Good Bad Billionaire - Steven Spielberg: Directing Dreams And Deals

GOOD BAD BILLIONAIRE - STEVEN SPIELBERG: DIRECTING DREAMS AND DEALS (320kbs-m4a/99mb/43mins)

BBC World Service broadcast: 10th June 2026

Steven Spielberg always felt like an outsider, but became the most commercially successful movie director in history. His hits, including ET, Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park, sent him on his way to becoming one of the first entertainment billionaires. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng chart the filmmaker's rise, from a movie-obsessed outsider with an 8mm camera, to the chaos of Jaws - a production he feared would end his career – to rewriting Hollywood's rulebook by inventing the modern blockbuster. With his new film Disclosure Day on the horizon, Zing and Simon explore if Steven Spielberg's sentimental storytelling and blockbuster dominance elevated cinema or narrowed it, and if his dealmaking instincts make him a creative visionary, a shrewd operator, or both?

Good Bad Billionaire is the podcast that explores the lives of the super-rich and famous, tracking their wealth, philanthropy, business ethics, and success. There are leaders who made their money in Silicon Valley, on Wall Street and in high street fashion. From iconic celebrities and CEOs to titans of technology, the podcast unravels tales of fortune, power, economics, ambition and moral responsibility. Simon and Zing put their subjects to the test with a playful, totally unscientific scorecard — then hand the verdict over to you: are they good, bad, or simply billionaires? Here's how to contact the team: email goodbadbillionaire@bbc.com or send a text or WhatsApp to +1 (917) 686-1176. Find out more about the show and read our privacy notice at www.bbcworldservice.com/goodbadbillionaire

Sound Of Cinema - 406. Spielberg And Williams

SOUND OF CINEMA - 406. SPIELBERG AND WILLIAMS (320kbs-m4a/134mb/58mins)
BBC Radio 3 broadcast: 30th December 2023

Matthew Sweet celebrates 50 years of one of cinema's greatest collaborations - that of director Steven Spielberg and his composer of choice, John Williams.

With music from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Indiana Jones, Jaws, Schindler's List and Jurassic Park. Matthew gives us a close encounter with the music for Close Encounters Of The Third Kind as he analyses the scene of humanity's first contact with the alien mothership.

John Williams - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - Escape/Chase/Saying Goodbye [Geffen]
John Williams - Jaws (1975) - Main Title and First Victim [Decca]
John Williams - The Sugarland Express (1974) - Title Theme [Sony Classical]
John Williams - Indiana Jones: Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981) - Washington Ending/The Raider's March [Walt Disney]
John Williams - Empire Of The Sun (1987) - Jim's New Life [Warner]
John Williams - Hook (1991) - We Don't Wanna Grow Up [Sony Classical]
John Williams - Jurassic Park (1993) - Theme From Jurassic Park [Geffen]
John Williams - Schindler's List (1993) - Jewish Town (Krakow Ghetto, Winter '41) [Geffen]
John Williams - Saving Private Ryan (1998) - Revisiting Normandy [Geffen]
John Williams - A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) - The Mecha World [Warner]
John Williams - Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) - The Mothership [Arista]
John Williams - Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977) - Wild Signals [Arista]
John Williams - Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) - The Visitors/Bye/End Titles [Arista]
John Williams - Lincoln (2012) - The People's House [Sony Classical]
John Williams - The Fabelmans (2022( - The Fabelmans [Sony Classical]