101 - Skywalker Ranch, Lucasfilm and Rancho Obi Wan Visit - April 2024

Welcome to episode one hundred and one of the Filmmentaries podcast. This is Jamie Benning talking to you as usual from my home here in London. But as you probably gathered from the episode title, I've been on a little trip. I'm gonna give you a full rundown in a moment. I just wanted to welcome any new listeners.

This is a bit of a departure. Normally I would interview somebody for each episode, but this feels like a special episode. Something I needed to let you listeners know. About. Those of you that follow me on social media, on Instagram and on Twitter, you will have seen some photos about my recent trip, but I also wanted to give you this full rundown because well, it was a hell of a thing and I want to share it with you.

So over the last eighteen months or so, I've been able to ask some nice folks at ILM and Skywalker Sound to put me in touch with some of my heroes Dennis Muir and Ken Rauston and most recently Phil Tippett. And as you may know, last summer they asked me to moderate the and or effects panel at Style Celebration here in London. But I never imagined i'd get an invite to Lucasfilm itself, let alone an additional invitation to Skywalker Ranch. But that very thing happened in a matter of I don't know, less than twenty four hours. Just a couple of weeks ago.

I was already due to be in the US for NAB, a big broadcast media technology show in Vegas, and I was there with one of my favorite clients, EVS Broadcast, who I trained for and I'm a product ambassador. They traditionally make video and audio servers for replays, highlights and play out on live events, live sporting events like I work on and have worked on over the last twenty five years. Over the years, they've gone on to produce media infrastructure and asset management solutions too. So my role in Vegas was to demonstrate to some of the many thousands of visitors there the LSMV, which is the sort of replay and play out solution, and some of its new machine learning power tools. It was quite fun.

I got to speak to some really big clients, and I did that for four whole days, wearing holes in my new y Converse that I was wearing as I paced the booth carefully describing the product as I say to customers big and small. I had mentioned on social media that I would be in the US, and I was immediately contacted a contact at Lucasfilm, the one that's been helping me get some of these guests for the podcast, and they said, head on up and we'll give you the tour. And following that post on Facebook asking for recommendations of where to stay and where not to stay in San Francisco, I got a bunch of kind replies from people saying, don't stay in the Tenderloin area, Why don't you stay over the Bay Bridge, Why don't you stay in Marin County.

My budget was pretty tight, honestly, but I did get a message from Max Smith, former podcast guest, he's a sound supervisor, and said come to the ranch for lunch. I genuinely couldn't believe what I was reading. And that same post on Facebook also led to a former colleague of mine you can stay on my boat in the marina in South Solito. I mean, I was like, what's going on here? This guy Simon I worked with probably I think twelve years ago now on a job in bir in Myanmar.

We were working on the Southeast Asian Games, and you know, we've continued to follow each other on social media, but I've barely seen him since. I think I saw I bumped into him once in Doha when I was doing the World Athletics out there. Anyway, staying on a boat it was an option I hadn't really considered, but it honestly made the trip all the more possible financially. So thank you Simon for your super generosity. And then, as if things weren't already amazing enough, ILM's chief model maker, Lawn Peterson.

Yes, that Lawn Peterson, former guest on the podcast, also spied my post and said, hey, let's meet up. So when I told him privately I was visiting the ranch, he said, well, I'll meet you there. Amazing. So I book my flights and at three am after NAB, I headed to Vegas Airport to fly to San Francisco, and I arrived at the other end about an hour and a half later, most of which I think I slept through. I picked up a rental car and drove it on the right side or is that the wrong side to me of the road, and so day one was straight to the boat to check out how it worked on a whistle stop tour of the cabin with Captain Simon, then up to Skywalker Ranch by eleven am to meet Max Smith, sound supervisor, and driving over the Golden Gate Bridge.

My memories of my last visit there, from must have been nineteen ninety seven came rushing back. Now only did I not have three kids the last time I was there, I was also married to my first wife and traveling with my sister and her then boyfriend who's now her husband, and fathered her two children. One of those children is now an adult. And yet somehow it felt like no time at all. It's a cliche, but life really does rush by.

And that road that approaches the ranch through Lucas Valley, which apparently there is no connection to George other than I guess for him, it seemed like the perfect fit when he was looking for where to build the ranch. The hills and mounds are covered in this lush green grass and trees and the occasional huge rock jutting out of the ground, and it immediately put me in mind of the landscapes of Naboo from the prequels from The Phantom Menace, I half expected a battle droid tank to breach the hilltop and descend towards me. And with a little more than five miles to go, as Google Maps told me, I pulled over and I did the thing that any fan might do. I selected John Williams's main theme from Star Wars and I blasted it through the higher cars speakers, you know, ensuring of course that I dialed it right down.

As I turned into the ranches rather unassuming entrance. It's just got the property number there, you don't even know. It's skull crunch. So a gate opened automatically in front of me, and I was greeted buy a member of security who asked who I was there for and had I been there before, and she gave me some instructions of where to go. So I went across a covered bridge and up to do the tech building where Skywalker Sounder based.

The whole place has this era of history despite its relatively short life. You know, George, I think brought it in nineteen seventy eight, that land, and then built upon it throughout the eighties. But that sort of historical feeling is something I would learn later was absolutely George's intention, even going as far as mythologizing the story of a retired sea captain that built the place in his retirement, it could easily have felt fake, but George's ideas are so beautifully rendered it's easy to imagine you're in a property of over well over one hundred years old. I mean, it does have history there, right, Skywalker Ranch has some serious history in his past. And you know, thinking the back of those photos I've seen of the picnics and all of the films that have been mixed there, and elements of you know, Return of the Jedi that were shot there, like the Funeral Pyre.

I you know, I could see the hills in the distance, you know, he every blade of grass as far as I can see, mister lucas amazing place. So I got out of the car next to the tech building, which is designed to look like a kind of eighteen eighties winery, and I immediately spotted Mack Smith coming towards me. He's taller in real life than he is on zoom, and his big smile and chilled demeanor immediately put me at ease. Yeah, I don't know, was I nervous? I think I was just buzzing.

I'm not the most demonstrative person, but honestly, I was buzzing from the inside out. Welcome to Scarborogar Ranch, she said. As I stepped through the doors to the open kind of entertainment area, the sun was illuminating the room from above, and it was a beautiful, bright sunny day both outside and inside thanks to the architecture of this building, and I just had this feeling of instant serenity. Mac proceeded to give me a short tour of the building, popping in to see Randy Tom who's the direct of sound design at the RUNCH. Randy and I had previously arranged an interview for this podcast, but something happened.

I think life got in the way at some point and we had to cancel and we didn't manage to re establish a date. We briefly chatted and said we should arrange it soon, and I let him get back to his work on what appeared to be a new animated feature. On returning to the main atrium room, I was greeted to we say well, hello, Jamie, great to see you, and in person from the Great Lawn Peterson himself. Lorn Is, of course, the legendary chief model maker who worked for Lucasfilm from I think seventy six to the mid two thousands on just about every film you can think of. He's also a wonderful guy, very open and very willing to impart his knowledge and experience.

So, led by Mack, we went for or walk around the different sites at the ranch. The main house was sadly closed that day, but we did get to walk around it while both Mac and Lawn pointed out particular features and talked about stories of the history of the place and things that have gone on there and the work that Lawn has done and you know, all those decades of time that he spent there. We visited a Foley stage and walk past the old archives building, which I recognized from that fly through video on the Blu ray box set. We bumped into model maker John Goodson, who was there working on the archive, and Lorne said I should interview him for my podcast, to which immediately agreed. So, you know, it always helps when you have someone like larn to endorse your podcast.

So hopefully the Lucasfilm guys can set that for me soon. I have asked, and yeah, seems to be a go. We just need to pick dates. Maybe I'll get to see that archive on my next visit. You know, it really is for vv VIPs, but I got the impression that, you know, things were being boxed up or moved, maybe even to Georgie's museum.

So maybe in years to come, when that museum opens, I'll get to see more of that archive. You know, I have seen it on I have seen bits of it in shows in London. In the Pass there was a one in the Barberica, and there's one of the O two not so long ago. So for now, I just rewatched that Don Bee's tour on the Laser disc and that fly through video that I mentioned on the Blu Ray. Actually I think they're both on YouTube, so I'll put the links in the show notes.

We then went to lunch at the fitness center and there was quite a few employees there having their lunch. And I have to say, after a week in Vegas eating whatever I could manage to find at the Convention Center and a couple of visits to Taco's El Gordo, I jumped at the wellness bowl featured on the Skybookarage menu, even if I did add a Wagoo burger from George's cows, and I must say it tasted fantastic. Mac and I chatted with Lorn about his time at Lucasfilm, his love of what he does, model making, and how open George always was to people's suggestions and ideas, signing one story where he asked for George's advice on a particular model, to have George reply, well, I think that's your department, Lawn.

You know, he really did entrust his crew with so much back then. After lunch, we wanted some more about the beautiful site. Lawn then left to head home and Mack and I entered the Stag Theater. It's a three hundred seat cinema within Skywalker Sound, decked out with laser projection and Dolby Atmos. Though you wouldn't know it, the speakers are expertly hidden behind the walls, and Mack pointed out that the theater was raised off the floor as well.

The hollow below helps to aid the resonance of the base. And after meeting JT. The lovely resident Projectionist, I was taken into the auditorium, which has two statues from Palpatine's office from the prequels up front, and I was off for George Lucas's seat Debt Center for the Optimum Experience. JT then ran a demo reel of some of Skywalker Sound's best work from across the decades, and what an incredible experience it was to be seeing clips of Star Wars, among other films, while sitting in George Lucas's preferred seat in one of the best spec theaters in the world and at Skywalker Ranch. I tell you, it's a good job the sound was loud, because I think I was making some involuntary noises by this stage.

Twenty minutes or so later, I was just kind of left aghast at what was going on, the experience I was having, and Mack was beaming next to me. He clearly gets a thrill out of being able to share this with folks like me, you know, huge fans. I mean, he's one himself. The ranch's buildings are adorned everywhere with George's fantastic, credible collection of movie posters dating back to as far as I could see the nineteen twenties, and I was delighted to know that we both own an original Kegamousha poster from the Master Akira Kurosawa, I mean, George did to produce that film with Coppola, so kind of figures. Before I knew it, it was time to leave, but Mac had an extra surprise for me, an invitation to come back that very same evening for an Academy screening of Alex Garland's new film Civil War.

And despite having been awake since three am in Vegas that morning, I jumped to the chance. Yes, Mac, I'll see you later, Thank you, thank you. It was then time to leave, heading out of the automatic gate at the exit and navigating to a target store on the one oh one to get some much needed supplies, and after grabbing some lunch and doing some shopping, Honestly, I just sat in the car park, the windows open, letting the breeze come through, just flabbergasted of what I just experienced. You know, aged four, I fell in love with Star Wars, and here I am some forty plus years later, and I'd just visited Skywalker Ranch and I was due to go back. I mean insane.

I basically sat there in the car park and then in a Starbucks having a coffee for what must have been hours. I don't know, Honestly, it just felt like time had stood still. It hadn't really seen worth going back to the boat. So at six pm I began the short drive back to the ranch for the screening. Matt greeted me again and we took our seats in the theater.

He sang in George's seat, this time I was next to it, so I was in Georgie's wife's seat. Let's say, without any fuss or trailers, the film began, and yeah, I became instantly aware of the pristine projection and the incredible sound. Again, I would say it's by far the most immersive screening I've ever experienced, because in most cinemas you'd hear the air con when there was moments of silence or near silence, and in this film there's plenty of that, often followed by a loud sound of gunfire, and at least one of the there moments, both Mac and I jumped out of our seats, our knees kind of around our ears. What can I say, I enjoyed the film experience. I don't know.

I found it a bit of a hard watch. I did enjoy the experience of its presentation in the incredible Stag theater. There before we left, we headed up to Max's office and to my delight, his child could collection of Star Wars toys were there, along with his Raiders of the Lost Art toys, all neatly stacked, ready to sort. He was thinking, do I raide them? Do I display them?

You know, we share so much love for those movies, and there was this sort of unspoken connection that we made through well all the Georgia created around us. As I said, make no mistake, Mac is one of us. But you know he made it. He made it to the ranch and that's where he works. And then leaving in the dark, I knew I just had one of the most epic days of my forty seven nearly forty eight years.

That's when the data connection failed on my phone and I was left without sat NAV, trying to get Vodaphone in the UK to lift the bar on my spend limit, which turned out to be really bloody difficult, far more difficult than it needed to be. Finally, I was back on the road after about half an hour and headed to the marina in South Solito where the boat was, and I was trying to remember everything that Captain Simon had shown me there twelve hours before, so I parked up, being aware that some people live on those boats. So I was tiptoeing across the jetty using the keyfob to get access to the particular jetty where his boat was moored, and then unable to find the breaker for the lights. I spent the next ten minutes fumbling about the aid of just my phone torch before collapsing into bed.

And then nine hours later I woke up to the sound of waves gently lapping against the hole I'd been rocked to sleep, to the best sleep I had in months, honestly, and what a day it was, I thought to myself yesterday, And then it occurred to be wait, I have another epic day, it has of me. This time I get to visit lucasfilm at the Presidio on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge. So my call time there was eleven thirty, which is extended slightly by the frustration of trying to find somewhere to park. I totally missed the actual car park right next to Ireland. Thank you Google Maps again.

So I finally approached the building on foot, passing the famous Yoda fountain, took a quick snap there and entered through the door to be greeted by Greg and Chris, who I'd previously met at Star Wars celebration in London for that and or panel. Welcome to Lucasfilm, said Greg, and within seconds we were chatting like old mates as we entered a movie theater for some Lucasfilm videos and trailers, including a very amusing Deadpool and Wolverine trailer, which I hadn't seen. Those films aren't really my cup of tea, but I did chuckle several times, and I'll probably going to see it, honestly. Next up was a tour of the building via some amazing screen used props and items, many of which I've posted on Instagram.

So go take a look. I mean the highlight. It's so many good things, Probably the matte paintings by Mike Pangratzio and Chris Evans. Just seeing them up close and being able to really look at their brushwork, and just you know, these matte paintings that I've known all my life from Jurassic Park and et incredible. And again, like Skywalkern, the building has a sort of serenity to it.

You know, it's got incredible views from many of the rooms. It's even got a coffee shop called Java the Hut with a custom signage, and like on the worktops in the kitchen there's like these silhouettes of ships and characters like Darth Vade and Star Destroyer kind of like rendered into the worktops. Pretty cool. Maybe think about my kitchen and after about it must have been four hours that we spent touring and chatting. We sat in the Java the Hut lounge for a cup of coffee and a sandwich from the local deli and chatting with Chris and Greg.

Like Mac, it's clear that they both love their job. Chris even told me that he decided at an early age that I am going to work for Lucasfilm. I wish I'd had that same thought myself all those years ago. Didn't even know it was possible for someone like me and Chris. By the way, shoots a lot of the behind the scenes material, including many of those interviews you would have seen on the Blu Ray set and people that you know I've now been lucky enough to interview.

The final stop of the day was the Skywalker Ranch and Lucasfilm Company stores that were within that same set of buildings where I did take my time, and you know, it's so tempting to spend, well, you could easily spend several thousand dollars, but I'd give myself a limit of two hundred dollars. So I got a couple of magnets, a key ring, a mug, a water bottle, an exclusive ILM logo T shirt. But it's like the Creator, so instead of the Magician, it's an android from the Creator. Some Star Wars post to playing cards stickers, including a rather fetching Gonk droid, which I applied to my laptop soon as possible, and that was it. Two epic days were over.

I went back to the boat and sat reading and looking out at the ocean in front of me. At one point, I'll a bit here. I've felt a sudden wave of emotion, not only because I've been able to visit those amazing places, but because of the generosity of my hosts, Mac and Lorn and Greg and Chris. You know, they knew how much it meant to me, because it clearly means a great deal to them too, and they love to share what they've got there. In fact, Greg said, I think there's a slightly alternate universe where Jamie works here, and that brought a smile to my face and a tear to my eye.

You know, maybe maybe I could have ended up there, who knows. But wait, it wasn't over. For day three. I had arranged to meet Pete Mummett of the Indiana Jones Minute podcast. I'd been on that podcast couple of times a few years ago.

He lives locally, and we were going to head up to Steve sand Sweet's Rancho Obi Wan in Petaluma, further into northern California. Pete was gracious enough to pick me up from the marina, a blessed break from all the driving I've been doing over the past few days. Pete is a kind, gentle soul that I could tell immediately, and despite being not being a Star Wars nut on my level, he was a very kind host. Another kind host and our love of Indiana Jones led us to our first stop of the day, and it was Indy's house from Raiders of the Lost Arc located on I think it was Alder Avenue in San Anselmo. So a quick snap of the two of us in front of the property and we were off to our next location.

Which was Imagination Park, also in San Anselmo, to see the Indiana Jones and Yoda statues in the park there, and after questioning the dates on the plaques there, I mean it says nineteen seventy three and ninety seventy four for the invention of Star Wars in Indiana Jones. Not too sure about that. We took some snaps and then we headed to Petaluma, where, unbeknownst to us, it was Butter and Egg Day parade and festival, and the streets were lined with residence chairs ready for the parade presumably, and the architecture was sort of Spanish colonial Victorian, and it feels like a city lost in time. It was really odd, actually, it just felt like something from the fifties. And after a quick coffee and a wander, we headed up to our final destination, Rancho Obi Wan to see Steve Sandswede's vast ranch housing the world's biggest collection of Styles memorabilia.

And as we arrived, you know, it's clear that this is very much a ranch. It's farmland. There were chickens clucking as one of the ranch employees welcomed us and introduced us to our tour guide Yanic, an enthusiastic man who I think. He said, yeah, his favorite character was Dath more so he was great at pointing out things throughout the tour. But yeah, so the start of the tour.

Moments later we were heading in the door and up the stairs to see this amazing collection of posters mounted on the walls. Then through to the extensive library where there's like multiple different versions of all the novels and behind the scenes books, and I couldn't help thinking at that point I should have bought some copies of my Return of the Jedi, an authorized timeline book, but honestly, I didn't have space in my case, so maybe I'll send one to Steve at a later date. Then through the door to see this like monolith housing all of the original action figures on their cards. Oh God, I love those figures. I mean, they are Star Wars to me.

They're my childhood. They're even my adulthood because I recollected them when I was in my late teens. And in every direction you looked, there was a rare toy or a prop or a costume or a poster, or a toothbrush or a lamp or everything you're going to think of to do with stars. You know, Steve is clearly a dedicated collector from presumably from day one, and I'm happy to say that I've just set up an interview with him now that I'm back in the UK, so we're going to do that in a couple of weeks time, so I hope to find out more about how that all started for him and about some more of those items within that collection. So I won't spoil it any further, but if you do get the chance to visit, it's well worth a time.

You know, Steve's love for those movies is very apparent, as is his appreciation for tens and well maybe hundreds of pieces of fan art that he's been sent over the He is all proudly displayed on this kind of extended and extended and extended again building. Pete kind of returned me, now exhausted, back to the marina, and Simon was there with his lovely family using their paddle boards and canoes. And after a short sit down and read of my book, not Star Wars related actually, but a classic Japanese crime novel that I picked up at the airport, so I'm going offered me a go on his paddle board, something I'd never done before, So I quick change into some shorts and I was on the board and standing up, did a minute gently paddling around the marina, thanking the maker that I've always had pretty good balance because I had a good inkling that the Pacific was pretty damn cold.

Luckily, I stayed atop the board, and as I deboarded, I caught a glimpse of something in my peripheral vision, and as I turned, I saw two bat rays gracefully gliding through the water. And the larger one was enormous, it must have been four and a half five foot wide, and the smaller one sort of underneath it was about three foot wide, And Simon reached his phone to take a photo, and then the large one darted with this burst of acceleration that then startled the smaller one and he did a sort of evasive action. But I think Simon did manage to get yet one or two fuzzy photos of the smaller one. But what the tree to be visited by these magnificent beasts, these underwater beasts. It's just a perfect way to end my stay at the marina.

And I watched the sun go down the water turnal orange E thanks to the beautiful sky, and then I went to bed for some more deep slumber. I woke showered in the private facilities at the marina and packed my case. But my flight wasn't for another nine hours. But I needed to get off the boat because Simon was going out sailing that day, so I headed back to the presidio, parked up with an incredible view of the bay in the Golden gate Bridge, and took a wander around the park, which sits on top of the tunnels on the one oh one, And after a little relax and a sit down there watching the world go by, I decided to take the advance of both greg A Lucasfilm and Pete, my rancho companion, and I visited the Disney Family Museum.

It's forty thousand square feet in the main building and it features like historic materials and artifacts, you know, bringing all of Walt Disney's achievements to life. There's also interactive galleries that include early drawings, animations, storyboards, music. There's like listening stations where you can watch videos and listening to what they're saying. Finishing with like this incredible twelve foot diameter model of Disneyland. I learned a lot in those few hours, actually that I didn't know about Walt Disney.

It was really great to see a display of artwork from Sleeping Beauty, including some original cells, a film that my friend Joe Al's production designer worked on back in nineteen fifty eight. Joe, if you don't know already, as the subject of the documentary that I'm working on, still working on. It's taking time, but we'll get there. And that was one of his first assignments during his time at Disney. He worked on animating the cookies that the very Godmothers were holding, and also the Thorn sequence where the Prince is kind of hacking through the thorns.

So if you do get the chance, do visit the museum. And then I was off to the airport. And as I dropped the higher car off got through security and passport control, it hit me again, you know what an incredibly fortunate man I am. I have, you know, a wonderful family that supports me in everything I do, a job that paid the bills thankfully, and a hobby that's led me to the opportunity to visit all of these great places and meeting some great people and making friends along the way. And it all started in my childhood a long, long time ago, my parents taking me to see those movies in a very small town far away from California, and having this hobby really sort of helps keep me connected to that kid inside me, and I think that's yeah, I think that's a valuable attachment because it allows me some form of respite from all of the crap that adult life can throw at you.

Now and again, my immediate thought was should I try and get to Japan for Celebration twenty twenty five. Yeah, I'll leave that decision for another day. I just want to finish this by giving a huge thank you to Lawn and to Mac and Greg, and to Chris and to Pete and to Simon Captain Simon for all of their generosity. Really what a trip, just crazy. I'm now in the process of going through all my photos.

As I said, I'll be posting some of those on Instagram, but I'm going to put something up on the website to this effect as well. With all the photos and the report that I've just kind of detailed in this podcast. Coming up on the podcast, I've got interviews lined up with model maker and digital model maker John Goodson, who I bumped into at the ranch. What a sentence, And a woman called Mary Anne Infield, also previously know as Mary Anne Evans. She was a camera assistant at ILM.

Recently came across her on social media and she was keen to have a chat as well. There's some great photos of her with the Death Star from Return of the Jedi, which I believe she worked on. It's difficult to could do research on Marianne because there's not much online, so looking forward to that conversation. Also lined up some interviews with the VFX team that worked on Masters of the Air, which if you don't know, is like part of the Band of Brothers Pacific series, which I haven't watched yet, so I'm seeing if I can get some screeners too. I've also lined up, as I said, an interview with Steve sand Suite of Rancho Obi Wan, which I'm excited about.

Two. Yeah, I got a lot in the pipeline actually, so episode one oh one done, visit to the Ranch, done, visit to Lucasfilm done. I just feel so fortunate and I appreciate all of your support. All of the nice comments that a lot of you have made, hundreds of you in fact saying basically, Jamie, this is great. You deserve this.

You work so hard, blah blah blah. No, it really doesn't mean a lot to me. Your support is amazing. If you do want to support the podcast financially, you can do that on patreon dot com forward slash Jamie Benny. You'll get an ad free version of the each episode, and there are also some other perks on there if you want to check those out.

So thanks again to everyone. What trip, What a crazy, crazy few days that was. That was three days, three fantastic locations, great people, great weather, and something I'll never forget. I mean, how could I forget? And thank you to George.

I should thank George and Lucas for doing everything he's done to inspire so many people. Incredible. All right, that's me out. Thanks for joining me, and I hope you can do so. For the next episode of the Film Mementors Podcast