A short story of a great memory from Skywalker Ranch.
Today I got to view a wonderful video on Vimeo (which will have to be viewed at home, not at school) about the property where LucasFilm and Skywalker Sound and "everything George Lucas" is housed. I got a chance to re-live a wonderful experience from several summers ago while watching this video, and it got me to have a real appreciation one more time for what amazing things have happened to me in recent years at Dale Jackson. Here is the backstory about Skywalker...
I had a student in my class a few years back (around 2006) named James. His photo is the black and white photo right above George Lucas there.
One day in class, we were having a talk, and I learned from James that his uncle was then the editor-in-chief and founder of the publication for the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a magazine called EDUTOPIA. It was of great interest to me, because I had been an occasional contributor to that publication in the past, and I read it every time that it came out. I was very interested in what was going on out on the west coast in terms of technology and especially in the Silicon Valley, and EDUTOPIA had always been a good source of information to keep me informed. Little did I know that Mr. Daly had such a lengthy resume in addition to his work at EDUTOPIA. At this writing, he is a San Francisco Bay Area journalist and owner of 2030 Media, a content-creation firm in Northern California. He had also served as Editor in Chief of Red Herring, leading the web site's relaunch in 2004. In late 1997, Mr. Daly led the launch of Business 2.0, an international biweekly business magazine. He served as Editor in Chief and Editorial Director at Business 2.0 until the publication was sold to AOL Time Warner in July 2001. Mr. Daly has also served as a Features Editor at Wired magazine, where he was the lead editor. He was also Senior Editor at Forbes ASAP magazine, was a new media columnist for Rolling Stone and the San Francisco Chronicle and has written for a number of publications including the Los Angeles Times, ID and Writers Digest. Mr. Daly received his Bachelor of Science, cum laude, in Journalism and Economics from Boston University. He also has a degree from the New England School of Photography, and has done postgraduate work in economics and international relations at Harvard University.
What a guy! Now I see where his nephew got his love of photography... they both are avid photographers. James' photo above is a self portrait that he took while a student at Expression College in San Francisco. He went there to study graphic design and motion graphics.
What a guy! Now I see where his nephew got his love of photography... they both are avid photographers. James' photo above is a self portrait that he took while a student at Expression College in San Francisco. He went there to study graphic design and motion graphics.
James Daly
When I learned that not only did Mr. Daly work with George Lucas at the time, but that his office was within steps of George Lucas' office on the Skywalker Ranch property, I had to admit I was more than a little bit excited! I knew that James could probably introduce me to his uncle at some point, and sure enough, that is exactly what he did. In fact, not only did I get an introduction, James Daly Sr. was kind enough to visit my class as a guest speaker the next time he was in Texas, and during that time, he invited me to visit Skywalker Ranch as his guest if I could get out to California. I knew that was an invitation that I could not pass up, so I booked the flight...
It was a hot day when we arrived at Skywalker Ranch, as I remember. We had a rental car and we drove out to Marin County after calling Mr. Daly to let him know that we had arrived and were available whenever it was convenient for him. We did not want to be obtrusive in his regular work day, so we tried for later in the afternoon so we could let him wrap up what he had to do that day, but soon we were there at the gate, where I thought it was super cool to be waved through the security gate as though we were VIPs. Actually, when we arrived at the main building at the Ranch after driving down the winding road leading up through the hills, that is precisely how we were treated. We had lunch, and then we got an amazing tour from Mr. Daly himself of the various areas of LucasFilm (especially interesting was the animation department!) and Skywalker Sound. We got to the outer area of George Lucas' upstairs office, but we were informed he was out on location that day and wouldn't be on the property. Too bad for us! I probably wouldn't have been able to take any further excitement that day, so it is good that he wasn't going to be around. The library at Skywalker Ranch was my favorite room, just so beautiful, and literally filled to the rafters with books. When I remodeled my house last year, I tried to emulate the style and lighting of this library as much as I could. This is such a warm, comfortable and inviting place.
James from FMHS who decided to take Ad Design at DJCC in 2006 was the reason that I got to see in person what you will see in this video. His uncle's kind generosity in spending the afternoon with us is why I enjoyed it so much. The luncheon in the Skywalker commissary was surreal to me it was so cool, and he was such a gracious host to me and Mr. Harman.
It is just as I remembered it in this film, peaceful, picturesque and serene... and for sure one of the highlights of my travels. Thank you VIMEO for this documentation of a special remembrance for me, and thanks especially to the filmmaker Phillip Bloom and to the ultimate filmmaker, Mr. George Lucas. Most especially, thank you to James Doyle, the senior ad design student from FMHS in 2006 who shared his family and his talent with me.
It was a hot day when we arrived at Skywalker Ranch, as I remember. We had a rental car and we drove out to Marin County after calling Mr. Daly to let him know that we had arrived and were available whenever it was convenient for him. We did not want to be obtrusive in his regular work day, so we tried for later in the afternoon so we could let him wrap up what he had to do that day, but soon we were there at the gate, where I thought it was super cool to be waved through the security gate as though we were VIPs. Actually, when we arrived at the main building at the Ranch after driving down the winding road leading up through the hills, that is precisely how we were treated. We had lunch, and then we got an amazing tour from Mr. Daly himself of the various areas of LucasFilm (especially interesting was the animation department!) and Skywalker Sound. We got to the outer area of George Lucas' upstairs office, but we were informed he was out on location that day and wouldn't be on the property. Too bad for us! I probably wouldn't have been able to take any further excitement that day, so it is good that he wasn't going to be around. The library at Skywalker Ranch was my favorite room, just so beautiful, and literally filled to the rafters with books. When I remodeled my house last year, I tried to emulate the style and lighting of this library as much as I could. This is such a warm, comfortable and inviting place.
James from FMHS who decided to take Ad Design at DJCC in 2006 was the reason that I got to see in person what you will see in this video. His uncle's kind generosity in spending the afternoon with us is why I enjoyed it so much. The luncheon in the Skywalker commissary was surreal to me it was so cool, and he was such a gracious host to me and Mr. Harman.
It is just as I remembered it in this film, peaceful, picturesque and serene... and for sure one of the highlights of my travels. Thank you VIMEO for this documentation of a special remembrance for me, and thanks especially to the filmmaker Phillip Bloom and to the ultimate filmmaker, Mr. George Lucas. Most especially, thank you to James Doyle, the senior ad design student from FMHS in 2006 who shared his family and his talent with me.
Comments
Post a Comment