Mr. Spielberg:
I'm here to interview the
entire staff of the Obama
administration for this
event and I'm here, okay.
Cool.
We're here to show the President
the first out of 10 hours of our
HBO series, "The Pacific" -- which I produce with Tom Hanks,
my partner, and Gary
Goetzman, his partner.
Mr. Hanks:
POTUS and FLOTUS -- do
you know what that means?
The POTUS and the FLOTUS?
Speaker:
Tell us.
Mr. Hanks:
I think they're gonna be the President of the United States.
Well, I'm in -- I
don't know where I am.
I'm in the White --
I'm in the White House.
What part of the
White House is this?
Speaker:
We're in the East Wing.
Mr. Hanks:
We are in the East
Wing of the White House.
Generals galore, veterans --
I think there's like, what,
40 seats in the screening room?
Every one will be taken with
some sort of honcho and big shot.
I think Steven and I might have
to stand in the back of the room.
Mr. Spielberg:
I want the American people to realize that there was a battle
in the Pacific in World War II.
So much emphasis has
been put on Europe;
these battles in the Pacific are
not stories that are often told
by Hollywood filmmakers
or television producers.
Usually, it's the battle in
Europe in World War II that is
memorialized or celebrated.
General Conway:
I'm happy that -- that he's focusing on the Pacific because
we've had Band of Brothers,
we've had the D-Day celebrations
and observations and I think
this goes to the other side of
the planet and talks about the
determination, the courage,
and the sacrifice that we saw on
the Pacific on the part of --
of all servicemen and
women who served there.
Mr. Hanks:
I read history for pleasure constantly and I'm always
stumbling across what I think
are fascinating stories that --
if you ignore the fact that
they took place 70 years ago --
are actually about who we are now and what we're going through
today, and I think
this was one of them.
Mr. Spielberg:
These were kids off
farms, you know;
these were kids that were
working in greengrocer,
you know, you know, stores.
These were kids that had high
school diplomas and they were
going to college and they
were working, you know,
in their dads' businesses and these were all the kids that had
never been out of their states
-- even their communities --
and all of a sudden, they're fighting in faraway places.
It was a baptism of fire; it
was a coming of age for --
entire generation -- of
the greatest generation.
And we're really trying to show
people the kind of strength and
courage that these young
kids brought to the world.
And in finishing the war
and in -- in victory,
they were able to start --
restart America on solid bedrock
having defeated fascism.
Mr. Hanks:
My first interview with any White House website, I must say.
(laughter)
