What junior college did George Lucas attend before USC?

George Lucas attended Modesto Junior College before transferring to the University of Southern California. Lucas grew up in Modesto, California, and enrolled at the local junior college after high school, studying subjects including anthropology, sociology, and literature. He also began experimenting seriously with 8mm filmmaking and filming car races during this period.

Lucas later transferred to USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, one of the earliest American university programs devoted specifically to motion-picture filmmaking. At USC, he studied alongside future filmmakers and collaborators including Walter Murch, Hal Barwood, John Milius, and Matthew Robbins. His student film Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB helped bring him to Steven Spielberg’s attention.

A common mix-up is treating USC as Lucas’s first college. USC was the institution where he completed his film education, but Modesto Junior College came first. His experiences in Modesto also later influenced American Graffiti, which drew heavily on the atmosphere and car culture of his early-1960s hometown.