Lucas opens Singapore studio

Star Wars creator George Lucas has founded a new television and digital animation movie studio in Singapore.

The new studio's first project is Clone Wars, a TV series based on the Star Wars universe, which is due to hit screens in 2007.

Lucas is expecting his new studio, which is based on the experience of Industrial Light & Magic and LucasArts, to set a precedent to the rest of the animation industry and to train "a new generation of digital artists".

Chief technology Officer Cliff Plumer says: "We're leveraging not only the technology, but the expertise and the techniques developed over the years at Industrial Light & Magic and LucasArts to train a new generation of digital artists at our Singapore studio."