Terry Brooks, best known as the author of the Shannara series, was born in Illinois in 1944. He graduated from Hamilton College and the School of Law at Washington & Lee. Brooks was a practicing attorney for many years before turning to writing fulltime. His first book Sword of Shannara (1977) was the first work of fiction to appear on the New York Times Trade Paperback Bestseller List. It was followed by 14 consecutive bestsellers. Brooks' many Shannara novels create a tapestry that spans generations and rivals Tolkien's Middle Earth in epic scale and heroism. Brooks is the author of a number of other fantasy books, as well as the novelization of Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
As a graduate of the prestigious Cinema Studies program of the University of Southern California, George Lucas represents the movie-educated generation of American filmmakers, which emerged in the 1970's, including Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Brian DePalma. Lucas's award-winning 20-minute student science fiction film, "THX-1138," and a student fellowship to work with Coppola, launched a career of unprecedented financial success. Backed by Coppola, he made a feature-length version of "THX-1138" (1971), then gained wide recognition with the release of "American Graffiti" (1973), a look at high school in 1962 whose rock-and-roll soundtrack set off a wave of… 1950's nostalgia. Made for $750,000, "American Graffiti" grossed nearly $50 million. However, Lucas's next feature dwarfed this success. "Star Wars" (1977) broke all box-office records and defined the basic terms of Lucas's legacy: spectacular technical effects and a comic-book sense of adventure. With the profits from Star Wars and the massive merchandising campaign around it, Lucas built Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California, home to Industrial Light and Magic, the premier special-effects laboratory in the world. Lucas wrote the scenarios for the "Star Wars" sequels, "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) and "Return of the Jedi" (1983), and later for the "Indiana Jones" films, but he handed over directing to others, as he had sworn he would after completing Star Wars. In renouncing the director's role, the ultimate gesture of the anti-auteurauteur, Lucas exemplifies Hollywood since the late 1970's, which has focused on high-concept formulas with pyrotechnic displays of special effects, a sure-fire recipe for commercial success.