Indiewire's Filmmaker Toolkit

As a young screenwriter, Lawrence Kasdan saw the special effects magicians at Industrial Light & Magic bring his most spectacular acts of imagination to life. Over 40 years after his work on “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” Kasdan returned to the world of ILM for “Light & Magic,” a six-part documentary series chronicling the biggest effects developments of the 20th century through the stories of the men and women responsible for them – most of all Kasdan’s first employer, George Lucas. In this episode Kasdan talks about why he left fiction filmmaking behind for documentaries, how Lucas changed the movies forever, the mistakes Kasdan made on his own special effects extravaganza “Dreamcatcher,” and why “Top Gun: Maverick” made him excited about the movies again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices