Georg and Lucas Spieldorf

Georg and Lucas Spieldorf are twin brothers of Jewish heritage from Ontario and have made a fortune directing--and now producing--a series of extremely popular motion pictures.

Born in 1957, the Spieldorf brothers made movies in their back yard with simple cameras from their early teens. Their family, firmly middle class, could only send them to the local community college but the pair won a scholarship to film school in New Amsterdam. Their graduation project was seen by studio execs and they were invited to turn Graffitti 1138 into a feature-length movie.

The film--about teenagers in a dystopian version of the NAL (bearing some vivid reminders of SNOR-ist Russia)--was released in 1979. It did well enough that the two were allowed to film the adaptation of Pierre Berchet's novel Maws about the appearance of two giant, man-eating squids in the waters around Emnity Island. That film was a huge blockbuster and gave them the clout to get their "Jacobia Solo" trilogy made--the swashbuckling adventures of a ornithologist kidnapped by aliens to help them defeat the machinations of the tyrannical Galactic Republic (falling in love with the princess who is heir to the throne along the way). The first of these--Corsairs of the Lost Hope--was so hugely successful that even the meagre showing of the second--Republic of Doom--did not hinder the last of the three being made--Return of the Unholy Chalice, which proved an unqualified hit.

Since then, the twin brothers have made a series of motion pictures together, most of which have proved profitable. Their most recent film--2004's Schindloff's Tree House--was a black-and-white fantasy about a corrupt businessman who ends up saving small bear-like creatures from the SNOR during the Second Great War. It did very well and received awards (from the Alliance for Public Decency for one).

Another film they made was Young Inspector Watson about the childhood first case of the great detective Inspector Watson.

They also produced an anthology series for television called Astounding Tales.

In 2005 the twins announced plans to do a prequel trilogy about Jacobia Solo which would involve a time-travelling train and the end of the slave trade in NAL. Rumors abound that one of the characters will be a talking goose. Negotiations are evidently underway to have the actor Harris Chrysler (who played Jacobia Solo) portray his character's father or grandfather.