A lot of what Lucas has done for the film industry is to make film making tools cheaper and easier to use. Now adays someone with a decent enough personal computer can make their own movie. They no longer have to go to a studio boss and ask for as much money as they used to. Sometimes they can even foot the bill on their own, which allows them full creative control of their own movies. Something any film maker would cherish.
I think that by taking the big money out of the cost of film production, Lucas is helping artists prevail over the bean counters more and more.