Steven Spielberg Pays Tribute to John Williams at Maestro’s Doc Premiere: “Greatest Creative Partner I Have Ever Had”
At the premiere of Disney+ doc Music by John Williams on opening night of AFI Fest on Wednesday, Steven Spielberg took some time to reflect on his longtime collaboration with the legendary composer.
The duo have worked on nearly 30 films together, including Jaws, E.T., Schindler’s List and the Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones franchises. Spielberg serves as producer on the new Williams documentary and inside the Los Angeles screening, recalled how for several years the two would host fundraiser concerts for orchestras around the country. The filmmaker would play a scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade with no music first, joking the four-minute scene would feel like 14 minutes. And then the scene would replay with Williams leading an orchestra, making the four minutes feel like 90 seconds.
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“That is the miracle of film scoring and that is the consistent miracle of John Williams, what he has brought to all of our movies and how he has elevated them and brought them out to all of you,” Spielberg told the crowd. “Often, you might even leave a film that John Williams has scored, and a week later you may forget the film but you will never forget the music.”
He continued, “I love John, he is much more of a dear family friend, a family member; he’s the greatest creative partner I have ever had. In the 52 years John and I have been working together, him scoring my films in this industry, this is the greatest partner I have ever had in the creative arts.”
Though the 92-year-old Williams was not present at the event, producers Ron Howard, Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall were on hand, as well as supporters J.J. Abrams, Gustavo Dudamel and Bryce Dallas Howard.
Howard thanked Williams for trusting the team to tell his story, and weighed in on if the composer will truly retire as he’s hinted at before, musing to The Hollywood Reporter, “I think Steven will get him back” for another project.”
Director Laurent Bouzereau teased he was “constantly harassing” Williams for years to make a documentary and when he turned 90 it seemed like the right time. Bouzereau added that the composer is very happy with the film, saying, “He’s called me, he’s written me, I talked to him this morning. He really felt it was very special. It grew on him; he was a little bit shy at first and he’s very private but he really warmed up to the process and I would walk by him and he’d say, ‘When are we doing the next interview?’ And we followed him everywhere so he got used to us.”
Music by John Williams will premiere on Disney+ and have a limited theatrical release in New York, Los Angeles and London on Nov. 1.
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