The films of Steven Spielberg

Entertainment The films of Steven Spielberg By David Morgan October 18, 2012 / 2:38 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Columbia Pictures Director Steven Spielberg on the set of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." One of the most influential filmmakers working today, the director-producer is responsible for some of Hollywood's most popular films, including "Jaws," "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial," "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Jurassic Park," as well as the Oscar-winning dramas "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan." He also co-founded the film studio Dreamworks, and has helped launch the careers of many other successful filmmakers. By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan "Firelight" YouTube Born in 1946 in Cincinnati, Steven Spielberg grew up in New Jersey and Arizona, where he began making amateur films with his friends, including a World War II drama, "Escape to Nowhere," inspired by his father's war stories. His first "commercial" release, at age 17, was his 2 hour and 20 minute "Firelight" (1964), a science fiction story of UFOs and alien abduction that presaged his later blockbuster "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Filmed in 8mm for $400 using his high school's drama students, "Firelight" was given its premiere at a rented theatre in Phoenix. It augured his future money-making potential, in a way: The director claimed the screening earned him a profit of $1. "Night Gallery" NBC/Universal Spielberg's student film "Amblin" (1968) became his calling card to Hollywood. Having worked errand jobs on the Universal Studios lot beginning in high school, he worked his way quickly into television production, and at age 22 directed Joan Crawford in a segment of Rod Serling's "Night Gallery" pilot in 1969. "Duel" Universal Television Spielberg drew great attention with his hit ABC TV-movie "Duel" (1971), starring Dennis Weaver as a motorist being terrorized by an unseen truck driver. Cleverly shot, the film made good use of its taut 74-minute running ti...