Lucasfilm Ltd.

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Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) is an American film production company founded by George Lucas in 1971, based in Marin County, California. Lucas is its current chairman, and Micheline Chau is its president/chief operating officer.

The company is best known for producing the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, but it has produced other box office hits, including American Graffiti. It has also been a leader in developing new film technology in special effects, sound, and computer animation, and because of their expertise its subsidiaries often help produce non-Lucasfilm pictures. Lucasfilm is set to move away from films and more into TV, due to rising budgets.^[2]

Organization of the company

Lucasfilm was reorganized to consolidate all the companies to be under Lucasfilm. Now, Lucasfilm is made up of seven divisions:

Lucasfilm - film and television production and promotion
Lucas Digital - company composed of ILM and Skywalker Sound. This company may not be in existence any longer since the reorganization.
- Industrial Light & Magic - digital and visual effects for the entertainment industry
- Skywalker Sound - post-production sound editing for the entertainment industry
Lucasfilm Animation and Lucasfilm Animation Singapore - digital animation studio for film, television, and games
LucasArts - developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software
Lucas Licensing - licensing and merchandising for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and other Lucasfilm projects
- Lucas Learning - producing technology-based educational materials for K-12
- LucasBooks - the publishing arm of Lucasfilm and a part of Lucas Licensing
Lucas Online - online destination for entertainment, reference, education, and e-commerce for Lucasfilm projects

Former divisions

A few other companies started out under the Lucasfilm umbrella:

Avid Technology, Inc.^[source?]
Black Falcon Ltd. – handled merchandising for Lucasfilm briefly before fully merging into Lucasfilm in December 1979
Pixar Animation Studios – computer animation film production company (sold to Steve Jobs in 1986)
THX, Ltd. – theater sound system (spun off in 2002)

Leadership

George Lucas: Chairman
Micheline Chau: President and Chief Operating Officer
Gail Currey: Vice President and General Manager, Lucasfilm Animation
Chrissie England: President, Industrial Light & Magic
Glenn Kiser: Vice President and General Manager, Skywalker Sound
Howard Roffman: President, Lucas Licensing
Jim Ward: President, LucasArts and Senior Vice President, Lucasfilm

History

In July 2005, Lucasfilm's marketing, online, and licensing units moved into the new Letterman Digital Arts Center located in the Presidio in San Francisco. It shares the complex with Industrial Light & Magic, and LucasArts.

In July 2012 Star Wars Insider 135 announced that Kathleen Kennedy, former President of the Producers Guild of America, will become Co-Chair of Lucasfilm Ltd., as George Lucas begins his retirement plans. Lucas will become Co-Chairman of the Board and will remain as Lucasfilm's CEO.^[1] On October 30, 2012 it was announced that The Walt Disney Company was purchasing Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion in stock and cash. ^[3]

On December 21, 2012, The Walt Disney Company officially finalized its acquisition of Lucasfilm.^[4]