Meeting Steven Spielberg... 


Elodie Cinquanta - August 4th, 2007 Bookmark and Share

Steven SpeilbergOn Wednesday June 27, 2007, three international fans (Elodie Jones from Switzerland, her friend Fred China from France, and Aaron Wilkinson from New Zealand) left for New Haven, CT. to fulfill their biggest dream. This dream was to see Indiana Jones IV in production at Yale University and to meet the director of the film, Steven Spielberg.

On Monday June 2, that dream became a reality!

That morning, we woke up at 5:00 a.m. By 6:00 a.m., we had met Shia LaBeouf! He was very kind and nice, taking a picture with Fred and I, but said he couldn’t help us meet Steven Spielberg and that he will probably be the only person from the film that we will meet today.

Later, as we walked around in search of Steven Spielberg, we saw a familiar looking man with a cap. As we approached the man, we noticed it was indeed Steven Spielberg! Spielberg saw us and waved at us to come over, but his bodyguards said to stop and wait on the other side of the street! So we waited, and as we looked on, we saw Spielberg at work, explaining some sequences for the film to others standing by him. It was just MAGIC to see him mime the character and act out the scene; yet at the same time it was very stressful because Spielberg is just on the other side of the street and we can’t go over there! We were afraid that the bodyguards would keep us away and we would not be able to meet Spielberg. Sometimes he would look over at us, so we thought "that’s a good sign". 

Three Friends

Showing off ArtFinally, a bodyguard crossed the street to tell us that Spielberg wants to meet us but that after the meeting, we should not follow or chase him everywhere like fools or stalkers. We assure the bodyguard that we are not that kind of people!

So, after all the buildup and stress, we cross the street and Spielberg comes to us and shakes our hands. When he shook my hand, it was a big SHOCK for me…so strange! It’s at that precise moment that my dream came true! All my hopes, all what I imagine this moment to be is now a reality. Steven Spielberg is here, and he is shaking my hand!

Steven Spielberg: "Hello, what’s your name? Where are you from?"

Elodie Cinquanta: "My name is Elodie, I’m from Switzerland."

Fred China: "I’m Fred from France"

Aaron Wilkinson: "Aaron from New Zealand"

I thought that I would be very intimidated by him because he is not the average person you meet on the street. I was able to talk to him with relative ease and of course this made me VERY HAPPY!

More ARtI then gave him the file I brought containing a letter, my drawings, some other pictures and documents. I thought he would not have the time to look it over but he did! He opened the file and we looked at it together.

Steven Spielberg: "Wow look at this!"

Elodie Cinquanta: "I give it to you!"

Steven Spielberg: "This is for me?"

Elodie Cinquanta: Yeah!

Steven Spielberg: "Oh, thank you!"

Steven Spielberg: "It’s beautiful, you are an artist! Wow, in that picture of Harrison, the eyes are really great!"

Elodie Cinquanta: "Thanks!"

more artSteven Spielberg loved my drawings! A compliment from him is better than all the compliments from the whole world! I then gave him the back of my Director’s Chair to sign.

Steven Spielberg: "What is that?"

Elodie Cinquanta: "It’s my Director’s Chair with my name on it."

Steven Spielberg: "Your name is Elodie?"

Elodie Cinquanta: "Yeah!"

Fred asked Spielberg to sign two t-shirts (one from E.T. and the other from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.) Signing the E.T. shirt, Spielberg said:

Steven Spielberg: "Do you know this is the ORIGINAL one?"

Fred China: "Yes it is the original"

Directors Chair

SmilesSince the subject of E.T. was brought up, I took the time to tell Spielberg of how I was scared and traumatized by the film when I was younger.

Elodie Cinquanta: "I was so scared of E.T.!"

Steven Spielberg: "You were scared of E.T.?"

Elodie Cinquanta: "Yeah! And I needed therapy for that!"

Steven Spielberg: "Really? Wow!"

Knowing Spielberg collects ball caps, Fred asked: "How many caps do you have?"

signing artSpielberg then asked me to show him the HUGE drawing I brought, so I did.

 Steven Spielberg: "Wow that’s amazing! Do you want me to sign this for you? I will sign this for you!"

INCREDIBLE! I did not ask him anything and HE wanted to sign it for ME! He asks me to spell my first name and then he began to write "For Elodie". He then stops to think. I love the fact that for a few seconds, he was thinking about what he wants to write for me! He finishes writing and ends with a loooong signature!

Number 52Picture 53

 

Steven Spielberg: "Can you read it?"

Picture 54Elodie Cinquanta: "Yeah of course! Oh thank you so much!"

Spielberg then asks us:

Steven Spielberg: "Do you want to take some pictures?"

Elodie Cinquanta: "Yeah of course!"

I was the first one to step up! He came next to me and took me by my shoulder!

Another big SHOCK! I couldn’t believe it! I really enjoyed the moment, it was so GREAT! He then he takes a picture with Fred:

5657

55Finally, Aaron (who was taking all the pictures) gets a turn.

Steven Spielberg: "Do you want a photo with me?"

Aaron Wilkinson: "Yeah!" 

When it was all over Spielberg says to us:

Steven Spielberg: "It was great meeting you guys! I better get back to work, thank you, good bye!"

At that, he waves to us and walks away. Our meeting was at least five minutes long! Steven Spielberg spent five minutes of his precious time with us! Five minutes of my dream, only US with HIM! He is so nice, so cool, and so down to Earth! It was much better than I could have hoped for, better than all I could imagine!

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