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Star Warsis one of the biggest franchises in the world , and licensing and ware are key to its achiever . In part , that ’s because of the genius of George Lucas ; he negotiate to keep the ware rights back in the 1970s , and was initially thought freaky for doing so . Instead , he proved to have remarkable prevision .
The movies may come out to be on hiatus the right way now -Rogue Squadronis expected to be delayed- but the franchise is bigger than ever . In large part , that ’s because Lucasfilm has uphold to expand into new mediums , most notably through the Disney+ streaming overhaul . First , The Mandalorianseason 1 launch alongside the political program ’s release , and nowObi - Wan Kenobihas proved to be a massive collision . Meanwhile , this has coincided with a push towards transmedia storytelling , with the immersiveStar war : The High Republicinitiative weaving in multiple medium in a single unseamed story .
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Screen Ranthad the opportunity to speak to Paul Sarker , an entertainment lawyer who runs theBetter Call Paulpodcast , to discuss how Lucasfilm identify opportunities for expansion . He was able to shine a luminosity on the Disney mannequin , and how he believes Lucasfilm evolve their franchise .
Screen Rant : We were hoping you ’d be capable to talk to us a little about your linear perspective on Lucasfilm , speak as an entertainment lawyer . Star Wars is probably the heavy transmedia franchiseof all sentence . How do you remember that ’s coordinated from a legal viewpoint , in terms of figuring out which companies to license and how to work with them ?
Paul Sarker : I never really worked forthwith with Lucasfilm , but Lucasfilm was acquired by Disney while I was there . perhaps I can give you a snatch of Disney ’s advance to franchises , because I believe this is important . When I was at Marvel , and I trust I discussed this on the podcast , we found different business sector unit get integrated at different speed . For example , Consumer Products and Merchandise Licensing integrated very quickly , so Disney Consumer Products essentially began control the Marvel and Lucasfilm IP - T - shirt licenses , other product licenses , that ’s organize together .
However , on the originative side , with respect to Marvel studios was run relatively independently - at least stagily , and television is now under Kevin [ Feige ] . So the idea is , if it ai n’t break , do n’t limit it . If there ’s an opportunity to create synergies and efficiencies , we ’ll certainly wait at that , and that was the face with Consumer Products . Things like parks , Marvel did n’t really have radical park , so it slid into what Disney was doing . But Marvel had a very successful slate , as long as they hit their number they were able to keep self-direction from the studio side .
With Lucasfilm , from a Consumer Products perspective , I think it ’s similar . There is a desire to do permission broadly speaking , and do as many licenses as potential without compromising your make . Everything has to be high - timbre , everything has to be to a certain standard , but beyond that it ’s the more , the merrier . These are not exclusive licenses , they want to sell as much ware as they can . So from a licensing view , once you have the quality and trade name guideline , it ’s just a matter of doing more deals - as long as they ’re not exclusive .
On the film / streaming side , I think it ’s a little different . I ca n’t really mouth to it from firsthand cognition , but I think you have to look at it from tale - arcs , and what makes sense from theatrical , and what makes common sense from streaming . cyclosis ’s typically lower - budget , and you could enjoin a longer story - six to eight , ten instalment as counterbalance to one moving-picture show , where you ’re gon na have a concentrated marketing push for six to ten weeks . So call up of it as , like , a very expensive book , and then cyclosis would be more launch new characters , telling more in - depth stories that are n’t necessarily well known .
Screen Rant : marketing has always been massive with Star Wars . What sorting of outcome do you think Lucasfilm sometimes has to deal with in that area ?
Paul Sarker : So , the received issues that come up when you ’re licensing ware would be that you own the IP for Star Wars , so there could be things within the IP - music , actor permit issues , where you take to get approval or partake a royal line payment with actors for their likenesses , and then on the licensee side the issues would be around approval , scope and term of the license , distribution channels , the types of products they can make , what the economic family relationship is .
Screen Rant : It ’s been interesting to see Star Wars expand into other medium over the last few age , such as manga . How do you suppose Lucasfilm identify the mediums they need to operate in ?
Paul Sarker : As I said , I have n’t form for Lucasfilm . But generally speaking , you have a combining of fans , creative executives , and business executive that are always discussing , collaborating , and thinking about where there is growth . And this is n’t unequalled to Disney , this is every company - whether geographic increase , or franchises like emerging characters that could potentially resonate , or business areas like NFTs , or crypto , or manga , whatever . What we see as devotee is the end result of a very long process of collaboration .
For exercise , when I lead off my life history , I grew up watching living , that led to theatrical movies , streaming was n’t a matter . Now , on television , there ’s so many streaming shows - a result of the grocery store changing , and Disney and others wanting to control the dispersion channel , get data , do n’t ask advert . It ’s a whole different revenue model , and it ’s grown , and things like that happen very quickly .
publication is still a affair , comic strip are still a matter , the time to come is dictated by the grocery . There ’s always people at the third-year level , who are fan , say ' This could be really huge , ' and they ’re pitching those ideas . They then take a wait - and - see overture , measure whether it ’s deserving the investment funds and what the competition look like . So they assess the barrier , but you have to try out as well .
Sarker was also able-bodied to shed light on how Disney handles their Marvel movies and the infamous raft with Sony in a previous consultation , whichcan be found here .
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