In the late 1990s, Brennan got a call about an entry-level position at ILM, working on Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. At the time, she once again thought the foray and move to northern California would be a short-term stop over. Instead, she stayed and worked her way up the ranks within ILM, eventually becoming president while on maternity leave in 2008. In 2015, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy tapped Brennan to serve as general manager of Lucasfilm and oversee all day-to-day operations of not only ILM, but all the Lucasfilm businesses. In her time with Lucasfilm and ILM, Brennan has had a hand in countless innovations that included the launch of the company’s immersive entertainment division, and the creation of Stagecraft, the technological marvel that immerses the cast and crew of The Mandalorian and other productions in a cutting-edge wraparound LED screen environment, allowing for planet-hopping escapades filmed in a single real-world location. She oversaw the expansion of ILM from a small northern California operation to a global entity, with studios in Singapore, Vancouver, London, Sydney, and most recently Mumbai. And day-to-day, Brennan meets with every department across the franchise, from budgeting and finance to publishing, games, and franchise strategy.
“One of the things I love about my job is that every single day is different and, in each day, the unexpected always makes an appearance and I always learn something new,” Brennan says. “I could be talking with ILM about their global expansion or I could be meeting with Skysound about the advancements they are making in sound technology, or with our games team in a greenlight meeting for an upcoming console game or with our franchise creative team about our upcoming Young Jedi Adventures series and the accompanying toy lines for the youngest Star Wars fans. I can genuinely say that I get to work with the best teams in the business who I learn from every day — but most importantly they are wonderful colleagues who are drawn to Lucasfilm because they are fans themselves and every single team is looking at what they do through the eyes of the fans.
