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If you ask the common man or woman on the street to name a film director then eight answers out of ten would always be the same man – Steven Spielberg. Steven Spielberg is one of the giants of the film industry as a result of a string of hit movies that he has made since the 1970s. He also has the major honour of being the highest grossing filmmaker of all time with a total that stands at the $8 billion mark. As such, the entrepreneur is an amazing example of what can be done in any given industry with a little perseverance and talent. Moreover, he has proved that major success is possible in an industry that is characterised by its fierce competition.

Early Life And Career

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio on December 18, 1946, Steven Spielberg was born into a Jewish family that was extremely closely knit. As such, he had the freedom to enjoy his childhood without the burden that many of his generation of entrepreneurs did. He was making films from an early age and was amazingly making films that surpassed 30 minutes by the age of 13. In fact, it only took him until the age of 16 to make his first feature length independent film. His budget was $400 and he made a $100 profit!

After his move to California, Steven Spielberg tried to enrol in college to study film but was repeatedly rejected. Instead, he obtained an internship at Universal Studios where the entrepreneur learned how to use the editing suite. Although he did eventually get into college, Spielberg was hired by Universal Studios to be a television director and was the youngest director ever to work there. Spielberg knew that his opportunity would eventually come, and so it did a few years later when he was offered the opportunity to direct Jaws.

The Big Time

Jaws was a massive hit at the box office and catapulted the budding entrepreneur into the big time. He received plenty of offers in the ensuing months but refused them all until Close Encounters Of The Third Kind came along in 1977. When that was followed by Raiders Of The Lost Ark and the other Indiana Jones films, the transition was complete. Spielberg was undoubtedly one of the hottest properties in Hollywood.

The entrepreneur had made a career of making blockbusters, which were the all out action movies of the time, but he was not satisfied with that. As a director and producer, Spielberg wanted to go on to produce and direct the movies that were close to his heart. The first example of that was Schindler’s List, which is still described as the most honest and accurate story told about the Holocaust. The story was close to Spielberg’s heart because of his Jewish roots. The same vein was to run through some of Spielberg’s later films as well.

The entrepreneur set up his own studio in 1994 so that he could make whatever films he wanted without having to answer to anybody else. The studio was called DreamWorks and paired Spielberg with both David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg. Although it was sold to Viacom in 2006, the number of amazing films to have come out of the studio is more than many of the larger studios have in the same period of time. It also gave birth to DreamWorks Animation in 2004. This branch of the studio has created numerous hits, including Shrek 2 and Over The Hedge.

Steven Spielberg is one of the most influential directors at the moment and has been for some time. He is also worth $3 billion in his own right. As such, he has definitely made the transition from the child that enjoyed making short films to the director who loves to live out his dreams. The entrepreneur can certainly serve as an inspiration to the next generation.