Awarded the MPSE Filmmaker Award at last nights Golden Reel Awards in Los Angeles – yet another honour to sit alongside her Irving Thalberg Award, her BAFTA Fellowship, her CBE and pride of place, becoming the very first Honorary Fantha Tracker back in 2019 – former Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy spoke about the importance of sound in movies (“Sound helps root the story. It helps represent where characters are, not only geographically, but emotionally. It helps foreshadow the intent of a character or define what they’re going through. In short, it takes the audience on the journey of the film,”) and the magic of Grogu (“another perfect example of a character that has to emote and you have to feel connected to, and he never speaks a word,”) she also broached the subject of Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan’s path into their role as co-presidents of Lucasfilm, a succession plan that was nurtured for far longer than people might expect.
The exec also reflected on handing over the reins to Lucasfilm in January to longtime deputies Dave Filoni (now president and chief creative officer) and Lynwen Brennan (co-president).
“It didn’t just happen six months ago. I spent 10 years talking Dave into gradually stepping into live action. He had so much experience in animation. He’s so knowledgeable about Star Wars and loves it so much, it’s really been a 10-year mentoring process for both of them. Lynwen came out of Industrial Light & Magic. She was my GM the entire time. I would argue that the transition has been really pretty seamless,” Kennedy said.
Be sure to get your orders in for the 237th and final issue of Star Wars Insider magazine, out in May and featuring my interview with Kathleen, the final interview she conducted in her position as Lucasfilm president after almost 14 years.
