Monday, 23 November 2015

Attempt to contact George Lucas [1]

During the research for the dissertation I have been unable to find the reasoning behind George Lucas's chose to retain the Star Wars licensing rights. I found a contact email on the Skywalker ranch website and I received the following reply:

'Thank you very much for your email requesting to interview George Lucas. We’re happy to know you admire Mr. Lucas' work, and that you would like to reach out to him for your dissertation. Because Mr. Lucas receives such a large amount of similar requests, we regret we’re not able to accommodate your request, especially in light of his retirement and travel schedule. If you would like to make your request with someone at Lucasfilm, you can try emailing their PR department: publicity@lucasfilm.com

If you would like to learn more about George Lucas, we can recommend two books: GEORGE LUCAS, THE CREATIVE IMPULSE by Charles Champlin and THE CINEMA OF GEORGE LUCAS by Marcus Hearn.  You should be able to find them at the library, and they contain a great deal of information about Mr. Lucas and his career. I have also attached a list of other books that may interest you about Mr. Lucas and Star Wars.

Once again, thank you for your email and we wish you the best of luck in your endeavors.

Best,

Kristine
Skywalker Ranch Publicity'

I have detailed my opinions of the email through the lens of PPP on the relevant blog section.
In terms of the dissertation project, the email did indeed, though indirectly lead me to answer I have been looking for. The documentary 'Empire of Dreams' includes interviews with cast members and the crew behind Star Wars, as well as the creator, George Lucas. Towards the beginning, Lucas describes that the decision to retain the licensing, was part of his greater desire to keep control of Star Wars creatively, and he was happy to sacrifice a portion of his profit to ensure he had creative freedom, one useful quote is as follows:

‘When I took over the licensing I said I’m going to be able to make t-shirts… [and] posters and I’m going to be able to sell this movie even though the studio won’t. So I managed to get control of pretty much everything that was left over that the studio didn’t really care about’ (BURNS, 2004)

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