When George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012, longtime Hollywood producer Kathleen Kennedy took over running the studio. From there, she guided the franchise set in a galaxy far, far away into new territory under the Mouse House’s umbrella, delivering both new movies and expanding Star Wars’ TV reach with both animated and live-action programming, among other media projects. Now it’s been officially announced that Kennedy is stepping down from Lucasfilm after 14 years, and her position will be filled by two people, one of whom is quite familiar to hardcore Star Wars fans.
Coming straight from Disney and Lucasfilm, Dave Filoni, who’s been a key figure in the Star Wars franchise stretching back to The Clone Wars, has been tapped to serve as Lucasfilm’s President and Chief Creative Officer, while Lynwen Brennan will serve as Co-President. As the official announcement states, Filoni’s duties will see him “take on creative leadership of the company,” leaving Brennan to handle the more business-y aspects. And while she’s no longer running Lucasfilm. Meanwhile, Kennedy will move back to being a full-time producer, which includes being involved on the upcoming Star Wars movies The Mandalorian & Grogu and Starfighter.
