Steven Spielberg was a fearful kid who found solace in storytelling

Steven Spielberg was a fearful kid who found solace in storytelling Enlarge this image toggle caption Mike Coppola/Getty Images Mike Coppola/Getty Images Oscar Award-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg still remembers the first time he went to the movies. Enlarge this image toggle caption Merie Weismiller Wallace/Universal Pictures Merie Weismiller Wallace/Universal Pictures On learning his numbers as a kid from Holocaust survivors' tattoos It's how I learned my numbers. Enlarge this image toggle caption Graham Morris/Evening Standard/Getty Images Graham Morris/Evening Standard/Getty Images Sometimes my dad would have reunions with other members of his fighter squadron and the Ford 90th Squadron, and they'd come over to the house sometimes, once every couple of years, and there'd be seven or eight guys together, and I'd be wandering in and out of my room or going into the kitchen, but I'd hear some of their stories and talking. Enlarge this image toggle caption Kevin Winter/Getty Images Kevin Winter/Getty Images On his fear that audiences wouldn't see Saving Private Ryan because of the violence It was DreamWorks money, and I was kind of convinced that it was going to lose its shirt, that every single dollar we poured into Ryan and the movie cost, but the movie then cost $59 million — shot in '97, came out in '98.