Rick McCallum, veteran producer of various Star Wars films and long-time collaborator of George Lucas, recently fielded a question on the Ask the Lucasfilm Jedi Council feature on StarWars.com, the official Web site related to the popular series of science fiction films.
A recent high school graduate asked McCallum how best to go about getting a job as a movie producer. His answer? Make movies. But what’s of specific interest is how he recommended going about it.
“Go out and buy an Apple iMac. Get Final Cut Pro and a video camera,” he explained. Then try to make movies, learn from your mistakes, and become a better filmmaker, he said.
“Don’t fall in to the trap of working on a film, because that’s not going to help you become a better producer. Making films makes you a better producer,” said McCallum. (Thanks to reader Jack Mayfield for info used in this article.)