''George Lucas in Love'' is a 1999 American parodical

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

directed by

Joe Nussbaum Joseph Nussbaum (born January 10, 1973) is an American film director and screenwriter. Nussbaum got his break into the film industry by passing around Hollywood offices his short film ''George Lucas in Love''. The success of the film eventually ...

. A parody of ''

Shakespeare in Love ''Shakespeare in Love'' is a 1998 period romantic comedy film directed by John Madden, written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, and produced by Harvey Weinstein. It stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth, B ...

'', it depicts a young

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...

and his real-life inspirations behind the characters and plot of ''Star Wars''. Upon its release, the film was widely passed around Hollywood offices and served as Nussbaum’s break into the film industry. Lucas himself reacted to the film positively.

Plot

In the film,

(

Martin Hynes Martin Hynes is an American screenwriter, film director, actor, and film producer. Life and career Hynes was born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, and has a bachelor's degree in history from Columbia University. Hynes wrote and directed ''The Go ...

) is a 1967

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

college student, suffering from

writer's block Writer's block is a non-medical condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Writer's block has various degrees of severity, from difficulty in coming ...

as he attempts to write a movie about a young space farmer with a bad crop of "space wheat". Taking a break from his work, George goes on to encounter classmates and teachers who resemble and will influence the eventual creation of,

Obi-Wan Kenobi Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi () is a character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. In the original film trilogy, he is a Jedi Master who trains Luke Skywalker in the ways of the Force. In the prequel trilogy, he mentors Luke's father, Anakin Skywalke ...

Darth Vader Darth Vader () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He was first introduced in the original film trilogy as the primary antagonist and one of the leaders of the Galactic Empire. He has become one of the most iconic villain ...

Han Solo Han Solo () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He was introduced in the 1977 film ''Star Wars (film), Star Wars'', and later appeared in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980), ''Return of the Jedi'' (1983), ''Star Wars: The F ...

Chewbacca Chewbacca ( ), nicknamed "Chewie", is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He is a Wookiee—a tall, hairy, highly intelligent species originating from the planet Kashyyyk. He is tall, and typically wears only a bandolier an ...

Jabba the Hutt Jabba Desilijic Tiure, better known as Jabba the Hutt ( ) is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Initially performed by Declan Mulholland as a human in the original ''Star Wars'' film, Jabba first appeared properly in the 198 ...

R2-D2 R2-D2 () or Artoo-Detoo is a fictional robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. He has appeared in ten of the eleven theatrical ''Star Wars'' films to date, including every film in the " Skywalker Saga", which inclu ...

, and

C-3PO C-3PO () or See-Threepio is a humanoid robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He is a protocol droid (Star Wars), droid designed to assist in etiquette and translation, and is fluent in over six million forms of communication. The chara ...

. Lucas is surrounded by inspiration, but he sees nothing. Even his wise advisor (

Patrick Kerr Patrick Kerr (born January 23, 1956) is an American actor, currently recurring as small town grocer "Mr. Johnson" on Apple TV's "The Big Door Prize" starring Chris O'Dowd. Career Previously, he is best known for his recurring role as Noel She ...

), who suspiciously looks and speaks like

Yoda Yoda () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He is a small, green humanoid alien who is powerful with the Force. He first appeared in the 1980 film '' The Empire Strikes Back'', in which he is voiced and puppeteered by F ...

, is unable to help him. Eventually, young Lucas meets his muse, a young woman (with a very unusual hairdo) named

Marion Marion or MARION may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Marion (band), a British alternative rock group * ''Marion'' (miniseries), a 1974 miniseries * ''Marion'' (1920 film), an Italian silent film * ''Marion'' (2024 film), a UK short People a ...

(

Lisa Jakub Lisa Jakub () (born December 27, 1978) is a Canadian writer, yoga teacher, and former actress. She is best known for her roles as Lydia Hillard in the comedy-drama film '' Mrs. Doubtfire'' (1993) and as Alicia Casse in ''Independence Day'' (1996 ...

) who is "kind of leading a student rebellion". After they meet, everything falls into place for Lucas, as she urges him to "write what you know". His writer's block dissipates and he quickly finishes his masterpiece. However, his shot at romance with the girl is blown when he discovers she's his sister. In a

post-credits scene A post-credits scene (also known as a stinger, end tag, or credit cookie) is a short teaser clip that appears after the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV show, or video game has run. It is usually ...

, Lucas gets a new idea when his neighbor introduces Lucas to his new pet, a duck named Howard.

Reception

The film received great attention as it circulated around Hollywood in the summer of 1999 and eventually premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

on September 19 that year. It debuted online at MediaTrip.com on October 12, 1999. The film won several awards, including the

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

Short Film Award at the 2000

Deauville American Film Festival The Deauville American Film Festival () is a yearly film festival devoted to Cinema of the United States, American cinema, which has taken place since 1975 in Deauville, France. It was established by Lionel Chouchan, André Halimi, and then ...

, the Audience Award at both the

Florida Film Festival The Florida Film Festival, produced by Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, is an annual international film festival. Overview The Festival includes narrative and documentary features and shorts, animation, midnight movies, and educational fo ...

and the San Sebastián Horror and Fantasy Film Festival and Best Short Film at the 2000 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. When the film was released on VHS in 2000, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reported that the film made it to #1 on

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

's Top 10 sales chart, beating out sales of ''

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace ''Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' (also known simply as ''Star Wars: The Phantom Menace''), is a 1999 American Epic film, epic space opera film produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film was written and d ...

'' for at least a day. A DVD with audio commentary by the director and producer, a behind-the-scenes featurette and several other MediaTrip short films, including ''Evil Hill'', ''Film Club'' and ''Swing Blade'', was released in 2001; ''George Lucas in Love'' itself is also included in Cinema16's DVD of American Short Films, released in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 2006. Nussbaum would later direct the films ''

Sleepover A sleepover (also known as a slumber party or pajama party) is a social occasion in which a young person stays at the home of a friend. Multiple people and/or friends may sleepover at the friend's home. Typically a younger person will partake in ...

'', '' American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile'' and ''

Sydney White ''Sydney White'' is a 2007 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Joe Nussbaum and written by Chad Gomez Creasey based on the fairy tale of "Snow White" by the Brothers Grimm. The film, starring Amanda Bynes in the title role, Sara Paxto ...

'' starring

Amanda Bynes Amanda Laura Bynes (born April 3, 1986) is an American actress. Bynes began her career as a child actor, appearing on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series '' All That'' (1996–2000) and its spin-off series '' The Amanda Show'' (1999–2002). ...

. In 2004, the film won the Pioneer Award in the

Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company founded by filmmaker George Lucas in December 10, 1971 in San Rafael, California, and later moved to San Francisco in 2005. It is best known for creating and producing th ...

-sponsored 2004 Official ''Star Wars'' Fan Film Awards.

is a fan of this movie, having sent a congratulatory letter to the filmmakers, which they show in a hidden

Easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The ...

on the DVD.

References

External links

*
''George Lucas in Love'' review at Film Threat
{{Non-canon Star Wars 1999 short films 1999 films 1999 independent films American independent films American science fiction short films Films directed by Joe Nussbaum Films scored by Deborah Lurie Films set in 1967 Films set in Los Angeles Cultural depictions of George Lucas Fan films based on Star Wars Parody films based on Star Wars American student films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films English-language short films English-language independent films

Plot

Reception

See also

References

External links