As weird as it sounds, just consider that Orson Welles was one of the biggest supporters of independent film-making in its conception. One of the ways that he was able to fund this was through a policy of taking small roles in independent films of up and coming directors. For proof of this consider that he was a personal friend to directors Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola and John Huston, who all would have known the director George Lucas in 1978 and his plan to direct a "small" science-fiction project called Star Wars for Twentieth Century Fox Studios. What effect does this have on pop culture? The popularity of the franchise? The science-fiction genere?