Is Katie Lucas the Heir To The Star Wars Empire?

[Christopher]

According to her IMDB profile, she has a "writer" credit on "Jedi Crash" and "Nightsisters," and a "written by" credit on "Sphere of Influence" and "The Academy." If there's a distinction between the two phrases, I don't know the details.

My guess is the "writer" basically means she tossed around some ideas and somebody else wrote about them.

"Written By" implies she actually sat down at her computer, opened Final Draft, and started plugging away.

There's no such distinction. The writer of an episode gets a "Written by" credit for it -- they're just two ways of saying the same thing. If you just contribute ideas which are scripted by someone else, then the credit is "Story by."

IMDb is not entirely consistent or accurate; the distinction between "writer" and "written by" in its entries probably comes down to the vagaries of whichever contributor happened to post each entry in question. StarWars.com's episode guide, which is somewhat closer to the source, gives Ms. Lucas a "Written by" credit on all the cited episodes as well as "Monster," and I'm sure the screen credits were the same.

However, it's worth noting that The Clone Wars does include a credit of "series writer" on some episodes, which seems to be the equivalent of a story editor or the like, a staff writer who oversees or participates in the scripting process but doesn't do enough work on the actual script to get a "Written by" credit. But that's a distinct credit from writer/written by.

but he worked for Rick Berman

I thought Berman did nothing, except getting his picture taken from time to time...

Oh, on the contrary, Berman was a very hands-on producer, directly involved in every major decision. That's well-documented in multiple behind-the-scenes books and articles.

But even if he had done nothing, that wouldn't invalidate my statement. Lots of people work for superiors who don't do any work themselves.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Well assuming she was legitimately the writer of "Monster," then she has a terrific imagination and an ability to wrangle that imagination into a story that is both coherent and also has the feel of a wider universe out there just waiting to be discovered.

The episode avoided two deficiencies I find way too often in sci fi on TV: a universe that feels "sparse" and doesn't pique my imagination; and little details here and there that don't seem to click together neatly (those might be aspects of the same problem, a not-well-thought-through universe, or a writer not paying attention to the details of a well thought through universe.)

Since we're dragging Berman and Braga into this, I might as well say that it reminds me of the transition between S3 of ENT, when things still weren't clicking, and S4, when Manny Coto came on and finally made things click (after getting rid of the idiotic Space Nazis). Katie Lucas has a ENT S4 type of writing ability.

And she invests characters with depth even when they don't absolutely require it. That episode did have a bit of a fanficcy feel to it, but I don't mind that so much.

 

[AviTrek]

The analog for Berman taking over would be Rick McCallum. He's been a producer for Lucas since Young Indy.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

While I have no specific reason to distrust Katie Lucas, isn't a "writing credit" sort of a grey area for some celebrities?

Not in the WGA. That said, since Clone Wars is animated its writers probably aren't covered by the WGA basic agreement.

Writers in TV come in two basic varieties - staff writers, who are employed under contract for a period of time by the production, and freelancers who are contracted to write a single episode at a time.

 

[Mach5]

The analog for Berman taking over would be Rick McCallum. He's been a producer for Lucas since Young Indy.

McCallum is to Lucas what Smithers is to Monty Burns. I bet Lucas even plans to have him buried under his feet once he's dead.

 

[SeerSGB]

Well assuming she was legitimately the writer of "Monster," then she has a terrific imagination and an ability to wrangle that imagination into a story that is both coherent and also has the feel of a wider universe out there just waiting to be discovered.

The episode avoided two deficiencies I find way too often in sci fi on TV: a universe that feels "sparse" and doesn't pique my imagination; and little details here and there that don't seem to click together neatly (those might be aspects of the same problem, a not-well-thought-through universe, or a writer not paying attention to the details of a well thought through universe.)

Since we're dragging Berman and Braga into this, I might as well say that it reminds me of the transition between S3 of ENT, when things still weren't clicking, and S4, when Manny Coto came on and finally made things click (after getting rid of the idiotic Space Nazis). Katie Lucas has a ENT S4 type of writing ability.

And she invests characters with depth even when they don't absolutely require it. That episode did have a bit of a fanficcy feel to it, but I don't mind that so much.

I think that the "fanficcy feel" works for Clone Wars. Hard to explain why, other than a "fond memories that don't quite match what really happened" vibe. As if the narrator that's telling the story is sort of embellishing here and "tweaking" there to tell a really epic story to the audience.

Like I said, hard to explain.

 

[Admiral_Young]

The Clone Wars might be the ultimate example of a "Fan fic". A fan as the showrunner able to tell the story that has always eluded Star Wars fans before. I don't mind the fan wank that has been in the series so far either. It is what attracts me to the show in the first place in a way.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

"Writing that satisfies hard core fans" is not the same as "fan fic." If these people are being paid as professional writers, they're not writing fan fic - the distinction is plain and simple.

 

[Garak]

I think this is a little premature to talk about right now...if anyone is heir it should be Dave Filoni.

I saw that guy getting interviewed a few times. It was tough to discern what he was saying because his mouth was covering most of George Lucas' penis. And forget about sign language because I'm pretty sure he was gently massaging Lucas' taint as well.

 

[Galileo7]

What episodes did Katie Lucas write? The last two show good imagination.

According to her IMDB profile, she has a "writer" credit on "Jedi Crash" and "Nightsisters," and a "written by" credit on "Sphere of Influence" and "The Academy." If there's a distinction between the two phrases, I don't know the details.

George apparently feels his daughter's writing is good enough...

 

[Mach5]

I saw that guy getting interviewed a few times. It was tough to discern what he was saying because his mouth was covering most of George Lucas' penis. And forget about sign language because I'm pretty sure he was gently massaging Lucas' taint as well.

Wow, and I thought this kind of talk was exclusive to places like 4chan and stuff...

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The Clone Wars might be the ultimate example of a "Fan fic". A fan as the showrunner able to tell the story that has always eluded Star Wars fans before. I don't mind the fan wank that has been in the series so far either. It is what attracts me to the show in the first place in a way.

Yeah, what Star Wars needs is more good fanfic! The PT was so skimpy and bare, we need stories that make it feel more whole and real.

PS, for Dennis' benefit, I think what we mean by fanfic - at least what I mean - is "stories that go into elaborate detail to explain the whole 'universe' of Star Wars and make it feel whole and real." It has nothing to do with whether the writers are getting paid for their work, and personally, I've never read a single actual Star Wars fanfic; I'm going by what I know from other franchises and assuming Star Wars fanfic is no different. Fanficcy stories in TCW are an antidote to the skimpiness and unsatisfying nature of the PT.

Like my continual harping on "what exactly does it mean to 'fall to the dark side'?" I don't need a dissertation on the topic to be shown on TV - that would be klunky and tedious - but I would like the writers to figure that stuff out and then use that backstory as a basis for stories that just show us the interesting parts - the action, the upshot. We'll get the idea that there's lots more to it, if there is lots more to it.

 

[SeerSGB]

One of the things that Clone Wars has done really well is make me give a damn about Anakin. The prequels almost killed any interest I had in his story, but Clone Wars Anakin is mile superior to Hayden-Emo-Douche Anakin in the prequel movies.

 

[Admiral_Young]

^ That is what I am referring to. I like the subtle and overt references to the EU that have been made over the past three years. I suspect that we will get more of that. Anakin's portrayal and how he has been written in this series has been fascinating. Another aspect of the show that is compelling.

 

[Holdfast]

I thought Berman did nothing, except getting his picture taken from time to time...

Garret Wang said so!

Funny, that just about sums up Garret Wang's time in Voyager...

 

[Mr. Adventure]

The Clone Wars might be the ultimate example of a "Fan fic". A fan as the showrunner able to tell the story that has always eluded Star Wars fans before. I don't mind the fan wank that has been in the series so far either. It is what attracts me to the show in the first place in a way.

Yeah, what Star Wars needs is more good fanfic! The PT was so skimpy and bare, we need stories that make it feel more whole and real.

PS, for Dennis' benefit, I think what we mean by fanfic - at least what I mean - is "stories that go into elaborate detail to explain the whole 'universe' of Star Wars and make it feel whole and real." It has nothing to do with whether the writers are getting paid for their work, and personally, I've never read a single actual Star Wars fanfic; I'm going by what I know from other franchises and assuming Star Wars fanfic is no different. Fanficcy stories in TCW are an antidote to the skimpiness and unsatisfying nature of the PT.

What I meant by alluding to fan fic was you're given a chance to write a Clone Wars story, do you start with Anakin, or maybe Ahsoka, or Obi-Wan and Yoda, ooh, maybe Jango and Boba Fett? [EDIT: I guess I made that comment in the other Clone Wars thread...]

No, you write a three-part epic about Asaaj Ventress and her Wiccan witch circle. Then you create a badass clone of Darth Maul and have him whomp some Jedi for good measure. Again, like I said before, it's not unwelcome but it had a bit of that feel.

BTW, Temis, I haven't listened to these but they do have episode commentaries at http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/. Maybe those would provide some of those clues you are looking for.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Okay, well I'll continue to try to speak English instead. Makes conversation less confusing.

 

[SeerSGB]

^ That is what I am referring to. I like the subtle and overt references to the EU that have been made over the past three years. I suspect that we will get more of that. Anakin's portrayal and how he has been written in this series has been fascinating. Another aspect of the show that is compelling.

Anakin comes off as a good soldier and a pretty competent commander, but that doesn't necessarily means he's a good Jedi. (if that makes sense). He's a Jedi, obviously, but he thinks like a military leader, a soldier, and sometimes the two points of view are compatible.

 

[Lookingglassman]

Whoever the heir is I hope she/he makes the final three Star Wars movies.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I'm talking about the different in writing in terms of him being a whiny douche bag. I agree with you in terms of his actual role in the series. I was more thinking about his attitude and demeanor on the show.