1
00:00:00,730 --> 00:00:02,231
[beeping greeting]

2
00:00:02,857 --> 00:00:04,859
[beeping resumes]

3
00:00:05,985 --> 00:00:06,986
Morning.

4
00:00:07,069 --> 00:00:08,863
-[beeping greeting]
-[woman chuckles]

5
00:00:09,405 --> 00:00:14,076
[Meza] When I'm operating BB-8, I prefer
to kind of be totally behind the scenes,

6
00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:17,663
and then in that way, someone's
having a genuine interaction with BB-8.

7
00:00:17,747 --> 00:00:18,748
-[beeping greeting]
-Hi.

8
00:00:18,831 --> 00:00:20,708
-[Meza] It's a showstopper.
-Oh, my gosh. [chuckles]

9
00:00:20,791 --> 00:00:22,543
[beeping happily]

10
00:00:22,626 --> 00:00:24,920
[Meza] No matter what they're doing,
they just suddenly-- They stop.

11
00:00:25,004 --> 00:00:26,964
[beeping excitedly]

12
00:00:27,506 --> 00:00:28,507
Really?

13
00:00:28,591 --> 00:00:30,509
[beeping sadly]

14
00:00:30,593 --> 00:00:31,886
I'm so sorry to hear that.

15
00:00:31,969 --> 00:00:33,804
[beeping continues]

16
00:00:33,888 --> 00:00:37,933
[Meza] The border between reality
and fantasy is completely dissolved,

17
00:00:38,225 --> 00:00:41,270
and to them, in that moment,
that's the character.

18
00:00:41,353 --> 00:00:44,106
You need to go downstairs, but stairs are
probably a little bit difficult for you.

19
00:00:44,190 --> 00:00:45,608
You should probably
take the elevator, huh?

20
00:00:45,691 --> 00:00:46,984
[responsive beeping]

21
00:00:47,068 --> 00:00:48,986
[Meza] They ask BB-8
these different questions,

22
00:00:49,070 --> 00:00:51,447
and they have these really genuine moments
with one another,

23
00:00:51,530 --> 00:00:54,575
and it's a really amazing thing
to kind of be both a fly on the wall

24
00:00:54,658 --> 00:00:57,495
but also interpersonally connected to them
in that way.

25
00:00:58,412 --> 00:00:59,914
[inquisitive beep]

26
00:00:59,997 --> 00:01:00,998
My name is Este Meza.

27
00:01:01,082 --> 00:01:04,251
I'm the Senior Manager of Events
and Character Appearances at Lucasfilm.

28
00:01:18,933 --> 00:01:21,894
My job is a little bit difficult
to explain.

29
00:01:21,977 --> 00:01:25,064
Even my parents probably still
don't really know what I do for a living,

30
00:01:25,147 --> 00:01:29,026
but, basically, I get to create
and dream up these different events

31
00:01:29,110 --> 00:01:32,613
and experiences for our fans
to enjoy and connect with our brand.

32
00:01:33,656 --> 00:01:35,950
Want to kind of review
the different costumes

33
00:01:36,033 --> 00:01:40,287
that we're gonna pick out
for our stormtrooper exhibit.

34
00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:42,832
Thanks for laying all these ones out.

35
00:01:42,915 --> 00:01:45,251
[Burkert] Something elses
that we were thinking about

36
00:01:45,334 --> 00:01:49,922
is whether or not we wanna include
a handful of weapons to go with them.

37
00:01:50,589 --> 00:01:55,428
Um, these ones are a little easier
because they actually have like a mount

38
00:01:55,511 --> 00:01:58,639
already built onto
the Force Awakens mannequins.

39
00:01:58,723 --> 00:01:59,807
-On that side. Yeah.
-Yeah.

40
00:02:00,266 --> 00:02:02,351
[Meza]
While I was definitely a Star Wars fan,

41
00:02:02,435 --> 00:02:04,979
and I graduated from film school,

42
00:02:05,062 --> 00:02:07,732
I had no aspiration
that I would ever get lucky enough

43
00:02:07,815 --> 00:02:09,400
to actually work at Lucasfilms.

44
00:02:09,984 --> 00:02:12,653
Just kinda threw my hat in the ring,
put in a job application,

45
00:02:12,737 --> 00:02:15,322
and then got a callback,
and, luckily for me,

46
00:02:15,406 --> 00:02:18,993
my job really matched
the experience that I had.

47
00:02:19,076 --> 00:02:20,995
And my boss at the time,

48
00:02:21,078 --> 00:02:23,247
she really wanted someone who understood
the technical side of events,

49
00:02:23,330 --> 00:02:25,124
and that's how I got my foot in the door.

50
00:02:27,043 --> 00:02:28,544
And with the power of the Force...

51
00:02:30,087 --> 00:02:31,297
there's BB-8.

52
00:02:33,507 --> 00:02:35,009
[inquisitive beeping]

53
00:02:35,384 --> 00:02:36,385
[Meza chuckles]

54
00:02:36,469 --> 00:02:41,307
The moment I power BB-8 on
and it starts firing off sounds,

55
00:02:41,390 --> 00:02:45,895
it's like all kind of reality breaks,
and he just becomes BB-8.

56
00:02:45,978 --> 00:02:48,939
And even though I know,
obviously, I'm controlling him,

57
00:02:49,023 --> 00:02:51,442
I have these interactions,
and it sounds silly but, I'm like,

58
00:02:51,525 --> 00:02:53,277
-"Hey, BB-8. How you doing?"
-[beeping excitedly]

59
00:02:53,361 --> 00:02:55,321
Ah, yeah, you're good? Me too. Yeah.

60
00:02:56,822 --> 00:02:59,116
I like driving around the office
as much as possible.

61
00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:00,951
I kind of use it as a guise of...

62
00:03:01,035 --> 00:03:03,329
I'm just trying
to get my practice reps in,

63
00:03:03,412 --> 00:03:05,164
but really
I'm just trying to have some fun

64
00:03:05,247 --> 00:03:07,124
and kinda bring some joy to the office.

65
00:03:07,208 --> 00:03:09,335
-[beeping excitedly]
-[woman chuckles]

66
00:03:09,418 --> 00:03:11,253
-Hi.
-How are you doing?

67
00:03:11,337 --> 00:03:13,339
-[responsive beeping]
-[woman 2 chuckles]

68
00:03:13,881 --> 00:03:16,092
[beeping continues]

69
00:03:16,175 --> 00:03:17,510
You're just adorable.

70
00:03:18,344 --> 00:03:19,929
[Meza] BB-8 rolling by,
you just kinda melt.

71
00:03:20,012 --> 00:03:22,014
And you're like,
"Oh, my God, there's BB-8."

72
00:03:22,098 --> 00:03:23,808
[all chuckling]

73
00:03:24,350 --> 00:03:25,726
[inquisitive beeping]

74
00:03:26,435 --> 00:03:28,771
I don't speak droid. I'm sorry.

75
00:03:28,854 --> 00:03:30,356
[beeping sadly]

76
00:03:30,439 --> 00:03:32,692
-[woman 3] No, Steve, you made him sad.
-[Steve chuckles]

77
00:03:32,775 --> 00:03:36,278
[Steve]
Oh, no. I'm sorry, BB-8. I still love you.

78
00:03:36,362 --> 00:03:40,157
[beeping happily]

79
00:03:41,492 --> 00:03:44,620
[cheering, applause]

80
00:03:46,789 --> 00:03:49,250
[Meza] At Lucasfilm,
we do quite a few different events.

81
00:03:49,333 --> 00:03:51,919
The big premier event
is probably Celebration.

82
00:03:52,503 --> 00:03:54,922
Celebration is definitely the highlight
of my year.

83
00:03:55,423 --> 00:03:56,966
I'm in the really lucky position

84
00:03:57,049 --> 00:04:01,095
where I get to interact with our fans
on a face-to-face basis pretty regularly.

85
00:04:01,470 --> 00:04:02,805
Our fans are amazing.

86
00:04:02,888 --> 00:04:07,309
Like, they are the core
of what makes my job meaningful.

87
00:04:09,395 --> 00:04:12,189
I see definitely a lot
of amazing different experiences

88
00:04:12,273 --> 00:04:14,150
at the different events that we do.

89
00:04:14,233 --> 00:04:16,235
We had someone propose
to their girlfriend.

90
00:04:17,111 --> 00:04:20,197
Another time we had someone
who brought their grandmother,

91
00:04:20,281 --> 00:04:23,367
and I was just kind of overhearing their
conversation, and they asked grandma like,

92
00:04:23,451 --> 00:04:24,744
"What do you think
of the Millennium Falcon?"

93
00:04:24,827 --> 00:04:26,537
And she said, "Oh, it was dope."

94
00:04:28,789 --> 00:04:30,958
It's really phenomenal,
and I think, to me,

95
00:04:31,042 --> 00:04:35,296
it really reaffirms the positive aspects
of humanity, right?

96
00:04:35,379 --> 00:04:37,339
You have these people
who are very passionate,

97
00:04:37,423 --> 00:04:39,759
and they're connecting with one another,
and, in that connection,

98
00:04:39,842 --> 00:04:43,220
they are able to kind of create
these really great experiences.

99
00:04:45,431 --> 00:04:47,850
And that's one of the great things
about Star Wars in general.

100
00:04:47,933 --> 00:04:49,685
It's this unifying experience.

101
00:04:49,769 --> 00:04:51,604
[crowd cheering]