Steven Spielberg more than fulfilled that ambition.
• "He isn't afraid to address big historical issues—subjects that are not considered good box office," says biographer Joseph McBride. But Schindler's List was a commercial success—and was named one of the 10 greatest films by the American Film Institute.
• He later brought that gift for creative leadership to the organizations that he helped found, including the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation and the Shoah Foundation, which archives the testimonies of Holocaust survivors. In the words of McBride, Spielberg "turned his refuge into a kingdom." And by marrying entertainment with moral purpose, Spielberg's finest work challenges the film industry to follow suit.

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• Received the Germany's Cross of Merit with star for his sensible representation of Germany's history in Schindler's List (1993).
• Chosen by Entertainment Weekly as the most powerful person in entertainment in 1997.
• American Film Institute Life Achievement Award. [1995]
• Attended California State University-Long Beach after being turned down by USC Cinema school twice.
• Donated $100,000 to the Democratic Party. [1996]
• Awarded second annual John Huston Award for Artists Rights by the Artists Rights Foundation. [1995]
• Co-founder (with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen) of DreamWorks SKG.
• Received the Distinguished Public Service Award, the U. S. Navy's highest civilian honor, on Veterans Day 1999 for his work on the movie Saving Private Ryan (1998).
• Sits on USC School of Cinema-Television's Board of Councilors.
• Awarded the honor of Knight of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in New Years Honours 2001 by Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to the British film industry.
• Often casts new actors based on their performances in other works. Rarely does auditions for major roles.
• I dream for a living.
• I always like to think of the audience when I am directing. Because I am the audience.
• The older I get, the more I look at movies as a moving miracle. Audiences are harder to please if you're just giving them special effects, but they're easy to please if it's a good story. The audience is also the toughest critic - a good story that exists in your world may not be the first choice for an audience. So I just do the best I can.
• I'll probably never win an Oscar, but I'll sure have a lot of fun! I really believe that movies are the great escape!
• The person I enjoy working for more than anyone else is George Lucas. He's the best boss I ever had because he's the most talented boss I ever had.
• If I weren't a director, I would want to be a film composer.
• The one ingredient I bring to all of my films is the ability to listen to anybody who has a good idea on the production. I'm very collaborative with actors, with my writers, with my editor, my cinematographer, with Johnny Williams who does all of my scores. And I just think from a very young age my parents taught me probably the most valuable lesson of my life - sometimes it's better not to talk, but to listen.
• It boggles my mind how much I feel is left on my plate. There are things on the other side of the supper table stewing in pots that I'm not really even aware of. I would retire if I didn't feel that way. [2009]

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• Deeply moved by the experience of directing the film Schindler’s List, Steven Spielberg decided to donate his portion of the film’s profits to help support a flourishing and meaningful Jewish community. To that end, he established the Righteous Persons Foundation (RPF), which has made more than $100 million in grants since 1994.
   
  For over seventeen years, RPF has funded a broad range of innovative approaches to strengthening Jewish identity and community in the United States and to preserving the memory of the Holocaust. Today, the Foundation supports ventures that:
   
   
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    engage the next generation
     
   
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    revitalize arts and culture
     
   
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    digitize the Jewish past
     
   
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    inspire social activism
     
   
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    promote understanding between Jews and those of other faiths and backgrounds
     
   
   
  By partnering with inventive organizations and efforts, the Righteous Persons Foundation hopes to contribute towards a more vibrant and just community – one committed both to its own transformation and to transforming the broader world.
   
  While much has changed since the Foundation began, RPF’s mission remains the same: to support and actively build a thriving Jewish community that reflects the realities of Jewish life in America today.

• Our History

   

   

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  The early 1980s witnessed the rise of philanthropic commitment to pediatric care. 
• Our Mission

   

   

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  Starlight Children's Foundation partners with experts to improve the life and health of kids and families around the world.
• Our Ambassadors
• Our Awards

   

   

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  Starlight has accrued a host of top honors for innovative programming and content. 
• Starlight Children’s Foundation is grateful for the generous support of our celebrity ambassadors and friends who lend their time and talent.
• Our corporate partners help bring Starlight programs to more children in more communities.

   

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  For Starlight Children’s Foundation, corporate partnerships are essential to advancing our global mission to improve the life and health of kids and families. These partnerships provide a significant opportunity to increase public awareness with an extended range of audiences, promoting greater engagement in our quest. In addition to increased consumer awareness, these audiences include corporate employees who are inspired to make voluntary individual commitments to Starlight’s programs and events. Our generous corporate partners support a wide range of meaningful commitments, including cash contributions, program and event sponsorships, product promotions, employee giving programs, fundraising campaigns, customer donation drives, and in-kind/budget relief contributions. 

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• The Shoah Foundation completes the indexing of one half of the Foundation's archive, including more than 25,000 English-language testimonies.

   

  The Foundation partners with the Anti-Defamation League in the U.S. and with the Holocaust Educational Trust in the U.K. to create multimedia products to meet the needs of the many educators with whom these organizations already work.

   

  One Human Spirit, the Foundation's first educational video for classrooms, becomes available to United Learning's 22,000 subscriber schools across the United States.
• The Foundation announces its new mission: to overcome prejudice, intolerance, and bigotry — and the suffering they cause — through the educational use of the Foundation's Visual History Archive.

• The Foundation reaches its original goal of collecting 50,000 testimonies.

   

• The 40,000th testimony is collected. The Foundation expands its outreach and begins collecting in Italy and Greece.

   
• The digital indexing of testimonies begins.
• The first multi-national and multi-lingual interviewer training session is held in Amsterdam.

• One year after the Holocaust survivors visit the set of Schindler's List, Steven Spielberg establishes Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation as a nonprofit organization.

   

  The original mission of the Shoah Foundation was to record on videotape the testimonies of 50,000 survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust from around the world for educational purposes before it was too late.

   

  The Foundation's newly-trained interviewers conduct the first interviews, including those of a child survivor, Jewish and non-Jewish resistance group members, a war crimes trial participant, and a liberator.

   

  The first regional offices open in New York and Toronto.

   

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• At the Steven Spielberg Pediatric Research Center, exciting new advancements are occurring daily in the fields of kidney diseases, transplantation, mental retardation, skeletal diseases, deafness, connective tissue diseases, inflammatory bowel disease, infectious diseases and AIDS, epilepsy and diabetes. We are also making advances in medical genetics using discoveries made possible by the Human Genome Project.

• the Shoah Foundation
• Ten testimonies from Rwanda have been recorded already, with at least 50 more expected next year. And the foundation will soon begin adding testimonies about other mass killings, including those of Armenians and Cambodians. “It’s important to be able to hear the voices of those who have experienced genocide in a variety of circumstances over the last hundred years,” said Stephen D. Smith, executive director of the Shoah Foundation.
• “I think it is extremely important to record and preserve the first-person accounts of all genocides,” Mr. Rosensaft said. “My concern would be that we not blur the individual experiences of survivors of the Holocaust, or survivors of Rwanda, into one large blur. Every genocide is a separate act, and must be remembered and chronicled as such.”
• The first-person stories from Rwanda could prove especially useful to historians because there are fewer written accounts of those atrocities than there are of Hitler’s “Final Solution.”
• Yves Kamuronsi, one of the Rwandan survivors, said the testimonies not only helped piece together the events of the genocide in Rwanda, they also could help survivors recover from the trauma. But he said the Holocaust videos were sometimes difficult for him to watch.

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• As a not-for-profit hospital, Cedars-Sinai provides free and part-pay hospital care for the uninsured and those with limited means. In addition to this traditional charity care, Cedars-Sinai is one of the largest providers of Medi-Cal services among non-government hospitals in California.

• It turns out that the first time Spielberg applied, he got rejected because an admissions officer deemed his C level grade average too low.
• Even after a third and final attempt, Spielberg was denied admission.
• Spielberg’s Three Step Guide to Rejection
• Seeking his education elsewhere and applying himself full force into the industry, the man went on to direct Jaws, E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, the Indiana Jones series, and a host of other critical and commercial successes.
• Step 1: Prevent Laziness
• It’s easy to become jaded as a freelancer with all the rejections or simple no-replies. I have been through it and the poison that it spreads is laziness and a lack of passion. After sending out so many responses to job offers, you can settle into an attitude of disappointment.
• Step 2: Overcome Your Attitude

• When you turn negatives into positives, even the bad news has a silver lining attached and you can push yourself even further.

  A good attitude in your mind and unprecedented passion in your soul will push you ahead in this industry over those who may have settled too comfortably into the “job.”

• Step 3: Make your eventual success, enjoy it, and share it
  

  So after being rejected three times by USC, why did Spielberg decide to donate mon

• ey? To teach a class? And how did he earn his honorary degree?

  It was a long road that required years of Spielberg going to a different college, dropping out, getting a job at Universal and making multiple short films until one was finally noticed by an employee of the studio. Even after that, Spielberg underwent tremendous pressures putting together the films that built his career.

  Once he gained his success, Spielberg was invited by USC to accept an honorary degree. As a cherry on top, he said he would only accept if the person who had rejected him signed the degree themselves.

  One signature later, Spielberg was a USC Trojan.

• With his success acknowledged, Spielberg began to donate money to the school to help the generations of filmmakers set to inherit the artform from him.

  Don’t expect to have success land in your lap — you need to make it. And once you have it, you won’t have to prove how good you are anymore (you can have other people do it for you — like Spielberg did). Instead you can enjoy your success.

  But Steven Spielberg took this a step further: instead of gloating, he accepted his degree and started to pass the craft onto others.

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