La Salle library to virtually host presentation on Steven Spielberg, George Lucas

The La Salle Public Library will virtually host Professor Emeritus, Brian Rose, at 6 p.m Tuesday, July 26, for a presentation called “The Hollywood Blockbuster: How Steven Spielberg and George Lucas Changed the Movies.”

Hollywood is an industry depended on blockbusters, beginning with “The Birth of a Nation” and continuing with epics like “Gone with the Wind,” “The Ten Commandments” and “The Sound of Music.” Beginning in 1974, two young filmmakers — Steven Spielberg and George Lucas — would together change the way the movie industry made movies.

Spielberg’s “Jaws” and Lucas’ “Star Wars” helped launch the careers of the most influential directors of this time. Whether they were making films together or separately, they introduced the age of the “modern blockbuster,” which featured elaborate special effects and thrilling spectacle.

Rose is a professor emeritus at Fordham University, where he taught for 38 years in the Department of Communication and Media Studies. He’s written several books on television history and cultural programming and conducted more than a hundred Q & A’s with leading directors, actors and writers for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Screen Actors Guild, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and the Directors Guild of America. His virtual lectures on film and television history have been presented at the Smithsonian, the 92nd Street Y., and at JCCs and libraries throughout the country.

This program is free and open to all via Zoom. Register by going to: https://bit.ly/3nkDYJv. For more information, contact the La Salle Public Library at 815-223-2341.