George Lucas

George Walton Lucas Jr. (Modesto, California, May 14, 1944), known internationally as George Lucas, is an American filmmaker, writer, philanthropist and businessman.. Lucas is best known for creating the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts and Industrial Light & Magic. He served as the president of Lucasfilm before selling it to The Walt Disney Company in 2012.

After graduating from the University of Southern California in 1967, Lucas co-founded American Zoetrope with filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola. Lucas wrote and directed THX 1138 (1971), based on his earlier student short Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB, which was a critical success but a financial flop. The film was chosen to compete in the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival that same year. His next work as a writer-director was the film American Graffiti (1973), inspired by his youth in the early 1960s in Modesto, California, and produced through the newly founded Lucasfilm. The film was critically and commercially successful, receiving five Academy Award nominations, including Best Director and Best Picture.

Lucas's next film, the epic space opera Star Wars (1977), had a troubled production but was a surprise success, becoming the highest-grossing film of the time, winning seven Awards. Oscar and causing a cultural phenomenon. Lucas produced and co-wrote the sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). With director Steven Spielberg, he created, produced, and co-wrote the films Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). He also produced and wrote a variety of feature films and television series through Lucasfilm between the 1970s and 2010s, including Kagemusha (1980) and Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters. (1985).

In 1997, Lucas re-released the Star Wars Trilogy as part of a special edition with various modifications; More changed home media versions were released in 2004 and 2011. He returned to direct with a Star Wars prequel trilogy comprising Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005). He last collaborated on the CGI-animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008-2014, 2020) and the war film Red Tails (2012).

Lucas is one of the most successful and influential filmmakers in history and has been nominated for four Academy Awards. He is considered a significant figure of the New Hollywood movement and his films are among the highest-grossing films at the North American box office, adjusted for movie price inflation. the tickets.

Biography

He was raised on a walnut-growing ranch in Modesto, California. His father owned a stationery store and had three siblings.As a teenager he attended Downey High School and was a fan of car racing, even planning to become a professional race car driver. However, he suffered a terrible accident with his car shortly after graduating from high school, he was hospitalized for several weeks and was about to die. This accident definitely changed the way he saw life. He decided to go to Modesto Junior College, where he took subjects like anthropology, sociology, and literature, among many others. He also started filming with an 8mm camera. During this time, Lucas and his friend John Plummer became interested in Canyon Cinema: screenings of filmmakers associated with the underground and avant-garde, such as Jordan Belson, Stan Brakhage and Bruce Conner.

Lucas and Plummer also started watching classic European films, such as À bout de souffle by Jean-Luc Godard, Jules and Jim by François Truffaut and 8½ by Federico Fellini. "That's when George really started to explore," Plummer has said. Thanks to his interest in automobile racing, Lucas met the renowned cinematographer Haskell Wexler who also shared his passion for racing. Wexler, who would later work with Lucas on several occasions, was impressed by the boy's talent: "George had a very good eye and thought in a very visual way."

Lucas moved to the University of Southern California (USC), where he studied in the School of Cinematic Arts. USC was one of the first universities in the United States to have a school dedicated to film education. During his years at USC, Lucas shared a room in the college dorms with Randall Kleiser. On campus he also forged friendships with peers such as Walter Murch, Hal Barwood, and John Milius, among others. This group of friends became known on campus as The Dirty Dozen (a reference to the 1967 film of the same name directed by Robert Aldrich); all twelve would achieve some success in the Hollywood film industry. Lucas also became very good friends with a prominent student on campus, with whom he would later collaborate on Indiana Jones: Steven Spielberg. Lucas was heavily influenced by the Film Expression course taught by filmmaker Lester Novros and brought together the non-narrative elements of film form such as color, light, movement, space, and time. Another inspiration was Serbian filmmaker (and dean of the USC Film Department) Slavko Vorkapich, a film theorist who has produced large montage sequences for Hollywood studios such as MGM, RKO, and Paramount. Vorkapich taught the autonomous nature of cinematic form, emphasizing the unique dynamic quality of movement and the kinetic energy inherent in film.

Career

THX 1138

As a film student he made several short films including: Freiheit (1966) and Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB (Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138) which won first prize at the festival national student film 1967-68. Also in 1967, Warner Bros. awarded him a scholarship that allowed him to observe the filming of Finian's Rainbow (1968), directed by Francis Ford Coppola. When he began his apprenticeship at Warner Brothers studios he said that he wanted to work in the animation department. Precisely, when he arrived it was the last day of said department, which was later closed. Over time Lucas and Coppola became good friends and together they created a company called American Zoetrope in 1969. The company's first project was a full-length version of THX-1138: 4EB with the slightly modified title: The Cult Classic THX 1138.

In 1971, Coppola began producing the film The Godfather, which was released in 1972, while Lucas decided to create his own company, Lucasfilm Ltd.

American Graffiti

During the production of THX 1138 (1971), producer Francis Ford Coppola suggested George Lucas write a script that would appeal to the general public. Lucas embraced the idea, drawing on his early-1960s teenage experiences cruising in Modesto, California. "Cruising disappeared and I felt compelled to document the whole experience and what my generation used as a way to meet girls," Lucas explained. As he unfolded the story in his mind, Lucas included his fascination with Wolfman Jack.

Adding semi-autobiographical overtones, Lucas set the story in his 1962 hometown of Modesto. Characters Curt Henderson, John Milner and Terry "The Toad" Fields also represent different stages of his younger life. Curt is modeled after Lucas's personality during USC, while Milner draws on Lucas's street-racing adolescence and junior college years, and hot rod enthusiasts he had met from Kustom Kulture in Modesto Toad represents Lucas's years. nerdy as a freshman in high school, specifically his "bad luck" with the quotes The filmmaker was also inspired by Federico Fellini's I Vitelloni (1953). The film won the Golden Globe, the New York Film Critics, and the National Society of Film Critics Award. It also earned five Oscar nominations, including the Oscar for Best Picture.

Star Wars: recognition and success

George Lucas was recognized for having conceived successful sagas as Star Wars e Indiana Jones.

During 1973 and 1974 he devoted himself exclusively to writing the script for his next film, a space fantasy called The Star Wars. To write this script he was inspired by the comic Flash Gordon and the movie Planet of the Apes . Then in 1975 he founded Industrial Light & amp; Magic (ILM) to produce the special effects he needed for the film. Another company called Sprocket Systems would be dedicated to editing and mixing the sound of Star Wars. Later this company would be renamed Skywalker Sound. However, his Star Wars project was rejected over and over again by various studios, until he had a meeting with the executives of Twentieth Century Fox, who decided to give it a try. Lucas reached an agreement with these directors to give up his salary as director of the film in exchange for receiving 40% of the box office profits and all merchandising rights. What seemed like a good business for Fox was not so, since Star Wars became a tremendous box office success in 1977, causing a phenomenon remembered to this day and even receiving seven Academy nominations, something almost unthinkable until then for a science fiction movie. He was so stressed during the filming of Star Wars that he had to go to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 1964 at the age of 20.

Lucas began the story of The Empire Strikes Back, episode V, and Return of the Jedi, episode VI, both of which he executive produced leaving directing duties to Irvin Kershner in The Empire Strikes Back and Richard Marquand in Return of the Jedi. When he began pre-production on Return of the Jedi , he was given the fake name Blue Harvest to mislead the fans and the industry in general. He asked Spielberg to direct Return of the Jedi, but a dispute with the directors' union prevented him from doing so. David Lynch was also offered the direction of the tape. Despite their reputation for Hollywood blockbusters, all of the Star Wars films are independent films, with the exception of Star Wars: A New Hope. The only way he could get the financing required to make the film was to apply to the studio. With the success of the film and its marketing, Lucas no longer needed the studio. For episodes V and VI, he took out bank loans, which he repaid with the proceeds from each film. For the "prequels", he did not need any loans, having enough money to finance each film with his own personal savings.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

In 1980 he wrote and produced Raiders of the Lost Ark, which was directed by Spielberg and won five Academy Awards. He struck what was at the time an unusual deal for the film Raiders of the Lost Ark: Paramount financed the entire $20 million budget, in return Lucas would own more than 40% of the film and it would collect almost half of the profits after the studio made a certain amount of money. This turned out to be a very lucrative deal for Lucas. Paramount executive Michael Eisner said that he felt the script for the film was the best he had ever read. He was also co-producer and creator of the story Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, released in 1984, nominated for two Academy Awards and won an Oscar for special effects.

Temporary retirement

George Lucas with Jim Henson at Labyrinth

From 1980 to 1985 Lucas invested his time in the construction of the Skywalker Ranch, to bring together the creative, technical and administrative resources of the already important Lucasfilm. Later, George Lucas would revolutionize cinemas with his THX system, which was developed to maintain the highest quality standards for the projection of a film. He also became the president of The George Lucas Educational Foundation.

He adopted three children: Amanda Lucas (1981), Katie Lucas (1988), and Jett Lucas (1993).

He refused to lend a million dollars to Francis Ford Coppola for the purchase of Hollywood General Studios. This led to their separation until Lucas finally apologized and they reconciled.

In 1992, Lucas was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Award by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for lifetime achievement. Lucasfilm Games, later renamed LucasArts, is highly recognized within the video game industry. Sold Lucasfilm's computer graphics division to Steve Jobs of Apple Computers. It is now known as Pixar.

Second Star Wars Trilogy

Lucasfilm's last project was to finish the new Star Wars trilogy. The Phantom Menace, Episode I of the new trilogy, was written, directed and produced by George Lucas and was released on May 19, 1999. In May 2002, the second part, Attack of the Clones, episode II, also directed and produced by him. The final chapter of the new Star Wars trilogy, Revenge of the Sith , Episode III, which opens the doors to the classic trilogy, was released on the 19th May 2005, leaving the saga finished.

George Lucas in Time 100 in 2006

In 2007 it was announced that he was going to produce a television series about Star Wars that would take place between episodes II and III; Star Wars: The Clone Wars, is a CG animated show that debuted in the fall of 2008. Before doing the Star Wars prequel trilogy, I was going to do the fourth part of Indiana Jones in 1995, however it could not be done until Lucas, Ford and Spielberg were convinced to start filming. The film was released with the title Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Skull of cristal in 2008 and was well received by the public and specialized critics.

In January 2012, Lucas announced his retirement from producing large-scale blockbuster films and to focus his career on smaller, budget-independent features. In June it was announced that producer Kathleen Kennedy, a long-term collaborator with Spielberg and the producer of the Indiana Jones films, had been named co-chairman of Lucasfilm. Kennedy was reported to be working alongside from Lucas, who would stay on as CEO and she would serve as co-chairman for at least a year, after which she would succeed him as sole leader of the company.

The Lucasfilm sale.

On October 30, 2012, Lucas sold Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion to Disney.

Red Tails, Strange Magic and future projects

He produced the film Red Tails about a group of distinguished black World War II pilots called the Tuskegee Airmen which was released in 2012 and wrote the 3D animated musical Strange Magic, inspired by A Girl's Dream summer night. George Lucas visited the filming set of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Han Solo: A Star Wars Story, both of which he gave his thumbs up to and enjoyed watching the two mentioned movies. It is not known what he is doing now but it was announced that he will write and produce the fifth Indiana Jones film, which excited fans of the saga who were previously puzzled if he will not return to the production of the film.

Philanthropy

Lucas has pledged to donate half of his fortune to charity as part of an effort called The Giving Pledge, led by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to convince the richest people in America to donate some of their wealth. to charities.

Filmography

Appearances in his own films

Lucas made an appearance in the Star Wars film, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, playing an extra character named Baron Papanoida. He also made a cameo in the movie Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom along with Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall, and Dan Aykroyd.

Awards and distinctions

Oscar Awards

Golden Globe Awards

Festival de Cannes

BAFTA Awards

Hugo Awards

Saturn Awards

Empire Awards