George Lucas Books Launches Inaugural Title

by Lynn Andriani, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 4/20/2006

As if groundbreaking movies and visual and sound effects—not to mention action figures and other products—weren't enough, Star Wars creator George Lucas is trying his hand at book publishing. Next month, George Lucas Books, an imprint of JAK Films, Inc. (Lucas's motion picture company), will release its first title, Cinema By the Bay by Sheerly Avni. The upmarket coffeetable book celebrates films produced by studios in the San Francisco Bay Area and directed by independent filmmakers living and working in Northern California. New York house Welcome Books produced and will distribute the book.

JAK Films director of publishing Lucy Autrey Wilson said Lucas wanted to publish books outside the areas handled by Lucas Licensing, on "subjects he was interested in, a variety of nonfiction." Thus a partnership between George Lucas Books and Welcome was born. Lucas "didn't want to actually become a publisher," said Wilson, so the arrangement with Welcome was perfect. Welcome is known for packaging high-quality illustrated gift books and has done work for Disney Editions, Hearst Books and Turner Publishing.

Wilson characterizes the imprint's growth plan as "evolutionary" and said the imprint will not release any additional books until 2007. Just getting Cinema published, Wilson noted was "a challenge to say the least."