"This deal is getting worse all the time!"

There was the layoffs of the ILM/Lucasarts alliance group that was reported in Variety.
But the bigger layoffs are coming and here's why: all of the big fx houses have long had a tradition of staffing up for projects and then downsizing when those projects are finished. So, expect the traditional summer layoffs to come very soon as ILM finishes work on Pacific Rim, The Lone Ranger, and Star Trek Into Darkness.

 

I think the Variety article is less reliable than supershadow

 

Why would you say that? David Cohen is usually a reliable reporter with direct contact with all of the PR dept's of the vfx companies.

 

1. I didn't know who David Cohen is at the time I said that
2. the article mentions layoffs not mentioned anywhere else and says "a Star Wars movie every year"

 

I wonder why Katie Lucas and/or Kathy Kennedy couldn't take over LFL without the Disney sale.

 

There were layoffs at ILM, that has been confirmed from people who work at the Ranch.

 

My guess is there were 4 billion reasons, you know?

 

But we are talking about GL's own daughter.

 

I'm sure she'll be just fine. And Kathy did take over Lucasfilm. Lucas was the one who sold the company to Disney. He obviously felt comfortable doing so.

 

I don't mean GL was more interested in the $4 billion - it's just that you need money to keep a company running, and Disney has plenty. Besides, I doubt Katie Lucas has the experience, time, interest or inclination to run a movie studio. I'm sure she'll be happy with the personal wealth her family has, without the hassle.

And yeah, Kathy Kennedy was made head of LFL anyway, it just happens to be owned by Disney now instead of GL.

 

Has there been any word on what Katie's been up to since the Disney sale?

 

Writing crappy scripts? Getting butthurt on Twitter? That's about her speed.

 

I believe you're not talking about Katie Lucas. Sorry...

 

Not a fan of the Maul/Savage/Nightsisters story arc, eh, or just anything that happens to contain the word "Lucas"?

 

Back to this question please?

 

Some of the faces behind the numbers:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joelaron/

Very sad. There are a bunch of people.

 

Saw this the other day - weirdly powerful. Some real shellshock there, some hide it better than others.

We can thank Disney for making great photography possible, I suppose.

 

Which is why companies that are supposed to supposed to be creating an artistic product should not have to worry about shareholders. Lucas could afford to let some of his companies run at a loss or barely scraping a profit because a) he liked to experiment with different mediums and put his money back into the industry even if it didn't always pay off; and b)his SW profits more than made up for any losses in other departments.
Having had the displeasure of working for a huge corporation that lays off its lowest paid staff while increasing executive's salaries and bonuses, I can say I'm glad I'm not working for the new Lucasfilm.

 

There's been nothing that I've seen from her about the deal, although if you search "Katie Lucas Disney Deal" this page is the fourth hit that google gives you, the top three being another Katie Lucas apparently teaching in China at something called Disney English...

As for those photos, wow, they really do "put a face on the issue". Thanks for sharing those ShaneP.

 

Apologies if I've talked about this already but I've been all over the internet recently and I've no idea where I've posted things. Really, all message forums on the web should merge into a super forum.

So here's the thing about Lucasfilm. It's insane. It's over 40 years old and if any other production company had been run the way LFL was run, it would have folded decades ago. The only reason it survived is because of Star Wars. Lucasfilm did it all backwards. They didn't pitch Clone Wars, they made Clone Wars and then sold broadcasting rights. Can you imagine Joss Whedon walking into Fox and saying "So I've got this show, Firefly. I'm making the show, in fact we've already started production. We're going to do a hundred episodes and I'm offering you the opportunity to air them..." ??? He'd have been laughed out of the building. But that's pretty much what Lucas did.

Lucas had an attitude of "I'll make it and somebody will buy it." It was the independent streak in him, fostered by bad experiences with his early films. It was the same on the technical side. Building Skywalker Ranch, developing ILM and Skywalker Sound...you don't do that if you're an independent production company. Lucas basically created a one-man Hollywood, with everything he needed, especially in terms of post production, being at his fingertips. Radioland Murders and Young Indy were as much about experimenting with technology as they were about being actual entertainment products.

In its prime, LucasArts had the same basic philosophy. "Let's just make interesting stuff." It didn't always work. Red Tails, Radioland...quite a few Lucasfilm projects didn't pan out on a critical or commercial level but it didn't matter because Star Wars makes a ba-gillion dollars a day (rough estimate ). Any other company would have been dead in the water but not Lucasfilm. Contrary to popular belief, Lucas doesn't really care about money...OK he does, but only as a means to progress the film industry and try new things. If something failed, yes it hurt but Lucas was invariable moving on to the next thing. The prequel trilogy cost...eh, a little shy of $350 Million to make. That's more than the Rings trilogy. But while New Line was able to cover the cost of Rings through tax shelters and loopholes, Lucas and Lucasfilm paid for the prequels themselves, just as they had done with Empire and Jedi. Fox distributed but man, if there's one rule in Hollywood it's never use your own money.

Insane. And you know, that's awesome. It wasn't all rosy at Lucasfilm but the independent spirit, the willingness to take risks and throw the rules out the window made Lucasfilm special. Only Lucasfilm could decide to release Star Wars in 3D and start with the most derided one. Only Lucasfilm could develop and produce a TV show independently of the networks and then basically sell them a finished product. Heck, the fact that there are 50 scripts for a live action TV show that's apparently as ambitious as 50 big screen Star Wars movies is nuts.

And that's what's sad about the sale to Disney. They've set about systematically dismantling Lucasfilm and cancelling all its projects. Does it make business sense? I suppose (though Clone Wars was a success and 1313 was a hugely anticipated game) but it doesn't make "Lucasfilm" sense. Lucasfilm's output was sporadic, it's consistency was non-existent but there was still something special about it. That's gone now. It's not really Lucasfilm anymore and that saddens me.

One thing I do wonder about is what Lucas makes of all of it. He'd talked about wanting to maintain as much continuity as possible but Disney seem to be doing the opposite of what he intended when he sold the company. The decision to end Clone Wars certainly wasn't one he would have made.

 

I'm hoping whatever Disney puts into production is actually solid Star Wars product as opposed to cheap Disney spin-off direct-to-DVD knock off quality. Throwing out everything in production is disheartening but it's possible they will make some cool stuff. Right now it's the Dark Times, though, as they get the ducks in a row and strip the company down to maximize profit potential. But soon the ST trolley will start moving and we'll totally forget we didn't get to play First Assault or whathaveyou.

 

Someone needs to update Lucasfilm.com.

 

To top it off, Disney just gutted their hand-drawn animation staff today:

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/disney/b...heir-hand-drawn-animation-division-81043.html

 

Ignore list

 

^ LOL, how very brave. Instead of making an actual point, you stick your fingers in your ears for any opinions (or truths) you don't want to hear.