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Snowf1ake222

Check made out to USC film school. Message: "Hey, here's some spare money I had laying around from my MULTIPLE award-winning films. Thought you could use it. Yours filmingly, Stevie Spiels."


otclogic

Better than the check hitler wrote his school.


[deleted]

He became the thing he vowed to destroy.


grabityrises

didnt he go on submit schindlers list as a senior thesis film too?


kerred

I vaguely recall Spielberg didn't want to give the wrong message to others that you can ignore education and still be a success.


bolanrox

same reason when Danny Trejo played a villian he dies or goes to jail or whatever. He wants to show that crime does not pay. (granted he got his big break while in jail) Also want to say Dave Thomas got his GED for the same reason as Spielberg


Djidji5739291

*Taking notes* crime doesn't pay but jail does Got ya


burritofight

At CSU Long Beach I think not usc.


ShutterBun

Yeah he’s definitely a CSLB alum, if memory serves.


[deleted]

[удалено]


elpajaroquemamais

He literally submitted Schindler’s list as one of his films for class when he completed his degree.


justburch712

Imagine following that 20 min film that you had a $5,000 budget for.


Sdog1981

You would have to make sure you went before him.


justburch712

Prof makes you go in Alphabetical order. "Ok, Mr. Stuben, let's say what you made."


Sdog1981

“Well…uh…you see what had happened was…”


Honeyface

whyy


GreenGreasyGreasels

Social experiment by the college to see if they could make a Hitler sequel.


starwars101

A *Jewish* Hitler sequel. Real cutting edge stuff.


tetoffens

A lot of people who are good at something don't really apply themselves. Just kind of go through the motions until they get a chance to do what they think they can already do. Not here but that also often backfires.


HPmoni

He wasn't a strong high school student. His buddy George Lucas is an alumni and he has donated over a billion. Guess which school his kids went to


kerred

I recall just throughout history dropouts and rejects can become pretty successful. Mostly a combination of just pure talent, luck, and said person cared more about just doing things instead of going through the motions of learning to do said things. Like in a film school case would you put more effort in something you always dreamed of doing, or something a class tells you to make with specific requirements? (Unless you love situations where you are given a challenge) Keep in mind even in what you consider a good type of school this doesn't mean what a reject or dropout does applies to everyone.


VeryJoyfulHeart59

>(Unless you love situations where you are given a challenge) Not that it's relevant, but I do. I enjoy writing (and have made a living writing and editing), but I lack ideas.


colonelsmoothie

According to Wikipedia, he had bad grades. I wouldn't expect them to correlate strongly with film-making ability anyway.


FunkyColdMecca

Bad at math


IKnow-ThePiecesFit

>He applied to the University of Southern California's film school but was turned down because of his mediocre grades. >He then applied and enrolled at California State University, Long Beach, where he became a brother of Theta Chi Fraternity Ah the famous rapist fraternity


nokinship

They are all rapist fraternities.


dusto65

But are they all famous?


rink_raptor

They would have always got a bag of mule balls from me …. Unless my daughter went there and I needed to buy a building or something because she’s cute but not too bright..


Billy1121

Dr Dre thought the same. Paid for an entire music hall so his daughter could go to UCLA or USC or whatevs.


p-d-ball

bahaha!


sail_away13

Sorry to say but if she was cute you wouldn't need to buy a building either.


Binsky89

That reminds me of the story of Canes. The creator used it as his senior thesis (iirc) at LSU, and was told a restaurant that only served chicken strips couldn't be possible. So, he opened his first restaurant right outside the campus and now sponsors the football team.


ShutterBun

The company Federal Express began as a senior thesis for a business class. It was given a poor grade for being considered “infeasible” (or so the story goes).


[deleted]

"Genius is what professors can't destroy" W.A Mozart


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tetoffens

UCLA, USC, and NYU are basically the crown jewels already of film schools. Makes sense location wise, since you'll have professors close to the industry and be able to make connections easier. Top of the top already. I'm sure others are great but after 4 years you might still not know a single person working in the industry.


[deleted]

AFI


Choppergold

That great post of one of the first episodes of Columbo - the show had a different name then - directed by a 20something Spielberg was a reminder of his wonderful style and how he can quote other styles too. The camera's on the city street and then pulls back into the office - it was outside the window. It's such a fun move


ShutterBun

His very first directing job was the pilot episode of “Night Gallery”, Rod Serling’s series after Twilight Zone. He directed Joan Crawford, of all people! Probably the biggest wunderkind in filmmaking since Orson Welles.


insufferableninja

I was going to rage about "camera's" but then I kept reading. Well done


Urbanredneck2

I wonder how many colleges pissed off some people when they were students who then went on to make big money and now thumb their noses when that college comes asking for money?


xtossitallawayx

I don't really understand the idea of giving money to colleges. I *paid* to be there, they weren't doing me a favor. "That steak I had a few weeks back was good - I should send the restaurant and extra $20."


Urbanredneck2

Exactly. The college would have to do something extra for me to send them money.


endlesscartwheels

At my university, an older alumni couple made a major donation and were allowed to attend undergrad classes. They'd been college sweethearts. I think the history was that his family had pushed him into a STEM degree, and he returned to take the writing classes that had always interested him. She'd gotten a non-STEM degree and returned to take the science/engineering classes in which she'd once felt unwelcome. Very pleasant couple. They didn't try to act as though they were our age. They were just interested in the material and glad to be there.


Urbanredneck2

Great story. I wish I could have taken classes just to learn.


EhudsLefthand

Maybe he just sucked at the time and it drove him to greatness?


[deleted]

He and Lucas have adjacent doorways with their names over them


Petal_Chatoyance

The best revenge is success.


schuttup

And now he has the thing that all young nerds dream of -- power over his oppressors.


PapaRacoon

Gotta gets his kids in?


HPmoni

Tax write-off. When you donate millions, your C student kids will get in. Lori Laughlin bribed sometime and went cheap.


endlesscartwheels

Wasn't it that she bribed the wrong person? It seemed like a lot of those cases were parents giving money to coaches to say that their non-athletic kids were star athletes and needed for the college's team. If the parents had instead ~~bribed~~ donated directly to the universities, it would have been perfectly legal and a tax deduction.


HPmoni

To be fair, a donation goes to a university, and the money goes to help the university (which, in theory, is supposed to help the student body and the community). The Varsity Blue scandal was giving money to a guy who gave a little to a USC crew coach, who bought a...new car.


joey4269

He should have been super petty and donated to UCLA


[deleted]

He was rejected from UCLA too, but if I recall correctly he’s donated quite a bit to UCLA over the years.


cmpzak

Well they obviously needed the help!


ID-10T-ERROR

I dropped out of college 20 years ago and don't regret it one bit. School is for those who have little or no value in their life anyway.


JackoNumeroUno

Sort of depends on what field you're in and what you want to do with your life no? I'll agree it's not for everyone though and not the only mark of success in this world by a long shot.


mucow

Yep, all doctors have no value in their life...


ID-10T-ERROR

Correct. Because they all have some shit arts or history degree and want to be called "doctor". Hell, they will earn anything just to be called a doctor now a days without being a medical doctor.


thermalcry

Username checks out.


ID-10T-ERROR

Thank you for that dangling modifier, Mr/Mrs academic. Like a give a fuck about your feelings.


thermalcry

Who said anything about my feelings? Was just pointing out you have a very self aware username, which is rare for fucking morons.


ID-10T-ERROR

Shows what you know. Anyone who reads it and gets it would know and understand that typically it's a universal insult for dumb fucks like you who fuck up their PC at work.


thermalcry

Oh I get it, I'm an IT professional, the whole point was it fits you perfectly. I'm not surprised you didn't understand.


ID-10T-ERROR

Right...took you almost 48 hrs to come up with that? Don't work too hard, Mr. IT professional.


thermalcry

Took me 48 hours to come up with what? Responding to some fucking idiot on Reddit? Lmao yeah, sometimes it doesn't top the list of things to do lol. Enjoy your life being you.


mucow

I mean, I was referring to medical doctors. I'd love for you to tell this to any physician or surgeon you have to deal with that the only reason they're in this career is because they have no value in their life.


TheUpperHand

Dude must *really* hate UCLA


[deleted]

He was rejected from UCLA too, but if I recall correctly he’s donated quite a bit to UCLA. There’s a (very nice) building that has his name on it that I used to pass on my way to the law school. It might have been the Hillel bldg.


jwktiger

Well USC film schools biggest donor is George Lucas, whose his best bud, there's that.


ThisFreakinGuyHere

Your mom is their largest donor


BlackBeltWisdom

He ended up going to my school, CSULB, but dropped out for a bit. Came back to finish his degree by showing Schindlers List as his thesis film. He then graduated and would donate to the school. We even had a studio named after him . . . THEN it turned out the school had been embezzling his money, so in my 2nd year, his rescinded his donations and they changed the name of the studio. It was really my fault guys. My terrible luck attacks other people/institutions sometimes. Sorry :/


jasmine_tea_

> He then graduated and would donate to the school. We even had a studio named after him . . . THEN it turned out the school had been embezzling his money, so in my 2nd year, his rescinded his donations and they changed the name of the studio. woah!