Not just any ranch
Can you remember back to the days when waiting in line to see Star Wars as a kid was like looking forward to the day your parents were going to take you to Disneyland? At that time we didn’t care how the movies were made or who was behind the masks of the Storm Troopers, it was just a fraction of our life when we allowed ourselves to be taken to a special place, a galaxy that was “Far, Far Away”.
So you can imagine my excitement when I had the opportunity to visit the very elusive Skywalker Ranch. Flying in to San Francisco and driving North across the Golden Gate Bridge out to Marin County, we found ourselves heading down a windy road that is flanked by rolling hills on both sides looking for some sort of sign that would point us in the right direction. All we had was an address and there were more than a few times that we felt lost.
As we entered the nondescript driveway and headed into the Ranch, we were greeted and given directions to “The Inn”, a place where visiting clients would stay when working with the team on a project. We were meeting someone who headed up part of the sound studio located on the other side of Lake Ewok in a building that looked like a old winery surrounded by acres of vineyards. The interesting thing about the ranch, is that all the buildings have a feeling of history as if created at the turn of the century. Not until we heard the history of Skywalker Ranch did we understand that this was more than just a work place, it was the grand plan of George Lucas to create a place that is grounded and constructed the same way he would create a movie…through a story.
As the tale goes, George wanted to give the ranch a history that would have the original estate built as a monastery and later converted to a mansion and vineyard for wine making. As the family who lived their grew, additional buildings were added. George even went to great detail to make it look like the back portion of the winery had been rebuilt years later due to a fire that damaged the structure in earlier days. Eventually, Lucas would purchase the estate and transform it into Skywalker Ranch, the home and creative headquarters for his studio.
You might be asking yourself, how did this guy get in to a place that few are able to experience…well, if you work at Nike, seems like everyone knows someone and a lot of doors swing open.
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