Episode I: The World Builders

The story you're about to hear is true. It is a story of friendships that formed half a century ago. This presentation contains beautiful music and epic sound design. Put on your headphones and enjoy. Blockbuster starts now. This is Blockbuster. Episode one.

Fall 1971. The Hollywood studio system is in shambles. Filmmakers are struggling with the new popularity of television and a change of And a new generation of creative thinkers is beginning to emerge. Wow, that is an incredible dolly shot. How'd you do that? An ambitious group of young filmmakers is gathered at the Hollywood home of 32-year-old Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola's fresh approach to making film has earned the respect of Paramount.

which is about to release his film called The Godfather. It's an exciting time for Francis, but tonight the attention in the room is on someone else. Steve, it's just phenomenal sound. Oh, thanks, Marty. The glow of a projector bounces off a screen to light up Coppola's sprawling living room and everyone in it. Francis, Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, and some other friends. Everyone's eyes were drawn to the images on the screen in front of them.

It's an action-packed car chase film called Duel, soon to be an ABC television movie of the week. And it's directed by the youngest person in the room, 24-year-old Steven Spielberg. Francis was amazed. You shot all this in ten days? Yeah. Well uh no the thirteen. We went over a little bit. This group often debated and critiqued each other's films. The camera work is amazing. But tonight it was all praise for Stephen.

They actually wanted me to go back and blow up the truck, but I told them I wouldn't do it. Yeah, you don't need to blow up the truck. We all get it. The truck deserves a slow death. At the back of this dark, Spanish-style living room, in the shadows, leans a rail thin young man in a plaid shirt, bushy hair, and a full beard. His name was George Lucas. He hadn't planned to stay long, but just like the others, he'd found himself drawn in. It was Stephen's camera work.

Long tracking shots. What many filmmakers would shoot as three separate shots, Steven would combine into one with the moving camera. Whoa, did you have a stuntman for that? Yeah, yeah, yeah to jump out. him to do that? They all felt like rebels, Hollywood renegades. Their laid-back dress coat itself was in defiance of the slick, monkey suit aesthetic of the declining Hollywood studios, looking to make money first and good movies second.

George, in particular, was from small town California, Modesto to be exact. Like many of them, he's grown up on serials and films rebroadcast on his local TV channels to fill time. Hollywood didn't make it. like that anymore, and he intended to change that. And he saw the same take charge attitude in Steve's film. Let's see. Uh I'll have a uh hamburger please. No one. It was a growing tradition for this group to go out for dinner after a screening at Francis' house. Cheeseburger for Minch.

Tonight it was Mel's Drive In, a diner down the street from the iconic Gromins Chinese Theater. Marty, Brian, Steve, and George all sat in a booth. And I I'll do the same. And extra pickles. All right, I'll have them right out for you. Though none of them knew it yet, all four of them were on the cusp of breakthrough international success. So Marty, I hear you'll be working with Roger Corman.

Correct. A picture about train robbers on the run in the south. We're trying to shoot it all in Arkansas. And what's next for you, George?

George and Francis had been developing a film called American Graffiti, but George was most excited about something else. Well I've I've had this idea. It's um It's a hero's journey? Set in another world? George often spoke in visionary ideas. He was just 26 years old, but his film friends admired him. He challenged them to become better filmmakers themselves. I'm thinking uh uh Joseph Campbell's

Sci-fi adventure in outer space. Like the old Flash Gordon series. I actually tried to get the rights to Flash Gordon, but they wouldn't uh sell them. So a kid's movie? That was Brian DePain. Not necessarily a kids movie. Well yeah well yeah it's it's an adult kid's movie. George had a nickname he hated, the kid, because he looked so young for his extravagant ideas. He was sensitive to it, one of the reasons he'd grown out his beard to look older.

Well now all you get is cops. Hard drama. What about strange lands and creatures and you know an a an escape from the everyday? Still sounds sorta like a kid's movie. Brian would never really understand this kind of movie, though he'd make dozens of successful films in his own career. But Stephen understood completely. It's brilliant, George. Really? Absolutely. Absolutely. They're fantasies, dreams, fairy tales.

It's a modern fairy tale. Edge of the world. Romance. Adventure. Fun. Used to be in practically everything. That's been done before, hasn't it? A great story is a great story. I get I can see something like the great swashbuckling adventures, but in outer space. It's another world. I I love the idea, George.

Stephen would always remember the moment he realized he and George were different from Marty and Brian and Francis. They made great and important films, but Stephen and George felt called to something else, making movies.

March 23rd, 1933. Hollywood. Orange sun is setting, and there's an electricity in the air in front of a newly constructed landmark of Hollywood Boulevard. Grahmen's Chinese Theater. It is a spectacle. The outside built to resemble a giant Chinese temple, with ornate guardian lions to either side of its majestic entrance. Up close, the detail is overwhelming. And already there's a new tradition of celebrities leaving their handprints in the concrete out front.

The Chinese theater will become the most famous movie theater in the world. In the forecourt in front of the entrance is a 10-foot-tall paper-mache bust. Enormous ape. Oh my. Tonight is the world premiere of radio pictures King Kong. And crowds and paparazzi gather as cast arrive. And in front they're greeted by Kong himself, a prop from the film. Bruce, there we are. It's a spectacle like no one has ever seen before.

Inside is a grand palace, adorned with rich golden engravings and long red curtains. The Chinese theater is built for the grandeur and celebrity of Tinsletown, the first theater to have air conditioning. And tonight it's hosting the debut of the most anticipated film of all time. King Kong is breathtaking. The story is epic. The special effects are breakthroughs. They use clay stop-motion animation for the giant apes climb up the Empire State Building.

And it's a little bit more than a little bit. The show. A booming, dramatic orchestral score by the great composer Max Steiner that makes Kong terrifying. When the lights go up. Thunderous applause. The film is a masterpiece. And that music. But where is the orchestra? They're nowhere to be seen. Somehow they found a way to fit the whole orchestra onto the dialogue track of the film.

A breakthrough. Hollywood escapism. King Kong will become a spectacle, making over$2 million in the height of the Great Depression and become an inspiration for decades. particularly for a young Steven Spielberg and a young George Lucas.

Summer 1958, 20th Century Fox Studios. A composer named Henry Mancini has hired a talented young jazz pianist to record the theme for a television show called Peter Gunn. His name is Johnny Williams. Something like that you think, Henry? Perfect, Johnny. Beautiful. Johnny is 29 years old, happily married to a beautiful actress named Barbara. ruin. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Oh, sorry. Hi, sorry the bother you. Yeah. Do you know where the studio cafe is? I'm supposed to be meeting someone.

The studio lot is bustling. Johnny makes his way through the crowd. He never considered show business his calling, but every show needed music, and he loved to play. Over the years on the studio lot, he developed friendships with other musicians, none more so than Alfred Hitchcock's grumpy composer, Bernard Herman. Yeah. Bernard, I am so sorry to keep you waiting. Henry got you working late? Herman will become famous for the shrieking musical horror of Psycho, especially the famous shower scene.

A similar technique that Johnny would echo years later on a film about a shark terrorizing a beast. Johnny loved Bernard because he was direct, blunt, a New Yorker, never afraid to tell him what he thought. Johnny and Barbara would often have Bernard over for dinner. Oh god, it would be wonderful to someday write a real symphony, you know? Instead of these little TV tubes. Look, Johnny, if you want to write a symphony, who's stopping you? You just gotta go write it.

It was simple guidance like that Johnny found most valuable. Soon, he was orchestrating, then composing for TV shows, then writing music for little movies that barely had a music budget. Little did he know his soundtracks were already being composed. By an up and coming filmmaker named Steven Spielberg, who vowed to one day work with this John Williams on a movie of his own. March 1974, a decade later. John is now 41, happily married for 18 years and a father to three kids.

He's made a modest career from scoring TV shows and movies, and recently his first collaboration with a young filmmaker named Steven Spielberg, called the Sugarland Express. John doesn't mind his private life. In fact, he prefers it. His baby grand piano was his heart. That phone call. For years he would wish he never picked up. Hello, it's John. if only to hold on to his wife for a few more hours. Uh Mr. Williams. I um You might want to sit down for this.

Barbara was in Reno for a film called California Split. Overnight she'd had a cerebral hemorrhage and collapsed in her hotel room. God. The news plunges John into shock. John fought back the tears. He tried. For the next two.

April 1973. Universal Studios. George Lucas sits at his desk stroking his beard. Even while shooting American graffiti, he's been dreaming up his sci-fi space adventure. His desk is a mess of scribbled sticky notes, partially written scripts, and foreign language dictionaries he's been searching to find his planets and characters and names. The hero. His name is Starkiller. No, George Starkiller. Well that's that's too self-serving. Maybe it's a maybe it's a girl. Pain Star Killer.

He settles on Luke, Luke's star killer. Luke was the hero who'd save the dead. Princess Deja. No, Princess Zara. No. Leia. Dark Father. Storm troop. That was Indiana, Georgia's own furry creature. A great, huge, fluffy Alaskan Malamute laying in the corner of George's office. Movie star. He names the character after the Russian word for dog, sobaka. Which would become Chewbacca. With his story treatment finished and ready to pitch to studios, he needed a title. The Star Wars.

Yes, I have Gary Kurtz on the line for you. Gary Kurtz was a producer, working with George on American graffiti on a tight budget. That film was still months from release, but now Gary was trying to get money to make George's big budget space movie. and George needed it. He'd barely been paid on American graffiti, and he found himself in financial trouble. He'd have to give up on the Star Wars if he couldn't get a deal fast. Hey, please tell me it's good news. It's not. It passed. They passed.

It was a punch to the gut. United artists had said they loved the treatment. Yeah, I say it's not right for him. No, they think it'll be too expensive. It's a six million dollar idea. I'll make it for half that. I told him that. It's still too much for'em. I don't think they want to take the chance. Okay, fine. Do we do we try universal? Yeah, yeah, Universal's looking over it now. And we can try Laddie over at Fox.

Laddie was Alan Ladd Jr., a 20th century Fox executive. Like George, Laddie had a distrust of the studio system and was known for giving directors more freedom, albeit usually less money. George was getting desperate.

Mr. Spielberg, I have Dixanic for you. Oh, great. Go ahead and patch him over. June nineteen seventy three. Just across the lot from George at Universal Studios is an anxious Steven Spielberg biting his nails. After Duel and Sugarland Express, he's tired of doing small films. He knows he needs a big winner. Dick, thanks for calling me back. Steven, can you meet me and David for lunch? Hey, Steve, over here. Ah, there you are. How are ya, David? Dick?

Dick Zanek and David Brown were producers at Universal who worked with Steven on the Sugarland Express. They'd been vetting directors for a thriller film that was based on a novel called Jaws, and for weeks Stephen had lobbied them to direct it. Great to see you, Steve. Can we get you a drink? We're celebrating. Dick and David knew Stephen was an ambitious filmmaker, but he was just 26 years old. This was a big project, and they were uneasy about an inexperienced director helming it.

But after two veteran directors had fallen through, Universal had reconsidered. How would you like to make I came ready to sell you on it again. Then it's set. It's yours. Oh, this is gonna be terrific. Thank Thank you. I knew you'd be thrilled. Didn't I say it? He said you might kiss us. Let me tell you I'm fighting back the urge. Now something I need from you. Oh boy, here it is. You are martinis, gentlemen. Thank you. Of course.

Listen, I don't wanna shoot this on the water tanks on the lot. The story calls for the ocean. It's gotta look real, it can't be silly. Steven pulls out a treatment. On the front it says Jaws, something he's not supposed to have yet. Is that the treatment? How'd you get that? Now, Steve, we've never shot something on the ocean before. Yeah, I'm afraid it would add too much to the budgets. Yeah.

It has to be, guys. It's gotta look real or it won't be scary. What's the point if it's not gonna be scary? All right, Steve. Yeah, yeah, we'll look into some options for you. And one other thing. Yes. We need a mechanical shot. No. No, that will be much too expensive. We'll get some train shop. You can't train sharks, not for what we need him to do. You can't train sharks? Can't do it. We're gonna have to build a shark.

We need a shark. Dick and David give Steven a shark and a budget of three and a half million dollars. Steven will get 55 days to shoot the film. No one would have anticipated it would take nearly triple that time. And triple the money. On the next episode of Blockbuster. John Voigt can't do it. We're out to Jeff Bridges now. In is cast. Dryfus. Stephen worries about his career surviving in uncharted waters. Get the actors off the boat! Get them off the boat!

Steve, we got sound guys on the boat too. And the Star Wars meets its maestro. You must be Johnny. That's coming up on episode two. Blockbuster. This season of Blockbuster took months to research, write, cast, record, sound design, and compose the original score, and we're constantly sharing our work, research, and pictures on social media. Plus the latest news about Blockbuster, including this series winning Ad Week's Podcast of the Year Award for Best Creative Podcast.

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Hey, this is Ray Chase, voice of George Lucas and Blockbuster. Stay tuned for a short conversation about making this episode. But first, would you please take a quick moment to give us a five star review and share this series with a friend? And for extras and exclusives, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram or visit getblockbuster dot com. Thanks for listening to Blockbuster. This is Ray Chase, voice of George Lucas and Blockbuster.

And this is Matt Schrader, creator and narrator of Blockbuster. Each week we'll be discussing some of the interesting finds we had in making each episode. And today Ray and I are talking about the movie Bratz and George Lucas. Yes. How did you sort of Well, uh one of the first things that uh that I did was uh do a little bit of research and uh and find what he sounded like as a young man. Um and there w honestly wasn't a whole lot. So I kind of got the

Cadence, his um speech patterns down. But what I did tap into, because it's what this um what this whole podcast is about, was into his emotional world and and sort of Showing the side of him that we don't see from those press junkets and things like that, the time where he's not in front of the camera or even in front of a room of people working on something that he's passionate about, but the quieter mind. Can you talk about how you took on that behavioral and vocal character? Uh

Yeah, absolutely. I sort of went into that sort of internal realm. Making it as if there wasn't even a microphone there, that I was um even just muttering some of these lines to myself. That I think really shows us gets us a lot closer to the characters that we're portraying. Kind of a headspace of Of Exactly. And George himself isn't a boisterous person in the first place. So we he was he was quieter down anyway.

Did you find it more difficult to tap into the younger, greener, more idealistic version of of George Lucas in this first episode? Well I i in him in in real life i he was always hoping that this was going to be a success and this was going to be the project that really put him on the map and and show his artistic sensibilities and share them with the world. And I always tried to put that in the character, even even as things were were getting towards the later episodes.

to show that there was a lot of um naivete in him and really every single setback that he found that he That he doubts himself a little bit, a little bit each time, but he keeps his optimism shining through throughout the whole thing. Ray Chase, voice of George Lucas, thanks for this chat. Thank you, Matt.

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