Lucas getting into education via CD-ROM

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker will be coming soon to CD-ROMs for personal computer users, Marin County filmmaker and media mogul George Lucas announced Thursday.

Lucas Learning Ltd., a new company at Lucas' entertainment group, will be piloted by multimedia executive Susan Schilling, whom Lucas has hired away from Minneapolis-based MECC.

According to Schilling, the new company - to be stocked with Lucas veterans from Industrial Light & Magic and LucasArts, plus outside hires - will feature "product tie-in strategy with "Star Wars' stories and characters, embedded within learning projects for both the home and school market."

Schilling, who will assume her post as general manager in mid-March, has developed hit games for MECC as its senior vice president and creative director responsible for strategic alliances, business planning, and management of the software development division. Products developed under Schilling's direction include "Oregon Trail II,"

"Storybook Weaver" and "Mathkeys."

"I've been working with educational multimedia since the mid-1980s, and I am excited that the technology has progressed to a point where I can explore new possibilities," Lucas said in a statement. "Susan Schilling is renowned in her field, and I feel fortunate that she is joining the company to lead Lucas Learning."

"The whole company is an outgrowth of George Lucas' interest in interactive education," said Schilling of her new boss. "He's been waiting to the point where the technology has advanced to where it can encompass his vision. We feel that's happening now," she said by telephone from Minneapolis.

Schilling, who said she expects to have about 20 employees by the end of the year, said Lucas Learning plans to release "two to three titles within the next 18 months." The titles will be targeted at kids 6 to 15, she said, and be concentrated in "the mathematics and language arts areas."

Schilling downplayed expectations that Lucas Learning will go head-to-head with neighboring industry leader Broderbund, based in Novato, saying, "We're not really worrying that much about volume. The focus will be on the quality of the product."

The new company is intended to expand and consolidate types of products that Lucas has been producing for several years. According to Lucas officials, LucasArts Entertainment "holds the No. 2 market share in the entertainment PC / CD-ROM industry and has four of the top 20 best-selling games."

Lucas' previous multimedia educational applications include "The Mystery of the Disappearing Ducks: A Paul Parkranger Mystery," "GTV: A Geographic Perspective on American History," and "Life Story: The Race for the Double Helix."

The Lucas group of companies includes LucasArts Entertainment Company, Lucas Digital Ltd., and Lucasfilm Ltd. and employs some 1,200 people, all of them in Marin.<