Fantasy League

How Lucasfilm is turning Asia's young artists into the next generation of digital-animation pioneers

Darren Soh for TIME

Tapping a large pool of skilled workers, Lucasfilm is building a base for creating multimedia animation and digital effects in Singapore

The Force is definitely with Travis Ho. Like millions of computer-science students before him, the 19-year-old Singaporean's lifelong fantasy has been to work for Lucasfilm, the empire launched 30 years ago by George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars. Ho, however, did not have to journey to a galaxy far, far away; Lucasfilm came looking for him.

Eighteen months ago, the digital-art powerhouse launched its first overseas studio in Singapore. The 170 employees come from 33 nations, and together they make sure that Luke Skywalker's animated cloak swings naturally in the TV series Clone Wars and that Jackie Chan slides effortlessly...

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