ST George Lucas and the Mystery of the Treatment

Hopefully JW Rinzler's blog will flesh out on this. The Force Awakens making off book he wrote was completed but not released and he stopped working for Lucasfilm in December 2015. He's hinted that things were not rosy following the takeover.
Maybe he saw/noted the goings on of the fall out of Lucas's story been dropped? And Lucusfilm/Disney don't want it out in the public at this time.

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Didn't realize J.W. Rinzler is no longer working for Lucasfilm. Makes me sad, as I love his Making of books. Some of the best books about making a movie ever written IMO.

It also makes me want to read the Making of TFA even more now. But I guess if its ever released, its going to be heavily edited by Disney, so they don't reveal all the not so rosy behind the scenes dealings.

 

JW's blog is currently "offline"

 

Yeah I managed to read the 12th one about ROTS filming. Some of the cast didn't sound enthusiastic about it, then suddenly it was gone not long after .
Wonder who the actor was that was threatened by McCallum with legal action unless they did the scanning photo's for merchandise.

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I'm guessing Rinzler got a cease and desist from Lucasfilm/Disney. What a shame, it seems like Lucasfilm doesn't want the truth getting out. His making of book probably ended up making some people look bad.

 

Make who look bad? And in what way, do you reckon?

 

He probably did get and C & D but that doesn't mean it has to be the end of the matter. It depends whether he wishes to challenge LFL... Given he is no longer an employee of LFL and is merely posting his own opinion of the things he observed while working for LFL I'm really not sure what legal grounds Disney have for shutting down his personal blog.

He might have signed confidentiality agreements as an employee of LFL but again he no longer works for them so I can't see how those agreements would still be legally enforceable.

At some point somebody has got to stand up to these people at LFL/Disney. It's time for honesty and transparency and for LFL to understand that just because they have a certain "position" doesn't mean to entire world has to dance to their tune.

Go JW!!!

 

#freejwrinzler

 

LOL.... Whatever you may think, LFL/Disney OWNS Star Wars. You may not like it, in which case you are free to not see any of their movies, or buy any licensed merch. But they DO have the right to protect their IP how they see fit, within the bounds of the law. Normally, when one leaves a company, it is NOT permitted to discuss the inner workings and discussions of the company unless explicitly cleared to do so. So, if he is looking to reveal anything that could be considered "trade secrets," he would not be permitted to discuss that (at least, not without getting the pants sued off him). I was in a similar position when I left my last company. I knew some rather derogatory information (nothing illegal, just poor management), which I was not permitted to reveal. NDA's are typically still in effect after leaving employment... at least mine were, and I can't imagine the LFL lawyers would be so sloppy as to not include a separation clause.

I know the Disney/LFL haters are loving this. Knock yourself out. Have fun.

 

^^^ It's like they've already got "five" and just need the "two" of what JW says George's treatment would have been like to add to the "two" of LFL apparently suppressing what JW says about it.

 

Well after two making of books cancelled, his blog being shut down and JW suddenly cancelling a scheduled appearance in a podcast "indefinitely" shortly after said shut down LFL/Disney doesn't seem keen to show the behind of the scene anymore, at least not the bad side. I feel like a lot of the problems during productions will be glossed over with a small mention without never mentioning it again to just focus on the positive side. I'm sure he got the permission to do his blog otherwise he would have said nothing and what about all the disclaimers of this being his own opinion and not "absolute truth".

 

Simply because they are bound by the law doesn't mean their actions aren't subject to questioning (the law isn't some divine moral judgement).

The fact of the matter remains that when George was still around, people where allowed to know the "behind the scenes" development of its films. Their is little of that in the DVD/Blu-ray of the last two movies, and already two books that where going to give a "sneak peek" where cancelled.

Even RFR can't schedule a podcast to make a commentary on Rogue One or The Clone Wars with the likes of Sam Witwer and James Arnold Taylor (because they where involved with said production, which is even more bizarre given that Clone Wars was made during the GL tenure)-

It's extreme to say the least.

And I'm certainly not "loving this" I was mad as hell when I found out on Saturday that the Blog was shut down.

 

I must say that seems rather defensive... At the moment we don't know anything. Maybe JW's opinion of everything that has gone on since 2012 would be supportive of LFL and Disney? It's possible he'd say that (in his view) Lucas' Sequel Trilogy treatments were terrible and Disney were right to do what they did.

Who knows!

All I'd say that in principle there is absolutely nothing for anybody to fear from transparency and honesty. I'm keeping my fingers crossed we'll be able to continue with his blog soon.

 

Excuse my glibness. I apologize. Yes, I enjoy the BTS stuff too. Even the warts. I own several of the Rinzler book, all excellent. And I'm not necessarily saying I completely agree with LFL's decisions here. But I can understand that they may not wish to open the wounds. George seems to have taken some of the transition stuff hard, and I really doubt KK or the LFL staffers want to reignite any of that given that it seems that George seems to have more or less made peace with it now (I was SOOO happy he was at the 40th panel, and I am one who has been pretty critical of him over the last 17-18 years or so). I get the feeling that there are those who really want to stir the pot, though I am not sure to what end. I think some folks actively want the Disney era of Star Wars to fail as a vindication of their point of view. It seems increasingly unlikely to me that that will happen, at least in the immediate future. I personally just want some excellent Star Wars. I feel we are getting it, though I know there is some segment that do not agree.

 

Devin Faraci and others repeatedly said Abrams and Kennedy were having a power struggle behind the scenes during the making of TFA.

 

When it comes to sources, I tend to look further than Devin Faraci who I hated long before it was revealed he was a piece of trash. But one could tell he was a piece of trash anyway.

 

Well, something is definitely going on. The new Making of Rogue One book, which was scheduled to be released in October, is now no longer available.

 

He is a piece of trash but he's not the only one who talked about the situation between Abrams and Kennedy.

 

According to wookiepedia the "Making of" book for RO has now been officially cancelled. The cancellation seems to coincide with the Lord and Millar hoo-hah. It is a shame Lucasfilm is being so guarded about this, but I suppose also understandable. In terms of the ST itself, the truth will come out eventually. It always does.

 

This is the only thing I don't like about the new Lucasfilm. They seem to love putting out PR puff pieces.

 

Well it could be that LFL agreed with Lucas that they would not discuss the production in public (which neither side has). Simply leaving JW to his own devices may jepoardise that arrangement

 

The only things GL mentioned was that it was going to be about Vader's grandchildren and that they decided to go in their own directions and him going his own way. I think it's more like Disney/LFL are more concerned with secrecy now than before the sale. When you look at the extras behind of the scenes stuff they are willing to show, they're not as in-depth as with GL was with his own movies which is a shame because I believe how you make a movie is just as important as the finished movie itself. If there's going to be an announcement of a Han Solo making of book, I assume it will suffer the same fate as the last two books. I guess Art of books and Visual Dictionary are the only sneak peaks at BTS stuff now, which is better than nothing I suppose but doesn't reveal much in terms of production.

 

It's always delightful to hear how easy/difficult/groundbreaking/workmanlike or whatever it was to bring a film to the screen.

I can't imagine anything that would make me place anything like equal importance on the making of or on the disclosure of the making of a movie with the finished movie itself.

 

I'll agree with this to a certain extent. TPM is by far my least favorite SW film, but In the Beginning is by far my favorite "making of" feature. It's honest, for the most part, showing the awesome with the not-so-awesome. I'd love it to see something like that for the new films, even if they are released after the current ST is finished. I can understand LFL wanting to keep the focus on the film as released while the ST is underway, but I don;t see a downside to releasing a honest making-of after the dust has settled. It won't change my opinions of the films.