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Howard Kazanjian

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Howard Kazanjian
Born
Howard G. Kazanjian

(1942-07-26) July 26, 1942 (age 82)
Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Southern California
Occupation(s)Film producer, author
Years active1968–present
Spouse
Carol Anne Eskijian
​
(m. 1970)​
Children3

Howard G. Kazanjian (born July 26, 1942) is an American film producer best known for the Star Wars films The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983) and the Indiana Jones film Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Kazanjian also was Vice President of Lucasfilm, Ltd., and is a published non-fiction author.

Early years

Kazanjian graduated from the University of Southern California. While there he first met a young George Lucas, and they became not only Delta Kappa Alpha cinema fraternity brothers but also long standing friends.[1] They were members of a clique of filmmakers known to the Hollywood system and the university circuit as The Dirty Dozen.[2] During those college years, Kazanjian and Lucas both met their respective future wives, and the couples would often double date.

Kazanjian's early credits include being First Assistant Director on Alfred Hitchcock's Family Plot and Second Assistant Director on Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch. He later worked with director Robert Wise on his production of The Hindenburg. Kazanjian moved into film production rather than directorial work at Hitchcock's suggestion.

Lucasfilm

As Lucasfilm's Vice President of Production, Howard Kazanjian was intimately involved in the day-to-day strategic and practical operations of Lucasfilm during the times immediately after the 1977 release of Star Wars until approximately 1984 or 1985.[3][4]

Star Wars and Indiana Jones

Kazanjian is most notable for having served as executive producer on Raiders of the Lost Ark and producer on Return of the Jedi. He is also recognized as an uncredited producer on The Empire Strikes Back, replacing producer Gary Kurtz midway through the production.[5][6] For Jedi he came up with the idea of shooting the production under a fake name, Blue Harvest, in order to forestall any attempts at price gouging by suppliers. Blue Harvest was purported to be a horror film with the tag line "horror beyond imagination". Hats and T-shirts were printed up for the crew to wear and to further add to the authenticity of the ruse.[7]

During the casting of Raiders, Kazanjian heavily campaigned for Harrison Ford to be cast as Indiana Jones, to the point he almost lost his job over it. Jones was intended to be a smoker and a drinker, but Kazanjian convinced Lucas and Steven Spielberg to remove that. The scene where sunlight passing through the Headpiece to the Staff of Ra reveals the location of the Well of the Souls was proposed by Kazanjian, who was inspired by the golden statues of Ramesses II at the Abu Simbel temples in Egypt. The temple was positioned so that sunlight would penetrate the sanctuary and illuminate the statues once a year.[3]

The issue of whether Ford would reprise his role of Han Solo for the third Star Wars film arose during pre-production. Kazanjian was responsible for getting him to return:

I played a very important part in bringing Harrison back for Return of the Jedi. Harrison, unlike Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill signed only a two picture contract. That is why he was frozen in carbonite in The Empire Strikes Back. When I suggested to George we should bring him back, I distinctly remember him saying that Harrison would never return. I said what if I convinced him to return. George simply replied that we would then write him in to Jedi. I had just recently negotiated his deal for Raiders of the Lost Ark with Phil Gersh of the Gersh Agency. I called Phil who said he would speak with Harrison. When I called back again, Phil was on vacation. David, his son, took the call and we negotiated Harrison's deal. When Phil returned to the office several weeks later he called me back and said I had taken advantage of his son in the negotiations. I had not. But agents are agents.

The ending scene of Return of the Jedi was originally only going to show the Force ghosts of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, but two days before the scene was shot, Kazanjian suggested that the ghost of Anakin Skywalker appear as well.[3]

Later years

Kazanjian has authored books with Chris Enss. In 2004, they collaborated on The Cowboy and the Senorita: A Biography of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans ISBN 0-7627-3053-6 and Happy Trails: A Pictorial Celebration of the Lives of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans ISBN 0-7627-3089-7; In 2006, The Young Duke: The Early Life of John Wayne ISBN 0-7627-3898-7; in 2009, Thunder over the Prairie: The True Story of a Murder and a Manhunt by the Greatest Posse of All Time ISBN 0-7627-4493-6.[8]

Kazanjian has been an instructor at "Act One", a group designed to train Christians entering into film and television,[9] and was named by Beliefnet as one of the twelve most powerful Christians in Hollywood.[10]

Of Armenian descent, Kazanjian is an active member of the Armenian charity and cultural community, and a USC alumnus.[11]

Since 1998 Kazanjian has been Co-Chairman and 50% shareholder of Tricor Entertainment, Inc, an independent production company, which owns and operates a 19,000+ seat theater chain in Southeast Asia and a film distribution company.[12][13]

Personal life

Kazanjian lives and works in the community of San Marino, California with his wife Carol (née Eskijian), and three children, Peter, Noah, and Andrew.[14]

Kazanjian and George Lucas remain close friends.[3]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Notes
1968 Finian's Rainbow Assistant director
1968 I Love You, Alice B. Toklas Second assistant director
1969 The Wild Bunch Second assistant director
1969 The Great Bank Robbery Second assistant director
1969 Once You Kiss a Stranger Assistant director
1970 The Christine Jorgensen Story Assistant director
1974 The Girl from Petrovka First assistant director
1974 The Front Page First assistant director
1975 The Hindenburg First assistant director
1976 Family Plot First assistant director
1977 Rollercoaster Production executive
1979 More American Graffiti Producer
1980 The Empire Strikes Back Producer (uncredited)
1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark Executive producer
1983 Return of the Jedi Producer
Also has a voice cameo as a pilot[15]
1990 The Rookie Producer
1993 Demolition Man Producer
1999 Carlo's Wake Executive producer
1999 The Sky Is Falling Executive producer
2001 The Amati Girls Executive producer
2001 Extreme Days Executive producer
2001 The Homecoming of Jimmy Whitecloud Executive producer
2004 Worlds Apart Supervising producer
2004 The Bridge of San Luis Rey Executive producer
2007 Shortcut to Happiness Executive producer
2017 South Dakota Executive producer

Television

Year Title Notes
1973 Trapped Television film
Assistant director
1974 The Rockford Files Television pilot
Assistant director
1981 The Making of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' Television documentary
Producer
1983 From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga Television documentary
Executive producer
1995–1996 JAG 11 episodes
Producer
1996 Rattled Television film
Executive producer
2003–2008 Danger Rangers 21 episodes
Executive producer
2016–2017 Mark Hamill's Pop Culture Quest 10 episodes
Executive producer
2017 Celebrate the World! The Hey Wordy! Movie Television film
Executive producer

Awards and honors

  • 1982 Emmy award for The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark[16]
  • 1982 Inkpot Award winner[17]
  • 2009 Briner Impact Award[18]
  • On June 8, 2009, Howard Kazanjian was deputized as an Honorary Marshal of Dodge City, Kansas.[19]

References

  1. ^ Pollock, Dale (2009). Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas. New York: Da Capo Press. p. 51. ISBN 0-306-80904-4.
  2. ^ Pollock 2009, p. 48.
  3. ^ a b c d Pellegrom, Dennis (January 2010). "Howard Kazanjian (Producer)". Star Wars Interviews. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  4. ^ "Howard Kazanjian interview". Star Wars Interviews 1. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  5. ^ Ward, Jason (October 2, 2018). "Remembering Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz". Making Star Wars. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  6. ^ Leibovit, Arnold. "George Lucas". Sci-Fi Station. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  7. ^ "Project Blue Harvest Revealed". Brian Jay Jones. July 26, 2010. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  8. ^ Kazanjian, Howard (May 29, 2017). "What History Has Taught Me: Howard Kazanjian". True West Magazine. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  9. ^ Act One Archived October 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "Mel Gibson Named 'Most Powerful Christian' in Hollywood". In.christiantoday.com. October 18, 2007. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  11. ^ "Men's Forum – Howard Kazanjian – Major Motion Picture Producer & Director". St. Gregory Armenian Church of Pasadena. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  12. ^ Hindes, Andrew (April 21, 1999). "Distrib Tricor shouts Good Morning, Vietnam". Variety. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  13. ^ Nazaretyan, Ani (March–April 2011). "The Dealmaker & The Filmmaker" (PDF). Occidental Entertainment. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  14. ^ "Luther Eskijian Obituary". Pasadena Star-News. April 12, 2007. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  15. ^ "HOWARD KAZANJIANAN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ONE OF THE KEY PLAYERS BEHIND THE CREATION OF THE STAR WARS / INDY UNIVERSES" (PDF). Star Wars Aficionado. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 19, 2009. Retrieved September 2, 2009. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; June 3, 2013 suggested (help)
  16. ^ "Howard Kazanjian". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  17. ^ "Inkpot Award". San Diego Comic-Con. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  18. ^ "Hollywood Legends Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award at Biola Media Conference | Christian Industry News". FrontGate Media. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  19. ^ "Honorary Marshals". Boot Hill Museum. Archived from the original on June 1, 2019. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
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