Steven Spielberg is today one of the most famous directors, who gained international fame with films like “E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial”, “Indiana Jones”, or “Jaws”. Twice, two of his blockbusters even helped him obtain his university degree.
Steven Spielberg started working as a filmmaker at a young age. Although he graduated from high school and enrolled at California State University, he left after three years to focus entirely on his films – he did not have a degree.
Several decades later, in 2001, he returned to California State University to give it a second try. He adopted a pseudonym and worked mostly remotely to avoid the attention of his classmates.
Spielberg could use his feature films for two subjects
How did his blockbusters help him in his studies? In fact, the filmmaker could use two of his works for his studies.
He enrolled in a course in paleontology, which is the science that focuses on the history of life and deals with the fossil remains of plants, animals, and bacteria (via education.nationalgeographic.org).
For this, Steven Spielberg of course had the perfect blockbuster with Jurassic Park and simply submitted it to pass the course.
For another subject, “Advanced Filmmaking”, the director simply used his award-winning film Schindler’s List to earn his credit points.
More about Steven Spielberg can be read here with our colleagues at Moviepilot: Steven Spielberg was almost fired from Jaws, but one person saved him: “I owe him more than I can express.”
Did Steven Spielberg graduate? In the end, the star director received his degree in “Film and Electronic Arts”.
In hindsight, he referred to his studies as the “longest post-production period” of his life (Source: collider.com).
On the day of his graduation, he revealed his true identity and came on stage while the university band played the theme music from Indiana Jones to celebrate the day.
More about Steven Spielberg can be read here at MeinMMO: Steven Spielberg was once sued for a film he did not direct.
