Watch the First Trailer for HBO’s Steven Spielberg Documentary
It’s hard to imagine Hollywood without Steven Spielberg. Spielberg’s career as a filmmaker serves as a perfect parallel for contemporary film history. From his humble beginnings outside the collection of University of Southern California wunderkinds to his commercial dominance at the multiplex, Spielberg did more than just make movies that wowed millions of people around the world: he also disrupted an entire industry, changing the way Hollywood approached filmmaking and establishing the format for blockbuster films that persists to this day.
And while countless websites, books, essays, and academic papers have been devoted to Spielberg’s career, it was only a matter of time before someone honored the director in a format he would appreciate: the feature film. We noted a few months ago that HBO was working on a feature documentary detailing his career and his creative process; now we have our first glance at the feature thanks to a new trailer (via ComingSoon.net). From the look of things, Spielberg is going to be a goldmine of never-before-seen home videos and footage of the legendary director, so Spielberg fans better start clearing their DVRs right now.
As befitting an icon of his status, Spielberg does seem to be handled with a pretty light touch, more interested in going through Spielberg’s recollections of his process and the decisions he made along the way. That being said, Spielberg happens to be directed by Susan Lacy, best known as the executive producer of American Masters, the long-running television series featuring in-depth profiles of important American cultural artists. As noted in the ComingSoon piece, Lacy has pulled together an all-star cast of the filmmaker’s collaborators and peers for her feature; the trailer features comments from Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, and more, so this will be a well-rounded look at the icon.
Spielberg will premiere on HBO on Saturday, October 7, so take a break from your obsessive Halloween watches to make some time for the king.