Lucas won (well, I’m guessing, he could have played the violin in 6th grade to success) was for best film at the USC student showcase in 1967, with his 15-minute Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB. Francis Ford Coppola teamed up with Lucas to produce the feature version, the now-classic THX 1138, made in 1971. Decidedly minimal and La Jetee-esque, it is about a man in the future tagged as THX 1138 who runs through endless tunnels trying to escape from some sort of police state, that warns escapees to not go through that last door. While the feature expanded heavily on the story and characters, it’s the proficient short that established the film’s atmosphere of 1984-style technological fear, as much about science fiction as it is about gettingthe acting business and together they made Parker to satirize the world of actors, auditions and the Hollywood scene. The 16-minute short screened at Sundance, and over the next five years Coffey and Watts kept filming various scenes, finishing a feature version, also called Ellie Parker, in 2006. Their lives along the way, including both of them getting work on David Lynch’s Mullholland Drive, informed the film and kept it vital to the times.

A satisfying short, the feature rubbed audiences the wrong way. While still fun if you like Watts, the long version wore out its film world welcome. Ironically, in the five years shooting all the scenes for the feature, Watts became a megastar that overcame the doldrums of not being noticed.

Slide 12: From Mike Plante to