The Daily Record has featured and article about the DVD sales for the upcoming Star Wars DVD.

"The Star Wars trilogy rocketed to the top of the DVD charts yesterday almost six months before it goes on sale."

"The box set made the No1 spot 24 hours after online store Amazon began taking orders for its September 20 release."

"Amazon DVD expert Greg Hart said: 'Usually, you see a surge in demand a month or so before a film goes on sale.'"

"The set includes the 1977 film Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and 1983's Return of the Jedi."

Wow! Imagine how high sales will be just by September alone. I hope there won't be a shortage of movies for me to buy when it comes out.

The latest issue of the Homing Beacon has arrived, and this issue focuses mostly around a JAK Productions team. The Star Wars prequels have shot around the world, with Australia becoming the home base for principal photography for both Episodes II and III. Throughout the years, a crew from JAK Productions has maintained a London office at the famous Elstree Studios, as much of the behind-the-scenes talent calls the UK their home.

"I think a lot of people are surprised by how much work generates from here," says Polly Leach, a Production Coordinator in the London Office. "There's a very firm stronghold of the Lucasfilm and Star Wars empire in England."

Crucial pre-production and planning stages occur in London for each episode, long before shooting actually began. Many of the key team members are JAK veterans, dating all the way back to The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. "The Production Art Department and Costume Department were pretty busy over there, at the end of 2002 and the beginning of 2003," says Leach. "Gavin Bocquet had a whole Art Department set up at Elstree Studios, with a lot of models and speeders for George to approve. Likewise, Trisha Biggar does a lot of her fabric buying in London, and she was buying non-stop to prepare for Episode III."

With half a world dividing the preproduction and production headquarters, coordinators on both ends needed to work closely to ensure that everything -- and everyone -- arrived in Sydney and returned to London intact. Heading up the Production Office in Sydney was Virginia Murray, Production Coordinator. Leach stayed at Elstree, until the end of the shoot, when she flew over to Sydney to coordinate the return trip.

"I get the feeling that George Lucas and Rick McCallum are terribly fond of the United Kingdom, and it is so nice that Rick keeps a base here," says Leach. One of her main functions during her stay in Sydney was to serve as Asset Supervisor, collating all the information about three movies' worth of props, costumes, vehicles and more. "I helped Rick find a home for them, for the things he doesn't need for pick-ups."

The Production Office in Syndey coordinated the inclusion of a starwars.com presence on the set -- in the form of daily from-the-set updates and a live webcam. Plans are in the works to try to bring the same Hyperspace access to the brief stint of additional photography in the UK this August.

It is with great sadness that we have learned that Peter Diamond has passed away. Frasier Diamond has posted the following at the Peter Diamond Official Site: