JW Rinzler's blog (now removed): General Discussion

38:09 - 43:17

 

If it was something personal (such as his wife telling him not to continue with it) he would say surely?

Same if he just decided he'd rather not air this "dirty linen" in public.

He hasn't posted anything to his Twitter in 18th July when he announced (without explanation) that he was pulling the plug;

https://twitter.com/jwrinzler

If it was something personal wouldn't he have explained to all the people who were asking what was happening, even it was just to say; "sorry guys, decided the blog's a bad idea" etc?

The fact there has just been radio silence since the blog went down just confirms what we all know, Disney sent him a C & D and forced him to shut it down... Indeed for all we've heard or seen of him in the past ten days they might even have him gagged and tied up in Kathy Kennedy's basement!

#FreeRinzler

 

Actually the fact that we haven't heard from him at all, even about other unrelated stuff on his Twitter could mean that he's dealing with an overwhelming issue that has him sidetracked.

We could keep these guessing games going for weeks. Wonder if there's any point though

 

An opportunity to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) must never be passed up.

 

So why not say "I've got a personal issue" and I'm pulling the Blog" ?

In-fact if it's a "personal issue" why pull the blog as all? Why not just suspend it until said issue is resolved?

The only thing that makes sense is that Disney have shut him down and told him that he can't comment on anything at all in relation to this blog (including why it's been shut down) There's really no other explanation for the time-line of events followed by total silence.

 

There are 100 possible explanations that all make sense. Maybe he hasn't posted an update bcs he's not sure of his plans yet. Some info about Ewan McGregor was removed from a blog entry at one point. Maybe he &/or some other actors complained to Rinzler about casting them in a bad light. Either informally or legally. Like I said, endless possible explanations.

 

The Rise and Fall of Rinzler's Blog, Blog #1

7/28/2017

This blog will explore the period between JW's leaving the Star Wars family in a professional capacity to the juicy no-holds barred Rise and Fall of Star Wars Blog. We will begin at the end and work in reverse. From the Fall to the Rise. You won't want to miss this. The last blog entry will have a link to George Lucas' original treatment of the Sequel Trilogy and beyond!!!

Next: I Will Destroy You !!!

 

Well I believe that the altered blog post specifically mentioned production issues caused by GL's habit of non-communication with actors. What it...it was Lucas himself who had the blog shut down for casting him in a bad light!

 

Hello everyone. I registered here to post the following in an attempt to clarify and, hopefully, add some context to the discussion.

Various sources on the web (inclusive of forums, websites and online media) have published speculation in regards to the status of the JWR blog and LF/Disney. These speculative claims have ranged from LF having taken aggressive legal action to shut down JWR's blog to JWR having been politely reminded that he was in violation of already signed and agreed upon NDA term(s). While speculation is not unreasonable, some sources have gone so far as to pass this speculation off as fact. This is despite the fact that no one with knowledge of the details of JWR's contract with LF or JWR himself has commented on this status publicly or even off-the-record. Furthermore, neither JWR nor LF has provided details as to the terms of the termination of his employment with LF, beyond the fact that JWR has publicly stated his last day at LF was December 31, 2015.

When one considers the distinctions between mutual and unilateral non-disclosure agreements, employment law in the State of California (specifically the State of California's stance on non-compete contracts) and severance packages with confidentiality clauses, there is indeed a myriad of legal possibilities to speculate upon. Beyond the fact that LF employees are expected to sign an NDA before they can begin employment with LF, we simply do not know the specific terms of JWR's final contract and likely never will. Unfortunately, this has not stopped some from asserting that JWR had indeed violated the terms of his NDA which, beyond the terms being as yet unknowable to third-parties, is based on the ridiculous premise that either JWR did not understand his own NDA or that he did understand it and deliberately proceeded to set himself up for a lawsuit regardless. This ignores the simple fact that JWR may have indeed had his own reasons for publishing and removing his blog. The fact that these possible reasons are undisclosed does not necessarily point to a contractual breach of any sort.

As a private individual neither publicly nor privately affiliated with either JWR or LF, I would like to state that I am among the many fans of JWR's Making of series who eagerly anticipated (still anticipates in fact!) and was crushed by the cancelled publication of JWR's The Making of The Force Awakens. I would also like to point out that JWR is an excellent researcher and writer; it is a testament to his abilities that he was able, in his blog, to weave together a vivid tapestry of largely positive recollections of his time at LF with historical details. That these details were reported elsewhere, and thus in the public domain, is a distinction of not insignificant importance when considering the larger issue at hand.

I have further things to share but I think this is more than enough for a first post.

 

We cannot rule out the possibility he got a new cat or video game, and decided to spend his time on these pursuits in lieu of other options. Also, he might have spilled a Wendy's Frosty on his computing device of choice, causing a severe mechanical failure that in turn rendered any long term blogging project into an impossible task. I advise caution while pondering the mysterious disappearance of the web log ("blog") in question.

 

That's because these "haters" largely believe that Ewan's performance was much better than Hayden's. Simple as that.

 

This exchange in the comment section of Blog#1 I found most interesting and sad:

Rob McFarlane
6/23/2017 06:10:57 am
I saw the original SW opening day at the Chinese Theater, and have been a huge fan ever since. I recently had a chance to tour the Ranch again after many years (having worked for ILM for a time in the 90's). Although the grounds of SR remains as beautiful as ever, I was somewhat saddened to find the formerly bustling buildings to be largely empty. Standing in the deserted yet still breathtaking library of the Main House, I couldn't help but wonder: Who is this for now? Who will use this? What will become of this place? Having read each of your books cover to cover I very much look forward to following your new blog.

Reply
JWR
6/23/2017 08:00:26 am
Yep, the ranch is ghost town, except for Sky Sound. Blog will mention briefly, but later.

 

Didn't LFL move it's headquarters into San Francisco recently? That's probably why Skywalker ranch is empty. Besides isn't the place technically still GL's house?

 

Lucas doesn't live at Skywalker Ranch. It's always been a studio not his home. I wonder if Lucas stills owns it or if it was part of the sell to Disney.

 

O.K. I stand corrected.

According to Wikipedia...

Apparently George Lucas still owns Skywalker Ranch, and his Educational Foundation is based there. LFL still pays rent to GL to keep it's sub-division Skywalker Sound at the Ranch too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skywalker_Ranch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucasfilm#Disney_subsidiary_.282012.E2.80.93present.29

 

I've always wanted to visit the ranch, but it doesn't sound so attractive anymore. I'm sure it would still be a thrilling experience, but knowing that most of LFL is active elsewhere and that GL isn't involved kind of puts a damper on it.

 

I've always assumed that the company just got to big to be housed entirely at the ranch by 2005. But at least you can still see Palpatine's statues.

 

I LOVE THIS

edit: I need more !

 

Such a shame. I've been following it since day one. Was looking forward to hearing more about Frames, TCW and the true Episode VII.

P.S: Shouldn't this be in the Lucasfilm In-Depth sub-forum?

 

You know you're right. This is a much better fit over there. Maybe a mod could move it.

 

Looks like heels1785 moved it for you.

 

An Art Deco Palpatine-style theater room but with inverted colors... interesting.

 

It's interesting to see how companies are run when they are privately-held enterprises vs how they are run when the top tiers of management have the presumed concerns of the shareholders as a major factor in decision making. Don't get me wrong, I loved The Force Awakens, but for all his faults, GL was always pretty transparent about his motives and his approach to the creative process. I mean, he gave his critics PLENTY of ammunition with the behind the scenes features on the prequel DVDs where you basically see him avoiding the subject of his own discomfort with the mechanics of storytelling to the point that it becomes a detriment to the films themselves. Along these lines, I'm beginning to come around to the idea that a lot of what a lot of people have attributed to deliberate obfuscation on his behalf may actually just be a poor memory and a low regard for historical accuracy. When you couple that with an at-times unhealthy preoccupation with keeping costs low, it paints the picture of somebody with a vastly different set of priorities than those of his admirers.

It's very instructive to go back and re-read some of the LF press from before the sale to Disney as well as the press soon after. If you try to examine it while keeping the style, tone and subject matter of JWR's blog in your mind, the haze begins to clear and you start seeing a rather tumultuous transition from LF pre-Disney to LF as it exists today. So I don't think it's just the unflattering dirty laundry that certain entities might want to kept under wraps, it's the already reported and quite public disclosures of personal grievances, labor law violations, mass layoffs, conspicuous resignations and seemingly abrupt "creative decisions" that they would rather we not know about at all. The weight of authority that would be lent by someone like JWR providing a contextual timeline for things that are more or less hiding in plain sight might suggest some rather unflattering things about a brand that abandoned it's creator.

 

Seeing that theater room reminds me of how in early concept art for Episode I, the Sith wore white robes and the Jedi wore black. Or how for some reason Luke has a red lightsaber and Vader's is blue in LucasArts' ESB adaptation on NES.

It's not what color saber you wield, what color cloak you wear, what color wall you paint the theater... it's what you do with it.

 

Not his choice? I haven't been this surprised by a revelation since we found out the dark sider in TFA would wear black.

 

Definitively not surprised to see it confirmed, indeed.