Thanks to his work on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, fans have appreciated Dave Filoni‘s contributions to the galaxy far, far away for more than a decade, as the filmmaker has become a more and more prominent figure at Lucasfilm, with Filoni himself confirming he is now the chief creative officer at the studio. While Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has long expressed her support of Filoni and how she would consult with him on various projects, Filoni’s role will now see him being involved with Star Wars projects much closer to their inception as opposed to offering his input as more substantial projects.
“Now I’m what’s called chief creative officer of Lucasfilm,” Filoni revealed to Vanity Fair. “In the past, in a lot of projects I would be brought into it, I would see it after it had already developed a good ways.”
He continued, “In this new role, it’s opened up to basically everything that’s going on … When we’re planning the future of what we’re doing now, I’m involved at the inception phase.”
Kennedy still serves as the president of the studio, while this promotion will see Filoni collaborating more closely not only with Kennedy, but also with Carrie Beck, who is head of development at the studio.
“I’m not telling people what to do,” Filoni expressed. “But I do feel I’m trying to help them tell the best story that they want to tell. I need to be a help across the galaxy here, like a part of a Jedi Council almost.”
Filoni worked closely with Star Wars creator George Lucas while developing The Clone Wars, and when Lucas sold his studio to The Walt Disney Company in 2012, this resulted in the unexpected end of the animated series. Luckily, Filoni continued working with the studio on Rebels, which ultimately led to him pivoting to the world of live-action directing, as well as a revival of The Clone Wars, the development of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, and the development of Star Wars: Ahsoka. Earlier this year, it was announced that Filoni would direct a film set during The New Republic, which would bring together narrative threads from The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett.
The filmmaker confirmed that his new position won’t impact the projects he’s more directly attached to, such as his movie or a potential Season 2 of Ahsoka.
“To truly help filmmakers, it was really important for me to experience it firsthand,” Filoni detailed. “I can also lend a perspective on the challenges that telling these stories will present. I feel more capable of actually being helpful outside of just saying, ‘Well, Jedi are like this, and Sith are like this…'”
Stay tuned for updates on the future of the Star Wars franchise.
Are you excited for Filoni’s new role? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!
