" Spielberg hired Joe Alves, his collaborator on Jaws, as production designer.

In the 1980s, Steven Spielberg hired Moore as second unit director on Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

A 1985 graduate of UCLA's school of Theater, Film and Television, Holland got his career break when Steven Spielberg saw his UCLA thesis film CHICKEN THING — a 12 minute comedy horror short — and hired Holland to write and direct on the second season of AMAZING STORIES.

He was hired by his friend, Steven Spielberg, to redraft the script, adding more dimensions to the characters, particularly humour.

Although Night Skies as a film would never reach production status, it helped inspire not only E. T., but also Poltergeist ( which had a family terrorized by paranormal forces and Spielberg hired Tobe Hooper to direct ), Spielberg and Mathison's proposed E. T.

Steven Spielberg, who directed her in E. T.

In this way, Ackerman provided inspiration to many who would later become successful artists, including Joe Dante, Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, Stephen King, Donald F. Glut, Penn & Teller, Billy Bob Thornton, Gene Simmons ( of the band Kiss ), Rick Baker, George Lucas, Danny Elfman, Frank Darabont, John Landis and countless other writers, directors, artists and craftsmen.

During the speech, Spielberg and Coppola talked about the joy of winning an Oscar, making fun of Lucas, who has not won a competitive Oscar.

It was finally given to Spielberg, who decided to direct.

Gordon shared the finished script with Hanks, who liked it and in turn passed it along to Spielberg to direct.

This was his first collaboration with Steven Spielberg, who later co-produced Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima.

Spielberg — who visited the set a few times — also advised Mendes not to worry about costs if he had a " great idea " toward the end of a long working day.

Spielberg — who was later awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award — had the idea of making Indiana a Boy Scout.

When Spielberg decided he wanted it to move, the prop was sent to John Carl Buechler in Los Angeles, who resculpted it over three days to blink, snarl, snort and wiggle its ears.

Spielberg suggested casting Ford as Jones, but Lucas objected, stating that he did not want Ford to become his " Bobby De Niro " or " that guy I put in all my movies ", a reference to Martin Scorsese, who often worked with Robert De Niro.

Spielberg had originally offered the role to Roman Polanski, who was intrigued at the opportunity to work with Spielberg but decided to turn down the role because he wouldn't be able to make the trip to Tunisia .< ref >

She sparked the interest of Steven Spielberg, who offered her several parts including a role in Jurassic Park which she declined, choosing instead to join Krzysztof Kieślowski on the set of Three Colors: Blue ( 1993 ), a performance for which she won the Venice Film Festival Award for Best Actress and a César.

In discussing the mixed critical reception of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Steven Spielberg said, " I sympathize with people who didn't like the MacGuffin ( the crystal skull ) because I never liked the MacGuffin.

A number of filmmakers have had their movies honored for their achievements in visual effects ; i. e., five films produced by George Pal, five by producer George Lucas, five by director James Cameron ( who began his career in Hollywood as an effects technician ), four by directors Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, and three by director Robert Zemeckis.

* In the 2002 film Catch Me If You Can, directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the real story of Frank Abagnale, a con man who stole over $ 2. 5 million through forgery, imposture and other frauds, which are dramatized in the film.

These included Spielberg ; Debra Winger ; Burtt's sleeping wife, who had a cold ; a burp from his USC film professor ; and raccoons, sea otters, and horses.

Longtime Spielberg collaborator John Williams, who composed the musical score for E. T., described the challenge of creating a score that would generate sympathy for such an odd-looking creature.

Warshaw and other Atari executives presented this design to Spielberg, who did not express enthusiasm.

Bluth formed Sullivan Bluth Studios with backing from businessman Morris Sullivan, while film director Steven Spielberg — a long-time animation fan who was interested in producing theatrical animation — helped Bluth to produce 1986's An American Tail.

Hal Ashby, who worked with Dillon on Bound for Glory, suggested her for the part to Spielberg.

Spielberg conducted a series of method acting techniques to help Guffey, who was cast when he was just three years old.

Spielberg explained, " I wanted to make Close Encounters a very accessible story about the everyday individual who has a sighting that overturns his life, and throws it in to complete upheaval as he starts to become more and more obsessed with this experience.

Some of these even combined all released material from the 1977 and 1980 versions, but none of these versions were edited by Spielberg, who regards the " Collector's Edition " as his definitive version of Close Encounters.

Steven Spielberg had previously filmed The Color Purple in Wadesboro, and the large white farmhouse used as an exterior location in that film became the production office for Evil Dead II.

One of the most famous was The Apu Trilogy ( 1955 – 1959 ) from critically acclaimed Bengali film director Satyajit Ray, whose films had a profound influence on world cinema, with directors such as Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese, James Ivory, Abbas Kiarostami, Elia Kazan, François Truffaut, Steven Spielberg ,< ref name = unmaderay >

In June 2012, it was announced that producer Kathleen Kennedy, a long-term collaborator with Steven Spielberg and a producer of the Indiana Jones films, had been appointed as co-chair of Lucasfilm Ltd.

Within a year, she had been cast by Steven Spielberg to appear in his World War II drama, Empire of the Sun ( 1987 ).

Steven Spielberg said, " I learned more about acting from him at that early stage of my career than I had from anyone else.

Spielberg had already demonstrated his interest in World War II themes with the films 1941, Empire of the Sun, Schindler's List, and the Indiana Jones series.

Lucas and Spielberg had intended to make a trilogy of Indiana Jones films since Lucas had first pitched Raiders of the Lost Ark to Spielberg in 1977.

Spielberg rejected the idea because of the similarity to Poltergeist, which he had co-written and produced.

It included the prologue that was eventually filmed ; Lucas had to convince Spielberg to show Indiana as a boy because of the mixed response to Empire of the Sun, which was about a young boy.

Spielberg originally had planned the chase to be a short sequence shot over two days, but he drew up storyboards to make the scene an action-packed centerpiece.

Spielberg intended to have Connery cameo as Henry in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ( 2008 ), but Connery turned it down as he had retired.

Directed by Steven Spielberg and co-starring Tom Hanks and Christopher Walken, the film was shot in 147 different locations in only 52 days, making it " the most adventurous, super-charged movie-making " DiCaprio had experienced yet.

Spielberg was interested in her, as he had seen her performance in National Lampoon's Animal House.

Spielberg felt Drew Barrymore had the right imagination for mischievous young Gertie after she impressed him with a story that she led a punk rock band.

Columbia Pictures, which had been producing Night Skies, met Spielberg to discuss the script.