Steven Spielberg applied to the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and the University of Southern California's School of Cinema and Television repeatedly but failed to be accepted.
He got his first job in the film industry as an unpaid intern in the editing department of Universal Studios while attending California State University. While on a tour he ventured inside one of the buildings on the grounds of Universal Studio. He returned everyday and acted like he belonged there.
One of the workers gave him a pass to watch the directors at work. Everyday for a summer, he returned to the set, found himself an office and just moved in. Nobody questioned him. Nobody threw him off the set.
He made his first film that summer and the executives at Universal were so impressed they signed Spielberg as a television director.
Steven Spielberg dropped out of college and didn't get his degree until 2002, 33 years later.
“I don't dream at night, I dream at day, I dream all day; I'm dreaming for living.” – Steven Spielberg
"All good ideas start out as bad ideas, that why is takes so long." – Steven Spielberg
"The thing that I'm just scared to death of is that someday I'm going to wake up and bore somebody with a film." – Steven Spielberg
“I've always been very hopeful which I guess isn't strange coming from me. I don't want to call myself an optimist. I want to say that I've always been full of hope. I've never lost that. I have a lot of hope for this country and for the entire world." – Steven Spielberg
"My problem is that my imagination won't turn off. I wake up so excited I can't eat breakfast. I've never run out of energy. It's not like OPEC oil; I don't worry about a premium going on my energy. It's just always been there. I got it from my mom." – Steven Spielberg
"Technology can be our best friend, and technology can also be the biggest party pooper of our lives. It interrupts our own story, interrupts our ability to have a thought or a daydream, to imagine something wonderful, because we're too busy bridging the walk from the cafeteria back to the office on the cell phone.” – Steven Spielberg
"I'm not really interested in making money. That's always come as the result of success, but it's not been my goal, and I've had a tough time proving that to people." – Steven Spielberg
"People have forgotten how to tell a story. Stories don't have a middle or an end any more. They usually have a beginning that never stops beginning." – Steven Spielberg
“Only a generation of readers will span a generation of writers.” – Steven Spielberg
"This opportunity … allows all of us to reach out directly to open a much wider door.”
– Steven Spielberg
"You have many years ahead of you to create the dreams that we can't even imagine dreaming. You have done more for the collective unconscious of this planet than you will ever know." – Steven Spielberg
"Whether in success or in failure, I'm proud of every single movie I've directed." – Steven Spielberg
“The best time of my life has been the three instances where I have been there for the birth of my children. That is, nothing [else] has ever come close.” – Steven Spielberg
"I don't work weekends. Weekends are for my kids. And I have dinner at home every night when I'm not physically directing a movie – I get home by six. I put the kids to bed and tell them stories and take them to school the next morning. I work basically from 9.30 to 5.30 and I'm strict about that." – Steven Spielberg
"I think one of the worst things that happened to me was, you know, my voluntary fallout with my father. And then the greatest thing that happened to me was when I saw the light, and realized I needed to love him in a way that he could love me back." – Steven Spielberg
“The love we do not show here on Earth is the only thing that hurts us in the after-life.” – Steven Spielberg
"Once a month the sky falls on my head, I come to, and I see another movie I want to make."– Steven Spielberg
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What an inspiring story! It shows that we never know what might happen; almost anything is possible. Thank you, Tess.