According to Redford and Lucas, their success lied in the fact that they positioned themselves outside the studio system which eventually contributed to their successful projects. PHOTO: AFP
During the discussion, Lucas hit back at critics who said his role in kicking off Star Wars business has melted down cinematic storytelling, reported variety.com.
“If you go into Star Wars and see what’s going on there, there’s a lot more substance than circus,” he said.
In its day, Star Wars represented a major breakthrough in technology. Today, it is the comic book-based movies and special-effects driven productions that dominate movie screens.
The technology that Lucas helped popularize was all in the service of plot, he further argued.
“All art is technology. That’s the one thing that separates us from animals,” he added.
Redford, who is best known for character-driven films such as The Way We Were and Out of Africa, commended Lucas for his farsightedness after he decided to finance his Star Wars films himself so that he is able to retain a grip on their creative and commercial future.
“What I admire about what he’s done is he’s been able to control his own universe,” Redford said.
According to the entertainment website Deadline.com the panel discussion focused more on storytelling but also covered a wide range of topics pertaining to the entertainment industry such as the economics of the business.
Lucas also joked about the secret behind his great fortune stating that, “All the money is in the action figures.”
Redford and Lucas are considered as two of the most successful filmmakers in Hollywood history but both of them also stressed upon the fact that they perceived themselves as rebels in the industry.
According to the legendary filmmakers their success lied in the fact that they positioned themselves outside the studio system which eventually contributed to their successful projects like Lucas’ Star Wars and Redford’s Sundance Institute a non-profit organization he founded in 1981 to advance the work of filmmakers and storytellers worldwide.
Both men believed that they came of age during the hippie movement in the 1960’s. “All of us in film school hated the establishment,” said Lucas.
He stated that the anti-establishment drive led him to maintain a geographical remove from the major studios and make san Francisco his home as opposed to Los Angeles.
The anti-establishment sentiments in turn also resulted in Lucas founding the visual effects and film companies Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) and Lucasfilm respectively. Both of these companies have been behind successful franchises like Indiana Jones, Star Wars and whereas ILM has handled the visual effects for movies like Transformers, Avengers and Iron Man to name a few.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 2nd, 2015.
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