The Force Awakens George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is a film director, producer, screenwriter, and entrepreneur from the United States. Lucas is well known for inventing the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, as well as establishing Lucasfilm, LucasArts, and Industrial Light & Magic. He has been called "the Michael Jordan of movie directors" for his ability to lead teams of people while also focusing on one aspect of production at a time. In 2004, BusinessWeek listed him as no. 3 on its list of the "Top 10 Movie Directors". Lucas was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Louise Louise (née Hannah) Lucas and George Lucas Sr., who worked together at an advertising agency. The family moved to San Francisco when Lucas was five years old. He attended Lowell High School before dropping out to work as an assistant editor on low-budget films produced by Edward D. Wood Jr. It was while working on one of these films that he came up with the idea for what would later become Star Wars. Inspired by American gangster films such as James Cagney's performances in movies like Public Enemy and His Girl Friday, as well as the 1950s space adventure series Adventures of Superman, Lucas developed a story about a young man in the future who becomes involved in a battle between good and evil.