The passing yesterday of Star Wars and Indiana Jones producer Robert Watts sees yet another member of the original trilogy crew leave us, and to mark his passing Lucasfilm look back on a life well-lived and a career littered with cinematic classics.
“It’s not an overstatement to say that, without Robert Watts’ involvement, Lucasfilm would be a very different company today,” says Kathleen Kennedy. “Not only did he bring his own skills to the production of several milestone films, but also gave opportunities to so many other important crew members to do so as well.”
Throughout his tenure with Lucasfilm, Watts was responsible for organizing each production’s crew members in England, as well as assisting with local casting. Along with production designer Norman Reynolds, he was also Lucasfilm’s chief location scout, leading “recces,” as they’re known in the United Kingdom, from the northern Saharan desert of Tunisia to the snowy landscapes of Norway, and from the island of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean to the mountain ranges and coastal forests of the western United States. “A film location must offer two essentials,” Watts explained. “Accommodation for the crew and a link with transportation to get people and equipment in and out. Otherwise, filming at the North Pole would be feasible.”
