Fan Wars

Atom Films is hosting a competition for fan-made films paying tribute to the Star Wars franchise, many of which are actually quite funny. The whole affair is sponsored by Lucasfilms and being judged by George Lucas himself. The New York Times has a slightly unfair article about Lucasfilms’ disqualification of any film from the competition that didn’t conform to its strict rule allowing ‘spoofs and documentaries only.’ In it, Jim Ward, V.P. of marketing at Lucasfilm utters this amazingly anti-fan comment: “…If in fact somebody is using our characters to create a story unto itself, that’s not in the spirit of what we think fandom is about. Fandom is about celebrating the story the way it is.” In other words: watch, listen and obey.

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