george lucas

"If you don't love what you're doing now, do something else. You've gotta love your career"
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George Lucas the Accidental Passionate Film Maker
The finale speaker for the first day was George Lucas. He really needs no introduction. He has been involved in a ton of blockbuster movies.

I see a theme among the speakers. Many of them are "accidental" in what they ended up doing. Lucas wanted to become an illustrator/artist but was discouraged by his father. So he went to a university with a friend who was applying. His intention was to sign up for Anthropology but this was not one of their programs. But he was told they had a photography degree which he thought sounded interesting. But when he showed up, it was cinematography - not photography.

Although it was an accident, he was passionate. He spoke of staying up many nights and living on "chocolate bars". One theme I see in all the speakers is a high passion for what they do. I see a definite link between passion and success.

His first feature was an experiment since he intended even in film school to produce documentaries.

Lucas considers himself to be an artist. He is artistically indignant if someone wants to change his work.

When he was 27 years old, he believed enough in himself to work only for a 40% royalty in the merchandise from Star Wars. He then spent 2 years marketing it before the movie was released.

He was involved in the advances in technology because he was in San Francisco and did not have the encumbrance of existing technology of the day. Part of his innovation came from necessity.

Lucas is an impressive guy. Humble. And seems like a nice person. As Rene Lewis @chiefcatalyst says Lucas is "Focused, humble and lucky"

Quotes:

From Yoda "be careful what you hate, for you may become it. "

"It takes as long to make a toy as it does to make a movie."

"I still only have one house"

"Enthusiasm spreads"
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