THE gleaming Sandcrawler building in One North is a symbol of an achievement which seemed "vaguely foolhardy" 10 years ago, Star Wars creator and Lucasfilm founder George Lucas said on Thursday at the opening of the firm's new regional headquarters.
Recalling the great scepticism he met when he first thought of expanding out of the United States into Asia, he said: "Everybody thought I was a little crazy to try to do that." The worry was that the quality of work produced overseas would not match up to what was being done in the California headquarters.
But the Sandcrawler - named after the towering transport structures in the Star Wars universe - "is a symbol of the people of Singapore and computer animation combining with Lucasfilm to create something that is world quality", he said. "I'm very proud of what we've accomplished. We couldn't have found a better partner anywhere in the world."
Singapore had encouraged Lucasfilm in starting up its industry here, providing training and attracting talent from all over the world, he said. On top of that, Singapore "is a wonderful place to be".
Recalling the great scepticism he met when he first thought of expanding out of the United States into Asia, he said: "Everybody thought I was a little crazy to try to do that." The worry was that the quality of work produced overseas would not match up to what was being done in the California headquarters.
But the Sandcrawler - named after the towering transport structures in the Star Wars universe - "is a symbol of the people of Singapore and computer animation combining with Lucasfilm to create something that is world quality", he said. "I'm very proud of what we've accomplished. We couldn't have found a better partner anywhere in the world."
Singapore had encouraged Lucasfilm in starting up its industry here, providing training and attracting talent from all over the world, he said. On top of that, Singapore "is a wonderful place to be".
