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Steven Spielberg didn’t interfere with documentary about his career

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WENN

Steven Spielberg didn’t try and steer a new documentary on him.

The legendary filmmaker is the focus of producer and director Susan Lacy’s latest project, Spielberg. Lacy has previously worked on films about Janis Joplin, Carole King and The Color Purple author Alice Walker.

The HBO backed documentary will hit TV screens in October (17), with the likes of Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio and Cate Blanchett all contributing to the feature.

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“He in no way tried to steer this film; he did not see it until it was finished,” Lacy told the audience at the Television Critics Association’s press tour on Wednesday (26Jul17).
“We did not talk about what I was going to do and wasn’t going to do.”

Lacy conducted close to 30 hours worth of interviews with three-time Oscar winner Spielberg, whose films have dominated and shaped cinema for the past four decades.

Other stars to also make an appearance include Dustin Hoffman, Liam Neeson and Martin Scorsese.

“Every actor I interview – and I interviewed everybody – they were most impressed with how much he understands the process of filmmaking and how he sees ahead when he’s shooting,” she said. “Very few filmmakers have that skill. I did so much research.”

Despite a runtime of two and a half hours, Lacy didn’t focus on all aspects of his career, but rather just his directing work. Though she did leave out how long it took the Academy to recognize his films, with Spielberg only winning his first Oscar in 1994 for Schindler’s List.

“For the most commercial filmmaker in history, I do not think box office has ever been what has driven him,” she shared. “What’s driven him is what interests him and what he thinks is important to say.”

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