May the Force Be With You, George Lucas

 “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” begins the major motion picture of the century. Star Wars has quickly gone beyond being known in science fiction nerd circles to being a household name. Numerous articles, analysis, and reviews have been made about the film but not enough about the man whose genius brought the world of Luke Skywalker to the big screen. George Walton Lucas, Jr. was born on May 14th, 1944 in Modesto, California. He is the son of Dorothy and George a modest couple who then own a stationery store. As a young man Lucas was quite interested in cars, and he could always be found in a garage. The cars speed and look attracted him to the world of car racing, where he sought to have a career in. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, a near death experience in the year 1962 in a car accident would turn Lucas away from that career path. After his street racing phase, Lucas left his junior college by transferring to the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Art. There he discovered his passion for film-making and his natural talent for it. His talent was sharpened by the competitiveness in the film school and his proximity to cinematic legend Francis Ford Coppola. After failing in his first studio film, Lucas went to back to the drawing board for more film ideas. With the help of his mentors and colleagues, and his camera expertise the 1973 hit American Graffiti was born.The film is a summation of what Lucas’ passions were at the time. Due to his new fame and the critical acclaim for American Graffiti, Lucas was able to push through the production of Star Wars. Indeed Star Wars is a look into Lucas’ mind and is creative genius. To advance his movie making career, Lucas is the CEO of LucasFilm, his very own production company. Lucas is currently married to film editor Marcia Griffin. The couple has no children. It will be interesting to see what else Lucas comes up with next. May the force be with him.