My experience at Lucasfilm
Hey guys. I don’t want to post this in Leaks because of clear bias and posting it here could go one way or the other but you guys at least seem more open minded than most. So I hope you don’t mind.
I was employed by Lucasfilm a few years ago just before TFA. Due to my position, I can’t tell you what exactly I did but I can say I was privy to some information that most on set and like half at the studio wouldn’t be privy to. I never got to read the script or see any cuts before any of the films came out and I wouldn’t want to confirm or deny any leaks anyway due to the fact that I only got to witness a handful of full scenes and it would be easy to narrow down who worked on what. I was sent to England only on a sporadic basis to oversee what I was overseeing. This wording is already giving me a headache.
What I want to focus on is the corporate structure.
Lucasfilm under Disney: Disney originally gave them a lot of freedom. I know that when Harrison broke his leg and JJ broke his back, they took a 2 month long break during which people at LFL looked over the dailies and found the direction JJ wanted to go into a bit too dark, esoteric and eccentric. The scenes that had yet to be filmed were too costly and one of them (a large plot point) would’ve revisited a certain planet from the PT. LFL did not like the idea of them pulling anything from the PT in their first film and they wanted it to resemble the OT more than the PT. This caused some tension between JJ and the powers that be at LFL but he didn’t have as much power back then and so he obliged. Something I later learned he regretted deeply.
Iger liked TFA enough but he could see JJ’s POV and grievances. Regardless, this made JJ distance himself from the whole thing after TFA and he was an exec producer on TLJ only in name and on paper. As far as I know, Iger and him remained good friends though.
Kathleen is an extremely talented producer but an extremely bad choice for Star Wars. I don’t hate her. I don’t even know her. I only met her in passing so I can’t speak on her attitude. But I know she clashed creatively with just about everyone. Iger trusted that SW was in good hands and he did not step in and get involved until much later. Somewhat more involved after the TLJ backlash and then very involved after Solo to the point where he is really the pilot now in terms of major decisions. This all started when he somehow and for some reason convinced JJ to come back to finish the story; to tell the story his way, however esoteric it might be.
I don’t know the following for a fact and can only go by production whispers but this didn’t sit well with the powers that be at LFL. I do know that this deal was done behind their back and came as a bit of a shock to them as Kathy had someone else in mind. I think she had no problems with Colin doing IX and I think letting him go was all Iger’s decision alone.
Rian: I worked with him on TLJ. I can’t say anything other than it wasn’t a pleasant experience for me. I know some people were fine with him. But I don’t know anyone who praised him for being a good sport on set. I personally found it hard to communicate with him because no matter what anyone said, in the end he had final say even if it was a bad decision. Kind of like a Jedi mind trick. “I really think that technically speaking, this will not work well” and he’d say “You really think that this WILL work well? GREAT!” as a bad joke that I guess I never “got”.
Rian and Kathy are VERY good friends so what Rian wanted, Rian got. Despite the PR angle they’re going for (understandably), Rian and JJ are not friends and JJ did have a general outline for the trilogy prior to the accident changes during TFA’s production break. This caused a rift and JJ really did not want to come back for IX so how Iger convinced him (aside from money), well, your guess is as good as anyone’s.
JJ: I’m an older dude and got a fair amount of film experience under my belt. He’s by far the best person I have ever worked with. He’s kind and open to feedback. Not just in passing. If you have something to say he’ll go “Wait, let’s sit down. Tell me” and he’ll actively listen, nod, write down notes. It’s not that he’d follow through on every suggestion but he did on plenty. If he has an ego, I didn’t see it.
More importantly, he cares about this franchise more than anyone at Lucasfilm hands down. Yes, I said anyone. The story group included. They care in a “my head canon is the real canon” kind of way and if you disagree, you’re not a real fan. Think: the REAL gatekeepers of the SW universe.
This, in my humble opinion, is what holds the franchise back. Their position got to their head too much and they resent JJ for having his own ideas and wanting to branch out.
I think the saddest thing to me was seeing JJ work so hard on IX in a panicked and desperate-to-fix-it-and-tell-his-story kind of way. You can tell he cares. You could also sense a touch a hopelessness as he’s trying to figure out how to navigate it in a way that doesn’t offend the previous director even though he clearly wasn’t pleased with what TLJ gave us.
Now, I don’t know his relationship with Mark to a deep degree but I did see them getting along way more than he did with Rian (though, storywise, it was too late to fix Luke in a way that would be entirely satisfying to Mark due to what happened in TLJ). For what it’s worth, Mark showed up at JJ’s Bad Robot for various events and even got honored with Bad Robot’s own Oscar Wilde award a year and a half ago. Take that as you will but Mark’s relationship with JJ seems far better and healthier than Mark’s relationship with Rian.
Reason for reshoots: JJ wanted a certain part of the story told that initially wasn’t approved. When they screened the second cut, JJ made a point that he felt that that scene was still crucial to the story he wants to tell. So eventually they did approve it and he got his way. It was costly despite the short shooting schedule. I don’t know what all these reshoot rumors are saying, but the reshoots finished a couple of months ago and apart from basic additional photography, nothing else was added. Doing those reshoots though caused some trouble in editing, VFX and scoring so there’s a time delay due to all this. They’re almost done but it did set the schedule back a bit. I can’t fault him for this though because if that’s for the benefit of the story, then so be it. I know that some of my friends in post are working overtime. So much so that some of them cancelled their vacations.
For what it’s worth, this is the first SW film I am involved with that I do believe in. I haven’t seen it and I can’t say I know the full story or summary of the film. But from what I have seen, well, it made me feel like a kid again. JJ’s idea to bring Palpatine back is something that circles all the way back to Lucas which is why Lucas was more involved with IX than any of the previous Disney SW films. JJ felt that there needed to be an all encompassing thread that ties all the saga films together and characters like Palpatine and Anakin are key to this (more or less).
Lucas never blamed JJ for TFA. I don’t know this for a fact but I know some who claim they do. They’ve been in touch the whole time and I think Lucas’ disappointment really leads back to the source of LFL: Kathleen. Some believe that Kathleen was put in the position of president because Spielberg convinced Lucas to recommend her which also may have caused a pickle.
All that said, I can’t claim I know all that much. Some of this came from my own observations and some of it came from friends. I’m moving on to better things and the only positive memories about this experience came from the random friends I have made as well as working with JJ. I know LFL is pushing the “Rian can’t do wrong” narrative but know that a lot of us do not feel the same way.
I can give you some proof but since I don’t want this to trace back to me, I can’t share anything other than this. I’m sorry for being over the top with the marker but yes, I’m even afraid that the color of my clothes would expose me. Also sorry for using a throwaway.
I’m a bit busy tonight but I’ll try to respond as much as I can.
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