A Letter to you from…
Dear friends, 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. Hence, let me begin and you must promise to never let this beginning end.
I’m quite old now. I was born on December 18th 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. My mama used to say it was a beautiful day and winter just begun. My mom and three sisters loved me so much but school did not treat me that way. I didn’t like the subjects taught in school, so my grades were not the best.
I still remember the first movie I watched, “The greatest show on earth”. I was highly mesmerized by the creation and I dreamt of it often. I started using my parents’ movie camera to record family trips and outings. I enjoyed recording and I wanted it to look amazing. I started using the camera and tried several angles of shots and attempted to add special effects and develop the recordings. I was twelve when I got this crazy idea to create my own video with a cast. I didn’t exactly call it a film because, well… I don’t really know. The film was quite amazing, and all my hard work of practicing every time I took several different shots in angles and special effects and the narratives worked out well.
This is when I realized my passion. I was sixteen when I made my own science fiction movie. Which I named “Firelight”, the movie was over two hours long and had a complex plot about an encounter with some aliens. I must thank my dad at this point because he rented some local cinema halls to feature my film. Well, it was quite a success and in one night I earned the $500 I spent to make it!
As I mentioned before my grades were quite average and therefore restricted me from being accepted to University of Southern California. But I went to C a l i f o r nia Stat e University at Long Beach and got a degree in English. There was no film programme that I could join in the University, making that as my formal excuse I went to Universal Studios to see every great movie directed and produced. This did take some of my charms to cajole myself in to the establishment.
Then I created “Amblin” which was said to be quite impressive. It won an award at the Venice film festival and oh dear! I got a seven year contract with Universal studios which I gate crashed in the former!! Then I started living my dream. “Jaws” was the next successful movie which I created. My imagination was overflowing with so many ideas and I wanted so badly to create magic. I wanted people to experience the world I live in, and I wanted them to see what I have in my head the way I visualize it. Because I knew my head was one place everyone should be in. I had so many visualizations on how dramatic emotional and piercing life encounters can be. And I always looked at things in different prims and angles.
The trilogy of Indiana Jones, Extra Terrestrial and The colour purple were some science fiction movies I created. This may come as a surprise to you but, after my film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the rating of PG – 13 was created. Where, parents were to be cautioned for their children when watching since there may be violence, language and nudity which would not be recommended for youngsters.
It was a pretty long journey. I married Amy Irving in 1985 and had a son. But things were not good between us after a while and we separated. Then I fell in love with Kate Capshaw, we had quite a number of children. I’m laughing at this point because I know life takes us to so many different paths we don’t know and therefore we had five awesome kids. I love them dearly.
I’ve begun a story about me. Paint your lives, draw your lives, recreate and film, write and scribble in this canvas of your life. Don’t settle for what is not your passion or dream. If I settled for the subjects I learned at school I won’t be who I am today. I’m grateful to have very supportive parents. Always follow your instincts and do what you love. Because I have been work- ing for years and I still don’t feel tired. I love my creations and each and every time it is being aired in a cinema, I feel like I’m the happiest man on earth. The feeling is indescribable, but I’m trying. If I could film all this and show you I would have. Filming is what I’m good at. Don’t settle, reach out and follow your passion. When one day you find the one thing that gives you goosebumps. Don’t stop it.
This is the beginning. Don’t let it end.
The World is yours! Sincerely, Steven Spielberg Written by Devuni Goonewardene