Erin Brockovich Photo
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"The irony is that 'Ocean's' may well be, as a filmmaker, one of the more difficult things that Iv'e attempted. I'm a run-and-gun guy, and this has to be so carefully machined." Steven Soderberg
Biography
Steven Soderbergh was born Jan. 14, 1963 in Atlanta, Ga. and was raised in Baton Rouge, La. He was the second child of six. Steven played baseball for many years and was one of the best ball players that you could find in Baton Rouge. When he was 12 years old he suddenly lost his baseball talent but we would eventually see a new talent from him. When Steven first saw the movie Jaws that was all it took for him to know what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He began directing films at the age of 13. During high school Steven was attending Louisiana State Universities film department where his father, Peter Soderbergh, was a professor. When he graduated from high school he decided to move to Hollywood instead of going to college. During his stay in Hollywood he held down many video production jobs, freelance editing jobs, and did editing for the 1980’s television show Games People Play as well as write some of his own films. He returned to Baton Rouge and continued writing and began directing his own films. In 1986 he directed a film titled Yes: 9012 Live. It was a concert film for the rock group Yes which eventually lead to a Grammy nomination for Best Long-Form Music Video. After Steven filmed Yes: 9012 Live he filmed Winston in 1987 which was an introduction to his smash hit Sex, Lies, and Videotapes. Sex, Lies, and Videotapes was released in 1989 and earned him the Cannes Film Festivals Palme d’Or award making him the youngest director to ever recieve such an honor. He also won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Director and earned an Oscar Nomination for Best Original Screenplay. For the next six years Steven got married to actress Betsy Brantley and had a daughter named Sarah who was born in 1990. Eventually, Steven and Betsy divorced. During this time Steven made Kafka, King of the Hill, Underneath, and Gray’s Anatomy. Well these movies were received by critics, audiences didn’t respond as well and some people consider these Stevens major disappointments. It wasn’t until 1998 that Steven was back on track with his movie Out of Sight starring Jennifer Lopez and George Clooney. This became his first successful film since Sex, Lies, and Videotapes. He would follow this film up with Erin Brockovich and Traffic which were his two biggest films ever. These films were both nominated for Best Picture and Best Director Oscars at the 2001 Academy Awards. He went on to win the Best Director Award for Traffic and he’s the first director since Herbert Ross in 1977 to have two films nominated for Best Picture Oscars. The first director to achieve this was Francis Ford Coppola in 1974. After Soderbergh did Traffic he went on to make Ocean's 11 with a star studded cast, Solaris, and Full Frontal. Steven has signed on to many projects that we will be seeing soon including Ocean's 12 which is the sequel to Ocean's 11, Che, and The Informant.
"He has a different style for every movie. Steven jumps from one venue to another better than anybody." Michael Douglas
"A lot of people can tell stories but a lot of people can't rally the troops the way Steven does. He's the most fun guy to make a movie with." Julia Roberts
"Although directors usually observe the action on a set by watching a video monitor. Soderbergh joined the cinematographers' union so he could work the camera himself." Stephen Mirrione Traffic's editor
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