When I grow up, I want to be George Lucas
Growing up, I never thought I’d end up in I.T. It was inevitable in hindsight, considering the sheer amount of time I spent on my PC as a kid. When I was 11, right before my journey as a programmer began, I told everyone I wanted to be a film director. Inspired by Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Stargate, Titanic and other films that still fill me with wonder — I wanted to be someone who made things like that possible.
The Matrix came out when I was 11 and I suddenly wanted to be a hacker. I started borrowing books from the public library to absorb all the knowledge I could — creating little programs in QBASIC, batch scripts (DOS), Pascal, Delphi and Visual Basic. By 12 I had gotten into serious trouble with my teachers and by 13 the principal was threatening to call the police due to some things I’d allegedly done on the school computers. As a kid from migrant parents, I was far more afraid of what they would do to me if police were involved than what the police might do. Still, it’s a lesson that has kept me out of trouble for the rest of my life so perhaps it was good to get that out of my system at that age.
I’m coming up to the twelfth anniversary of my professional career as a programmer now. I’ve had a few titles like Web Developer, Programmer, Software Engineer and even just Developer. From my point of view, the work is more or less the same though — it’s always some variation on using a text editor, a terminal and a preview window. My 21 year journey of learning to code has given me an outlet for creative expression and a career with which I was able to look after myself — now I’m looking to take it to the next level.
George Lucas created Star Wars and Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). In 1977, the special effects and techniques used in the production of Star Wars by ILM were revolutionary. In 1979, ILM had developed its own computer division which went on to become Pixar Animation Studios. In 2020, ILM is still a powerhouse of visual effects technology offering services to the entire industry.
Understanding this story as an adult has made me realize I’ve come full circle and back to my childhood dream — I still want to be a film director, but one specific one in particular — George Lucas. At the center of the billions of dollars that George Lucas has earned is a visionary who understood the business and technology of film intimately. I definitely have a lot to learn before I could compare myself to George, but for the first time in my life as a coder I feel affirmation in my ideas and vision — because it’s not the first time someone has traveled this path — and it’s one with much reward.
This year I’m going to start my first company, Open Studios, and it’s goal is to produce digital entertainment in the form of comics, games and films as well as the underlying software tools needed for production. I’ve applied for a government grant, setup a brochure website and begun networking to find some guidance and help. It feels like every challenge I’ve had in my programming career was just the qualifying match for the one I have on now but the renewed sense of purpose alone is worth it.
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