As told by someone who hasn’t seen the saga, except in “bits and pieces.” Hard to imagine there’s still holdouts left out there, but there you go.

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn’t seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

“He was in the right place at the right time. Naturally, he became a villain.”

If there’s one thing I’ve noticed, it’s that fans both love and hate George Lucas, just as they both love and hate the Prequels and all things Star Wars. One glance at forums such as the Galactic Senate shows the passion with which fans from both camps bring to the great debate.

From the oldest days in the ancient past (we’re talking mid-90′s here) fans have sought outlets to express themselves. Email groups and message boards morphed into social networks, blogs, and podcasts. But now there is a new medium. Now you can express your opinion as part of a feature film.

Some time ago, The People vs. George Lucas came to my attention. It is a feature film documentary, currently still in production. The premise: George Lucas, the man you love and hate, is taken to court on the trial of the century. YOU have been summoned to offer your testimony. Will you be a witness for the prosecution, or for the defense?

It’s a brilliant setup. If there’s one franchise almost guaranteed to elicit impassioned responses, it’s Star Wars. Expect loads of user submitted videos. In addition, the production has gathered celebrity testimony from individuals such as Gary Kurtz, David Prowse, Todd Hanson, and others.

Head on over to their site (link below) to participate. The guidelines are fairly straightforward:

• Have an opinion, record it in video (in one of several specific formats – see guidelines)
• Sign a talent release (for those in the video), and a program submission release (for the video itself)
• mail in the materials and release forms (you may also upload the video via ftp)

Thanks to Alexandre Phillippe for the news! I know it was a week ago but the more publicity the better, right?

Links

• The People vs. George Lucas (official site)
• Their Myspace page
• Their Youtube channel

And last of all, here’s the HD trailer as found on Youtube:

photo credit: Bohman
“The concept is simple: recreate a vehicle from Star Wars in steampunk style.”

Interestingly enough, a winner has been announced in the classic “Steam-Wars Contest” over at the FBTB (From Bricks to Bothans) forums. You know we here at JediNet can’t resist a story if there’s Star Wars, Legos, and steampunk involved. Congrats to Nabii and RebelRock for winning 1st and 2nd places, respectively. And there were some very nice prizes to be had!

Links

• Drum roll please … Steam Wars Winners Announced! [via]

If you’re going to be in the San Francisco area any time in the near future, be sure to check out Star Wars Live on stage at the Dark Room Theater. It shows on Fridays and Saturdays through December 27. What is it? It’s a stage adaptation of A New Hope with a $100 special effects budget. However, it’s a labor of love done by passionate fans of the classic Trilogy. If you’re still not convinced, SF Weekly posted a photo slideshow. Pretty cool.

For more details of the production and credits, check out the links.

Thanks to Tamara for the news!

Links

• SF Weekly: Star Wars Live Slideshow
• Star Wars Live on Stage! (Dark Room)

photo credit: Official Star Wars Blog

Call for submissions: the Galactic Senate is holding a Clone Wars fan fiction competition right now. Deadline for entries is the end of January so dust off that thinking cap and start writing. There are fabulous prizes being offered, including: Clone Trooper helmet by Master Replicas; Clone Wars Senate Security action figure; die-cast AT-RT and Clonetrooper; and more! Rules generally are as follows:

• The stories must be about the Clone Wars, set in the CW and/or affected by it.
• Stories must be longer than 1200 words.
• Collaborative stories are allowed but are restricted to only two authors working on the story.
• The competion entries will be posted anonymously to ensure a fair competition. The winner will be decided by public poll.

Join in, or if you know someone who likes to dabble in fan fiction, by all means spread the word. The more the better! For complete details and prizes, check out the discussion thread at the Galactic Senate:

• GS: The Great Clone Wars Fan Fiction Competition (now with prizes!)