Developed by the Emmy-nominated Lucasfilm digital media team behind “The Star Wars Show,” “Science and Star Wars” is an episodic series that explores the relationship between real world science and the iconic technology featured in the Star Wars universe. Created in partnership with IBM for Facebook Anthology, the 9-episode series investigated specific Star Wars topics by discussing the technology behind each topic with IBM researchers and scientists.

The concept for Science and Star Wars was first announced at a special Facebook Anthology showcase in December 2016. After bringing IBM on board as the exclusive Anthology partner, our team along with the Lucasfilm team worked with IBM researchers and scientists to develop themes which explored how close we’ve come to realizing never-before-seen technology and innovations, and the relationship between real-world science and Star Wars technology. The series went into production in summer 2017, and launched exclusively on Facebook through Facebook Anthology in September 2017. Each episode investigated specific topics such as lightsabers, blasters, and hover vehicles by discussing the technology with IBM researchers and scientists. Host Anthony Carboni performed experiments with special guests, from former astronauts to Star Wars celebrities, to bring Star Wars tech to life. Additional content was found on StarWars.com, Star Wars social channels, and IBM.com.

Since premiering in September, “Science and Star Wars” released ten original Facebook videos which explored the intersection of science fiction and science fact. The entire “Science and Star Wars” campaign generated more than 270 million Facebook impressions, 43 million content views, and 740,000 engagements. In meeting the objectives set by IBM, “Science and Star Wars” was able to successfully reach 19.3 million of the line of business population on Facebook (67% of the Facebook population), 8.1 million of the Facebook developer population (81% of the Facebook population), and 4.3 million of the IT population on Facebook (61% of the Facebook population). This reach led to engagement as demonstrated by 944,000 clicks to IBM.com/StarWars. Star Wars fans and technology professionals alike reacted to the videos with 86% of video comments being positive or neutral.