"It's a parody of Shakespeare in Love and there had been a number of short parodies that made the rounds in Hollywood and got their creators jobs and opportunities," comments director Joe Nussbaum on his film George Lucas In Love.

"There was Swing Blade, and Saving Ryan's Privates. We thought we could make a similar type of short. Originally, the idea was to do Joe Eszterhas In Love."

The short was Nussbaum's directorial debut outside of shooting projects for film school at USC. Shot over two days, George Lucas In Love highlights the Star Wars creator's college years, and introduces an assortment of characters that serve as the director's inspiration for the intergalactic saga.

Movie studios and the mainstream press took notice of Nussbaum's short in 1999. The director secured an agent for feature projects and commercial representation at bicoastal Moxie Pictures/The Industry.

Boards: Why make George Lucas In Love and why use obvious rather than subtle references?

Nussbaum: To me, the most important thing is however you execute something it needs to be true to the nature of the joke that you're trying to tell. The joke we were trying to tell was what if George Lucas was inspired by everyone around him being a Star Wars character. If we had gone a couple steps removed in terms of subtlety, I don't think that would have been the best thing for that joke.

For example, R2-D2; the noises he makes are so ridiculous. Originally we had the actor give one whistle on the set. Then we put in this whole R2-D2 sound effect and we were all laughing in the editing room. Sometimes the pie in the face is hilarious."

"Recall" for Alperts Furniture employs a more subtle approach. Shot through Nail, an agency in Providence, RI, the spot features a relatively sparse set with a reclining chair and a radio. The radio announcer declares a recall on said recliner due to "a minor flaw in the release mechanism." The camera moves slowly to reveal an unsuspecting customer embedded in the ceiling. A little boy pokes the man with a broomstick and steals his change.

Most Memorable moment: Shooting the Crain's Campaign

Two spots for Crain's business magazine proved to be both challenging and memorable experiences for Nussbaum. In order to position the journal as having "the inside scoop," the creative had a reporter inside a photocopier taking notes while a businesswoman duplicated company plans.

"Copier" was the follow-up to another commercial shot earlier in the day in which the same actor was literally inside a water cooler. "We put a guy inside a little wooden cabinet, placed a metal gasket with a rubber sealer around his neck, sealed that into the box and then lowered an airtight specially made tube full of water," recalls Nussbaum.

The actor breathed through a snorkel and an emergency procedure was devised to ensure that he did not drown. On the first take the actor indicated a problem by knocking on the wooden cabinet. This set the crew in motion and the cooler was quickly removed from the actor's head. The successful procedure gave everyone confidence and the shoot was completed without incident. "Getting into the copier the second half of the day was like a picnic for the actor," comments Nussbaum.

Boards: When did you know that you wanted to direct?

Nussbaum: After shooting George Lucas In Love for two days straight. It was 7 a.m. and I hadn't slept in 24 hours. I remember being exhausted and collapsing onto my bed and saying, "When can I do this again?" It reaffirmed that this is definitely what I want to do.

Boards: What's next for Joe Nussbaum?

Nussbaum: I'm attached to three projects right now. One is based on a children's book called How to Eat Fried Worms at Image Entertainment with producer Ron Howard. I'm also involved with a project called Romantic Comedy, which is about a guy who uses the rules of romantic comedy to get the girl. That's through MGM. The third project is called Love Truck, which is like a Cyrano de Bergerac story with technology.