A video promoting Visiting Assistant Professor Patti McCarthy’s book, “The Lucas Effect,” has reached nearly 1.9 million Facebook users.
The video, produced by the Office of Communications and shot and edited by student worker Fabricio Bertin '19, was posted Dec. 15 on the university's Facebook page ahead of the release of the latest blockbuster in the Star Wars franchise. As of late Monday, the short video had reached 1,865,215 people, been viewed 68,884 times, liked by 577 people, and shared 229 times, making it the most successful single social media post by Pacific.
The video shows a Stormtrooper walking through Pacific's Stockton campus and greeting President Pam Eibeck and students along the way to the bookstore where he picks up a book by Visiting Assistant Professor Patti McCarthy ('89, '91), "The Lucas Effect: George Lucas and the New Hollywood." The book tells of Star Wars creator George Lucas' influence on modern filmmaking.
The success of the video has produced tangible results. McCarthy's Amazon.com "Author Rank" went from 924,985 before the video was posted to 104,041on Dec. 23 and the "Sales Rank" went from 1.9 million to 132,294.
Lucas' connection to Pacific goes beyond the video. He is on the Brubeck Institute's Honorary Board; scenes from his Indiana Jones franchise were filmed on campus; McCarthy was the adviser for Pacific and USC film students shooting short biographical videos of Lucas for the 40th anniversary of his film "American Graffiti"; and Pac Ave Record's "Reminiscences" CD performed by Pacific's Symphonic Wind Ensemble was recorded at Skywalker Sound.