ZOOM- The Hollywood Blockbuster: How Steven Spielberg and George Lucas Changed the Movies

Hollywood is an industry that has always depended on blockbusters, beginning with The Birth of a Nation and continuing with epics like Gone with the Wind, The Ten Commandments, and The Sound of Music. But beginning in 1974, two young filmmakers, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, would together change the way the movie industry made movies. Spielberg’s Jaws and Lucas’ Star Wars (neither of which was predicted to be a hit) helped launch the careers of the most influential directors of our time. Whether they were making films together (like Indiana Jones) or separately (E.T., Jurassic Park, The Empire Strikes Back), they introduced the age of the “modern blockbuster,” which featured elaborate special effects and thrilling spectacle. This presentation will look at their four decades of filmmaking and discuss how they changed the movies.

Brian Rose is a professor emeritus at Fordham University. He’s written several books on television history and cultural programming, and conducted more than a hundred Q&A’s with leading directors, actors, and writers for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Screen Actors Guild, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and the Directors Guild of America.

Like all Southbury Public Library programs, this event is free to attend and open to anyone regardless of town of residency. Registration is required. This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Southbury Public Library. For more information about this program, please email Rebecca at rrandall@biblio.org or call the reference desk at 203-262-0626 ext 130.