MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU
by David Cottingham
First off, let me tell you that it has been unbelievable working on independent films the past four years. I’ve met great people, created strong relationships, and developed life-long friends. Up to this point, Twenty One Productions has produced eight short films, one feature film, and a pilot. We’ve shot films in Lexington, Louisville, Cincinnati and New York. And not only have me and Russ worked our ass off on these films, but so did a ton of people. Durbs, J-Rod, Suse, Goss, Scotty, I love you guys. Our friends at Post Time, Filmburn, and Dynamix, we can’t do it without you. And to all the other people that have helped us, I try to thank them as much as I can. There are so many to name and acknowledge, and I hope we have given them the credit that they deserve. But after four years of creativity, we have decided to do a film that didn’t originate from our minds or our hearts…but from the mind and heart of George Lucas.
We have shot and rough cut a short film we’re calling Star Wars Episode IV.V: The Unknown Discovery. And I have to say, for me, this is by far the most fun I’ve had making a film. Star Wars is very dear to me, I wouldn’t say I’m a fanatic fan, even though my close friends would probably argue against me on that, but I do adore the vision of Lucas. I’m a fan of the films. I don’t play the video games, I don’t read books or magazines on the expanded universe, I pay attention to the characters and situations that happen in Lucas’ six episodes, the final film coming out in May of 2005, and yes, I’ll see it at the Midnight showing; plus a couple times that day J. I remember when Russ and I were promoting our feature film, The Midnight (which you’ll be able to purchase at our online store here very shortly, had to plug it), we were doing an interview on a radio show. Well, the radio show always plays this call-in game and Russ and I were able to participate. The object was for people to call in and try to stump the hosts with questions on various topics, today the topics were Eugene Levy films, and Star Wars. Well, the first question came in and the question was of Star Wars, “What was the name of the Stromtrooper who had a communications malfunction in Episode IV on the Death Star?” No one knew it. After looking around the room and noticed four blank faces, one of which was my partner Russell, who is a huge Star Wars fan, I simply leaned to the microphone and answered, “TK421”. Looking back at that now, I can see that situation became a little bit of foreshadowing for Twenty One Productions. Here we are now with two Stromtroopers in a Star Wars film. It makes me laugh every time I think of it. It was so surreal to see them walking around the set. I can only imagine what that would have felt like on the original set back in ’75 when Star Wars was only known to a few people in the film industry. What it has become is amazing. For most filmmakers, it’s the reason why they do it. And I think Russ would agree; it’s the reason why we do it.
Our Star Wars film is different obviously to George Lucas’ Star Wars. It’s a comedy, but it’s directly related to the films and that’s the most important thing. We’ve used another popular film, “Pulp Fiction”, to set the scene and fit it into the Star Wars timeline. It’s a scene that has been used time and again in different spoofs, but not like this. And, I don’t know, I’m not sure our film is even a spoof anymore. It’s a Star Wars film…with a little comedy.
So, all in all, I just wanted to say that this film is made from true fans of Star Wars and George Lucas. I would hope that if Lucas himself were to ever see this, that he’d enjoy it. By no means are we making fun of it or degrading the universe that Lucas had created. That is also the main reason we’ve paid so much attention to quality. We shot the film in HD, the animators are making sure the space scenes are perfect and parallel to the Star Wars films, and we’re even digitally ‘fixing’ our mistakes we made on the set. Though not to the same extent, but the same things Lucas does on his films. So, we hope you enjoy it, because we enjoy making it. And since this is entirely a fan film, you’ll be able to see on our website. Thanks so much for all your support over the years and trust me, there’s a lot more to come. To quote the late great Obi-Wan, “The Force will be with you, Always.”
First off, let me tell you that it has been unbelievable working on independent films the past four years. I’ve met great people, created strong relationships, and developed life-long friends. Up to this point, Twenty One Productions has produced eight short films, one feature film, and a pilot. We’ve shot films in Lexington, Louisville, Cincinnati and New York. And not only have me and Russ worked our ass off on these films, but so did a ton of people. Durbs, J-Rod, Suse, Goss, Scotty, I love you guys. Our friends at Post Time, Filmburn, and Dynamix, we can’t do it without you. And to all the other people that have helped us, I try to thank them as much as I can. There are so many to name and acknowledge, and I hope we have given them the credit that they deserve. But after four years of creativity, we have decided to do a film that didn’t originate from our minds or our hearts…but from the mind and heart of George Lucas.
We have shot and rough cut a short film we’re calling Star Wars Episode IV.V: The Unknown Discovery. And I have to say, for me, this is by far the most fun I’ve had making a film. Star Wars is very dear to me, I wouldn’t say I’m a fanatic fan, even though my close friends would probably argue against me on that, but I do adore the vision of Lucas. I’m a fan of the films. I don’t play the video games, I don’t read books or magazines on the expanded universe, I pay attention to the characters and situations that happen in Lucas’ six episodes, the final film coming out in May of 2005, and yes, I’ll see it at the Midnight showing; plus a couple times that day J. I remember when Russ and I were promoting our feature film, The Midnight (which you’ll be able to purchase at our online store here very shortly, had to plug it), we were doing an interview on a radio show. Well, the radio show always plays this call-in game and Russ and I were able to participate. The object was for people to call in and try to stump the hosts with questions on various topics, today the topics were Eugene Levy films, and Star Wars. Well, the first question came in and the question was of Star Wars, “What was the name of the Stromtrooper who had a communications malfunction in Episode IV on the Death Star?” No one knew it. After looking around the room and noticed four blank faces, one of which was my partner Russell, who is a huge Star Wars fan, I simply leaned to the microphone and answered, “TK421”. Looking back at that now, I can see that situation became a little bit of foreshadowing for Twenty One Productions. Here we are now with two Stromtroopers in a Star Wars film. It makes me laugh every time I think of it. It was so surreal to see them walking around the set. I can only imagine what that would have felt like on the original set back in ’75 when Star Wars was only known to a few people in the film industry. What it has become is amazing. For most filmmakers, it’s the reason why they do it. And I think Russ would agree; it’s the reason why we do it.
Our Star Wars film is different obviously to George Lucas’ Star Wars. It’s a comedy, but it’s directly related to the films and that’s the most important thing. We’ve used another popular film, “Pulp Fiction”, to set the scene and fit it into the Star Wars timeline. It’s a scene that has been used time and again in different spoofs, but not like this. And, I don’t know, I’m not sure our film is even a spoof anymore. It’s a Star Wars film…with a little comedy.
So, all in all, I just wanted to say that this film is made from true fans of Star Wars and George Lucas. I would hope that if Lucas himself were to ever see this, that he’d enjoy it. By no means are we making fun of it or degrading the universe that Lucas had created. That is also the main reason we’ve paid so much attention to quality. We shot the film in HD, the animators are making sure the space scenes are perfect and parallel to the Star Wars films, and we’re even digitally ‘fixing’ our mistakes we made on the set. Though not to the same extent, but the same things Lucas does on his films. So, we hope you enjoy it, because we enjoy making it. And since this is entirely a fan film, you’ll be able to see on our website. Thanks so much for all your support over the years and trust me, there’s a lot more to come. To quote the late great Obi-Wan, “The Force will be with you, Always.”
posted by Twenty One Productions at 6:54 PM
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