Category: lucasfilm

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Will ILM expand to the U.K. for EpVII and beyond?

The Wrap reports that Industrial Light & Magic may open a facility in the United Kingdom to “take advantage of foreign tax subsidies.” They’ve been scouting in East London, their source reports.

Lucasfilm rep Miles Perkins told them ILM has no plans to leave the Bay Area, but going overseas offers certain advantages:

Perkins likened any expansion in London to ILM’s announcement in 2012 that it was establishing a hub in Vancouver to work on specific projects. Like the U.K., certain Canadian cities such Vancouver offer more generous post-production tax credits and subsidies than California.

We’ve already heard rumblings that Episode VII may return the franchise to filming in Britain.

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Roundup: Could Kennedy succeed Iger at Disney?

Kathleen KennedyCorporate shenanigans. Jedi News spotted an interesting mention in a recent Variety story on Bob Iger and who might suceed him at Disney: “Many expect theme park and resorts chief Thomas Staggs to land the CEO role, although there are rumblings that Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy also may now be in the running.” Well, business isn’t exactly our division, but I suppose it wouldn’t be out of the question.

In other news, Kennedy and ILM have signed a “co-operation deal” with Chinese VFX company Base FX, both Variety and The Hollywood Reporter have reported. Hrm.

Another name in the hat? Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: The Next Generation) wouldn’t mind jumping ship to Episode VII, Big Shiny Robot learned in a recent interview.

Randomly… Star Wars will be the first movie to be dubbed in Dine, the official language of the Navajo, KJZZ reports.

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Report: At least 2 dozen laid off at Lucasfilm this week

LucasfilmDeadline says that two dozen employees were laid off at Lucasfilm this week. We already heard there were layoffs, but this is the first word we’ve had on numbers. They say the cuts came in “financing, licensing and distribution.”

In an email to employees earlier this month, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said all significant organization changes at company would be completed by the end of April.

So hopefully this is the last we’ll hear of layoffs for the time being – unless Lucasfilm chooses to confirm the number.

UPDATE: A commenter on the Deadline piece going by ‘Ex-Lucas Employee’ says:

It wasn’t just 20. There were 300+ cuts three weeks ago and another 120-150 at Lucasfilm this week. It sounds like less because some of the 120+ this week are being required to work until as late as November if they want to receive severance.

So the number of people laid off this week may actually be significantly higher. I don’t know if we’ll ever get much official conformation on this, though.

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Report: More layoffs at Lucasfilm

LucasfilmRebelForce Radio is reporting that there have been layoffs at Lucasfilm today. People in “licensing, marketing, and publishing” have been hit. No numbers yet, but here’s a bit of independent verification:

We don’t know Arnold-Strider, but according to her Twitter bio she was a Product Development Manager. We’ll keep an eye out for any other details as they come.

UPDATE: LucasBooks’ editor Jenifer Heddle says there were no layoffs in publishing:

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The new reality: Star Wars is getting a reboot

Disney CEO Bob Iger and George Lucas

The events of the past month have made it clear that Star Wars is undergoing a major shift, and it’s made a lot of fans question the Disney sale.  And those words – the “Disney sale” – are part of the problem.  The sale is over and done with.  What we’re going through now is more jarring, and a lot more ambitious.  We’re going through a Star Wars reboot.

Continue reading “The new reality: Star Wars is getting a reboot”

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LucasArts laying off staff as LFL moves to ‘licensing model’ for video games; report says ILM also affected

LucasArtsKotaku reported and GameInformer confirmed with Lucasfilm that the company is in the process of shutting down LucasArts. Kotaku says that 150 have been laid off and both Star Wars: First Assault and Star Wars 1313 have been canceled. Variety is reporting that the layoffs are spilling over to Industrial Light & Magic as well.

Here’s part of the official statement:

“After evaluating our position in the games market, we’ve decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company’s risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games. As a result of this change, we’ve had layoffs across the organization. We are incredibly appreciative and proud of the talented teams who have been developing our new titles.”

This has expected for a while, and there was plenty of speculation that LucasArts was headed for the bin even before Disney was in the picture.

Ron Gilbert, creator and co-creater of several of the company’s most iconic games, says goodbye to Lucasfilm Games.

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Get your Star Wars picture taken at a local landmark!

Yoda at Sea WorldStarWars.com is looking to celebrate fans all around the world this year, so they want your photos! They are looking for pictures of you in your Star Wars costumes at your local and area landmarks.

Here’s the instructions from Lucasfilm:

  1. Share this message with your Star Wars friends.
  2. Take pictures in your Star Wars costumes (UPDATE: or Star Wars apparel!) with your local landmarks.
  3. Turn in the pictures with a signed copy of the release form (email or fax) to fanevents@starwars.com, or 1-415-623-1107 (FAX: Attn: Mary Franklin). (Hint: don’t fax the photos!)
  4. Be sure to name the landmark, and area/city/country.
  5. You can start turning them in at any time. The sooner the better!
  6. The deadline is April 22nd to turn in pictures. But we’ll start putting them up soon after we get them
  7. Have Fun, and May the 4th Be With You!

With those last two points, I’m sure something big for Star Wars Day is planned! (Besides the 30th anniversary screenings of Return of the Jedi in Los Angeles.)

Grab that release form (Lucasfilm Personal Release 2013) and get out there and get some photos!

Extra Update: Please post on twitter or facebook or the like when you submit stuff!

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Report: Clone Wars ‘bonus content’ to be two arcs

TCW-520-TheWrongJedi-clouds-walkout

TheForce.Net’s Eric Geller says that The Clone Wars’ ‘bonus content’ will be two story arcs from what would have been the show’s sixth season. What they won’t be? Bounty hunters:

Among the story arcs that will not emerge in this post-cancellation era is one that dealt with Boba Fett and the other bounty hunters who have menaced the heroes for several seasons. This story arc, which my source tells me was almost done, would have shown us the fates of Cad Bane and Aurra Sing.

It’s also being heavily implied that Lucasfilm Animation layoffs – or notifications thereof – went down on Friday.

Eric also had two takes on Lucasfilm Animation’s reaction to the fan reaction. (Which has since been… removed?) One was “shocked” by “tepid fan reaction;” The other “recognized the outpouring” of support.

It’s worth noting that these two accounts can be reconciled. I’m sure that everyone at Lucasfilm Animation, both current and former staffers, appreciates what support they’ve seen. The question is how much more support those staffers were expecting to see.

Which makes me wonder what reaction they were watching, because it seemed pretty outraged to me: Yesterday’s #SaveTheCloneWars protest drew over 7,000 tweets in 24 hours.

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Rumor mill: Is LucasArts facing a shutdown?

Unlike the ending of Clone Wars, reports of a possible LucasArts shutdown in the works are anything but surprising. While Kotaku’s report on the future of 1313 was mostly based on sources, the absence of the game – perhaps LucasArt’s hottest upcoming property – from any recent industry events is rather telling.
LucasArts
This week, another report from GamesIndustry International has been making the rounds. LucasArts told them that the speculation of a shutdown is “one hundred percent not true” and that “everything is moving ahead.”

Ex-employees are less optimistic, echoing much of what you’ll hear from gamers themselves these days:

The studio’s performance in recent years has not impressed former LucasArts employees. One ex-LucasArts employee had this to say: “The ‘business’ has been on life-support since the Star Wars license and subsequent development for their best title went to Bioware/EA. I’m frankly amazed that they’ve stayed in business this long. No stomach for truly original product, and slender means to produce their previous cash cows – Indy and Star Wars.”

Given Disney’s history with their gaming divisions, along with some other hints, you can’t blame anyone for worrying about the future of LucasArts these days.