Cleveland native David Lester has worked as an executive producer, production manager or unit manager on films such as "Star Wars: A New Hope," "Air Force One" and "The Shawshank Redemption."David Lester

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- While attending USC Film School in the late 1960s, David Lester earned a reputation as a problem-solver and logistician. It was one reason George Lucas, who was in the class ahead of him, turned to the Cleveland native for help on a modest, experimental project.

“It was for this little unit on ‘Star Wars,’” Lester said on a call from his home in California. “It was trying to figure out how to film miniature explosions that were then going to be composited into motion-control camera shots, which was also brand new.”

This weekend, Lester returns to Cleveland to share stories from a four-decade career spent behind the scenes on some of Hollywood’s biggest films — including how he helped create those shots of the Millennium Falcon eluding TIE fighters as Han Solo, Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia escaped the Death Star.

He will headline the Greater Cleveland Film Commission’s “Behind the Camera” gala and fundraiser Friday, Jan. 9, at the Cleveland History Center and host a workshop for aspiring film crew members at Tri-C’s Metropolitan Campus the following day.

Lester’s journey from a kid in North Olmsted to a producer and production manager on films such as “The Black Stallion,” ”White Men Can’t Jump" and “In the Line of Fire” began in 1957. That’s when he saw David Lean’s “The Bridge on the River Kwai” at the Riverside Theatre on Lorain Ave. at age 12.

“There’s a fabulous shot where the camera tracks across the faces of all these British prisoners of war,” he said. “It occurred to me that someone was moving that camera. I couldn’t see them, but I knew they must have been there. That became a kernel of fascination for me about who it was in the movies that we never saw, and what fun work that must be.”

That same sort of curiosity led him to Northwestern University, where he majored in speech and had access to the department’s motion-picture equipment. During the summers, he worked at WEWS Channel 5, where he cut his teeth as a cameraman and floor director on shows like “Upbeat,” “Polka Varieties” and “Bowling for Dollars.” He recalled one day when he was paged to the newsroom and told to head to the Flats.

“The Cuyahoga River was on fire — again,” he said. “I shot off two rolls of film from the Detroit Ave. Bridge, and some made the news.”

From there, Lester landed at USC Film School, where he studied alongside Lucas, John Milius (“Apocalypse Now”) and Randall Kleiser (“Grease”). “Star Wars,” of course, became a phenomenal hit, and his work on it led to gigs overseeing special effects on “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” and “TRON.” He leveled up to production manager on films such as “Broadcast News” and “Bull Durham.”

“I would compare it to herding cats,” Lester said of his work on set. “It’s a very lively art, and the people involved are gifted in some way. But it does make for a lot of dynamics.”

His strength, he said, was understanding how the moving parts fit together and creating an environment where everyone could do their job well.

“Part of that was my understanding of most of the jobs on a movie set,” Lester said. “Having been brought up through the ranks of the crew rather than being a manager who dropped in on top of everybody made a big difference.”

His work brought him back to Ohio twice in the 1990s: first as executive producer and production manager on “The Shawshank Redemption,” filmed in Mansfield, and later as executive producer of “Air Force One,” which shot its opening sequence in Cleveland.

“I must confess, in both cases, it was happenstance,” Lester said. “We looked at the three available prisons that had recently been shut down by the courts. One was in Deer Lodge, Montana, and it was obviously not Maine. One was in Boston, which wasn’t right at all. Then we got to Mansfield and saw the Ohio Reformatory. It was like, ‘OK, that search is over. We’ve got our Shawshank.’”

“Air Force One” came to Ohio for similarly practical reasons. The production needed a large exterior location to stand in for Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, which led director Wolfgang Petersen and his crew to Rickenbacker International Airport near Columbus. From there, locations in Northeast Ohio, including Severance Hall and the Cuyahoga County Courthouse, which doubled for Moscow, were within easy reach.

Now 80, Lester’s last screen credit was as an executive producer on Joss Whedon’s 2005 sci-fi film “Serenity.” Among all the movies he has worked on, however, he’s most proud of “Cobb,” Ron Shelton’s biopic of baseball legend Ty Cobb starring Tommy Lee Jones.

“Nobody really wanted the movie,” Lester said. “They wanted to make a movie with Ron , but they would have preferred to make a different movie. But he got his way, and I’m really proud of that movie.”

Much has changed in the film industry since Lester began his career, but his view of what matters hasn’t.

“I’m a storyteller at heart, and I don’t really like story being minimized in service to just plain spectacle,” Lester said. “Visual effects have created an opportunity for films to be much more extravagant — and remarkably shallower.”

His favorite movie of 2025 — the understated, story-driven “Train Dreams” — reflects that sensibility.

What has changed, he said, are the tools. When Lester started out, making a movie meant having access to expensive cameras, film stock and editing equipment. These days, a camera fits in your pocket and editing software is a point-and-click away. 

By the same logic, he said, any city can become a film production hub, including his hometown. The Greater Cleveland Film Commission works to attract film and television production to the region through state tax credits, but its efforts go beyond luring the next big tentpole movie.

“When I did both of those films (’The Shawshank Redemption’ and ‘Air Force One’), I hired talent out of Cleveland: lighting guys, grips and technicians of various sorts,” Lester said. “The more expansive that body of potential hires becomes for producers coming to town, the better it is. And then maybe that inspires some of those people to make their own movie or go to Hollywood.”

The commission, led by president and CEO Bill Garvey, understands that. It has made developing a deep pool of local talent a priority. So, in addition to the fundraising gala, Lester will lead the Production Assistant Workshop on Saturday, guiding attendees through a day on the set of “Air Force One.”

If there’s one thing he hopes participants take away from the session, it’s the value of perseverance.

“You have to be tough enough and have confidence in your own ideas and ability to contribute,” he said. “I know a lot of people who I started in the industry with who just couldn’t bear the rejections. They’re running cheese shops in Maui now.”

The Greater Cleveland Film Commission presents “Behind the Camera with David Lester” at 5 p.m. Jan. 9, at the Cleveland History Center, 10825 East Blvd., Cleveland. Lester will also host a Production Assistant Workshop at 10 a.m. Jan. 10, at Tri-C’s Metropolitan Campus, 2900 Community College Ave., Cleveland. For ticket and registration information on both events, visit clevelandfilm.com.