Steven Spielberg, 79, said he only agreed to start DreamWorks if it would be a 9-to-5 job.
Speaking to Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson on the latest episode of the “IMO” podcast, Spielberg said that balancing family life with filmmaking was difficult.
“One of the biggest challenges is just running out of excuses why I can’t get home for dinner. Because it’s my loss. It’s their loss, but it’s also my loss,” Spielberg said.
The filmmaker married the actor, Kate Capshaw, in 1991. Together, they raised seven kids, including four children they had together, Spielberg’s son from a previous marriage, and Capshaw’s two older children.
That family-first mindset even influenced one of the biggest business decisions of Spielberg’s career.
When Spielberg was considering joining David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg to launch DreamWorks, his wife wanted to ensure the new venture wouldn’t keep Spielberg away from their children.
“When we formed DreamWorks, Kate said, the only way I’m really going to say this is OK with me is if you get home every night by 6 — 5:45 is better — and have dinner with the family,” Spielberg said. “Don’t go to work at 6 or 7. Unless you’re shooting, you can get up at 5:30, which we usually do. When you’re not, when you’re running a studio, you’ve got to have a 9-to-5 job.”
The filmmaker said he made that “a condition” of his involvement with DreamWorks.
“It’s going to be a real time drain for me, and I need to be with my family,” Spielberg said.
It’s not the first time Spielberg has discussed the role parenting plays in shaping his career decisions.
In a 2023 interview with Indian filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli, Spielberg said he “chose to turn down the first ‘Harry Potter'” in order to spend time with his kids.
“So I sacrificed a great franchise, which today, looking back, I’m very happy to have done, to be with my family,” he said.
At the 2026 SXSW Conference and Festival in March, Spielberg said his children had become a bigger priority than his career.
“Directing, actually, has, in the last 20 years, taken second position to my parenting and to all their needs,” he said, per People.
The filmmaker isn’t the only prominent figure to draw firm boundaries between work and family life.
Fashion designer Tory Burch has said she would “never trade off” being a good mom for her career. “I guess the only thing that was sacrificed is my sleep,” she said during an April episode of the “Aspire with Emma Grede” podcast.
Netflix cofounder Marc Randolph has also spoken about the importance of protecting time outside of work. In a 2024 post on X, he said weekly Tuesday night dates with his wife remained nonnegotiable throughout his career.
“For over 30 years, I had a hard cut-off on Tuesdays,” he wrote. “Rain or shine, I left at exactly 5 p.m. and spent the evening with my best friend.”
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