Dave Filoni bagged himself a promotion, and talks about it and other things Star Wars in a new interview with Vanity Fair.
“Now I’m what’s called Chief Creative Officer of Lucasfilm,” Filoni tells Vanity Fair, which places him into the development process much earlier and in a much more expansive capacity than his previous advisory duties. “In the past, in a lot of projects I would be brought into, I would see it after it had already developed a good ways.”
Filoni will now work more directly with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and alongside Carrie Beck, a veteran producer turned head of development, to originate and shepherd the next generation of Star Wars shows and movies. After spending many years involved in the creation of Star Wars animation, including the Rebels series, he became increasingly involved in live-action as a producer with Jon Favreau on the The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. “In this new role, it’s opened up to basically everything that’s going on,” Filoni says. “When we’re planning the future of what we’re doing now, I’m involved at the inception phase.”
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Filoni’s New Role
Now that Filoni will take on the role of chief creative officer, what does it mean for other writers, directors, and producers?
“I’m not telling people what to do,” Filoni says. “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.” He described his responsibilities as understanding the intent of the filmmakers and being a resource to them, based on his mentorship under Lucas himself, and his years spent steering The Clone Wars, Rebels, and Ahsoka. “Literally, hours now of Star Wars storytelling I have done,” he said, before pausing to rethink his syntax. “See…I even phrased that like Yoda.”
Filoni will continue developing his film, as well as exploring a possible second season of Ahsoka, while serving in his new position. “To truly help filmmakers, it was really important for me to experience it firsthand,” he says. “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…’”
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/20 ... ave-filoniSo it looks like he has officially finished his rise from being George Lucas' protege, to becoming in effect the new George Lucas.
It doesn't sound like he's going to be micromanaging everyone though, which is great. And it seems like he wants to mentor storytellers the way he was mentored, which is a lovely thing to aim for, whether they have futures in Star Wars or not.
Some other neat tidbits from the interview:
Filoni felt he had to expand the Star Wars universe in order to justify [Ezra and Thrawn's] absence and add an extra-large obstacle to their eventual recovery. “If they were in the Star Wars galaxy—the old Star Wars galaxy that we know—I think somebody would’ve found them,” Filoni says. “There’s too many starships, there’s too many people traveling. You get a signal out, and I think you could have found them if they wanted to be found. I had to really throw them far afield.”
Lucas himself laid the foundation for this solution, which Filoni found tucked away in one of the prequel films. “I think it’s in Attack of the Clones,” he says. “If you look, there’s an image of the galaxy, and then there are actually these smaller galaxies near it. So I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.’”
Expect this broader universe to be a factor in any future season of Ahsoka or that feature film he is developing. “I’m setting up what seems to be a larger conflict with the Imperial remnant,” Filoni says. “That conflict can’t just mirror what we’ve seen before. It has to take on a different shape. It can’t just be the Empire versus what looks like the Rebellion, or even the Republic. It has to be visually different.”
While Filoni isn’t yet sure what will become of Baylan in Stevenson’s absence, he acknowledges that the character’s journey is not complete. “Obviously, there’s a story there,” he says. “We’re in a wait-and-see pattern at this point. But I’m glad the conversation is about Ray and how great he was…. I used to have mini debates with him and say, ‘Ray, you’re the villain here.’ And he’d be like, ‘I don’t think so.’ I was like, ‘I know you don’t think so, but you are. I love that you’re playing it like you’re not.’ Which is exactly the way Baylan thinks.”
The character became one of the standouts of the series, a new fan favorite. “I think he would’ve been over the moon. The big regret here is that he didn’t get to experience that,” Filoni says. “I’m glad he was at Star Wars Celebration with us, that he got to see the trailer and get a taste of that from the fans. And they’ve been nothing but wonderful about Ray and the character.”
