'Star Wars' 30th Anniversary party to be in Los Angeles - Los Angeles Times 3/16/07

[ALIASd]

MOVIES
'Star Wars' 30th anniversary party to be in L.A.

From staff and wire reports
March 16, 2007

Lucasfilm Ltd. has chosen Los Angeles for the 30th anniversary celebration of the release of "Star Wars." The company will take over the L.A. Convention Center May 23 through 28 for a wide range of events, including back-to-back screenings of all six of the space adventures.

The event is dubbed "Celebration IV," because officially sanctioned "Star Wars" conventions have been held in Denver (1999) and Indianapolis (2002 and 2005).

The 17-hour movie marathon begins at 9 a.m. May 23 and will mark the first time in the United States that all six of the films have been shown in sequence, Lucasfilm said.

May 24 is reserved for official "Star Wars" Fan Club members. Then the convention has its official opening May 25, the anniversary date of the first film's release.

Among the events planned during the convention are appearances by Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) and Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), a presentation of Charles Ross' "One-Man Star Wars" stage show, "Star Wars" laser tag, "Stormtroopers Olympics" and "XXtreme Droid Challenge."

Tickets to the movie marathon are free to people who pre-register to attend "Celebration IV" at registration.gencon.com/celebration. For more information, go to http://www.starwars.com/celebration .

Also getting in on the anniversary celebration is the Postal Service, which announced Thursday that it will be wrapping about 400 mail collection boxes in 200 cities with a special covering to look like R2-D2 as promotion for a new stamp to be announced March 28.

http://www.latimes.com/

'Star Wars' 30th Anniversary - 5/26/06
http://www.micechat.com/forums/showt...sary+star+wars

[EagleWings]

I wanna go!

[Coheteboy]

Yup... I think I'll be there.

NERDS!!!

[ALIASd]

Star Wars CELEBRATION IV to Host
Special Preview of Star Wars-Themed Comedy Fanboys

Revelers at World's Biggest Star Wars Party Will Be First to View Footage from Fanboys and Meet Film's Creators

LOS ANGELES, April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Star Wars fans will meet Fanboys on Friday, May 25, when the world's biggest Star Wars party hosts an exclusive look at select scenes from the upcoming comedy, followed on Saturday by a special panel discussion with the filmmakers.

In Fanboys, director Kyle Newman has fashioned an uproarious comedy that follows a group of young friends on a cross-country quest to break into Skywalker Ranch and see Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace before it is released. Fanboys stars Sam Huntington (Superman Returns), Chris Marquette ("Joan of Arcadia"), Dan Fogler (the upcoming Kung Fu Panda), Kristen Bell ("Veronica Mars"), Jay Baruchel and Seth Rogen (both of the upcoming Knocked Up). Fanboys is a Weinstein Company presentation being released in theaters by MGM.

In a special presentation - held on the 30th anniversary of Star Wars - fans at CELEBRATION IV will see scenes from the film that Newman will introduce on-stage.

As a special bonus, a unique "prequel" comic book to Fanboys, which follows the characters' obsessive love of Star Wars, will be offered to fans as a limited edition at CELEBRATION IV.

"There couldn't be a more perfect pairing of movie and audience," said Newman, who will be joined by Fanboys producers Dana Brunetti, Matthew Perniciaro and Kevin Mann at CELEBRATION IV. "Fanboys has truly been a labor of love for everyone involved, so to know that some of the world's biggest Star Wars fans will be among the first to see highlights from the movie is very exciting."

In addition, members of the Fanboys cast are expected to attend CELEBRATION IV, pending production schedules for the popular young actors.

http://sev.prnewswire.com/entertainm...6042007-1.html

[ALIASd]

'Star Wars' 30th anniversary

How Lucas, ILM redefined business-as-usual

Alec Guinness and George Lucas confer on the set of 'Star Wars.'

By Paul Cullum
Variety
May 4, 2007

In the official souvenir program for "Star Wars," George Lucas says of his most famous creation: "It's always been what you might call a good idea in search of a story." One that 30 years later, the industry seems to have taken to heart.

"George never set out to reform or change Hollywood," says Steve Sansweet, Lucasfilm's official "Star Wars" ambassador. "He has invested in what he thought was necessary to make the kind of movies that he wanted to make."

Lucas arguably created the concept of the summer blockbuster by targeting Memorial Day weekend as the optimum release window -- an honor Sansweet is loath to claim.

But Lucas was clearly the first to see the latent value in merchandising, a profit stream so obscure that Fox Studios, which legendarily released the film on just 32 screens, allowed him to take 40% of it in exchange for a reduced salary. Forbes Magazine estimates earnings for all "Star Wars"-related products at $20 billion. Sansweet will only confirm the figure of $12 billion in worldwide merchandise sales, which he calls "the big number," plus more than 100 million copies of various "Star Wars" videos sold, but he notes that merchandising went from a $5 billion annual business in 1976 to $60 billion within a decade, largely on the film's example.

Jeff Walker, a freelance marketing liaison between studios and fan conventions, credits Lucasfilm's Charles Lippincott with pioneering the marketing of genre pictures to their core audiences. "He's the guy who took 'Star Wars' out to the conventions," Walker says. "He did slideshows at 'Star Trek' and comicbook and science-fiction conventions the year before it came out, and really revolutionized this whole approach of going directly to the fans -- where essentially those three audiences converged."

Walker credits "Star Wars" with launching the '70s-'80s boom in science-fiction films, and credits the merchandising with tiding the fans over during the three years between each of the first three installments. But arguably, the whole notion of extended franchises, fanbase marketing and ancillary licensing -- the comicbooks, novelizations, et al that within the subculture are known as the "expanded universe" -- would not be possible without Lucas' unprecedented dedication to creating new technology.

full article at http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=13&cs=1

[ALIASd]

501st Legion: Dark side does good

Stormtrooper org marches for charity

By John Young
Variety
May 4, 2007

A long time ago, 8-year-old Albin Johnson arrived at a nearby movie theater to see something called "Star Wars." It was only the second film he had ever seen, but to borrow terminology from another science-fiction pic, it was "the one."

"The world changed for me," Johnson recalls. "The movie was a cultural revolution for kids. You were able to take that amazing imagination kernel with you."

And take it Johnson did. In 1997, he and fellow "Star Wars" enthusiast Tom Crews formed the 501st Legion, an org devoted to dressing up as Imperial Stormtroopers and other characters.

"I just wanted a way for fans to be a Stormtrooper authentically," Johnson says. "I had no idea how appealing that would be to people."

The group now consists of 3,500 members from more than 40 countries. Earlier this year, more than 200 members marched, with Galactic precision, in the Tournament of Roses parade.

But what truly distinguishes the 501st is its community service. Many members visit children's hospitals and fund-raising events dressed as Stormtroopers or Darth Vader. In lieu of charging for other appearances, the organization accepts donations to its charity affiliates, such as the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

"The reason people are in the 501st is because of the charity work," Johnson says. "You get over the excitement of being in plastic, but the kids' excitement keeps on bringing you back."

Mark Fordham, the organization's commanding officer, regularly takes his five children along on charity trips.

"My kids are being exposed to the value of service," Fordham says. "There are others out there whose needs are greater than our own, and it's so cool to make that difference."

Filmmaker Jay Thompson has captured the group's philanthropic efforts in his 2007 docu "Heart of an Empire," which is currently on the fest circuit. "People go into the movie thinking one thing (about the 501st), and they come out very surprised," Thompson says.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=13&cs=1

[aimster]

I wish I could go!

[Melonballer]

I wish I could go as well. I want those exclusive figures.

[AlohaStitch]

Been to Celebration III in Indy...(was a blast!) Now, I'll be at CIV and doing a LOT of volunteering for Rebel Legion (and if I can get my TIE pilot submitted in time) hopefully for 501st as well.

If anyone local can get down for this...I guarantee you will have the time of your lives!!!