George Lucas: Founder of Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic

About George Lucas: Founder of Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic

George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker, philanthropist and entrepreneur. He created the Star Wars franchise and its fictional universe and the Indiana Jones franchise, and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman of Lucasfilm before selling it to The Walt Disney Company in 2012. The recipient of two Emmy Awards and nominations for four Academy Awards and two Golden Globes, he is considered one of the most significant figures of the New Hollywood movement and a pioneer of the modern blockbuster, and he has remained an independent filmmaker for most of his career. After graduating from the University of Southern California in 1967, Lucas moved to San Francisco and co-founded American Zoetrope with filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola. He wrote and directed THX 1138 (1971), based on his student short, a critical success but financial failure, followed by American Graffiti (1973), inspired by his youth in early-1960s Modesto, California, and produced through the newly founded Lucasfilm. It was critically and commercially successful and earned five Academy Award nominations, including Best Director and Best Picture. His next film was the space opera Star Wars (1977). Sources: English Wikipedia (George Lucas, accessed September 2026).

Basic Information

Founder, Lucasfilm, Industrial Light & Magic and THX

Company Details

Lucasfilm Ltd.

Film Production, Visual Effects, Sound Technology

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