Michael James Lucas, born in Southfield, Michigan on March 28, 1974, left his body on November 25, 2023. He was diagnosed with melanoma in early February of 2021, and after attempting many treatments to help reverse the spread of cancer, passed away just short of three years later. He was 49 years young, taken away from so many loved ones, far too soon.

He is survived by his loving mother and father, Nancy and Jim Lucas, his adoring brother Jeff Lucas, his treasured nephew Mason Lucas, his beloved sister Alysa Lucas, his wife Megan Novak Lucas, his two precious children Indigo Lucas (age 6) and Alastair Lucas (age 2), and many other extended family members, more than can possibly be listed here.

Michael had wanted to make movies from the first moment he saw Star Wars at 3 years old: “My first memory is of seeing Star Wars at the drive-in in 1977. I have been fascinated by movies and visual storytelling ever since”. As a kid, and well into his adult life, he would never pass up a chance to go to the cinema, or watch an old movie at home. He loved to experience everything from the classics, to the blockbusters, to the B-movies, and the indie films. Michael devoured movies.

He started out at Eastern Michigan University for one year, then studied for one year at Michigan State University before realizing that he wanted to focus entirely on film making, so he transferred to The University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston Salem, where he attended film school and met some of his life-long film making friends.

In 2013, he was reunited with his film school friends in N.C. working as a PA on Eastbound and Down. From there he showed a great interest in editing and in 2015 joined the team as an assistant editor on Vice Principals. That’s when he moved to Los Angeles to continue his long collaboration with his friends. It was in Los Angeles that he met his future wife Megan. Always one to follow his heart, Michael packed up and moved to Portland, Oregon to be with Megan, which is where they had their first son, Indigo. Within a year after Indigo was born, Michael was beckoned back to Los Angeles by another dream job: to work as a lead assistant editor on the very first Star Wars TV show, The Mandalorian.

He spent much of his life moving from place to place: Lansing-North Carolina-Austin-Durham-South Carolina-Los Angeles-Portland, and back to Los Angeles. He was a lover of music and spent years finely tuning his curatorial skills and collecting the best vinyl ever. He embraced acupuncture and surrounded himself with many friends who affirmed this belief. He was a collagist, a clean-house aficionado, an avid chef, a wild beard grower, a hiker, a lover of his surroundings, and a terrific photographer of his beautiful children. He was constantly creating the best movies of and for his family, making the yummiest meals, and watching every movie out there.

Michael and Megan got married on October 13, 2018. They were living in South Pasadena. When the pandemic hit, they moved to Santa Rosa Valley to live among horses and avocado trees. From there they moved to La Cañada, when their second son Alastair was born, then back to South Pasadena. He worked on The Mandalorian from June 2018 to the end. It was a dream come true and one of the finest and most satisfying accomplishments of his creative life.

It is with the saddest of hearts that we say goodbye to Michael, our son, brother, husband, father, uncle, and friend. He will be remembered for his kindness, his curiosity, his deep dive passion for so much, his house-cleaning business, his ability to keep every box that a thing came in, his Star Wars figures, his dad jokes, his “can opener” pool dive, his eclectic vinyl collection, his love for cooking and collecting recipes, his world-class pizzas, his immaculately clean car, his prolific collage art, his time at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, his friendships, his gentle spirit, and his forever adoration for his mom and dad, his brother and sister, his nephew, and his wife and two beautiful, young boys.

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