Slipstream (1967 film)

Slipstream is a 1967 film about bicycle racers directed and written by Steven Spielberg and Roger Ernest that went unfinished. Ernest later appeared in Spielbergs The Sugarland Express and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Slipstream also co-starred Tony Bill, who was already an established actor, and Jim Baxes, who went on to co-star in 1975 in the hit TV show SWAT under the stage name James Coleman.

While preparing to shoot Slipstream, Spielbergs assistant director on the project, Peter R. J. Deyell, introduced him to aspiring cinematographer Allen Daviau, who was working at Studio City Camera, a motion picture equipment rental facility. Spielberg hired Daviau to shoot Slipstream, as well as three of Spielbergs early feature-length films: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Color Purple and Empire of the Sun.

Relatively inexperienced at the time, Spielberg believed that Slipstream could be made for $5,000. Despite getting equipment, film and services donated, he soon ran out of money and ended production.