Two days ago, an adorable pot-bellied kid clad in Darth Vader armor told us (without hesitation, I might add) that there were but three Comic-Cons left. He had just watched the trailer to Roland Emmerich’s disaster flick 2012, and reached his own logical conclusion. For the sake of popular arts, let us hope he’s wrong!

We drove back to Los Angeles two days ago, ready for another round of interviews, and frankly exhausted. CC was a blast, but it remains very much a blur, as we shot so much footage that I didn’t even have time, in the end, to purchase the Sideshow Collectibles Iron Spiderman Comiquette I’d been coveting since last year. It was right there, well within arm’s reach; but I had to pick my poison, focus on the task at hand, and remind myself that my sole purpose for roaming the hallowed convention floor was to work on the film.

What I lost in terms of collecting opportunities, I sure gained in unforgettable on-camera moments. There were the Waffle Brothers, who drove to Comic-Con specifically to see us, and finally shared the story behind their now infamous song “GL raped our childhood”. There was Academy Award nominee and maverick animator Bill Plympton, who kindly shared three George Lucas-related stories with us, and drew the strangest one of all–involving Howard the Duck, and a younger version of himself having sex with his then girlfriend in one of the theater’s balconies. He sketched two versions of it–one for Chris, and one for myself. And I think it’s safe to say that we now own the strangest Plymptoons this side of Filmland.

And then, there was Peter Mayhew, who gave us our shortest interview to date–clocking in at a whopping 3 minutes and 17 seconds.

It's probably safe to say that Chewie would have also kicked my butt at Wookiee Scrabble.

When Chris brought up the topic of computer-generated Wookiees in Revenge of the Sith, Peter vigorously shook his head, and steadfastly asserted that there was no such thing as CG Wookiees, no Sir, and that we ought to have done our homework before the interview. We knew better, of course. But this was Chewie, mind you. And while we could have asserted the well-documented fact that a battalion of CG Wookiees indeed stood behind the six actors in hair suits that were replicated numerous times across the front lines on Kashyyyk, we knew we had to respectfully stand down. We let the Wookiee win.

We quickly recovered from that amusing incident, shook hands with Mark Hammil and John Landis, got kicked out of the Press Room mid-interview with Daryl Frazetti (we’re driving up to Tahoe on Thursday to finish what we started), gave away 2,000 postcards, and received so much love and encouragement from the fans that we drove away from the harbor with a profound sense of accomplishment and a heavy heart. But we’ll be back next year. With our entire team of producers, our own battalion of PvGirls, and, yes, a finished film to promote.

Until then, we’ll try to recapture the magic at Frank & Son in a few days–after Tahoe and important detours to Marin and Modesto. Meanwhile, in Denver… our first sequence is taking shape. Around the world, participants are putting the finishing touches to their rants before the submission deadline. We’re making new, amazing discoveries almost on a daily basis. And I sometimes find it hard to express just how passionate I am about making and releasing this film.

2010 is going to be a big year. I wonder what the Darth Vader kid would have to say about that.

AOP

#1 of 4 Comic-Con exclusive giveaway postcards (limited edition of 1,000 each). Find us at Comic-Con, Frank & Son or WorldCon, and they're yours!!

It’s official! THE PEOPLE vs. GEORGE LUCAS does Comic-Con, and boy, do we have surprises in store for you! Robert (our Director of Photography) will unfortunately miss the event, as he’s currently shooting the Tour de France. But he will be replaced (or should I say substituted, as he is truly irreplaceable) by maverick filmmaker Chris Bagley, whose latest feature doc, WESLEY WILLIS’S JOYRIDES, screened at Slamdance and SXSW last year. Chris, Vanessa and yours truly will form the skeleton crew we’ve put together for this year’s Comic-Con. Considering the madness that is to be expected, we chose to capture the spirit of the event guerrilla-style, and I think that Chris’s bold shooting style will work really well under the circumstances. It will be a workout, though. The Sony EX1 is a heavy camera if you choose to go hand-held.

All this to say that we will be in San Diego for the entire event, morning ’til closing time, with one intent and one intent only: interviewing more fans, and a handful of special guests and panelists. Okay, so I might take an occasional break to visit the Sideshow Collectibles booth or shake Robert Kirkman’s hand (big WALKING DEAD fan right here), but we’ll constantly be on the lookout for the staunchest GL enthusiasts and detractors on the floor. How will you find us in a massive convention space filled to the brim with over 100K costumed geeks, you might ask? Look for our PEOPLE vs. GEORGE LUCAS T-shirts. We’ll be wearing them every day. And don’t forget to ask us for our Comic-Con exclusive postcards, courtesy of our brilliant illustrator and concept artist Brett Nienburg. A portion of the first one is pictured above (there’s a total of four in a limited edition of 1,000 each). So if you spot us, come say ‘hi’, shake our hands, and we’ll be happy to give you the entire set.

Robert will fly straight from Paris to Los Angeles to meet us there after the Con, as we have another solid week of shooting planned in the area. And mark your calendars: if you missed us in San Diego, we’ll spend the entire day at the Frank & Son Collectible Show on Saturday, August 1st. Luis Lecca of Nuke the Fridge kindly invited us, and we simply couldn’t resist spending another sunny California day locked in a convention space! After that, we’ll drive up to Modesto, back to Denver, and fly the next day to Montreal to attend WorldCon and interview a number of sci-fi writers, including several contributors to the book STAR WARS ON TRIAL.

But that’s not even half the exciting news! Indeed, what I’m most psyched about is the fact that the post-production process is now officially under way! This will be a long, grueling and organic process, obviously, as we’re still collecting new footage to add to the mix. But the structure is coming together, and Chad (our editor, about whom–little known fact–Wesley Willis himself wrote a song) and I are taking baby steps in the right direction. In fact, we made the conscious decision to start “in the midst of things”, as Aristotle would put it, and work on the substantial segment dedicated to the Special Editions and the more philosophically complex question of who “owns” STAR WARS–George or the fans? This is going to be a key sequence in the film, because it not only deals with visceral reactions (read childhood rape) from the fans, but also with seriously complex topics like film preservation and our cultural heritage, no less. We decided to tackle this sequence head-on, because it made sense to me to start with what I consider to be the heart of the debate; but also because several distributors have requested to see a full sequence from the film; and on that level, I think this is as juicy a place to start as any.

So whether you’re heading to San Diego, Los Angeles or Montreal to attend the aforementioned events, ask around, look for us! Chances are, we’ll be right around the corner from you, ready to immortalize your rant. And with just two months left before our cut-off date for submissions, you may ask yourself… ANY OBJECTIONS..?

AOP

It’s been two weeks since my last blog post. That’s because next week, the official post-production process begins, and with the film being the big priority and all, I really have to get my ducks in a row–no pun intended. Aside from sporadic production periods, the past few months were spent organizing 350+ hours of footage into neat folders and sub-folders color-coded by theme. Our research team is constantly coming up with new discoveries, gems and George Lucas rarities, which are always exciting to find, but oftentimes challenge the still fragile structure of our narrative. It’s an organic process, of course; and when you’ve worked on a project like this one for two solid years, you certainly can’t expect it to remain exactly the way you originally envisioned it would be. THE PEOPLE vs. GEORGE LUCAS has become far more complex and profound than I ever dreamed it would be–so much so, in fact, that I realize what a challenge it will be to release anything short of an epic 180-minute documentary(!) It’s quite possible that we’ll have a longer festival version and a shorter general release version, which will likely clock in at 90-120 minutes. And I’m definitely not ruling out the possibility of a subsequent mini-series and/or mega DVD/Blu-Ray box set, as there are so many topics that deserve to be explored in depth. When you consider, for instance, that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg testified before Congress against colorization in the 1980s, it’s easy to see how a topic as seemingly straightforward as the Special Editions could get out of hand and strive to become its own feature.

Next week, scenes will actually start taking shape. It’s my favorite part of the process, but I realize that we will likely collect an additional 100+ hours of footage at Comic Con, World Con and in Los Angeles next month (I’ll explain everything in detail next week)–not to mention the steady stream of fan submissions (which will likely reach a frenzied crescendo before our September deadline), and possible last-minute trips to Toronto, Europe and/or Japan. In other words: we’re not out of the woods yet! But if everything goes according to plan, we should have a cut of the film hopefully as early as December or January.

Howard the (not so lame) Duck

On a completely unrelated note, I did finish watching HOWARD THE DUCK on my way back from Baltimore, and I truly, sincerely became a fan of the film. Watching it again with the preconceived idea that it was likely going to suck, I found myself growing surprisingly fond of the earnest goofiness and risk-taking 80s camp of what amounts to a simple, well-told story that most certainly deserves a second look. From Jeffrey Jones’s antics as the Dark Overlord to Howard and Lea Thompson’s sweet and actually tasteful bedroom scene (although I couldn’t help being reminded about TEAM AMERICA), HOWARD THE DUCK belongs in the pantheon of pulp; and for the life of me, I don’t understand why it still struggles to gain the affection that, say, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD or WEIRD SCIENCE most certainly get from their fans. Are we talking about a film that has become so universally deemed “terrible” that even Universal feels compelled to apologize for it on the DVD’s outer sleeve (explore the public’s initial reaction to the film and its transformation into a cultural phenomenon, they claim)? Watching the featurettes (notable for George’s absence), you’ll be hard-pressed to find Willard Huyck or Gloria Katz say anything positive about the film. As if someone told them okay, remember what John De Bello did when ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES was trashed by the critics?–that’s what we’re going to do. What I’m referring to, of course, is the director’s brilliant strategy of plastering the words “hopelessly inane” (from an actual review) on his movie poster. The Troma approach, if you will.

Well, as far as I’m concerned, HOWARD THE DUCK doesn’t have anything to apologize for. It embodies everything that’s fun and outrageous about eighties camp, and I wonder if, perhaps, the film hasn’t suffered from chronic and persistent George Lucas fan backlash? It’s a theory that, I’m sure, could easily be challenged. Hey, if you think the flick blows, you’re entitled to your opinion. But my point is this: if you haven’t watched the film in over a decade, I urge you to take another look at it. If you’re a film buff with the ability to turn your dial down, way down below your Bergman or Antonioni threshold, you may well find yourself chuckling with Howard, and not at him. And you’ll wonder if, perhaps, you’ll feel the same way ten, twenty years from now when an old friend tells you you really ought to give THE PHANTOM MENACE a second chance–or a fifteenth one, as the case may be.

AOP