Daily Times

The Spielberg name in the film industry is as close to royalty as it gets. Who in their right mind has the heart to turn off classics like ‘Jurassic Park’, ‘Indiana Jones’, ‘Raiders Of The Lost Ark’ and ‘Schindler’s List’?

Well, apparently, director and producer Steven Spielberg does.

The auteur is currently promoting the upcoming HBO documentary Steven Spielberg, which chronicles his nearly 50-year career as a film director. Starting in the ‘70s, Spielberg is responsible for some of the most well-known and equally well-liked stories about the human spirit. Audiences and critics agree that his storytelling techniques and captivation of the imagination have revolutionised the industry.

E! News spoke to Spielberg at the documentary’s premiere on Tuesday, where its director and producer, Susan Lacy, admitted she can’t flip past a Spielberg film on television.

Spielberg himself admitted that those are the films he’ll just “skip right over”. He doesn’t watch any of his old work because, simply put, “I don’t dwell.”

The only film of his that he will watch is ‘ET The Extra-Terrestrial’, and even then, it’s only under very strict guidelines.

“I’ll show my grandkids ‘ET’ for the first time. I’ll sit next to them and tell them, ‘He doesn’t really die.’ And, ‘It’s only scary for a little while and then you grow to love him,’” Spielberg clarified. “I guide them through the experience.”

Those are some lucky kids!

Spielberg is going to be a star-studded spectacle, featuring interviews with Oprah Winfrey, Harrison Ford, Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett and more.

However, the Spielberg family will not be components in the extensive line-up of interviews. As Spielberg said, “This is a career documentary—that gets very personal, by the way—but it’s not about my personal life.”

And what a career to document! HBO will show everything from Spielberg’s breaking into film backlots to his current status as a film icon.

‘Spielberg’ will debut on October 7 at 8pm on HBO.

Published in Daily Times, October 1^st 2017.