I chose George Lucas because he epitomizes creativity in both artistic expression and technological innovation. His creativity led to not only personal success but also unprecedented growth in the film industry.

From an early age, Lucas considered himself a disinterested student and aspired to be a race car driver. Lucas’s father, who Lucas considers his greatest influence and mentor, bought him his first race car. After an accident that could have killed him, Lucas completely let go his dream and decided to go to college in search of new ones. Lucas wanted to become a pilot but was denied entrance to the Air Force because of the number of speeding tickets he accumulated during the pursuit of his earlier endeavor. After being drafted into the Army, Lucas discovered he had diabetes and was forced to leave any hopes of a military career behind him.

Lucas then turned his sights towards an education in film. Lucas received his undergraduate degree from the USC Film School and instantly immersed himself in the film industry. Lucas writes that his greatest mentor was his father but his first mentor in the film industry was Francis Ford Coppola. Ford Coppola taught Lucas how to write screenplays and how to work with actors. Yet, Lucas was far more interested in camera work and editing in early years.

It was after studying the writings of Joseph Campbell, famously knows for his work with historical myths and universal motifs, when Lucas began finding the stories he wanted to tell. It was at this point when Lucas adapted his student film THX 1138 for the big screen. Ford Coppola’s burgeoning studio, American Zoetrope produced the film with Lucas directing. Warner Brothers financed the film and were outraged at the final product so although they distributed it, they revoked funds form American Zoetrope causing Ford Coppola’s company to go into bankruptcy. Lucas’s second project was American Graffiti which was critically acclaimed and put Lucas on the map. However, the studio was again a point of frustration because they edited five minutes from the film against Lucas’ wishes. This marked a defining moment in Lucas’ life in which he decided to work as independently as possible from the studio system.

Lucas’ most famous project, Star Wars the first in a trilogy of movies, was next. He wrote and directed the film. The project marked one of the greatest periods of break through for both sound and special effects for the film industry. Upon entering into negotiations for releasing the film, Lucas was offered more money for his role as writer and director. Instead of accepting the greater salary, Lucas requested that he receive the merchandizing and licensing rights and greater shares in 20th Century Fox Studios. Lucas believed that Star Wars would be poorly promoted and distributed by the studio and he saw merchandizing as a means for marketing the film. The tremendous success of Star Wars provided Lucas with greater opportunities than he could have imagined. First, Lucas made a tremendous profit from the film. Second, Lucas had the right to merchandize products based on the film. And third, Lucas was able to finish the trilogy he had originally envisioned and had the rights of ownership for them. Lucas eventually self financed the next two movies, considered suicide in the film industry, but the gamble paid off.

The profit Lucas accrued allowed him to build his own studio. Lucas’s studios has five divisions: Lucas Film, Industrial Light and Magic, LucasFilm Animation, Lucas Arts, Lucas Licensing. Projects such as the Indiana Jones franchise, the Star Wars franchise and Forest Gump have all capitalized from Lucas’s vision.

Lucas’s leadership style has always been characterized as unconventional. When he was told that certain things could not be done, he overcame obstacles that were seen as insurmountable. Lucas claims that the one word that describes a good leader is perseverance. And Lucas definitely displays perseverance. I think that perseverance is what Lucas expects from his employees.

Although he is a genius in his own right, he surrounds himself with talented individuals. Lucas has the last word with the artistic visions of his projects but it is the teams he has put together that provide him with the options for producing his films. Lucas would value a CLIC because it would provide his team with even more information tools for their projects. Current technological trends, literature reviews, market research, scholastic research, technological literacy, etc., are all information resources that promote the projects that Lucas has worked with. Information professionals have the talent and skills involved to further LucasFilms success.

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg recently released a digital library of sounds for film production. Techniques in information gathering and dissemination were used in constructing this library and Lucas’s team essentially required a CLIC for this project. The project was commercial but it was aimed at allowing current artists to benefit from over three decades of perseverance.

July 1, 2006 from http://www.biography.com/

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/encarta/see/default.mspx

2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org