Lucasfilm

Lucasfilm Limited is an American film and television production company who is best known and responsible for the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. Lucasfilm was founded by filmmaker George Lucas in 1971. Based in San Francisco, Lucasfilm 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. On October 30, 2012 it was announced that Lucasfilm would be acquired by The Walt Disney Company for $4.05 billion.

George Lucas era
Lucasfilm was founded by filmmaker George Lucas in 1971. Lucas served as the company's chairman and CEO until 2012.

On July 8, 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. Lucasfilm had planned an expansion at Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California, but shelved the plan when due to opposition from neighbors. However, it still plans to expand elsewhere.

In January 2012, Lucas announced his retirement from producing large-scale blockbuster films and instead re-focusing his career on smaller, independently budgeted features.

In June 2012, it was announced that producer Kathleen Kennedy, a long-term collaborator with Steven Spielberg and a producer of the Indiana Jones films, had been appointed as co-chair of Lucasfilm Ltd. It was reported that Kennedy would work alongside Lucas, who would remain chief executive and serve as co-chairwoman for at least one year, after which she would succeed him as the company's sole leader.

Disney acquisition
Discussions relating to the possibility of The Walt Disney Company purchasing Lucasfilm officially began in May 2011, after a meeting that George Lucas had with Disney CEO Bob Iger during the inauguration of the Star Tours: The Adventures Continue attraction. Lucas told Iger he was considering retirement and planned to sell the company, as well as the Star Wars franchise. On October 30, 2012, The Walt Disney Company announced a deal to acquire Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion, with approximately half in cash and half in shares of Disney stock. Lucasfilm and Disney had previously collaborated at times to create Star Wars and Indiana Jones attractions for various Walt Disney Parks and Resorts worldwide.

Kathleen Kennedy, current co-chairwoman of Lucasfilm, will become president of Lucasfilm, reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn. Additionally she will serve as the brand manager for Star Wars, working directly with Disney's global lines of business to build, further integrate, and maximize the value of this global franchise. Kennedy will serve as executive producer on new Star Wars feature films, with George Lucas serving as creative consultant.

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Lucasfilm and its operating businesses in live action film production, consumer products, video games, animation, visual effects, and audio post production. Disney will also acquire Lucasfilm's portfolio of entertainment technologies. The present intent is for Lucasfilm employees to remain in their current locations. Future films will be co-branded by both the Disney and Lucasfilm names, much like Disney has done with Pixar.

The company also announced the future release of new Star Wars movies, starting with Star Wars: Episode VII in 2015.

20th Century Fox, the distributors of the first six Star Wars films, still retain the distribution rights to for the original two Star Wars trilogies, owning permanent rights for the original film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, while holding the rights to Episodes I-III, V and VI until May 2020. Paramount Pictures retains some distribution rights for the Indiana Jones films, and future films will only be produced if both Paramount and Disney agree on terms.

Subsidiaries

 * Industrial Light & Magic - visual effects
 * Skywalker Sound - post-production sound design
 * LucasArts - video and computer games
 * Lucas Licensing - licensing and merchandising
 * Lucas Learning - educational materials
 * Lucas Books - book publishing
 * Lucasfilm Animation - animation
 * Lucasfilm Animation Singapore - animation
 * Lucas Marketing - marketing
 * Lucas Online - websites

Former subsidiaries

 * THX Ltd. - theater sound system (spun off in 2001)[citation needed]
 * Pixar Animation Studios - computer animation film production company sold to Steve Jobs in 1986, and is now a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Lucasfilm and Pixar are now both subsidiaries of The Walt Disney Company after they were both purchased by them.
 * Kerner Optical - Practical effects division (model shop) and 3D development team (spun off from ILM in 2006)