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ST Kathleen Kennedy Discussion Thread

Discussion in 'Sequel Trilogy' started by Darth Chiznuk , Sep 21, 2017.

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  1. Darth Chiznuk

    Darth Chiznuk Superninja of Future Films star 8 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2012
    ITT we discuss the head of Lucasfilm herself, Kathleen Kennedy. From the folks she hires to the losers ( :p ) she fires anything and everything related to Kennedy can be discussed. This is to be a constructive conversation which means any attempts at baiting, trolling or any violations of our hate speech policy (e.g. "Ermahgerd Kennedy and her feminist agenda!!!") will be met with the full fury of the New Films staff.

    So you might ask yourself what would and wouldn't be acceptable to discuss in this thread? Well let's start with an example of what would be allowed:

    "Kennedy has sacked another director. I'm not sure I trust her judgment but what do you all think?"

    Now to what isn't:

    "Kennedy's fired another one!!! STAR WARS IS DOOMED AS LONG AS THIS WOMAN WITH HER PC FEMINIST AGENDA HAS HER WAY!!!"

    I hope you all can tell the difference there. Anyway let the discussion begin!
     
  2. Dark Horse

    Dark Horse Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 15, 2016
    [​IMG]
    QUEEN
     
  3. Nipuhanipera

    Nipuhanipera Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    May 25, 2014
    All hail Kathleen, first of that noble name, queen of Lucasfilm, maker of films, breaker of directors.
     
  4. Jedi Master Scorpio

    Jedi Master Scorpio Star Wars Television star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Oct 24, 2015
    Until she proves otherwise, I still believe that she is doing right by the Franchise. Studios go through Director changes a lot. So Lucasfilm isn't the exception to that rule. Sure the timing of the Lord and Miller dismissal was strange. But from what we have learned since then, the firing was justified. The CT situation seemed to be blown way out of proportion. Production hasn't even started yet for Episode 9, so again it seemed from what we know, that this was also justified.

    So I am still Pro Kennedy.
     
  5. ewoksimon

    ewoksimon Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 26, 2009
    There's no question Kennedy has one of the toughest jobs in all of show business. The pressure to release a new Star Wars film annually is immense, especially when the first six were put out over a span of 28 years. So far, she's two for two in terms of broad reception and profit, and despite all of behind the scenes drama on most of these films, until one of the films is judged to be a failure, the franchise is securely in her hands.
     
  6. GregMcP

    GregMcP Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 7, 2015
    I think back in 2013 she had an idealistic image of the new films in her head. Fun directors doing interesting stories that broke the Blockbuster template.
    They might not always make a tonne of money, but it would be something special.

    And then The Force Awakens made Two Billion dollars, and Rogue One makes another Billion.

    And now quirky, big budget indie films are off the table, and there is a tight timetable to making the next Billion, and the realisation that some directors can't manage a 200 million dollar movie on a tight timetable.

    So, she's pivoting on who should be making her movies. From less adventurous, to more experienced directors.

    Personally I'd love to see weird, disastrous Star Wars movies. The "Mother" of Star Wars. But the franchise is pretty locked in when it comes to style and canon. It can't break out of what it is. Maybe Kathleen has come to this conclusion too.
     
  7. Strongbow

    Strongbow Force Ghost star 5

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    Nov 6, 2014
    Weird, disastrous Star Wars?

    No Thanks.
     
  8. GregMcP

    GregMcP Force Ghost star 5

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    Jul 7, 2015
    And that's my point.
    Star Wars is destined to be formulaic and mainstream.
    People complain about the new movies copying the old ones, but deep down that's what they want.
     
  9. gezvader28

    gezvader28 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 22, 2003
    she has made a lot of blunders , 4 out of 5 choices gone into reverse , it don't look good
     
  10. Steve McGarrett

    Steve McGarrett Jedi Knight star 1

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    Jun 1, 2017
    TFA, in particular, illustrated that I think. Amongst hardcore fans the response was mixed it seemed but amongst the general moviegoing public it hit the bullseye and that's where the serious money making happens.
     
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  11. B99

    B99 Force Ghost star 6

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    Nov 10, 2014
    Kennedy is legit!
     
  12. Strongbow

    Strongbow Force Ghost star 5

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    Nov 6, 2014
    As opposed to what? We're talking space opera here, not avante garde art films.

    The measure of a manager is not that you make the right decisions all the time. It's that you can guide projects to succesful conclusions despite mistakes. Managers manage. They don't have a crystal ball to make sure they never make a mistake.

    Im not sure what you consider hard core fans, but fans hee rated it pretty highly. And amongst my Star Wars films, it is well-regarded.
     
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  13. Ricardo Funes

    Ricardo Funes Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 18, 2015
    No, it was not mixed. This is a forum of hardcore fans and we had a poll for that.

    The largest amount of hardcore fans gave TFA a very high score.

    KK is doing a very poor job after TFA. Her lack of follow-up and slow response time were responsible for R1 costing USD 200M, when it should have costed around 150M tops.

    The fact that Disney had no real movie footage to show in Celebration UK was her fault. She is the boss, she is responsible.

    Now the margins of the Han Solo movie are completely busted, AGAIN.

    The damage on IX was also her fault. She paid Colin & Friends for months of work, which will damage the bottom line, AGAIN.

    To be honest, with such powerful franchise, dozens of other producers would be able to do just as good or most likely better than what she is doing.

    TFA was huge and she deserves the credit, but she needs to know what LFL wants.

    It is ABSURD that she, as president of LFL, did not have the outline of TFA, TLJ and IX before shooting TFA.

    She has a story group for what?

    GL sold this myth that he had an outline for the OT when he shot ANH, which is as true as liar Obi-Wan can confirm. But GL is GL. The man was a powerhouse in creativity during the OT days.

    To let 3 different directors build the airplane while it is already flying is completely irresponsible.
     
  14. zam wesell2005

    zam wesell2005 Jedi Knight star 3

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    Oct 23, 2015
    She is a businesswoman. Episode vii, no matter the characters was formulaic and very safe, and made 2 billion. For these movies to age well she is going to have to let somebody really take a swing. There was some of that in that in Rogue One. We will see with last Jedi, b/c Johnson is good, and his movies are dark and weird. Very important for Han Solo and ix.
     
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  15. General_Leia_Organa

    General_Leia_Organa Jedi Knight star 3

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    Feb 23, 2016
    Kathy Kennedy has the cohones to make tough decisions to protect the franchise even if it doesnt always look the greatest when it happened. When the results are 1Billion+ at the box office, a couple extra million due to some bumps during preproduction can be forgiven.

    Her leadership has allowed more stories about more diverse groups to be told. Lucasfilm has taken its first steps into a broader world underneath her and its better for it.

    That being said...
    The diversity behind the camera with regards to writers and directors needs some work, and unfortunately the gaffs made by the others might hinder her from hiring a more diverse team. I feel like we might witness a few steps back in terms of diversity in front of the camera as she turns to old reliable film makers. This should be called out when it happens.

    So she has my respect, but it doesn't mean I think she's faultless.
     
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  16. vin

    vin Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 1999
    You're fired.

    /thread
     
  17. cerealbox

    cerealbox Force Ghost star 6

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    May 5, 2016
    How long do think before she retires? Or how long do you think before she's promoted to a higher position at Disney as a whole?

    And if she did get promoted/retire, who at LucasFilm right now would succeed her?
     
  18. darthOB1

    darthOB1 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 22, 2000
    Why does "dark" have to be the only feel to make them good?
    I for one would love to see a humorous Star Wars movie. One I was hoping HS would attempt.......
    Not in the terms like The Orville however.....
     
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  19. Gigoran Monk

    Gigoran Monk Jedi Grand Master star 5

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    Dec 2, 2016
    She's delivered two excellent Star Wars films, one of which is my favorite in the series. Enough said.

    ETA: Oh, and she got rid of Trevorrow. Which places me forever in her debt.
     
  20. JoshieHewls

    JoshieHewls Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    May 16, 2013
    The only questionable thing thus far for her was firing the directors of the Han Solo pic so late in the game. Rogue One had reshoots with Gilroy apparently running the show, but it was still Edwards' baby. With Trevorrow, she at least fired him in the midst of pre-production. I don't really see the issue with KK. She respects and loves Star Wars, she's remained true to George's legacy and the decisions she has made have been done with keeping the legacy of Star Wars in mind.

    Keep up the good work, I say.
     
  21. MagnarTheGreat

    MagnarTheGreat Force Ghost star 5

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    Jul 21, 2016
    Maybe John Lasseter if he's bored with overseeing Disney animation.
     
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  22. redxavier

    redxavier Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Jan 23, 2003
    She's amazing. I trust her and love her. Even if she hadn't been involved in a lot of great movies throughout her career, I'd still be immensely thankful for TFA. I did not think we would ever see more Star Wars and a continuation of the story. She helped make that happen.
     
  23. CEB

    CEB Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 3, 2014
    From a personal point of view, were I to be a filmmaker, I can imagine that I would probably be someone that ended up having a problem with KK - maybe because I’d want to test the boundaries of where I could go before our visions were incompatible. And I can very much understand why people who have grown up associating films with their directors might find Lucasfilm in 2017 to seem problematic in relation to creativity.

    I think that’d be a mistake though, because I think whats actually happening is the Star Wars franchise as true collaboration. I don’t think that the limits placed on directors (which seem to only become visible when boundaries are touched upon, so as to allow directors as much freedom, and as much feeling of freedom, as possible) are there to keep the films safe, to keep them family friendly etc (TFA killed a fan favourite, rogue one killed everyone, after all) but are there so that the sandbox can still be played in by other people afterwards, whilst maintaining it as a fun place to play.
    Take Lord and Miller - to me, the most likely clash of visions is that Lucasfilm wants the era between episodes 3 and 4 to feel oppressive, to feel dangerous. I would imagine that the humour that is probably in Han Solo was carefully pitched to stay on the right side of that - and that when the humour went more broad and became more evident, this was looked at in the context of the series as a whole, rather than one film.
    I guess it’s debateable whether or not overall tone and coherence should take precedence over the ability to have lots of very varied films that aren’t beholden to larger themes or tonal qualities, but at least we should recognise that a choice has been made to go that way, and not judge KK on terrible decisions without acknowledging the context in which decisions are made
     
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  24. nightangel

    nightangel Force Ghost star 6

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    Oct 31, 2014
    As long as she doesn't kill Luke or eats a Porg I like her. o_O
     
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  25. Jacques who

    Jacques who Jedi Knight star 3

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    Apr 18, 2017
    I just had an image of KK busting into a scene in Ahch-To to mercilessly slaughter Luke Skywalker and devour a porg.



    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
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