STAR WARS – THE STORIES AWAKEN
It is not just the Force that awakens with the forthcoming release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The world seems to be totally obsessed with the movie, not a bad thing, not for Disney and Lucasfilm, not for the global exhibition community and not for the many businesses that will also earn revenue from the merchandising, and in due time, from the home entertainment release in all of its various incarnations.
And at least for the next several years, the continuing productions, Episodes VIII and IX, and the offshoots, will generate a trail of other stories.
If you live on the planet and are involved in social circles of any kind, online or in person, you have heard stories, too, and perhaps even shared a few of your own.
The stories that people have been telling include where they were when they first saw a Star Wars movie, regardless of the episode, which characters they played in games with friends, which video game was the most or least fun, etc. and for many, how it impacted and influenced their lives.
You get the idea.
For me, it was a theater on Cambridge Street in Boston in May or June 1977. It was literally a push to get into the theater as crowds shoved their way in, jostling with all those around them, attempting to remain connected with the group with whom they came to the theater.
It was an experience, a very positive one, as the movie was just different from anything most of us had seen. The phrase “may the force be with you” found its way into everyone’s lexicon and was often a parting phrase among friends and co-workers.
Little did I know at that time how that “little” movie would impact me.
It was a month or two later when we moved to California and two years after that, the force came into my life.
Lucasfilm hired someone from 20th Century Fox, the movie’s financier and distributor, creating an opening for which I was recruited from Coopers & Lybrand (PriceWaterhouseCoopers).
Little did I know at that time, that 8 ½ years later, I would return to C&L and work in its entertainment practice. Little did I know that the following year the firm would have an opportunity to bid against other Big 8 firms for the Lucasfilm account, and that we would we awarded the account.
And, little did I know that shortly thereafter I would be recruited by Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic to be a part of its first professional management team, heading up the finance and administrative functions.
I am very much looking forward to The Force Awakens, although I suspect I will not push and shove to get into the theater on opening weekend.
While the movie will likely play in theaters for an extended period of time, I will be there early enough in the release to participate in the stories people will tell around the water cooler, the real one or the virtual water coolers of Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites.
It was a long time ago…..you, know the rest of that phrase, but the influence endures.
May the force be with you!
My Star Wars story that is. What’s yours?
Originally published October 27, 2015 as a part of a newsletter. The primary essay is published here as a stand alone blog document.
© 2015 The Shindler Perspective, Inc.
Luis Gutierrez
Though I had never worked for ILM nor Lucasfilm, I have been a long time fan since 1977 but not just for the fanfare but for its special effects as it was referred to at the time. As a child early on I knew how to pencil draw and began creating my own artist endeavors. From 1977 onward I would read and study on my own about ILM and they were and still are my biggest influence even though I may not work directly in entertainment today but those aspirations led me to be a graphic designer in the corporate video and live staging arenas but yet I still have an interest and passion for storytelling with visuals especially in entertainment. In 1999 after having been part of a mass layoff from the corporate world pushed me to reinvented myself into a very steep learning curve transitioning from traditional art to the digital graphics platform. During this process I met wonderful professional and inspirational people like Marty Shindler and some of those inspiring artists of ILM like Lorne Peterson (who I met in 1999 at a CSULB event where he had attended & graduated like myself), Craig Barron (who graciously sat with me in 2004 and evaluated my entire art portfolio), Russell Paul (who I met at a 2000 Siggraph convention and had traded many networking emails) and many others from worldwide through the association of the Visual Effects Society and their annual Visual Effects Society Festival including having met Tom Atkin (the Executive Director of VES at the time who I met back in 1999 after having VHS copied a local NBC News interview he and I participated at a Siggraph meeting) and pioneer Ray Harryhausen (I spent time chatting with him at a VES festival and was honored by taking a photo with he and his wife back in 2002). And today like many others will be another adaptability and sometimes I feel like I am a bit ahead of the game as I had been working from home since 2006 and this is another road bump for me as I have a positive outlook being that the world has had to adapt, adjust and have a better understanding to a different work environment as well. Thank you, Marty!