I've watched all the prequel DVD material and Rick McCallum is the most unbearable man you can ever hope to listen to or watch. Do you guys agree? I once put in the Phantom Menace auxiliary DVD just to say to my friend Brendan, "Look how awful this guy is!"
He's not mean or anything; just...awful...in that Hollywood way where he pronounces "shot" as if it has an "L" in the middle of it and uses Britishisms like "petrol." Example: "When we saw this shawt we were absolutely gobsmacked." And you watch him take Ewan MacGregor's telephone call and answer by drawling "Dude..." "What a tool," Brendan said.
(Now it's going to turn out that Rick McCallum avidly reads Horrorthon and I just lost my "shawt" at making a Star Wars movie.)
If you watch all the behind-the-scenes stuff with Lucas and McCallum throughout the prequel trilogy you can literally see both of these guys getting fat on their success.
The impression one gets is that McCallum is Lucas' "Number 1" and is the reclusive Lucas' spokesperson. I bet both of those guys would be unbearable to deal with.
March 14, 2006 7:51 AM
Anonymous said...
I think Lucas would be fine to deal with as long as you weren't silently fuming at what he was making you do (like when he says "I want Jar Jar to step in shit right here"). Octopunk told me that there's a rule that if you speak to him without being prompted, you're fired. I can imagine the situation warranting that, oddly enough (although I'm sure it can be frustrating).
I agree Lucas seems like he could be difficult (and you can see all those ILM people struggling really hard to sound enthusiastic about some of the crap he's making them do) but at least he's an intelligent, creative person who's made some great stuff. Rick McCallum is just a pretentious, syncophantic enabler with a lot of corduroy shirts.
"Rick McCallum is just a pretentious, syncophantic enabler with a lot of corduroy shirts." Well put! In the end I respect Lucas, I just wouldn't want to work for him.
"I think it's going to be everything the fans always wanted the prequels to be."
Gee thanks, Rick. Couldn't get that going for the prequels themselves, huh?
The "don't talk to George" thing was mentioned by numerous free-lancers who had clocked time at ILM. It does make sense, since ILM is constantly stocking and restocking his staff with lifelong fanboys. He'd be mobbed like Lindsay Lohan.
March 14, 2006 11:15 AM
Anonymous said...
Hey, man, you couldn't make me talk to him! :)
I remember on the Clones disc during the "widowmaker shot" part, where he's introduced to the animator who's doing the Yoda swordfight. I think it would be daunting to contemplate just how many different ways he's in charge:
1) He's directing the movie 2) He's producing the movie 3) He wrote the movie 4) He invented the property ("Star Wars") 5) He owns the property ("Star Wars") 6) He owns the production company 7) He invented ILM 8) He owns ILM
Compare this to, say, "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" as viewed from the ILM standpoint:
1) Director: Nick Meyer 2) Producer: Harve Bennett 2) Writer: Nick Meyer (but no screen credit; bad contract) 4) Trek inventor: Gene Roddenberry (old; out of loop) 5) Owner: Paramount 6) Production company: some Paramount subdivision (guys in Armani suits; no socks) 7) Effects house invented by: George Lucas 8) etc.
Versus, say, "Revenge of the Sith" where Lucas is in every single category above. Weird; probably completely unique. Even Spielberg has to go to Lucas for all his effects.
I've heard movie sets referred to as the last remaining dictatorial places in the West. And that's just dealing with a regular old director (on a day when no money people are there, of course).
March 14, 2006 4:05 PM
[Image]From Darkhorizons, "Turning up at last night's Sony Ericsson Empire Awards, "Star Wars" producer Rick McCallum confirmed to Empire Online that George Lucas has approved an "Indiana Jones IV script and returned it to Spielberg for more polishing.
He also says the Star Wars TV show is a go - "That's not going to happen probably for another year and a half while we develop scripts and everything else. But it's fantastic; we've got some incredible writers. It's going to be much darker, much more character-based, and I think it's going to be everything the fans always wanted the prequels to be. They'll be one-hour episode. It takes place between Episodes III and IV. It's going to be all-new characters, maybe a few bounty hunters in there to start the series off".
Lucas is currently penning the script for his long-cherished World War II fighter pilots film "Red Tails" before sending it out to other writers towards years end and then gets filming on it next year."
"Rick McCallum talks Indy IV and Young Star Wars"
8 Comments -
I've watched all the prequel DVD material and Rick McCallum is the most unbearable man you can ever hope to listen to or watch. Do you guys agree? I once put in the Phantom Menace auxiliary DVD just to say to my friend Brendan, "Look how awful this guy is!"
He's not mean or anything; just...awful...in that Hollywood way where he pronounces "shot" as if it has an "L" in the middle of it and uses Britishisms like "petrol." Example: "When we saw this shawt we were absolutely gobsmacked." And you watch him take Ewan MacGregor's telephone call and answer by drawling "Dude..." "What a tool," Brendan said.
(Now it's going to turn out that Rick McCallum avidly reads Horrorthon and I just lost my "shawt" at making a Star Wars movie.)
March 14, 2006 7:46 AM
If you watch all the behind-the-scenes stuff with Lucas and McCallum throughout the prequel trilogy you can literally see both of these guys getting fat on their success.
The impression one gets is that McCallum is Lucas' "Number 1" and is the reclusive Lucas' spokesperson. I bet both of those guys would be unbearable to deal with.
March 14, 2006 7:51 AM
I think Lucas would be fine to deal with as long as you weren't silently fuming at what he was making you do (like when he says "I want Jar Jar to step in shit right here"). Octopunk told me that there's a rule that if you speak to him without being prompted, you're fired. I can imagine the situation warranting that, oddly enough (although I'm sure it can be frustrating).
I agree Lucas seems like he could be difficult (and you can see all those ILM people struggling really hard to sound enthusiastic about some of the crap he's making them do) but at least he's an intelligent, creative person who's made some great stuff. Rick McCallum is just a pretentious, syncophantic enabler with a lot of corduroy shirts.
March 14, 2006 8:01 AM
"Rick McCallum is just a pretentious, syncophantic enabler with a lot of corduroy shirts." Well put! In the end I respect Lucas, I just wouldn't want to work for him.
March 14, 2006 8:46 AM
"I think it's going to be everything the fans always wanted the prequels to be."
Gee thanks, Rick. Couldn't get that going for the prequels themselves, huh?
The "don't talk to George" thing was mentioned by numerous free-lancers who had clocked time at ILM. It does make sense, since ILM is constantly stocking and restocking his staff with lifelong fanboys. He'd be mobbed like Lindsay Lohan.
March 14, 2006 11:15 AM
Hey, man, you couldn't make me talk to him! :)
I remember on the Clones disc during the "widowmaker shot" part, where he's introduced to the animator who's doing the Yoda swordfight. I think it would be daunting to contemplate just how many different ways he's in charge:
1) He's directing the movie
2) He's producing the movie
3) He wrote the movie
4) He invented the property ("Star Wars")
5) He owns the property ("Star Wars")
6) He owns the production company
7) He invented ILM
8) He owns ILM
Compare this to, say, "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" as viewed from the ILM standpoint:
1) Director: Nick Meyer
2) Producer: Harve Bennett
2) Writer: Nick Meyer (but no screen credit; bad contract)
4) Trek inventor: Gene Roddenberry (old; out of loop)
5) Owner: Paramount
6) Production company: some Paramount subdivision (guys in Armani suits; no socks)
7) Effects house invented by: George Lucas
8) etc.
Versus, say, "Revenge of the Sith" where Lucas is in every single category above. Weird; probably completely unique. Even Spielberg has to go to Lucas for all his effects.
March 14, 2006 11:49 AM
And most importantly, he PAID for the movie. He's the ultimate dictator.
March 14, 2006 12:57 PM
I've heard movie sets referred to as the last remaining dictatorial places in the West. And that's just dealing with a regular old director (on a day when no money people are there, of course).
March 14, 2006 4:05 PM