Rick McCallum

Several years after their first meeting, Lucas was preparing his first weekly live-action television program, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, and turned to McCallum to produce the ambitious series, which was to be shot in 35 countries. With a unique perspective on the eventful early life of Indiana Jones – including its cinematic qualities, an emphasis on storytelling and characters, and an enticing promise of new adventures each week – McCallum attracted a stellar list of writers and actors to the creative ranks of the series. Among the directors with whom McCallum worked on the series were Bille August, Nicolas Roeg, David Hare, Mike Newell, Deepa Mehta, Terry Jones, Simon Wincer, and Carl Schultz. During its run, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences honored Young Indiana Jones with 12 Emmy Awards from 27 nominations.[5] The series debuted on DVD in 2007, and McCallum served alongside Lucas as a joint executive producer on a series of 94 acclaimed documentaries that accompany the episodes and illuminate the real-life history behind their stories.

When Young Indiana Jones ended, McCallum produced Radioland Murders (1994), for which Lucas served as executive producer and the originator of the story.

During production of Radioland Murders, Lucas confided to McCallum the plans for three new Star Wars movies. To test the nascent digital technology just then becoming available, McCallum produced revised versions of the original Star Wars film,[lower-alpha 1] The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi – released in 1997 as the Special Editions.

Assembling the teams that worked both in front of and behind the cameras, McCallum produced the next three films, which Lucas wrote and directed: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005). The Star Wars prequels also ushered in a new era of digital filmmaking, and McCallum played a leading role in its development, overseeing a team of creative and technical professionals that developed and created the industry's first all-digital production pipeline.[6] McCallum makes a cameo appearance in The Phantom Menace near the end of the film when Palpatine arrives on Naboo.[7][8]

McCallum was one of the producers of Red Tails, an action-adventure movie on which Lucas was executive producer, that pays tribute to the spirit of World War II's Tuskegee Airmen. The movie was released nationally in the U.S. on January 20, 2012.

Following Lucasfilm's announced acquisition by The Walt Disney Company, on October 31, 2012, ForceCast.net podcast Lucasfilm's Steve Sansweet stated that "Rick has retired from Lucasfilm".[9] He had been involved with a potential live-action series set within the Star Wars universe,[10] but the show was put on hold in 2010 due to budget concerns.[11]