The Men Who Would Be King is a tome about American film studio DreamWorks, which Steven helped set up. Author Nicole LaPorte makes a series of claims about the famous director, including he is obsessed by secrecy and keeping himself safe, meaning he has a host of special procedures he follows both at work and home.
Nicole alleges Steven is so concerned about the security at his office he has a motorcycle permanently parked outside in case he ever needs to escape.
"In Spielberg`s office, hanging above his desk, a plexiglass half-moon keeps sound from reverberating so that his phone conversations remain ultra-confidential," she claims. "When an assistant once asked what the funny thing over Spielberg`s desk was, a security guard referred to it as a `dome of silence?."
It is also alleged a black cloth is used to cover windows whenever Steven`s editor has to look at new film footage. The 63-year-old also apparently insists that any item of writing leaving the office has to be in code. This means that should a script or memo be leaked, it is easy to find out who is behind it.
"When Spielberg isn`t at [his office], live-cam images are streamed to his home. There are also measures to protect against earthquakes or attacks, as Spielberg believes in being prepared . . . At one point, employees were given survival kits including gas masks and other amenities," Nicole claims.
Although the author admits she didn`t talk to any of DreamWorks` founders - Steven, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen - she insists she did interview around 200 people who had at some point been employed by the organisation.
"This description is so far from the real world of Steven that it doesn`t deserve a comment," Steven`s representative said. "If the rest of the book is like this excerpt, readers can expect very little of what they read to be true."
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