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While his name might not be quite as synonymous with Star Wars as George Lucas is, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels creator Dave Filoni has become one of the key figures in all storytelling at Lucasfilm, with president Kathleen Kennedy confirming that she often seeks his input when moving forward on a project. When speaking with Vanity Fair, the exec didn't specify just how involved in each project Filoni is, but she made it quite clear that, when shaping the future of the Star Wars saga, Filoni and his years of experience in the franchise provides invaluable input.

“There isn’t a thing that we do in the storytelling space that I don’t check with Dave,” Kennedy confessed. “What I find about Dave is you don’t just sit down and have a discussion about plot or review characters inside the Star Wars world. You end up having meaningful, thoughtful discussions about what it is we’re trying to say inside the storytelling. He has a lot of empathy.”

Filoni first entered the galaxy far, far away with the animated Clone Wars feature film, which paved the way for the TV series, on which he served as the supervising director. At the time, there were no plans for a new live-action Star Wars film, with that animated series offering some of the most compelling storytelling the saga had seen in any medium.

Despite that series earning a passionate following from fans, it was unceremoniously cancelled without being given a proper finale. Filoni then developed the animated Star Wars Rebels, which earned four seasons, before the swell of fan support led to the confirmation that a final season of The Clone Wars would be coming to Disney+.

Filoni has begun to expand his resume in the saga, as he directed an episode of the first live-action TV series, Star Wars: The Mandalorian. The director is also reportedly involved with directing Season Two of the series, though it's unclear to what degree he will be developing the new episodes.

The director and Lucas worked closely together on The Clone Wars, which began years before the studio was sold to Disney and Lucas exited the company. When asked by Vanity Fair what advice he offered to Filoni about the series, Lucas recalled, "To stay open-minded and realize that there’s still a lot to learn. There’s always something to learn.”

Star Wars: The Mandalorian will premiere on Disney+ on November 12th and Star Wars: The Clone Wars returns sometime next year.

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