12.16.2019 - Summarized by Kaetlyn Bennett

When gone am I, the last of the Jedi will you be.

The force runs strong in your family.

Pass on what you have learned.

– Master Yoda

 

J: He started off as a film student, a story teller. And went on to launch one of the world’s best known brands and change his industry. The force is strong with this one. Let’s see what we can learn and pass on from the life and career of George Lucas, on today’s Straight Shot marketing podcast. You really want me to talk like Yoda in the beginning there?

 

Welcome everyone. Today we are helping celebrate the release of the latest Star Wars film, the Rise of Skywalker.

Which I’m confused by, didn’t we already see the rise of Luke Skywalker? Wasn’t that the first 3 movies with Luke? Oh, and then also the next 3 movies with Anakin? Oh but now it’s the girl - Rey.

Zachary you are a big star wars fan.

 

Z: Well I grew up with Star Wars, I remember seeing the second movie in the theater, playing with the toys in elementary school, reacting to their changing the name of the 3rd from Revenge of the Jedi to Return of the Jedi..and I took my son to every film thereafter.. so yeah, I guess. But not like some. Others are much more into it than me…

 

J: and that’s a Segway – We have a guest with us in the studio today. A Star Wars fan and collector… and a UI/UX designer has worked with us for many years and someone I consider a close friend. Welcome Frank Scott to the show… so tell me, how long you’ve been a fan and tell me about your first Star Wars experience. Tell me about your collections… what are your most prized pieces? How long have you had them, etc? ....

 

J: So let’s go back to the beginning… how did all of this Star Wars Brand Empire start.

 

Z: In this episode, I want to take two angles that I think will be relevant to our audience.

One is of course the success of Star Wars as a brand.

But 2, is the success of George Lucas… he was a business owner… just like most of our audience. What can we learn from his life?

 

J: Now, Frank, as we walk through the story, please chime in with any thoughts, stories, feedback you may have in how what we are discuss has impacted your life....

 

Well, George Lucas graduated film school in 1967 and formed an independent film company called American Zoetrope with Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola discovered Lucas at USC. Lucas won multiple awards at school including best student picture for THX 1138 4eb. Coppola wanted to make that as a feature film. So they made his first picture called THX 1138 (based on his student film)… but it didn’t perform well financially. The studio actually wanted their money back. So, long story short, the company went broke and Lucas then started his own company, Lucas Films LTD.

 

Yes, George Lucas, like most of our audience, was a business owner.

 

Now, just at the time of Zoetrope’s failure, something was happening in Hollywood… the old, successful studio executives were retiring, and their successors didn’t know as much about filmmaking. So their marketing teams, through consumer research, determined that there was a market for young filmmakers making films for younger audiences. So they decided to back Lucas. At the same time, Coppola challenged him to do a film that was not as edgy.- so he wrote and directed American Graffiti in 1973. It was based on his own experiences in the late 50s/early 60s. • And it was hugely successful.

 

That success gave him the opportunity to create a strategic deal for his next project - an epic space opera called Star Wars. Lucas was a creative. He was a storyteller. He had passion, vision, and skill. He believed in the story of Star Wars. And he had passion to reinvent a classic genera that he grew up with on TV. Science Fiction was not the mega genera that it is now. It existed, but it wasn’t “Crossover” Star Wars changed that. Star Wars brought Sci Fi to the mainstream.

 

Most sci fi films, like Planet of the Apes, Death Race, and 2001, were moderate at the box office. The majority of sci-fi films made about $10 million. He didn’t expect Star Wars to do much more than that… because it was the standard.

 

Now in developing the story, he did research. What makes a story work? What do people, his consumers, relate to? What do they want? How can I give that to them using my skills, my passion, and my vision. He studied myth and legend. The story arks and architypes that were successful through the generations. He studied experts like Joseph Campbell, Homer, and others. And found a story that was universal for his own audience… moviegoers.

 

Z: There is something to be said about studying those that came before you. That’s what we are doing right now, going through history and pulling lessons from those that came before us. Gaining wisdom from previous successes.

 

J: By the time he was ready to pitch the concept for budgeting, he had a huge 200 page script. So he decided to trim it into 3 parts and the first part was going to be “Star Wars.” It knew wasn’t going to be cheap to make, so to help him secure the funding, he hired a conceptual expert to help him realize and communicate the story and his vision, in all it’s glory, to the studio executives. His name was Ralph McQuarrie and he helped Lucas communicate and sell his story to the studio. The visual communication elements, helped the studio understand that need.. for a larger budget in making the film.

 

Z: Two things here:

First, He understood that his vision needed to be made realistic. While he never lost the goal, he trimmed what he expected of himself right at that moment. One movie for now, two more for later. Keep the goal, but do it in realistic stages.

#2 Lucas recognized that his first audience was the studio executives. He had to sell his idea to them. By hiring Mr McQuarrie, he was able to sell through to the executives and have his dream movie, funded.

 

J: So, now that he’s negotiated the contract for Star Wars. Including the right to make the next two sequels … he kept the Big Picture in mind while handling the details.

 

His next task was creating a visual effects company that could do his movie… there weren’t any around and the studio fx departments had been disbanded… so Lucas started buying up equipment from the disbanded departments and founded Industrial Light and Magic.

 

He hired architectural design engineers, model makers, and crews that worked on commercials, rather than feature films. These weren’t Hollywood people… they were commercial film makers/ad agency types/ and designers that were used to dealing with smaller budgets and doing things in miniature. Perfect for what he had in mind.

They were very creative individuals, who dreamed of working on a feature film… they had passion and were excited about working on the team, for Star Wars.

 

Z: You could see their passion in that they cross-trained…they helped each other, and worked outside of the standards and norms of Hollywood - Because they didn’t come from Hollywood, they didn’t have to follow the union’s system for who does what task and in what way… and because of that they created new ways to make a film. By focusing on content rather than money and rather than “the way its supposed to be”, they changed the world of film making. That would not be the case in Britain.

 

J: The first bit of work was plagued with issues:

• The studio was very questioning of Lucas’s casting choices before they left for shooting

• when they started shooting, they were in north Africa, and the shoots were full of issues related to the weather, worst rainstorm in 50 years, sets were trashed and had to be rebuilt.

• C3PO, actor anthony daniels, was injured by his costume

• the R2D2 actor, kenny baker, was continually left inside his suit when the crew went on break

• props malfunctioning

• executives, crew, actors – all were not believing in the script, visions, casting choices….

 

Lucas fell into a depression.

 

Alec was the veteran actor. He saved it for the crew and actors… because HE believed in the story.

 

Things got better once they left North Africa but there were still crew and cast problems – • some weren’t taking it seriously b/c they thought it was a kids’ movie

• The actors thought the dialogue was cumbersome,

• there were issues with following the rules of the British Union and keeping to the shooting schedule.

• Lucas would step in to do certain tasks and was told that it wasn’t his job by the crew. • He was having difficulty completing his vision because of these issues and budget.

• He grew impatient with the actors. But they did try to cheer him up.

• With this type of film, there was more than the actors to pay attention to and it was very stressful.

• The actors would later give him props for staying the course and keeping true to his vision and keeping things on track.

 

Now at the studio, he had an ally in Alan Ladd Jr, the 20th century fox studio chief that fought for him on a regular basis. Nearing the end, when the executive board was panicking over schedule and had decided to give Lucas an ultimatum…. Alan warned him it was coming.

• Dec 1976 was the original release date. • He wasn’t going to make it.

• He was over budget and over schedule

• He told him the studio decided schedule was more important than budget.

 

George split the crew into units to shoot multiple things at one time and he bicycled between the sets to try and wrap up quicker. So eventually, Britain studio shots were completed.

 

When he got back to the states he went to ILM and they had only completed 4 scenes… they had spent 50% of their budget building the studio and getting the equipment ready.

Can this guy not catch a break!?!

 

Z: That was an issue with being innovative. They had to create and set up everything before working. They had robotic moving cameras on blue screens with models. It was innovative for the time.

 

J: But there they were, 4 shots, and Lucas wasn’t happy with them.

 

Z: Alan had promised the studio that it was the greatest movie ever made.. That promise kept them from pulling the plug or firing him, b/c of the “what if he's right” factor

 

J: At this time, George began feeling chest pains and checked himself into a hospital. He was diagnosed with hypertension and told to destress… but he didn’t. Instead he doubled his efforts to finish the film.

 

Z: He jumped in to ensure all went well at ILM. Lucas was a strong production force that came daily to make decisions and force them out of their laisse faire attitude. His drive helped them meet quota, pushed them in both perfection and maintaining the schedule. Remember, only half the film was actor related… the rest, was ILM.

 

J: Once shooting was complete, he didn’t take a break. He went right into editing. He came in every weekend.

But the first edit he reviewed from his editors was horrible. • He felt it didn’t capture his vision at all

• and when redirecting the editors, they would argue with him…

• so he fired them, …all, and decided to start over,… from scratch.

• He and his wife, plus he hired two addtl editors to attack the project of editing the film on time.

 

Z: Now Steve Jobs, another successful business man, had this same philosophy. If you don’t believe in the vision of the company… you are fired. However, Lucas was also a skilled craftsman.. He not only had the vision, but he could also edit the film himself. Jobs didn’t build code or computer boards. Still we can see a kinship in successful business traits.

 

J: Not the film, but a limited promo trailer, was released christmas of 76...with no or few fx shots, and no score. A new release date, was set for the summer of 1977. And the editors raced to meet the deadline

 

Z: Lucas had personally edited together real aerial dog fight footage from WWII to storyboard the shots for the editors… it showed the rhythms, pacing, and shots.

 

J: The film’s sound design was organic and well edited….including voices: • chebacca was made up of several real animal sounds

• vadar’s breathing was the sound designer in a scuba mask

• even R2D2 was 50% voice of the sound designer making noises and 50% synth. Regarding voices:

• James Earl Jones was hired to re-record all of Darth Vadar’s lines so they had a darker tone

• They even tried a different voice for C3PO but decided to keep the original actor….

 

There were a lot of course corrections over the first 2 drafts… but on the third draft, the studio loved it

 

In talking about post production, let’s remember:

We didn’t have CGI back then. His vision included being able to accomplish the sci fi effects through practical means.

• Sound effects were gathered with an analog tape recorder.

• The soundtrack was not synthesizer.

• George recruited and directed John Williams for the score.

• The spaceships were models that he shot on blue screen, photo, and painted backgrounds using perspective to make them appear larger than life - - but that also meant the need for a complete sound treatment.

 

Now he also saw that those models, would lend themselves to the toy market. And that those toys would help kids share the story of Star Wars.

• Now, at the time, licensed toys were based on Television shows, not film.

• The concept of movie merchandising was virtually unknown.

• But just the same this had been part of his strategic deal with the studio– he didn’t ask for more money, he asked for more rights. Lucas had a plan.

 

Lucas saw it as a way to promote the movie, if and when the studio failed to do so - He had a big mistrust for the studio system. He planned to make posters, t-shirts, and toys to help promote the movie to his potential audience himself… not relying on the system. All the elements that the studio didn’t consider valuable (at the time), Lucas took control of. And that included the idea of making Toys for the movie.

 

Z: It made sense, the movie’s audience was young boys and their parents… and the Toy audience would be young boys and their parents. It was a perfect, under appreciated match.

 

J: Lucas brought in a marketing director of his own - Charles Lippincott.

Who had contacts within the sci-fi fanbase... they knew it was the brand’s key target audience to build from.

• Lippincott secured a deal with Marvel to make comic books before the release. Keenly targeted to sci fi fans.

• He also had a novel version of the screen play published prior to movie release. Again, keenly targeted products for the SCI FI market and these two built an initial fan base for the brand before the film was ever released.

Lucas and Company went to every toy manufacturer and they all passed. All except one, Kenner Toys.

 

Z: Kenner saw that Star Wars was “toyetic” – That’s a term coined by Bernie Louis of Kenner that meant it had the special something that successful toys have and so they went all-in. We’ll talk more about the toys shortly

 

J: Ok, back to our timeline.

The movie is ready but no theaters wanted to book the film for the Summer of ‘77.

• The company made and distributed a beautiful picture book to sell it through to theaters (b2b) but it wasn't having an impact.

• There was no media coverage to promote the movie b/c there hadn't been anything for the media to review. They were still editing right up to the end.

 

So 20th century fox took a risk and made it where theaters couldn't book “The Other Side of Midnight,” an eagerly anticipated studio release based on a best-selling book, unless they also booked Star Wars... And theaters took the deal. Star Wars started to book in the theaters. However, as May 25, 1977 approached, they braced for the worst.

 

But the reactions were amazing!

• No one had ever seen anything like it.

• The special effects were so good, so real. • It was revolutionary.

• It was the first major blockbuster in recorded history.

• Amazing response, ticket lines wrapped around the buildings.

• Fans started buying merchandise to brag that they had seen the film. • It became “cool.”

• Merchandise became a handshake between fans.

 

Z: To give you some perspective on it’s success:

• 20th century fox’s studio profit record up until then was $37 mill/year..

• The year of release they reached $79 mill. More than double. It was all because of Star Wars.

• The studio’s stock price doubled inside of 3 weeks

• As a business… that’s good stuff… would you like to double your business’s value?

 

J: Why do you think Star Wars was so successful? The movie itself, why did it make such an impact on you?...

 

Now let’s get back to the toys… this is where that part of the story kicks in: Kenner was signed-on just months before the movie was released. So there was little for kids to buy – very limited mechandise available when it was released

 

Z: Licensing for movies just hadn’t been successful in history. You see, Kenner didn’t necessary believe in the movie, but they were looking to build space toys...anyway... so they signed on. And then when the movie was a smash, Kenner was caught off guard and they couldn't produce toys fast enough for Christmas 1977.. so they had to come up with a strategy:

 

J: But before we get into Kenner’s strategy. Let’s give a little more background on them: Kenner was known for the easy bake oven, spirograph, Stretch Armstrong, etc…Several toys you’ve heard of right? They were also one of the first toy companies to use tv advertising nationally.

 

But even with those names, Kenner was considered a small manufacturer on the 11th floor of the Kroger building in Cincinnati, Ohio. All the big boys had passed on Star Wars.

 

The toy industry was booming with Barbie and GI Joel being the number 1 toys. Other toys were mostly driven by TV shows. Kenner produced toys for the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Women series.

• TV Shows were considered good because they released episodes on a weekly basis…and that helped promote toy sales.

• Movies weren’t as good because a movie came to town once and that was it. • They were considered Temporary.

• And it takes a long time to manufacture toys. About a year from design to retail.

 

Z: Now GI Joe and Barbie were both bigger doll toys. About 12” or so.

But with Star Wars, Kenner knew they wanted to make the spaceships… • so having the figures fit into a smaller spaceship was paramount.

 

So they made the figures based on a Fischer Price figure set that had just come out. • They were only 3.75” tall.

• It made play much better and less bulky for the child.

 

Matter of fact, in the design stage, they took those same Fischer Price toys and added modeling clay to develop the prototypes for toy presentation to the studio and Lucas. Because of the success of Star Wars toys, 3.75” tall is now the standard size for action figures.

 

J: So Kenner took their prototypes to get approved by Lucas and the studio. Lucas wasn’t there (in our time line, he had gone back to Britain to make the movie) but the studio loved them.

• But they wouldn’t signed an over a check to Kenner, not just yet.

• Instead, they started working together under a deal-memo, while the lawyers and accountants negotiated contract points.

• Lucas gave them blueprints to the models used in the movie and Kenner started work on producing the line.

 

Z: In the deal, 95% of the profits went to Kenner; 2.5% went to the studio; and 2.5% was for Lucas. This was a very lucrative deal for Kenner so they really dug in. Remember, Lucas saw this as a promotional/marketing strategy, not a profit center.

 

J: But it was too close to the movie release date when they got their deal. Nothing was going to be in the marketplace in time. So Kenner had to make a strategy. They began to think “out of the box”

 

Z:

Part one of their strategy involved -

• releasing anything that as picture based: bop bags, puzzles, games, paint sets, etc. Very little manufacturing there.

• They also embraced “Label slapping” which is where they took a toy they already manufactured and simply made it Star Wars.

• The Red Baron toy became the Millennium Falcon gun cockpit. Toothbrushes were made Star Wars, headsets were made star wars, etc.

 

J: Now, did you guys have any of these?...

 

Z:

Part two of the strategy was much more creative -

• They released the “Early Bird Certificate Package” which was basically a way to pre-sell the toys.

• They released an empty box that had a display in it and a certificate that offered them the first 4 actions figures produced as early as Spring of 1978. – Leia, Chewbacca, R2D2, and Luke

 

J: And it worked.

But they were so late that some toys designers could be seen at the movie with pad and paper to try to rush out toys designs. They made some mistakes, like Snaggletooth was built to the wrong scale and wearing the wrong colors (a collectors’ dream).

 

Z: But Kenner sold 22 million figures a year when Star Wars came out. Sales jumped up 40% for the company.

I remember this very clearly in my childhood - I was in early elementary and all the kids had these toys

 

J: And after 2 years, they were still operating on the deal memo.

When the studio finally got around to finalizing the deal, Kenner had the upper hand and negotiated intergalactic rights for life with one stipulation –

• They had to sell enough toys each year to pay Lucas a minimum of $10,000 in royalties or just write him a check.

• Now remember that, it will be key later in the story.

 

Why did the toys do so well… when they had never done well before? Frank, What do you think?...

 

Z: A sociology professor in Illinois teaches a college class on Star Wars. He name is John Tenuto and he says toys worked well for the movie because, unlike sports, you can only imagine and play “Star Wars”… you can’t actually go to a game. So people began collecting the toys to be part of the universe they loved… merchandise was the only way.

 

J: I grew up near where that guy teaches.. college of lake county

 

Now there was a lot of merchandise out there:

• Darth Vader Tooth Saber

• Lunch Boxes

• Ships

• Pez dispensers

• Bubble Gum cards • Games

• Shampoo

 

It was so lucrative that there was a counterfeit market. Companies like Uzay that made “stars war” toys. They were unlicensed and in Turkey. They made toys like:

• dart vader

• Che (shay) bacca

• blue star (hoth storm trooper in blue)

• head man with shield and sword (not relative to Star Wars at all)

• an imperial officer at controls of laser gun on the death star...but the packages featured a calculator as the control panel

 

To this day, counterfeits are still around in the international market. There’s one call Star Wart.

 

Z: Some strange ones:

• Spain had a cobrand with Colgate and the Bib Fortuna figure because he had the worst teeth is Star Wars

• China had a windup dalmatian storm trooper crawl baby - wins strangest

 

The Star Wars holiday special, cartoons, and toy advertising is what kept the brand alive between movies. So it did help promote the movies and keep them top of mind.

 

Kenner even began making toys that were said to be “off camera” to expand the world of Star Wars.

• Lucas didn’t mind, he thought it gave more life to the story. Space toys had taken over the space once owned by cowboys and Indians and then world war related military toys.

 

J: But after movie 3, George Lucas said they are gonna let the brand rest - so Kenner needed back off

 

Z: Now if you look at Lucas’s time with the franchise. The first 6 movies. The movies made $7 billion dollars… but the toys made $14 billion. That gives you an idea of the importance of the toys to the brand.

 

J: Frank, what toys and merchandise do you have in your collections?...

 

Z: Some more perspective - Kenner made $100 million in profit the first 28 years of their existence. 1947-1975.

They made the same amount in 3 years because of Star Wars 75-78.

Star Wars was indeed Toyetic.

 

J: Now Kenner went on to make:

• strawberry shortcake

• carebears

• playdoh

• DC comics figures

 

They were well known for movie figures for

• Ghostbusters

• Terminator

• Jurassic park

• Alien

• Water World

• Small Soldiers

• and more.

 

Z: Then Tonka bought them – Then Hasbro bought Tonka

So Kenner was being held up, sponsored by these parent companies Then, eventually, Hasbro closed them-

They had changed the face of action figures and the industry built on their work.

Later Hasbro would use the Kenner brand name in re-releasing vintage star wars figures.

 

Speaking of sponsors - Let’s take a minute to hear from Straight Shot’s sponsor. Guys, Reformation Productions sponsors our podcast. We work for the agency. It’s our day jobs. And we’re thankful to them for being allowed to bring you the show. If you’d like to be a sponsor of the show as well, please reach out to us – straightshot.net

 

 

Now, back to Lucas’s story, we jumped a little off our timeline:

After the first film, he obviously had tons of support to make the next two pictures. Star Wars cleaned up at the award shows, ironically it did not win best picture, But it earned more money than any movie in history and George Lucas would be calling the shots moving forward… and that is how he saw his success…” now I can make the next two independently of the studio system.” He didn’t mind if they distributed it, but he didn’t want them to control the creative.

 

So he financed the next picture without them.

He went to a bank with the clout of Star Wars and borrowed the money.

He received twice the investment budget as the first movie to make Empire Strikes Back.

 

Z: Now, he didn’t want to direct (stress). So he hired Irvin Kershner. Lucas wrote and produced the film.

 

Lucas invested profits into LucasFilms & ILM and moved to a new building and they set out to top the first movie. They were motivated. He had the team, the process, the systems, the buzz, and the support.

 

J: Things were much better than with the first movie:

• He started by shooting in the snow of Norway as opposed to the desert of North Africa.

• They had better compositing because technology continued to grow.

• He had respect from the crew and actors this go around.

 

But again they went over budget and over schedule. Lucas then had to negotiate additional monies from the studio without giving up any of the rights. He refused to lose the rights to his picture.

 

Z: The script had a twist and was kept secret by overdubbing lines in post-production.

And on May 21, 1980, Empire was released…and it surpassed expectations.

 

Lucas again re-invested the profits into his companies:

• sky walker ranch

• ilm

• lucasfilm

• lucas arts

• skywalker sound

 

He built a world to create his movies separate from the big studios. This was his goal. Not only to make A movie, but to build a business.

 

J: All was great until the Directors Guild got involved:

• Star Wars moved the film credits to after the film to maintain the dramatic opening shot of the movie. The Guilds had allowed it.

• But with Empire, they fined him for doing it and they tried to get the picture pulled from the theater.

• Then they went after his director.

• Lucas paid all the fines, including for the director, but he was very angry.

 

Z: He pulled out of the directors’ guild, writers’ guild, motion picture association, and more.

Here is a man that had re-defined the industry and they came after him for more money… it was very disrespectful

Again this guy keeps getting hit from all sides.

 

Alan Ladd Jr, the studio chief at Fox, quit because the board at the studio questioned him about the deal he had made (for the studio) with Lucas. Greed was all around the franchise.

It’s like when someone wins the lottery and the world around him turns evil.

So Lucas took his next picture – Raiders of the Lost Ark – to Paramount for distribution.

 

J: Yep. But the 3rd Star Wars picture was under contract to Fox.

• But again, he financed the next Star Wars picture, Revenge of the Jedi, himself.

 

But people still had their hands out for anything Star Wars related.

• When going through location scouting and preproduction, they called it “Blue Harvest” so people didn’t bump up the fees on them.

• That worked fine until they saw Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford on set.

 

The movie was re-named Return of the Jedi and released May 25, 1983.

 

After this movie, the script he had written years before, had been completed.

That’s when he decided to rest the Star Wars brand. He had taken little to no breaks. • He had also gotten divorced and was a single father. So Star Wars was over.

 

Z: But he had innovated the industry and he continued to do so through his businesses.

Lucas created CGI – computer generated imaging.

• He created the Pixar Animation Computer for the technology-in-film-making aspects. • Once it was finished the team wanted to make an entire movie with it.

• Lucas wasn’t interested in that so he sold it off and it became Pixar Studios.

• Then he continued working with Spielberg through ILM on Jurassic Park and was able to make realistic CGI for his picture.

• Now, this year, ILM just worked on The Irishman with Scorsese and brought innovation to it with CGI make up and aging variations for actors

 

J: Back to our timeline, we keep veering from the timeline - Seeing where the technology had come to by the late 90s, Lucas decided to remaster/recreate the Star Wars trilogy using his new technology – these were fuller versions to complete his original vision. You can see the thread throughout his career, innovation and how movies were made was always at the top. Followed closely by his love of the story of Star Wars.

 

After the success of the trilogy’s re-release. He was feeling the Star Wars love and, now that technology had caught up, he decided to make the next 3, prequel, Star Wars movies. He did it for the love of Star Wars, for the fans of the story, and because he now thought it was possible to go back and tell how Star Wars started.

 

Z: I think he wanted to see how the new technology could be used within Star Wars.. I think that drove those movies more than anything.

 

J: What did you guys think of these 3 movies compared to the first 3?

 

Z: By then Star Wars fans had gone from boys to men… and these men were collectors. They had children, and wanted to share Star Wars with their children.

 

Kenner had been caught off guard with the release of the first Star Wars • they weren’t going to make that mistake again.

 

J: Speaking of Kenner, as we mentioned, it had been purchased by Hasbro.

So there were all new people calling the shots and you remember we mentioned that they had the rights to Star Wars for life… as long as they met one stipulation… $10,000 per year. Well, Hasbro let it slip… and Lucas started a bidding way when he announced the new movies.

 

Z: Hasbro, knowing the brand power of Star Wars, let them know they would do whatever it took to keep the business.

• And with that, the agreement was negotiated much more toward Lucas’s favor this time. He now saw the toys as more than marketing… they were a profit center

• It was the most expensive toy licensing deal in history at 18% base royalty.

• All based on the success of the brand he had built

 

With anticipation for the start of Star Wars toy season, before the 4th movie was released. • Hasbro set up released dates at toys r us with special hours in anticipation of the rush. • People were lined up around corner,

• there was lots of media hype,

• a special Star Wars area in most retailers, • and no shortage of inventory.

 

J: Then on May 16, 1999 - The Phantom Menace was released.

Fans dressed up to go see it and the brand was alive once again.

 

Z: However, “episode one” was not as popular. People didn’t like the movie as much – nothing like politics and economics to fill a child’s fantasy. Hasbro also made TOO MANY toys. There were too many on the shelves and not enough rare finds. They had overcompensated for 1977. But still, the initial excitement was enough to make it a success.

 

J: Now the Kenner division of Hasbro was closed inbetween movies by Hasbro. However, they later released vintage toys with the Kenner name on them, even though they were gone.

 

After the release of the 3 prequel movies, Lucas again announced that he was done with Star Wars. But a cartoon series, again, followed… and toys from the cartoon were very popular.

 

Then in 2012, Lucas sold the Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and LucasFilms to Disney for $4.05 billion. ½ in cash and ½ in Disney stock.

 

 

The Straight Shot

 

So Zachary what’s the straight shot today? What are the lessons from Lucas’s life as a business man?

 

Z: There are several. Let’s throw them up on the screen as we talk through them:

 

 

Consumer Research is how you make intelligent decisions.

• The studio marketing team advised the studios to look for younger film directors to make movies for their demographic…and so they did

• George researched what his target audience thought made a compelling story and followed through

 

Study experts in your craft

• In addition to research, George studied how others, experts, made compelling stories. • I study what companies have done before me, that’s how wisdom is gained

• Straight Shot is about sharing what others have done or are doing in the marketing industry

 

Recognize importances, know your limits and hire expertise

• George knew a big budget pitch was necessary to make his film (b/c of his vision)

• He hired Ralph McQuarrie to help him communicate his story to the studios and bring that vision into visual reality. Ralph designed the look of Star Wars jointly with Lucas

• George knew marketing was important to ensure his success

• He hired his own marketing director to work for him instead of trusting the studio

• But he also didn’t try to make his own toys or merchandise, he contracted experts

• George hired a director for his remaining movies

• He remembered his physical limitations and the stress

• He still worked on it, but the responsibility / stress fell to someone he trusted

 

Another part of knowing your limits is partioning out your ambitions

• 3 movies not 1 watered down film

 

 

Gain allies (and others)that believe in you and have passion for what you are doing

• Alan Ladd Jr

• Alec Guinness

• Those that helped start ILM

• He also fired the editors that didn’t believe in his vision

 

 

Believe in yourself, have passion, drive, don’t give up its not to late

• Lucas had to innovate to push through depressions and nah-sayers

• He had the drive to continually move past it

• Set back after set back

• True entreprenuers are special people and should be celebrated; it takes a lot to see your vision through

– hiring the right people, firing the wrong people, managing the process, keeping the vision

 

Don’t be afraid to go outside of the box

• Innovate

• If it doesn’t existing don’t be afraid to make it, don’t be afraid to be first to do something, often time greatness comes with taking risks

• See the big picture

• This is a gift that I’ve learned not everybody has

• Lucas knew his grand vision and what it would take • Story vision

• Movie vision

• Business vision

• He also understood the initial audience and how it would build the Star Wars brand and recreate a genera

• Strategic thinking

• Strategy is another specialized mindset that often goes hand-in-hand with being big picture

• Patton was a strategist, Steve Jobs was a strategist, not everyone has the skill set

• Lucas’s hired marketing experts did, Kenner did

 

Content over finances

• True to his vision

• Doing it right

• No shortcuts

 

Presentation matters

• Studios

• Banks

• Lucas Films

 

J: George Lucas – a creative, a visionary, a business man

I hope you guys enjoyed our exploration of Mr Lucas as a business man today and were able to pull some value from his story that can relate to your business.

If you do find value, please consider supporting us on Patreon.com/straightshot so we can continue to bring these shows to you.

Thank you guys for joining us today – thank you to our guest for coming out to play with us.

And have a super galactic, merry Christmas season.

Bye

 

Reformation Productions is a full service marketing agency in the Atlanta, GA metro. To find out more about the agency  visit www.ReformationProductions.com. Connect with us on Facebook at fb.com/reformationproductions. Blog content is © Reformation Productions. To receive more marketing tips and insights, sign up for our newsletter, Straight Shot, at www.ReformationProductions.com/contact.html to be one of the first to know when they are published here at www.ReformationProductions.com. You can also sign up for notifications by texting "Reformation" to 90210 from your mobile phone.