Considering the impact ILM on moviemaking, I hope something is done about it. Maybe the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences can step in and help? George Lucas' former Marin studio closing, some employees vow to save it
Yeah, one thing that's sad is I think the facility has the biggest blue screen/green screen stage in California -- it is absolutely gigantic -- and it'd be a shame to knock it down and just turn that space into a warehouse. Lotta history in that place.
I guess it's not possible to use land for the 'The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art' which is well underway with construction in Los Angeles and due to open in 2025...
Well, that's not in San Rafael -- that's in downtown LA. I think Lucas himself has no interest in buying back the old ILM. He already paid over $100M for the San Francisco property at the Presidio. My guess is that if asked, Lucas would say, "I'm not in the real estate business or the movie business -- I'm in the museum business." And he does give to charities, but it's not something he talks about. Basically, once ILM left San Rafael in 2005, I think he put all of that behind him.
“Repurposed” is apparently putting it lightly. Here’s a Facebook post from last week from writer/producer Scott Wickman: I write this post with a heavy heart, but also with the vigor to try and see this through. I will keep it simple: The landlord of 32ten Studios in San Rafael has given all tenants notice to be out by Oct 31st. Henceforth they will be gutting both buildings and replacing them with industrial warehouses. This is in an effort for them to “make more money on the property”. For those of you that don’t know, 32ten Studios is the current company that runs out of the space that was the original ILM built in 1978 by George Lucas. It houses the George Lucas Theater (birthplace of the THX Sound System), the 32ten Stage (largest studio space in the Bay Area), and the Model and Practical Effects Shop (home to a crazy amount of important creations of film history). Almost ALL of the effects, and numerous famous scenes, for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi were created and filmed here. The list of other major films that had moments filmed here, or had their practical effects done at the studio is massive; The Rocketeer, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Forrest Gump, and Back to the Future to name a few. It would be an absolute travesty to lose this historic location and a major blow to the film community in the Bay Area. Sean House, along with myself and Doug Cox, are leading the charge to help save the space. I am posting this to put it on everyone’s radar and keep an eye out for updates. We will likely need to do some crowdfunding, a lot of media coverage, and the support from anyone and everyone. Feel free to reach out to me directly if you have any questions.
That is a GREAT theater -- absolutely state-of-the-art when I worked there in 2004 -- and the blue-screen stage is massive. The problem is, George Lucas hated Hollywood so much, he deliberately located ILM 392 miles north of LA, just to get out of the muck and mire of the business. It's only 18 miles north of San Francisco, but there are not a ton of people shooting movies in San Francisco these days. (Hell, there's not a lot of people working in San Francisco these days.)
And I suppose the hard question here is...if it were preserved, would there be an increase of work there to justify it? No mistake, I would hate to lose an excellent, state-of-the-art theater, but...can that support the facility?
