The filmmaker likens the state of the industry nowadays to 'circus,' saying that many movies are less concerned with the 'substance' or story.
- Jan 30, 2015
AceShowbiz - George Lucas has shared some thoughts regarding Hollywood at an event at Sundance Film Festival. During the "Power of Story: Visions of Independence" panel on Thursday, January 29, which was also attended by Robert Redford, Lucas talked about some topics such as independent filmmaking as well as the current state of Hollywood productions.
"A lot of movies you see today are circus movies," he said onstage as he was joined by film critic Leonard Maltin. "It's now gotten to be more and more circus than substance." He additionally said of his "Star Wars" movies, "If you go into 'Star Wars' and see what's going on there, there's a lot more substance than circus."
"In the process of 'Star Wars', there were no visual effects houses, so I had to make one," Lucas said of making the masterpiece back then. "Everything I've ever done has been to make the process easier and to open up the imagination. Every job in ILM has been created for a particular shot or a particular movie."
He then pointed out that independent filmmakers should own their works. "Anybody who says they make money in post-production is lying. Anybody who says they make money in visual effects is lying," he stated. "If you own the movie, which I came to do, you make a lot of money."
At one point during the conversation, Redford also shared his opinion on independent filmmaking. "One of the things I love about independent film is that if you're going to work independently, you get to work outside the studio system which is very conventional in its thinking, but it means you have to be very creative," he shared. "One of the virtues of independent film is that it forces you to be resourceful."
