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The Lightsabre Interview Pablo Hidalgo
Welcome to Lightsabre. He’s the Writer & Internet Content
Manager for Lucas Online, which includes starwars.com and indianajones.com.
Writer for Star Wars Insider. Co-author of Star Wars Chronicles: The Prequels
and Editor of Sculpting a Galaxy: The Models of Star Wars. Please welcome Pabs
himself, Pablo Hidalgo. Q -
Pablo, welcome to Lightsabre. A – Thanks for having me. Q – Tell
us something of your career. How and
where did you begin and what led you to where you are today? A – My professional Star Wars career started in 1995, when
I began freelancing for West End Games, first as a cartoonist, then as a
writer and illustrator. My time with WEG got the attention of
But before all that, I had a
variety of skill-expanding jobs, including traditional 2-D animator, art
instructor for kids, copywriter, storyboard artist, concept illustrator,
corporate communications guy, and, for at least two hours, a
telemarketer when things were pretty low. Almost all of that has been helpful
in some way in my current job. Q –
During your time at Lucasfilm you have become involved with some of the most
exciting projects associated with Star Wars – the website, the blogs and the
books. Which aspect gives you the most
satisfaction? A – It’s
hard to pick one. From a fan’s point of view, it’s getting to work with the
characters, places, props – ingredients
– of the space fantasy you fell in love with as a starry-eyed little kid.
From a professional point of view, it’s creating a product that comes with a
huge, devoted and excited fan-base, ready to devour what you’ve worked on.
It’s a far cry from writing for some weekly newspaper that gets thrown out in
coffee shops after five minutes. It’s rewarding to know your stuff is being
looked at.
Q – You
are well known for your knowledge of the saga. Where did your love for Star Wars begin? A – It’s the old story:
boy meets action figure. I was born in 1974, making me part of the Star Wars Generation. You weren’t
allowed on playgrounds in the ‘70s and ‘80s if you didn’t speak Star Wars. It wasn’t until I was a
teenager, though, that I noticed that Star
Wars stuck with me when a lot of other trappings from my bell-bottomed
days didn’t. I inadvertently became one of those trivia-absorbing fanboys when I picked up the old West End Games
roleplaying books and realized the possibility of an entire expanding
universe of Star Wars adventures
waiting to be discovered. Q – What
has it been like to be a part of the Star Wars phenomenon? A – Equal parts thrilling
and exhausting. It really has opened up so many opportunities for me that I
would not have had otherwise, and has sent me around the world to witness
some pretty things and meet some pretty amazing people. But, once in a while,
the endless strings of 12-hour days and seven-day weeks take their toll, and
you really have to find ways to escape. What’s tough about being a fan with a
job on the inside is that the object of your fandom is your work, so it’s nearly impossible to unplug. If I ever did
make it to the beach, I’d be the guy with the laptop and a Star Wars novel. Q – You
co-authored Star Wars Chronicles – The Prequels with Steven Sansweet. Explain to us some of the process behind
bringing that amazing book to print. A – That one was fun, but
I’d really have to credit Steve with a lot of the early work. He brought me on
when it became apparent that getting that book out in the thick of 2005’s
cluster of deadlines would be impossible to pull off single-handedly. Since I
was involved in a lot of the lore-sorting, gathering, and establishing that
was going on with Episode III characters, places and things, and had seen
first-hand the genesis of a lot of those things, he figured it’d be easy for
me to write it. And it was, after all the
pictures tell the story. The captions are just dressing. Q – What
do your duties with the official Star Wars site include? As the site updates daily, there must be
plenty to oversee. A – There definitely is
plenty, and that description is now changing by the day. For 10 years,
starwars.com has been handled like a newspaper driven by marketing. That made
perfect sense, because it existed to primarily tell the world about the
prequel trilogy as it was being produced and released. A few years into its
run, it began to focus on community since the guys who helmed the content
were coming from a fan background. The next evolution which is
currently underway is to make starwars.com more of an entertainment
destination in and of itself – rather than a place to read about what other people are doing with Star Wars. So, we’re looking at having
more things to do, more types of community interaction, and original Star Wars experiences you won’t be
able to get anywhere else. News will still be there, but it won’t be the
primary focus of the site the way it is now. The challenge is whenever you
implement any change on a site that’s 10,000 pages deep,
it requires a lot of work and careful prioritization. Duties vary from high-level
planning and recommendations of what to do with the site, planning the site’s
editorial calendar for the year, and overseeing the work of our writers. I
don’t do much writing on the site these days like I used to do three years
ago, but every now and then interesting opportunities present themselves like
writing and illustrating original webstrips.
Q – What
were your feelings on Revenge of the Sith?
Having been present for much of it on set, through the webcam you must
have a whole batch of thoughts on how the final film impacted on Star Wars
history. A –Most of the thoughts
were recorded in the set diaries, so in addition to being able to witness all
this, I was grateful to have an outlet to record all of it. As a movie, I
really dug it, and was still able to experience it as a movie on first
viewing despite having seen it all come together. On second viewing, though,
what came through were memories of the making of each particular scene. Q –With
a fourth Indiana Jones film entering production in June 2007 what can fans
expect from the official Indiana Jones site? A – That has yet to be
determined – after all, there are many new people who have a say in that
decision, like Steven Spielberg and the folks at Paramount. I’m definitely
looking forward to see what direction it will take and what it will mean for
indianajones.com. Q – If
you could make any alterations to the Star
Wars story, what would it be? A – Nothing for the films.
There’s some expanded universe material that I’d love to see retold or
reinterpreted in different formats. Q –
While attending conventions and shows do you enjoy the interaction with Star
Wars fans? A – Of course, and in many
ways, in person is the best … the drive-by anonymity of the Internet can
sometimes be a bit unsettling. Meeting folks face-to-face reminds you how
varied the Star Wars fan audience
is. Q – Will
we be seeing you at Celebration Europe?
And if so, what’s your poison, because the first round is on us. A – Yet to be determined.
Someone will go from starwars.com, undoubtedly, but I don’t know if it’ll be
me. But your offer makes the invitation hard to resist. Q –Is
there a dream project that you dream about attempting? A – Yes. And, the good
news, despite it being a rather scary project, it’s still on the table and
actively being pursued. Q - What
lies ahead for you in the future? A – Plotting out the next
phases of starwars.com. I hope to get some more book projects in ’08, and not necessarily just Star Wars ones if I’m lucky. Q – A
quick question about our site, Lightsabre.
Any comments? A – Elegant and civilized,
as the name suggests. Q - It's
been a great interview, and thanks for being our guest on Lightsabre. Just one final question. George Lucas calls you into his office, but
instead of offering you a seat he asks you to remain standing. It’s only then that you catch the foul
stench of a rancor, which is prowling the pit beneath your feet. Lucas eyes you up and down before asking
you a question. “Paploo, I have
a problem. I’ve got this book about
plaid shirts I want you to co-write, but because I’m so busy I need an author
to ghost write my half for me. I’ve got
it down to a list of three, and I want you
to choose who it should be.” His
thumb hovers over the pad that opens the trap doors and the sweat beads
across your forehead as he continues. “I’m thinking either: 1 – J K
Rowling 2 – P J
O’ Rourke 3 – Stephen
King “Who should I pick?” A - King, if you need it for next week. In two weeks, I could probably do it. |
