A lot of people like to do certain things, but they're not that good at it. Keep going through the things that you like to do, until you find something that you actually seem to be extremely good at. It can be anything.
A talent is a combination of something you love a great deal, something you can lose yourself in - something that you can start at 9 in the morning, look up from your work and it's 10 o'clock at night - and something that you have a natural ability to do very well.
After I did American Graffiti, and it was successful, it was a big moment for me.
All of my films have been very hard to understand at the script stage because they're very different.
Although I write screenplays, I don't think I'm a very good writer.
And I struggled. It took me years to get my first film off the ground.
As it turned out, the film was so successful we were able to make toy deals and we began to start the whole idea of action figures, of tie-ins, of toys that go along with movies.
But having a really good understanding of history, literature, psychology, sciences - is very, very important to actually being able to make movies.
Even in high school I was very interested in history - why people do the things they do. As a kid I spent a lot of time trying to relate the past to the present.
Everybody has talent, it's just a matter of moving around until you've discovered what it is.
Film is not an easy occupation. There's a lot of occupations that are difficult and film is one of them.
For me, I think, the excitement is the fact that I found a way of telling the story as I want to tell it, in a medium that I could master.
Good luck has its storms.
He took me from not being able to write a word in terms of writing screenplays to being the king of wooden dialogue.
I am more of a visual person than a verbal person.
I decided to go to film school because I loved the idea of making films.
I didn't get a television until I was 10 or 11 years old.
I didn't really discover any interest in film until I was a junior in college.
I had lots of interests. I liked woodworking, I liked to build things. I liked cars. I liked art. I really wanted to be an illustrator, and I liked photography.
I loved photography and everybody said it was a crazy thing to do because in those days nobody made it into the film business. I mean, unless you were related to somebody there was no way in.
I made a pact with myself that I was going to make all three (Star Wars) movies, and in order to do that, as I stated to make my deal with 20th Century Fox, I acquired the sequel rights, because I didn't want them to bury the sequel.
I thought Star Wars was too wacky for the general public.
I wanted to make documentary films, and eventually I got into the goal of - once I got to school - of making a film.
I wanted to transfer to an art school, and ended up going to the University of Southern California.
I'm very interested in studying cultures and social issues, but as an academic I don't think I would have been too successful.
If the boy and girl walk off into the sunset hand-in-hand in the last scene, it adds 10 million to the box office.
If you don't have that kind of feeling for what it is you're doing, you'll stop at the first giant hurdle.
It took me three, four years, to get from my first film to my second film, banging on doors, trying to get people to give me a chance. Writing, struggling, with no money in the bank, working as an editor on the side.
It's very important that you find something that you care about, that you have a deep passion for, because you're going to have to devote a lot of your life to it.
Learning to make films is very easy. Learning what to make films about is very hard.
My first six years in the business were hopeless.
My life is too short to become a film studio.
My teenage years were completely devoted to cars. That was the most important thing in my life, from about the age of 14 to 20.
Part of the issue of achievement is to be able to set realistic goals, but that's one of the hardest things to do because you don't always know exactly where you're going, and you shouldn't.
'Star Wars' is fun, its exciting, its inspirational, and people respond to that. It's what they want.
The ideals and principles for which Dr King fought have never been forgotten and are as relevant today as they were 40 years ago.
The secret is not to give up hope. It's very hard not to because if you're really doing something worthwhile I think you will be pushed to the brink of hopelessness before you come through the other side.
The secret to film is that it's an illusion.
There wasn't much as a kid that inspired me in what I did as an adult, but I was always very interested in what motivates people, and in telling stories and building things.
There's nothing worse than the frustration of having somebody who doesn't get what you're doing trying to turn it into something else. It's a very frustrating thing and I never wanted to go through it.
Well, I grew up in a small town in Central California; it was a farming community.
Whatever has happened in my quest for innovation has been part of my quest for immaculate reality.
When I first got to college, I was very interested in the social sciences, anthropology, sociology, psychology, those kinds of things.
When I look back on it now, if I'd gone to art school, or stayed in anthropology, I'm almost positive I would have ended up eventually in film.
When you are a beginning film maker you are desperate to survive. The most important thing in the end is survival and being able to get to your next picture.
Working hard is very important. You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take those risks, to be able to jump over the hurdles, to be able to break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you.
Working hard is very important. You're not going to get anywhere without working extremely hard.
You could actually go to school and learn how to make movies. Suddenly everything came together in one place. All my likes, everything I actually seemed to have talent for was right there.
You simply have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. Put blinders on and plow right ahead.
If George Lucas had directed Apocalypse Now as had been originally intended then Harrison Ford would have worked on three films he had directed. American Graffiti and Star Wars would have been the other two.
Lucas was originally going to direct Apocalypse Now before Coppola decided to direct it himself.
In 1962, when Lucas was involved in a serious car accident, he was driving a Fiat Biancina.
Lucas' biggest disappointment in his life is his failed marriage.
A lot of the books George liked when he was a kid are 18th and 19th century seafaring novels.
Lucas is very interested in history and he is very interested in doing some historical pieces.
Forbes has estimated Lucas's yearly salary to be 225 million US dollars.
George has been nominated for four academy awards. Two for directing (American Graffiti and Star Wars: A New Hope) and two for writing (American Graffiti and Star Wars: A New Hope).
In 2004, Forbes estimated Lucas to be worth 3 billion US dollars. In 2005, Forbes estimated that the lifetime income that Star Wars would generate would be 20 billion US dollars.
George made a series of short films at USC, the first being 'Freiheit' Most of his films involved elements of the science fiction genre and would go on to influence his later projects.
Lucas was an uncredited executive producer on the film 'Body Heat' which has received much critical acclaim.
At the end of the 'Stephen Colbert Report' in which George Lucas appeared, George and Stephen fought each other with fake lightsabers.
The character of Luke in Star Wars which Lucas admits was partially based on himself is desperate to join the rebel alliance. This mimics Lucas's desire while growing up to become a race car driver, a dream that was tragically shattered.
For Star War's twentieth anniversery, in 1997, George Lucas re-released the films in cinemas with updated special effects and added scenes.
Lucas's Star Wars has spawned many parody films most notably Mel Brook's 'Spaceballs' and the more recent 'Thumb Wars'.
George Lucas uses green and blue screens as opposed to sets in the Star Wars prequels for most scenes. However in the original trilogy, before the development of this technology, locations were used such as studios in the UK and outdoor locations in Tunisia.
George Lucas stated following the release of 'Revenge of the Sith' that it was the only installment of the prequel trilogy that he was satisfied with.
During a speech at USC in 2006, following his donation of US$175 million, George Lucas outlined his belief that the film industry was dying out and that Lucasfilm would be shifting their attentions from the big screen to the small screen (T.V).
In late 2000, George Lucas set up the first Star Wars Fan Film Awards in an attempt to provide a creative outlet for fans to show their admiration for the films through films of their own. Lucas, unlike many other franchise owners, allowed his fans a lot of freedom with their films with very few restrictions. Those being, no use of copyrighted material and no expansion of the existing Star Wars universe.
George Lucas created and owns THX, a sound company named after his first film 'THX 1138'.
Lucas's Star Wars changed the face of cinema and the entertainment industry forever. It has influenced other films and t.v shows, most recently Joss Whedon's Firefly and has been parodied in many films and shows most recently in a several animated comedies (South Park, Family Guy, The Simpsons).
George Lucas's infamous villain Darth Vader was created from Lucas's fascination with Japanese Samurai's. Similarities between Vader and the villain in Kurosawa's 'Hidden Fortress' can be easily seen.
George Lucas refused to allow Harrison Ford to audition for Star Wars as he had previously worked with him on American Graffiti and Lucas wanted a fresh, new cast. However he allowed Ford to read lines for auditioning actors. After looking at hundreds of actors, including Kurt Russell, Lucas could see no other option than to allow Ford to play the role after he had impressed with his charismatic line reading.
In one version of George Lucas's Star Wars: A new hope, Han Solo was a reptillian alien and Luke Skywalker was a 60 year old general.
George Lucas didn't direct Star Wars episodes five and six. Episode five was directed by Irvin Kershner and Episode six by Richard Marquand although originally Lucas had hoped that Spielberg would direct it.
George Lucas wrote the Star Wars Prequels as well as Episode 4: A New Hope. However for episode 5: Empire strikes back and episode 6: Return of the Jedi, he came up with the story and co-wrote the screenplay.
George Lucas announced the creation of a new division of Lucasfilm, called Lucas Animation that will work on the 3-D animation required for the proposed clone wars animated series.
Writer for Star Wars Episode II Attack of the Clones.
George was once credited as Lucas.
He originally wanted to do a film adaptation of Flash Gordon, but he could not obtain the rights, so he created Star Wars instead!
According to Lucas, one of the themes in all of his films is man's relationship to machines and technology - either controlling them, or being controlled by them.
He originally wanted his friend Steven Spielberg to direct Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), but a dispute with the Director's Guild of America barred him from doing so. He instead settled for director Richard Marquand.
Lucas is a diabetic.
He graduated from USC's school of cinema (1962).
For Star Wars Lucas agreed to forgo his directing salary in exchange for 40% of the film's box-office take and all merchandising rights. The movie went on to break all box office records and earned seven Academy Awards. It redefined the term "blockbuster". Lucas has so earned almost a $1 billion off of the franchise.
In 1967 he was awarded a scholarship by Warner Brothers to observe the making of Finian's Rainbow (a 1968 film) which was being directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Lucas and Coppola became such good friends that they formed a production company called American Zoetrope in 1969.
His father was a stationery store owner.
He is Chairman of the Board of the George Lucas Educational Foundation, set up to help children that would not otherwise receive the help they need.
Lucas recently made a cameo appearence on the O.C. - but only because his teenage daughter is a huge fan of the show.
In 1992, George Lucas was honored with the Irving G. Thalberg Award by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
George Lucas said he was a terrible student in high school.
Lucas named his "Star Wars" character "Luke Skywalker" because Luke was his nickname in high school.
Lucas is a member of the United Methodist Church, but he says that he doesn't adhere to a specific religion.
On October 3, 1994, Lucas started to write the three Star Wars prequels.
George Lucas tried joining the Air Force as an officer, but was turned down because of his numerous speeding tickets.
George Lucas is the president of Lucasfilm Ltd, LucasArts Entertainment Company, Lucas Digital Ltd, Lucas Licensing, LucasBooks and Lucas Learning Ltd.
Lucas originally wanted to do a "Flash Gordon" movie but he couldn't get the rights so he decided to create his own epic story, that's how he came up with the idea of "Star Wars".
George Lucas was honored with The American Film Institute's (AFI) annual lifetime achievement award on June, 2005.
George Lucas has three adopted children: Amanda Lucas born in 1981, Katie Lucas born in 1988, and Jett Lucas born on 1993.
His birth name is George Walton Lucas Jr.
He is the creative mind behind all 6 movies of the star wars saga and the indiana jones series of movies.
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