It spawned the greater Lucas group of companies which included LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic, and Skywalker Sound and created THX and Pixar. It created the expanded universe model and was the primary driver behind the popularisation of sci-fi conventions. It was the first franchise to meaningfully leverage licensing for action figures, games, and other merchandise (not necessarily a good thing but maybe because it drastically increased movie budgets and production quality). It has also been a major contributor to independent film festivals, regularly hosting them at Skywalker Ranch. The innovations of the Star Wars franchise have been central to the industry for the past 40 years. Cinema and fandom would look a lot different without Star Wars.