George Lucas: King of the mountain

Perched in his northern California Shangri-la, Lucas has changed Hollywood his way.

122 Forbes March 11, 1996

 First they moved, then they talked, then they were in
color. George Lucas is taking movies the next step by
erasing the line between fantasy and reality.
The. .
magician
By R^nidall Lane
til DKt.i l.ti AS and Stc\cu Spielberg were taking a
lunch break from the Sri Lanka set oi Ind i a un Joncs
ami he I'nuple of Doom nn a b.ilm\- aficinooii 13
years ago, Spiclbcig was sitii-pinu, chocolate milk
when Fticas looked tip fi'oin his meal aiul pointed at
Spielberg's straw . "'You know , " he saiti, "somciku
cvcn'thiiig we Icirn, sec and hear will conic from
sometliinj; that looks just like that."
Spielberg shrtiggcd And returned to his milk,
but I,ticas had cx[>cricnccd a kind of epiphany.
His life wdtild n c \ c r be the s.niK', \\^- all but
stopped movie making, c\cn ili<iui;li his Star
Wars scries had been the iimst prolh.ibic m o \ i c
produci in historv. He also retired r!ic Indiana
Iones franchise, Hollywood's SCCMUI most valu
able film series.
Lucas retreated to his 4,700 acre Sk\Avalkcr
Ranch, north of San Francisco, and cloistered
hinisclt. He proceeded to ptimp rotiglilv' S2()()
million of his forttinc into tinkcrini; with th.it
metaphorical strawand ihc flow o digit.il infor-
mation that shoots tlir()t!i;li it,
A little more than a decade later, 1.ticas' iiiomcnt
ol inspiration is transtnrniing the mov ic business as
radically as did talkies or Fcchnicolor. " l i e has
changed the wav Ht)lyw(>od makes movies," sa\s
Paul Kagan, the well know n cnicriainmcin
researcher.
On his pastoral ranch aiiJ in a tlo/en buildings
scattered in nearby u>wns in Marin County, Lucas
has created the world's first ""digital sitidio," 11re
the ciireclor aiul producer are frceii from the
constraints of concrete rcalit\, Pre Lucas, unless
yoti v\erc making cartoDiis, yon ncetlccl real set-
tings ami real people to make movies, television
show s and commercials. Llie tilnimaker's imagina-
tion was constrained In physical limits. While an
author cotild create w ith words anything his imagi
nation cotild conceive, the filmmaker was limitcii
to what the audience's e\es vvimld accc(U as real.
Forbes M.uch 1 1,
No longer,
L'sing the new digital techniques, Spielberg
made lifelike dinosaurs rampage through Jurassic
Par!:. Llie fictional hero of Porrcst (iiinp v.u\ to
shake the hand (}['.\ real Jack Kennedy. "Suddenly
v\e have a goiilikc capability," says Richard FAIIUIU,
presiLient of Pxiss Lllm Studios, a digital effects
Company.
Lticas, now 5 1 , recalls: "TAervbody said every-
thing I've ever done was a hopelessly experimental
exercise thai wonld have no coninierciai value
whatsoever." N(>v\ everyone is rtishing to get on
the bandwagon (see ho.\\ p. 12"). lie has a dozen
compeiitors, [nany backed by big money, iiieliid
ing that of if.M and near-billionaire lohn McCaw .
Rotiglih' half of the movies released last year
utilized i-iigital visuals of some sort, while 9()';'r. tiscd
digitallv recorded sound. Lhat conti-asts with may-
be IO"n for each catcgdiA just tv\() \ears ago.
Sony is pumping tens ot iiiillioiis into its own
efforts, in conjtmctiim with its Columbia Picttn'cs
stibsidiary. DreamWorks sKt,, the studio toimed by
Sicven Spielberg, lefliey Katzenberg and David
(cften, has similar dreams. Lhe si\ other major
Hollywood studios face the vexing choice of niak-
ini; massive investments in their own digital facili-
ties or relying on Lticas and his competitors.
Given their tlrst chance to plav this new enter-
tainment tecliiuilogy, investors rushed to buy
shares in Pix.ir, Steven lobs' eomputer animation
ctunpany, this past November. 1 liotigh sales were
jtist S12 million last \ear, Pixar sports a market
vakie ()t'S925 luillion on the strength ot'its hopes
and tine big success, I'ov Storr.
What hath Lucas v\ rough t? I n a ven- basic sense,
he has ptit a powerful new tool at the serv ice of the
human imagination, cnabliiiii iilmmakers tc marry
tantasv and reality. (Computers take a [liccc of film
and digitallv render it, breaking it down pixel by
pixel. Software then transposes or creates images
within the film's setting.
"This was all born out of complete
frustration with how the medium
worked technically," Lucas teils
FoRiKS. A tlm editor by training, he
worries less about the artistic merit of
each shot and more about weaving
shots together to tell a cohesi\'e story.
The traditional photochemical
process prevented Lucas from getting
what was in his head onto the screen.
That he turned ro technology to s<iive
the problem was only natural: When
he was 10 years old in his uati\e
Modesto, Calif., his father made
young George earn his allowance by
cutting the grass with a push lawn
mower. George Lucas Sr.., who
owned an office supply store, wanted
to teach his son the ' lk bet\veen
sweat and money. George wanted to
sweat less for his money, so he saved
up and ht)ught a power mower.
Three decades later, in Sri Lanka,
he was tr\'ing to figure how to use
technology to bridge the gap between
his imagination and what could be
shown conx'inciiigly on a mo\'ie
screen. He has succeeded.
And in succeeding he has shown
how technology can be a liberating
force. For example, he has opened the
way to freeing nio\eniakers from the
tyranny of esealating costs. Digital
techniques are making some of the
most expensive aspects i)l" filnimak-
ing^costly sets, location shooting.
Digital Hollywood, step-by-step
Advances in digital effects have been in-
cremental, and George Lucas' Industrial
Light & Magic has been responsible for
most ofthe key innovations. Progress is
happening so fast that effects from movies
just three years old already look stale.
Herewith a brief and very unfinished his-
tory of the digitization of Hollywood.
124
extras, Stuntmenunnecessaiy.
Take the current hit IIJC American
President. At the end of the Him, the
president, played b\' Michael Doug-
las, gives his State ofthe Union ad-
dress. Two years ago director Rob
Reiner would ha\'e had to rent out
either the House of Representatives,
if even possible, or an opulent state
house, then fly the cast and crew out
to film on location; or else construct a
taux Capitol inside a sound stage.
In the film, instead, Douglas ga\e
the speech in front of a fake dais, and
the congressional foreground was
digitally created later. F.ighty extras
were digitally multiplied, creating an
audience of 1,500. A dozen people
can now make up a cast of thousands.
In 1994\s mountain climbing
thriller (.lifjhan^cr^ Sylvester Stallone
did most of the apparently death-
det\'ing stunts himself, while suspend-
ed by sati'ty wires and protected by
nets. Later the wires and nets were
digitally erased. This summer Tom
("ruise will do his ov\n stunts in Mis-
sion: Impossible. There will be plenty
of digital wire removal there, too. For
the most dangerous scenes, including
one in\()lving a moving train, Crnise
will film his sequence separately and
be patched into the scene later.
Star Wars, 1977 The advent of the motion
control camera marks the start of the special
effects era.
actors can now be created on
computer. Last year's Casper \\\^ the
first Him t<i star a completely digital
image. By the end of the decade.,
expect the first movie starring a fake
human.
And why not? Aren't the fictional
characters of great writingHamlet.,
Raskolnikov, Emma Rovar\'at least
as compelling as real people? One of
Lucas' smaller competitors has even
trademarked the word "synthes-
pian." Owning one, if he or she
catches on with the public, will be
worth a fortune, and no temperament
to contend with, no danger of scan-
dal, no greedy agents.
Of course, Lucas is already im-
mensely rich. He owns 100% of Lu-
casfllm, which includes the Industrial
Light & Magic visual effects division,
sound editing unit Skywalker Sound,
a \ideogame company, and the Star
Wars and Indiana Jones franchises.
Ft)RlHS estimates Lucasfilm, with
1,200 employees, has sales of $300
million, with pretax profit margins of
about 40%. Lucasfilm President Gor-
don Radley figures Wall Street would
value Lucasfilm around $5 billion.
H e \ not blowing smoke: Given Pix-
ar's astronomical valuation and the
value ofthe Star Wars series (see box, p.
126)., that number may be low.
A pretty good haul for a guy who
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, 1982 With
the "Genesis sequence," ILM creates the first
completely computer-generaled scene.
Forbes" March 11, 1996

needed a rootiimate w hile at the L'ni-
\ersity ot Southern (^alifortiia filtn
sebool because he couldti't afford his
S8()-a-month rent. .As a stitdent, his
inno\ ati\c HItiiniaking cattght the eye
of director Francis Ford C'oppola.
C)ppola sponsored Lucas at VVarner
Brothers, which gave him $777,777
(for luck) to turn his student ftlin
about a futuristic police state, THX-
/y.tS', into a commercial ivlcase,
Howc\er, his expciicnce on that
Digital techniques are
making some of the most
expensive aspects of
filmmakingcostly sets,
location shooting, extras,
Stuntmenunnecessary.
tiltil, and his second nio\ ie, American
Graffiti, pro\ed to be deftiiitig iiio-
nicnts tor I.tieas, as a tllmtnaker and a
businessman. Both titiies, studio hoii-
chos pulled rank atid made changes to
Lucas' tlnal version. Lucas got a simi-
lar lesson when Coppola, who had
been acting as his proiluccr, assumed
cotitrol ot a project Lucas had been
de\'eloping, Apucnhpsc \o]v.
Young Sherlock Holmes, 1985ILM develops
ilsiirstconiputei-generated charactei: the
"stained glass tnan,"
March 11,
Lucas didti't get mad. He got coti-
trol. "^V\x\ \'ery aware as a ci"eati\e
person that those who cotitrol the
means of production control the cre-
aii\'e \ision," he says. " l t \ not a
tiiatter o f goitig down and saying,
'Yoirre going to let me ha\e the tltial
cut.' Beeausc no tiiatter what yoit do
in a eontract, they will go around it.
Whereas it you own the cameras atid
yoit owti the tiltil, there's tiothitig
they can cio to stop y o u . "
Thus, w hcti Ameriean Uraffitrs
sttuitiing box otice poptikirityshot
for S7S(),()()(), it grossed SI2(} tnil-
lionga\e Lucas sotnc leverage, he
utili/,cd it. When tiegotiatitig with
Twetuieth Ceiitur\'-F()x iti 1975 for
his tiext mo\'ic. Star Wars\ Litcas ga\'e
u[i a larger salary and instead itisisted
on thitigs Fox regarded as ticar worth-
less: owiiersliip of the mcrchatidising,
music, publishing rightsatid of all
sequels.
It tLtrned out to be the right deal at
the right litne, one that assiurd Lucas
the real indepetidctice and ci"eati\e
control he had been seeking. Slav
Wars, of course, shattered ail box
The Abyss, 1989 ILM creates the first
computer-generated ihree-dimensional
character in "The Abyss," using its
"Mort" computer program. Introduced the
year betre m "Willow," Morf allows tluid
on-screen transtormation trom one object
to another.
Fantasy meets
reality in Jumanii
Digital characters are
first scuipted on com-
puter, then placed
into the movie frame.
Muscle and flesh are
added, then hair and
proper color. The
characters are suhse-
quently animated,
frame hy frame.
ofTlce rccord.s, tnaking so tiuich tnon-
cy that not c\'en faney Hollywood
accoutititig eoLtId niitiimi/e Lticas'
40% of the net protks. He woiitid itp
with aboitt S40 tnillion from the
til mthe merehandising, \ideo,
books and ihe like would later britig
hitii tcti.s of millions tnore.
Most itnportant, Litcas owned the
scc|uets, and thus the franchise. And
he deeided to tnaxitnize its \'aluehe
tinaticcd the tirst sequel. The Empire
Strikes Hack, himself, borrowing
hea\ily to coxcv the SSO millioti pro-
duction cost. Fox woLild jtist get a
distribution fee. Gi\cn the success o f
Star Wars., t was a good het, but a
huge riskif the tlltn somehow
bombed, Lucas was bankritpt.
Ihe tihn did exceptionally well,
however, as did tlic third iti the tril-
ogy. Return if the Jcdi, w bich Lttcas
also financed. Sitniar box oftiee riches
tlowcd from the three Itidiaiia Iones
tno\ies, which he producect dtiriiig
the lySOs. Litcas had etiotigh le\er-
age to tnake Paramoutit titianee the
films and let hitn own thetn. With itp
to 77% of the protks, Lucas eartied
well o\er SlOO tnillion.
"Cieorge is tiot intimidated by
risk,'" says Spielberg, who direetcd
the Indiana Jones trilog\'. " A n d when
Terminator 2; Judgment Day, 1991
Muiiiilg beOTlbS bUplliSiiL-dicd tjriuUgil
to allow ttie first digitally created
ma|or character, the amorphous
T-1000 machine.
125

Money machine
vidocassettes of 1995? The
Lion Kin, Disne\'\s re-
cent animated blockbuster,
and the Star W'ars trilogy,
a scries of mo\ics that ha\c
been airing on network
and cable tcle\ ision for w ell
over a decade. Released as
a special one-time-only set,
it sold 28 million copies
at S20 each. That resulted
in an estimated SIOO-
million-plus protit for
George Lucas, thanks
largely to the prescient deal
he made with Twentieth
Centun'-Fox 20 years ago
to retain ownership of all
sequel and ancillan' rights.
The \ideos arc just a
tiny bit of the Star Wars
money machine. Since
the mo\ ie debuted in 1977,
over S3 billion in licensed
merchandisefrom ct)mic
books to pewter Franklin
Mint statuetteshas been
sold. "Star Wars mer- of Lucas' licensing di\ ision. bly taken S500 million out
chandise is the Holy Grail Another Star Wars suc- of the franchise. And with
of tt)y licensing: the stan- cess secret: concept conti- the digitalK' enhanced orig-
dard by w hich c\en thing nuit\'. Lucas' rc\enuc inal rctiirniim, to theaters
else is measured," says
Sean McGow an, a toy in- A sampling of Star
dustn' anah'st at Gerard Wars wares
Klauer &: Mattison. Keystones to a
In publishing, Bantam biilion-doilar
Btjoks has shipped 15 mil- franchise.
lion Star Wars-based no\'-
els since 1990; all but 3 of
the 19 titles have hit the
New York 7'wt', bestseller
list. "Star Wars is our
largest publishing fran-
chise," says Bantam pub-
lisher Irwyn Applebaum.
Why the staying pow-
er.- Because rather than sim-
ply making a mo\ic, Lu-
cas created a fantasy world
from w hich has flowed a
long stream of products. streams all feed off each in summer 1997, followed
Lucas' team has insisted other. Bantam will release by a new trilogy, Lucas
both on high-^quality li- a new no\ el. Shadows of the w ill see hundreds of mil-
censing partners and on Empire, in April. A comic lions more as Star Wars
limiting supply. "We see book version w ill follow in hype returns in full. All the
this as a core brand and a May. Then comes a more to in\'est in new
lt)ng-term franchise," says soundtrack and x'ideogame. projects. -R.L. and
Howard Roffman, head So far Lucas has proba- JAMKS SA

the risk pays ofl', 1 think it empowers
him to do it again."
That's putting it mildly. As he got
richer, Lucas kept betting the ranch.
At the \ery top of his game he largely
abandoned mo\ iemaking and poured
money into his digital experiments,
which he knew could not pro\ide a
return for many years.
He was the only person w ho ct)uld
e\en justif' such a pursuit. The major
studios, which control the money,
must worry about quarterly earnings.
\'enture capitalists rarely think as big
as Lucas did, betting hundreds of
millions on untested techiiologies.
When he stopped making films,
Lucas had already spent tens of mil-
lions on Industrial Light & Magic,
created in 1975 because he couldn't
find an outside company to do special
effects for Star Wars. Back then, sei
ence fiction directors still weren't
abo\e using Frisbees to simulate
spaceships, II.M'S first breakthrough: a
motion control camera, which could
revi)l\-e repeatedly around stationary
objects while remaining in constant
focus, thus simulating flight,
II.M became Lucas' personal special
effects research anci development lab.
His mo\ies' success and dependence
on effects justified the expense.
Rut money as such doesn't seem to
be what makes George Lucas run.
When he cut back on mo\ iemaking,
his finances were already under strain,
a di\()i"ee settlement haxinu nickeci

The Young indiana Jones Chronicles, 1992

It proved a ratings dud, but Lucas used his televi-
sion series for radical experimentation witfi digi-
tal effects and editing. The series' directors digitally
created backgrounds and introduced digitally
replicated extras.
Death Becomes Her, 1993 ILM creates com Jurassic Park, 1993 Digital technology yields
puter-gonerated skir, one of the key hurdles to living, breathing creatures, with muscles, skin and
digitally created actors. texture.

126 Forbes" March 11, 1996

him fbrabotit Sf>() milli(in,and he had
la\ishcd S7r> million on what he calls which is how this double our revenues
his "jis\choli)gical experiment" - George's company started." next year easily," sav-s
Skywalker Ranch, named lor the lead Trotible is, with Ross, the former ii.M
character in Star Wnrs-
industry head wln)se IBM-
the digital eflc'cts busi-
Sct among the rolling hills of Marin " I I - v o i ; I ooK at a ness roughly dou- backed Digital Do-
County, the ranch was intended lo rock ' n ' roil chait, ev- bling each year, moiv main is Lucas' chief
remo\e its owner lar liom the pres- erything goes back to and more Lucas lieu- competitor. " I t ' s sim-
sures aEid preoccupations of Holly- HK'is and Mtitidy Wa- tenants are receiving ply a question of get-
wood. What he ciid, in effect, was to ters; everything in captain-like offers ting the people."
create bis own en\ironmciit, one he this business goes back Lucas won't com-
\\asc()n\inced would niu'tuiv creati\'e to Industrial Light &: pete on monev'he
energy, Lucas spent a fortune plant- Magic," says Scott pays two-thirds w hat
ing more than 2,()()() adult trees to Ross, chief executive his competitors offer
encourage the foxes ,\K\ pheasants o f effects company and doesn't issue
that thri\e in the area. He fashioned a Digital Domain, shadov\' stock. The ap-
cotnplcx of Victoi'ian-style houses for peal of working at In-
Indeed, almost ev-
offices, and a taux winery for a pro- dustrial Light & Magic
ery digital effects com
duction building, Norman Roekwell is the lifestyle, the
pany has key exeeu-
paintings look o\er state of the-art Utopian work condi-
tives who leai-ned the
comptiters, ''It's a ci'eati\e communi- tions and a record of"
trade at Lucas' In-
ty," says l.ueas, " A n d me having ac- getting the most
dustrial Light & Mag-
cess to this creative community is sought-after
what the real liixidemi of all this is," ic. Lucas couldn't
care less, projects.
To get some cash flow, he remade ""Tve never been Digital Domain's Scott RossIt does seem to
II ,xt into a sen ice compan\'. Having one to try to hold peo- Lucas' top competitor. work. Ste\'en Spielberg
created a market (or special eflects- ple with contracts or says that Dream-
laden films, he began taking in work anything like t h a t , " Works' new digital stu-
from other filmmakers; he had alreadv says Lucas. 'M believe most j-eceinly Ken Ral- dio wiil ally with Lu-
done effects for his pal Spielberg's i f you have talent and ston, who left in No- cas rather than com-
1982 reeord-breaking E.F.: The k\- skill, you should spin \'ember to launch pete with him, ''iL.xt
tra-Ti-nrstrial. This way he could off on youi- own and Sony's digital studio. still has most o f the tal-
keep developing teehniqtics, w hile become eaptain o f The loss of key person- ent," he shrugs.
other people funded his research, vour ov\ii destim'. nel hurts, ''We could
('harging up to S2S million per
movie, [IM v\as almosi immediately
profitable. "Anyhoiiy who wanteti to commercials, which currentU' repre- dusti-\''s t o p sound effects companv.
do a lilni of any stature, they'd have to sent 2S% of II M'S business. It then branched i n t o p r o v i d i n g a
pav' the price," says Scott Koss, a Lucas never took a dividend out of digital sound system for theaters and
tormci" ii M heacl v\ ho now runs com- the company and drew just a modest homes, which is licensed under the
petitoi" Digital Domain, salarv. As profits developed, the mon- name m \ , after Lucas' first mov ie.
Atid incrementallv IIM began de- ey w as fiinneled into related business- As intcractiv itv became more dev el-
veloping breakthroughs leading to es that sprang from this research. o p e d , Lucas moved i n t o c o m p u t e r
the digital future Lucas wanted. Ad Skvvvalkcr Sotuul emeriicd as the in- videogames. Leaning heavily o n the
vertisers beuan u.sint; the effects Ibr i\' Star Wars franchise, the ct)mpany is

Star Wars Special Edition, 1997 The mov

Forrest Gump, 1994 Numerous break-
tliroijgiis- Digital coniposiling advances allow
weaving of fictional and hislortcal footage. Gary
Sinise's character becomes a double amputee Ihe
easy wayhis legs are erased. Football crowds,
fielicopters, Ping-Pong balls, all digitally created.
The filn wins ILM ifs fourteenth Academy Award.
Casper, 1995 Hollywood's first digital
lead character. That same year "Jumanji'
broke the final barrier preventing
digital humanshair. Monkey fur
and a lion's mane were rendered strand
by strand.
le's twentieth-anniversary edition will
demonstrate just how far Lucas has come.
Sound and visuals will be enhanced,
backgrounds transformed, characfers created.
And the Harrison Ford of 20 years ago will
find himself in an entirely new scene, opposite a
digital Jabba the Hutt.

Fortvs M.vh t 127

now the largest maker of videogames splice method. In 1991 Lucas sold era colossetim.
for computers, with about 10% of the this system to Avid Technolog)' with a Such technological advances prom-
market. Today each of these divisions similar provision: Al! advances are ise to break the tyranny exercised by
is protitable, led by the \icieoganic shared with Lueas royalty-free. "We the large sttidios. Lucas is persuaded
maker LucasArts Entertainment, w ith didn't want to be in the hardware that around the turn of the centtiry
sales of about $100 million and $25 business," says Lucasfilm's Radley. young Himmakers w ill be able to make
million in profits. What business, then, does interest deeent-quality movies for a fev\' thou-
Some applications were sold ofT Lucas? Fhe business of using tcchnol- sand dollars each. At that pt)int, nio\'-
ies on the Internet become economi-
cally feasible. "The product will have
ace ofVersailles tion near Australia's small market niches," he says.
The around them," sav's Great Barrier Reef. While Lticas supplied the vision, he
real thing Steven Spielberg, no But he sht)t the night plays little part in the actual techno-
stranger to effects. scenes during the logical processes. Ross says that while
GEORGK LU(:A.S has Instead, directors daythe sky was digi- he ran ILM, he and Lucas went months
long envisioned a mo\'- w ill look to computers tally darkened lat- without speaking. Lucas, who lives
ie studio w here ac- nearby, generally comes to the raneh
tors and scenes are dig- Designer Ellen on Fridays only, writing scripts the
itally warehoused, Poon, with her rest of the week at home. "For a long
accessible at the touch digital effects time I basically worked for the com-
of a button. Tech- software pany," he says. "I created this so the
nolog}' will catch up A replace- company wotild work for me."
with his vision within ment for filming For Lucas, it's back to the Star Wars
a few years. on location? and Indiana Jones franchises. He's
Does this spell the Not so fast. working on a script for the fourth
end of traditional film- Indiana Jones movie, w hich Spielberg
making on location? confirms that he'll direct.
The consensus among In conjunction with Star Wars'"
directors: probably twentieth anniNersai*)' next year, Lu-
not. Sets are too im- to cut costs and cre- er^making produc- cas is re-releasing the film to theaters.
portant in drawing ate scenes not other- tion far easier and But it won't be the same Star Wars:, it
out an actor's best per- wise possible. John cheaper. He also filled w ill be closer to what Lucas originally
formance to be dis- Frankenheimer, who the island with hn- imagined. The ciesert village in the
carded. "I certainly directed Tlje Mnn- man-rat hybridsa tall famous cantina scene is replaced by a
would not quite ehurian Candidate, is order before digital teeming cit>', bustling with robots
know what to do if now finishing a ver- effects came along. and aliens that weren't there before.
I had two actors sion of H.G. Wells' Is- "It's phenomenal," Visuals aud sound have been digitized
standing in front of a landofDr. Moreau, says Frankenheimer, and enhanced. Finally, an entirely
blue screen, and later with Marlon Brando. "but it's only a tool." new scene has been added: Harrison
there would be the Pal- He filmed on loca- -R.L. H Ford's Fian Solo meets a digital ver-
sion of the blobbish bad guy Jabba the
Hutt, c(.)unesy of an otittake and
when they no longer fit into Lucas' ogy to advance the art of filmmaking some strategic digital erasing of the
vision of a digital studio. By 1986 and to liberate it from constraints of actor who originally played Jabba.
Lueastilm had de\eloped a computer time and place and costs. New tech- After that, Lucas will film the next
animation sy.stem. Btit Lucas had no nology allows a director to sec what a Star Wars trilog\', the first of which
interest in investing the $50 million camera has filmed halt\vay around the should be in theaters by 1999. He
he believed it would take to develop a world, making direeting an entirely intends to shoot all three movies
film animated entirely on computer. new experience (see box, above). Digi- simultaneously, v\'ith at least half
So he sold Pixar to Steve Jobs. tal cameras that can shoot in natural of the scenes digital!)' rendered.
On the stirtace it was a bad deal for light will eventtially remove the film "We're going about it in a slightly
Lueas, given Pixar's huge market cap- from t-ilmmaking. A digital deliver)' more organic v\ ay," Lucas says. Esti-
italization today. But Lucas got what system should come before that, al- mated cost: $60 million per film,
he w aiited: A ke\' provision of the deal lowing theaters to switch tilms with a about half what the)' would cost
provided that Lucas wotild receiN'C phone call, saving millions per movie using traditional methods.
royalt\'-free use of all advanees Pixar on negative costs. George Lucas is one of the richest
made on the software. Adciitionally, Lucas forecasts that people in America, but that isn't what
Another spini)fT from Lucasfilm within five years digital itnages of turns him on. "All sttidios are going
was a project using powerful worksta- actors anci background will be inter- to loi)k like what we are," he says,
tions to edit film on comptiter, thus active, allowing a moviemaker to gazing across his ranch. "They're all
relieving Lucas of the old cut-and- download a bit character or a Roman- going to be exactly like us." ^

128 Forbes "March 11, 1996

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