BOOKS AS WRITER
Steven Spielberg and Duel: The Making of a Film Career
Rowman & Littlefield, 2014
In Steven Spielberg and Duel: The Making of a Film Career, Steven Awalt provides an exhaustive study commemorating the film that decisively launched the career of a major film artist. Through in-depth research and interviews with Duel’s creative and technical crew, the author tracks the film from genesis through production to release.
Awalt conducted lengthy one-on-one interviews with Spielberg, Matheson, assistant director James Fargo, editor Frank Morriss, composer Billy Goldenberg, former MCA/Universal president Sidney J. Sheinberg, and writer-producer Steven Bochco, among others.
Available in hardcover, paperback and eBook formats.
Awalt has been working on full-length books on the making of Joe Dante’s Gremlins, Richard Donner’s The Goonies, and Steven Spielberg’s The Sugarland Express. More information on each book will be shared here as each book reaches publication.
Books as Editor
Awalt served as fact editor on a number of books on the films of Steven Spielberg and Amblin Entertainment including Spielberg: The First Ten Years (Author: Laurent Bouzereau. Insight Editions, 2023); E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial: The Ultimate Visual History (Author: Caseen Gaines. Insight Editions, 2022); and Jurassic Park: The Ultimate Visual History (Author: James Mottram, Insight Editions, 2021) at the requests of the publisher and/or Amblin Partners.
Selected Articles
Into the Monster House
An Interview with Director Gil Kenan
[Amblin.com]
Along Came a Director
Frank Marshall on the Making of Arachnophobia
[Amblin.com]
Friend-Maker, Fear-Maker
Writer-Director Jacob Chase on the Making of Come Play
[Amblin.com]
The Evolution of Lex
Ariana Richards Looks Back to Jurassic Park
[Amblin.com]
Interviews
Over the decades, Awalt has conducted on- and off-camera interviews with filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, Richard Donner, Joe Dante, Frank Marshall, Eli Roth, Peter Farrelly, Gail Mancuso, producer Mike Finnell, writers Richard Matheson, Chris Columbus, Bob Gale, Charlie Haas, John Sayles, Matthew Robbins, Hal Barwood, Mick Garris, Tom McLoughlin, Richard Christian Matheson and Steven Bochco, actors including Roy Scheider, Goldie Hawn, William Atherton, Christopher Lloyd, Jeff Goldblum, Ariana Richards, Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Corey Feldman, Frances Lee McCain, Josh Brolin, Kerri Green, Robert Davi, Jack Black, Marg Helgenberger, Dennis Quaid and more, production designers Joe Alves, Rick Carter and James Spencer, composers Alan Silvestri, Billy Goldenberg and Michael Lloyd, and many more craftspersons and studio executives on numerous film and television projects.
He has also appeared as an interview subject himself in The Shark is Still Working, a documentary on the making of Jaws (available on the Jaws Blu-ray and UHD), and The Devil on Wheels, a documentary on the making of Duel, along with numerous podcast appearances discussing films and filmmaking:
Podcast Guest
Saturday Night at the Movies: The Skinny on Duel (October 23, 2023 episode)
Film Score Monthly: The Music of Amblin Entertainment: The 1990s (Parts I & II) (2023 subscriber episodes)
Home Media Minefield. Duel with Special Guest Steven Awalt. (November 26, 2021 episode)
We Be Geeks: Amblin Dreams with Steven Awalt (February 15, 2021 episode)
New Books on Film: Steven Awalt, Steven Spielberg and Duel: The Making of a Film Career (February 18, 2015 episode)
ROUNDTABLE ARTICLE CONTRIBUTOR
Reese’s Pieces, Flying Bicycles and a Boy’s Life: Remembering E.T. on Its 40th Anniversary. The Digital Bits, December 31, 2022.
It’s Not the Years, It’s the Mileage: Remembering Raiders of the Lost Ark on Its 40th Anniversary. The Digital Bits. October 11, 2021.
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Cinema: Remembering Jurassic Park on Its 25th Anniversary. The Digital Bits. July 18, 2018.
The Great Adventure: Remembering Raiders of the Lost Ark on Its 35th Anniversary. The Digital Bits. June 14, 2016.
The Game Changer: Celebrating Jaws on Its 40th Anniversary. The Digital Bits. June 22, 2015.
Steven Awalt 