Too Cool: Transcript of first Radiers story conference

[GreenScar]

The entire transcript to the "Story Conference" between George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Lawrence Kasdan from 1978 can be found online. Pretty interesting stuff from when these guys were very young and hungry so to speak.



Click the pic to go check it out.

Some background first. Spielberg suggested that Kasdan write Raiders because he admired his Continental Divide script. Lucas agreed. Now, imagine with me: Lucas had just released Star Wars, the biggest film in the history of Hollywood and a cult phenomenon. Spielberg had just released Close Encounters of the Third Kind and before that, Jaws. Now Kasdan was called in to have a story conference with the biggest names in Hollywood who wanted to talk about their next blockbuster. The conference took place at the L.A. home of Jane Bay, who was Lucas’ assistant. They had 5 consecutive 9-hour days to talk about the story. This .pdf is a transcript from taped recordings of those meetings.

By the time Lucas and Spielberg setup these meetings with Kasdan, they knew for the most part what they wanted. This was just a matter of “okay, so, how do we tell this story?” Lucas did most of the talking. He seemed to be just talking through all of the ideas. He came across as, on the one hand, a strong driving force behind the film and on the other hand, a bit controlling. Spielberg occasionally threw in some exciting, funny, and even wacky ideas, which at times Lucas tried to dial down. But many, if not most, of Spielberg’s ideas would be used. Kasdan doesn’t say too much. I imagine he’s just soaking in everything he’s hearing, but he was certainly in sync with the filmmakers. He'd occasionally interject suggestions and also good questions about logic, characters, and plot.

Man-oh-man, Spielberg and Lucas were idea machines. They could’ve sat there coming up with Indiana Smith ideas forever. There were enough ideas generated in these meetings for two films, which they actually used for two films. I must say, it’s rather unusual to have meetings with a producer and a director and be given so many ideas. Not that meetings with producers and directors wouldn’t have a lot of ideas but I’m not sure you would encounter such a volume as this. For screenwriters, it’s a goldmine. If you try to forget the finished film and put yourself into Kasdan’s shoes and you have all these ideas thrown at you, it can be a daunting task. What do you keep? What do you throw away? How do you make all this work?

[jadedeath]

Man-oh-man, Spielberg and Lucas were idea machines. They could’ve sat there coming up with Indiana Smith ideas forever.

Figures.

I ideas when they were still young and good fall by the wayside, meanwhile we get served a big steaming pile of Crystal Skull for our devotion to the franchise.

There comes a time in a bulls life when he's put out to pasture, I think you know where I'm going with this...

Logan

[STARSCREAM]

Spielberg and Lucas were geniuses! Two of the best ever. This is a great read.

[GreenScar]

Cinematical pointed out that a transcript for a conference between Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan has been put online. The three men are discussing ideas for "Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark," the first installment in the franchise.

Reading the transcript, you might notice something interesting, which is some of the ideas for the love affair between Indy and Marion. Here is a taste:

George Lucas: I was thinking that this old guy could have been his mentor. He could have known this little girl when she was just a kid. Had an affair with her when she was eleven.

Lawrence Kasdan: And he was forty-two.

George Lucas: He hasn't seen her in twelve years. Now she's twenty-two. It's a real strange relationship.

Steven Spielberg: She had better be older than twenty-two.

George Lucas: He's thirty-five, and he knew her ten years ago when he was twenty-five and she was only twelve. It would be amusing to make her slightly young at the time.

Steven Spielberg: And promiscuous. She came onto him.

George Lucas: Fifteen is right on the edge. I know it's an outrageous idea, but it is interesting. Once she's sixteen or seventeen it's not interesting anymore. But if she was fifteen and he was twenty-five and they actually had an affair the last time they met. And she was madly in love with him and he ...

Even though the "Indiana Jones" films never mentioned Marion's age, it was always implied that she was young when she met Indy. I just didn't expect for Spielberg, Lucas and Kasdan to consider such a young age and blame an underage girl for the affair.