I wanted to make sure you knew of the newest release in our "Conversations with Filmmakers series," CONVERSATIONS WITH STEVEN SPIELBERG. I've pasted a news release below. If you know of others who would appreciate news of the release, please feel free to pass the message along. Don't hesitate to drop me an e-mail at [log in to unmask] if you have any questions. Cordially, Steve Yates University Press of Mississippi STEVEN SPIELBERG: INTERVIEWS Edited by Lester D. Friedman and Brent Notbohm University Press of Mississippi $45.00, hardback, ISBN 1-57806-112-1 $18.00, paperback, ISBN 1-57806-113-XBook News for Immediate Release Despite enormous success filmmaker Steven Spielberg admits anxieties Ten of the thirty highest grossing films of all time have either been directed or produced by one Hollywood filmmaker: Steven Spielberg. But despite enormous success, Spielberg still has anxieties, as Lester D. Friedman and Brent Notbohm show in their new book Steven Spielberg: Interviews (University Press of Mississippi). In their introduction Friedman and Notbohm point out that box office revenue and cheering fans proved an instant fix of approval, "for a kid who always felt like a geeky outsider, for a boy always alienated from his peers by physical limitations and Jewish culture." In interviews Spielberg admits being haunted by the possibility of failure. "The thing that I'm just scared to death of is that someday I'm going to wake up and bore somebody with a film." He has become a brand name and a force that extends far beyond the movie screen, Friedman and Notbohm write. Phrases like "phone home" and the music score from Jaws are now part of our cultural script, appearing in commercials, comedy routines, and common conversation. Yet few scholars have devoted time to studying Spielberg's vast output of popular films despite the director's financial and aesthetic achievements. Spanning twenty-five years of Spielberg's career, STEVEN SPIELBERG: INTERVIEWS explores the issues, the themes, and the financial considerations surrounding his work. "I'm not really interested in making money," he says. "That's always come as the result of success, but it's not been my goal, and I've had a tough time proving that to people." Ranging from Spielberg's twenties to his mid-fifties, the interviews chart his evolution from a brash young filmmaker trying to make his way in Hollywood, to his spectacular block-buster triumphs, to his maturation as a director seeking to inspire the imagination with meaningful subjects. The Steven Spielberg who emerges in these talks is a complex mix of businessman and artist, of arrogance and insecurity, of shallowness and substance. "Every time I go to a movie, it's magic, no matter what the movie's about," he says. "Whether you watch eight hours of SHOAH or whether it's GHOSTBUSTERS, when the lights go down in the theater and the movie fades in, it's magic." Lester D. Friedman teaches medical humanities and bioethics at Upstate Medical University and cinema studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University. Brent Notbohm of Spring Green, Wisconsin, is a freelance instructor of film production and media studies. He has written and directed several films and videos independently, and as a graduate student at Syracuse University's College of Visual and Performing Arts. # # # For more information contact Steven B. Yates, Promotions Manager (601) 432-6459 or e-mail [log in to unmask] ---- Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu