Volume 27 · Number 1 · Fall 2009
Alumni
Cool Jobs: Leland Chee ’93
Leland Chee is the “Keeper of the Holocron,” otherwise known as the continuity database administrator for Lucas Licensing, the merchandising arm of Lucasfilm. In layman’s terms, his job is to know anything and everything Star Wars. In Star Wars lore, the holocron is a fictional metallic cube powered by “the Force” that holds an enormous amount of information. In the real world, the holocron is a database that contains the complete history of the Star Wars universe in all its many forms — films, television series, books, video games and more. Chee’s job is to fill that database. He spends an average day reviewing manuscripts for comic books and novels, approving packaging designs and video game design documents and answering questions like: What color is Luke’s lightsaber and how many fingers does Jabba the Hutt have?
Chee, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in rhetoric and communication, spent a few years in the television business and as a video game tester before landing his current job. And his Aggie connections helped him get his foot in the door at Lucasfilm. He heard that another UC Davis alumnus, Stuart Malkin ’93, was a tester there. He tracked Malkin down and got an interview.
Asked about his future goals, Chee replies, “I didn’t dream any further than this.”