History Independent era (1971–2012) Lucasfilm was founded by filmmaker George Lucas in 1971 in San Rafael, California, and was incorporated as Lucasfilm Ltd. on September 12, 1977. In the mid-1970s, the company's offices were located on the Universal Studios Lot. Lucas founded the Star Wars Corporation, Inc. as a subsidiary to control various legal and financial aspects of Star Wars (1977), including copyright, and sequel and merchandising rights. It also produced the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special for 20th Century Fox Television. That year, Lucas hired Los Angeles-based real-estate specialist Charles Weber to manage the company, telling him that he could keep the job as long as he made money. Lucas wanted the focus of the company to be making independent films, but the company gradually became enlarged from five employees to almost 100, increasing in middle management and running up costs. In 1980, after Weber asked Lucas for fifty million dollars to invest in other companies and suggested that they sell Skywalker Ranch to do so, Lucas fired Weber and had to let half of the Los Angeles staff go. By the same year, the corporate subsidiary had been discontinued and its business was absorbed into the various divisions of Lucasfilm. And of course, it was also the same year when the second Star Wars film, The Empire Strikes Back, was released in cinemas as an official sequel to the original 1977 film.
History Independent era (1971–2012) Lucasfilm was founded by filmmaker George Lucas in 1971 in San Rafael California and was incorporated as Lucasfilm Ltd on September 12 1977 In the mid-1970s the company's offices were located on the Universal Studios Lot Lucas founded the Star Wars Corporation Inc as a subsidiary to control various legal and financial aspects of Star Wars (1977) including copyright and sequel and merchandising rights It also produced the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special for 20th Century Fox Television That year Lucas hired Los Angeles-based real-estate specialist Charles Weber to manage the company telling him that he could keep the job as long as he made money Lucas wanted the focus of the company to be making independent films but the company gradually became enlarged from five employees to almost 100 increasing in middle management and running up costs In 1980 after Weber asked Lucas for fifty million dollars to invest in other companies and suggested that they sell Skywalker Ranch to do so Lucas fired Weber and had to let half of the Los Angeles staff go By the same year the corporate subsidiary had been discontinued and its business was absorbed into the various divisions of Lucasfilm And of course it was also the same year when the second Star Wars film The Empire Strikes Back was released in cinemas as an official sequel to the original 1977 film