On Tuesday, July 26th, at 6:00 p.m. central, the LaSalle Public Library will virtually host Professor Emeritus, Brian Rose, for presentation that explores the four decades of filmmaking by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.

Hollywood is an industry that has always 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 our 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.

Brian 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 & 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 St Y., and at JCCs and libraries throughout the country.

This program is free and open to all. It will be virtual via Zoom. Register by going to – https://bit.ly/3nkDYJv. For more information, please contact the LaSalle Public Library at 815-223-2341.