Who should head of Lucasfilm?

So I was wondering what were peoples thoughts on who should be running Lucasfilm? Kathleen Kennedy is the current head, but a lot of fans don't like here stewardship. Some have mentioned Dave Filoni as George Lucas apprentice. There are those that mention Jon Favreau and how he's hit it out of the park with the Mandalorian and some think that Kevin Feige's stewardship of Marvel make him a natural fit.
Now I ask this question with the caveat and all and all likelihood that George Lucas is never coming back. The man is in his mid seventies and seems done with running Lucasfilm.

So these are just my thoughts on the big contenders, but I'm going to start with how George Lucas ran Lucasfilm and what he brought to the table as to compare the various candidates.

I think one thing that George Lucas brought to the table is that he was simultaneously an artist and a businessman. The man had an artistic vision and a desire to realize it, but at the same time he knew he was making a product and knew it had to sell to an extent. Sometimes artist have a bad habit of forgetting they have an audience to please and sometimes need a corporate minder to make sure they don't forget the audience and go off the deep end. On the other end though the artistic vision that provides the heart and soul of a project can be smothered by corporate meddling and ruin a piece of media. What I think George brought to the table was a healthy balance of the two. Another big factor of George Lucas is he was also a visionary film maker and what I mean by this is he was always thinking ahead on how film technology can affect the film making process and was always working to pioneer the industry. He wasn't someone who rested on his laurels, but was always trying to advance what could be done with film making.

Now onto the contenders.

I'll start with Kathleen Kennedy. The woman has been a producer on countless movies and has worked in the movie industry for years and the current head of Lucasfilm. Looking back I think she was the wrong choice. She seems to want to fill the role George Lucas had as creator and businessman, but she doesn't seem to have the acumen for either. What I mean by this is she was a producer and her role as a producer seems that of a manager and frankly managers and bureaucrats are some of the most creatively bankrupt positions out there. They only really know how to continue existing seems with no idea how to involve them. Managerial thinking is very stuck in the present. It was managerial thinking that lead Blockbuster to pass up on buying Netflix. Kathleen Kennedy isn't that level of bad, but considering her influence on Galaxy's Edge and some of her creative choices with the movies I'm not entirely sure she grasps Star Wars from a creative standpoint, nor has very good foresight as businesswoman and artist.

So the next candidate is Dave Filoni and a lot of people see him as the natural successor to George Lucas. He worked extensively with George on The Clone Wars and has developed an understanding and knowledge of Star Wars that non have except for George Lucas himself. I also think he understands full well that Star Wars is a franchise primarily targeted towards children. While I think he's the best person to run the story and lore of Star Wars I'm not sure he has what it takes to run a company. Running a show is a very different thing than running a whole company and while some of those skills translate I'm not sure he has the experience to do so. I also think he's more content with just directing shows than anything else.

Jon Favreau has worked in film industry for decades now and has worked in different mediums from television to film and has a lot of experience with film making. He's also had a quite a few acting roles throughout his career. One thing that can be appreciated about Jon Favreau is he's a huge fan of Star wars. At the very least a fan of the Lucas era. He actually let Dave Filoni watch Iron Man early if he had a chance to watch Star Wars The Clone Wars movie early. So I see him taking a more expansive view with Star Wars than other individuals like J.J. Abrams. Another huge bonus for Favreau is his work on the Mandalorian which has been universally acclaimed. One thing I liked is he was willing to try new and different things while also respecting what was established before. If you've seen the behind the scenes work in the Disney Gallery for the Mandalorian you'll see that he's brought a lot of his past experiences and used it to develop new technology for the show like the creation of the volume set. Between all these choices I do personally feel he brings the most to the table and seems the most capable of filling the shoes of George Lucas.

Kevin Feige so I don't really know alot about Feige other than his work on Marvel and well he seems to have only worked on Marvel largely being a fan of it. I've heard he's a fan of Star Wars as well, but I'm not entirely sure what kind of Star Wars fan he is. We clearly have his work on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but personally I find that a different animal from Star Wars. I think one of the great folleys of the Disney era Star Wars was thinking they could emulate that model. The MCU movies all have their own independent stories that tangentially connect to the other movies with a few key plot threads and ideas, but few if any are wholly dependent on the others. With the occasionally mega crossover like the Avengers. Star Wars on the other hand is franchise that largely has one main story that has offshoot stories and material. I'm not sure his experience will translate well to Star Wars.

Personally I'd like to see Jon Favreau helm Lucasfilm with Dave Filoni as his right hand man and story/lore master of Star Wars.

What are you're guys thoughts on who should be running Lucasfilm? Is there any information you guys think I missed, or do you have some disagreements with my assessment of the different candidates. Do you have any other suggestions for who should run Lucasfilm aside from these four and why you think they would make a good fit? I definitely want to see what the communities thoughts on this subject are.

 

LAJ warning - I'll let the thread stand. However if it turns into a bashfest it will be locked. Serious discussion only, please.

 

Kevin Fiege has experience to meet the challenge.

Favreau and Filoni are top level operators too though I am not sure at this time in their careers they'd be looking for that kind of role and not yet experienced enough in the nuances the role would require.

 

KK all the way. Because of her leadership we got The Mandalorian, TFA, TLJ, Solo, Rogue One, Final season of Clone Wars, Rebels, and all the amazing upcomming projects.

Have there been missteps? Sure but no one is perfect and it would be hard to beat her track record.

 

Out of those options, Kennedy. Neither Favreau nor Filoni have ever been anything more than filmmakers / creative leads, which is not the job of the head of Lucasfilm.

Comparing things to how it was under Lucas also makes little sense, because Lucas didn't really run Lucasfilm, he let it be run by others, while he was mainly focusing on the creative side.

 

Somebody whose name is Lucas, even if no relation to George. Otherwise just move Star Wars to the Marvel banner or something.

 

Stick with Kennedy because she's made 5 billion dollars off 5 movies, she isn't going anywhere. If she steps down, then sure Feige if he can handle it. I don't think Favs or Filoni should be big company heads because they wouldn't be able to write and direct their projects if they had to oversee the whole thing. I'd much rather have their personal touch on products than just overseeing. Lucas was able to do the whole thing at once because he only directed 1 movie and the company resources were wrapped around that one movie, not as a part of a larger system.

 

KK all the way for one she was handpicked by George Lucas so she coudl spearhead LucasFilm and not someone from Disney. Thanks to her we got Rebels, TFA,TLJ, Rouge One, Solo, Mandalorian, Kenobi. Not to mention thanks to her we didn't get those horrible projectsthat were in works prior to the buyout. Thanks to her she reboot Star Wars She has made an entire timeline of story of books in High Republic. She made Clone Wars coem back made Sure Filoni got apart of live action projects. Hired Jon Faverou.

 

She also allowed the Sequel Trilogy to spiral out of control, because she didn't maintain a firm hand on its development.

Perhaps the head of Lucasfilm should be a filmmaker/creative lead. I'm not stating that Disney should choose between Favreau and Filoni. Perhaps the suits can select someone else.

 

Yeah one mistep because disney and bob iger wanted return of profits of the 4 billion cost.

 

There are advantages to a producer like Kathleen Kennedy taking this role instead of a traditional director / film maker like George. The problem I see with a director taking this role is that SW can become centered too much on one person's vision. Kathleen Kennedy now has some years of experience under her belt in this role. Hopefully Lucasfilm will be receptive to feedback from the fans.

In many ways, it is the singular vision of Lucas that has left the film and television projects lagging decades behind developments in Expanded Universe / Legends. In my view, the novels, comics, and gaming have been decades ahead of the conservative films. The ANH Special Edition theatrical release hinted that the Expanded Universe material would be given status at a sub-level below the films.

 

I mean haven't they.

What has been the biggest success of Star Wars last year, Mando so more Mando and more things like Mando

People wanted a Obi-Wan thing for years...What are we getting (Hopefully even with COVID's issues) a Obi-Wan series.

Clone Wars was received well, rumors of a Rebels Sequel Series and Clone Wars spin off (Granted Rumors but still)

People want the books to mean more, here is the High Republic series all ready and in book form.

 

No, it shouldn't, because that's not a role for a film-maker. That's like saying perhaps they should cast a cinematographer as the lead actor next time around.

Being head of Lucasfilm comes with a very specific role, a role that is not about being the creative lead. Lucas wasn't directly controlling Lucasfilm back in the days either, instead he had other people do that job for him so that he could focus on making movies or other projects.

You put in someone as head of the company, so that the creative leads can work their creative magic. You don't put a creative lead in charge of the company, because it keeps him away from doing the creative work, while forcing him to do a role he has no real experience in. If you don't use a creative lead to be producer of a movie - and you quite clearly don't - then you sure as heck don't put a creative lead as head of the whole company.

 

I'm talking about the movies and other kinds of productions, not all of Lucasfilm. Even in regard to the movies, Kennedy never really assumed control - especially when she should have done so for the Sequel Trilogy.

Who should run Lucasfilm now? I don't know. I don't think I would have selected anyone listed on the poll at the beginning of this thread.

 

In my opinion, no. The films and tv shows remain decades behind the Expanded Universe. This is in terms of universe building and timeline building.

Yes, but even The Mandalorian has been conservative in showing Mandalorian culture. The show seems limited to showing a particular sect or remote base of the Mandalorians.

I would have preferred for George to have expanded on Kenobi years ago. The wait was too long and now there are vastly more interesting things in SW. Kenobi was fascinating before the Prequels in the late-80s and 90s. Kenobi was most fascinating before young Anakin was introduced in Phantom Menace.

The High Republic hasn't promised much in terms of timeline growth. It's right at the back door to Phantom Menace.

 

that's because a book can be written, published and in stores in less then 6 months. It takes at least 6 months to do pre production for show or movie. then you have filming, editing and sfx which can add months to a year on to the project.

 

Besides we've seen the dangerous when something becoming a big franchise is in the hands one creator and they say something controversial on twitter or social media. Do we really wanna risk Star Wars with that. Sure Producers can say bad stuff but they didn't "Create" the thing we like, they just paid for it and thus makes association a little less hard to deal with.

 

Who are you talking about?

 

I think he talks of JK rowling author of harry potter franchise, who seem to toxic on twitter.

 

JK Rowling

 

The one Lucas chose.

 

i voted for KK i think she has done a decent enough job so far

 

This is a difficult one.....

I know those who Support KK will mention the $4 Billion she brought in.
But I think it was a case of he bringing it in DESPITE her leadership instead of it and Disney could of made far far more if things had gone better.

If I was head of Disney I would have 3 Major concerns in Kathleen Kennedy.

1) The fact that under her administration the films, particularly the sequel trilogy have had no planning, organization and have generally been a mess. It is common knowlage they where winged and made on the fly with no plan. And it shows.....BADLY. The fact they still turned a profit was sheer luck as it could of backfired financially very easily. Even then it has damaged the reputation of Disney and future films due to back lash over the mess. TLJ should have been a warning but they doubled down on the mess with TROS.

2) Which links onto 1. Kathleen Kennedy may be a good business woman but she seems to lack skill in story creation and world building leaving that all to her subordinates. Without solid direction from the top that has lead to a mis mash of quality and no direction!

In some ways the post of president may be to big for one person. And it might be best to split it with KK as head of all business decisions and a Vice president who has full creative control.

However there is my 3rd concern.

3) The fact Kathleen Kennedy Cant seem to employ the right people first time and ends up hiring and firing them of trapped in failing contracts. First off she seems to be constantly having problems with directors. A good manager should be able to employ the right people first time. I know mistakes happen but this seems to be a consistent pattern across films with TROS and Solo being prime examples. This makes me think she is terrible at making Hiring choices or worse there is a issue with her. And the result of this is seen in the poor quality of films. Then there is EA. Disney have likely lost billions in EA mismanagement, Computer games are huge business. KK should of made sure of EA plans when she gave the license to them! Again this comes to lack of planning in point 1!

I know everyone favorite to replace KK in Dave Filoni but I dont think he has the experience yet to be a president and I dont think he wants it. And I would hate to see him with so much talent end up in a position he hates. I would say make him a vice president and give him full creative control and make him in charge of planning Starwars future direction. As for the president I would say keep KK however point 3 still a concern so it might be better to replace her with Favreou.

I dont think KK should be immediately fired and left go with shame. Just at the end of her contact given a hand shake good reference and leaving bonus and let go with dignity.

 

Head of LFL should not be a creative role. It is an organisational one.

If I was LFL now, I would split out the Creative from the Organisational. Probably hire someone beneath me to be "Chief Creative Officer: Star Wars".

Then if SW goes blip again - you can rotate that person out without damaging the org structure. You can also then set up other streams. Indy, Willow, etc

So for Head of LFL should be someone who "gets Star Wars", can work with key stakeholders (Lucas, Disney Execs, Talent) , and empower the staff to self-organise great product of the Lucasfilm Calibre.

And if they want not to screw up again, they need to run safe-to-fail experiements with Star Wars. They gambled big with the sequels and nearly destroyed the most valuable film series in history. They should (next time) when they want to try new and different and NOT BREAK Star Wars, use safe formats such as EU books and comics to test the ideas. Then if there is traction, you can take the idea to the movie world.

I.e. If they had run some trails on the "One child - is evil" model and compared it to the EU "3 super children" (did one die? i can't remember) or even other options - then it would have reduced the risk of failure and increased the chance of finding the mythic model that gives genuine customer delight and exponential growth that real blockbusters do.

As we can see, they have spent hundreds of millions learning that from the Mandalorian. (Mythic, spagetti western, simple) over the sequels (Star Trek Voyager-esque plotting with mid-seventies retcons and a dash of Alan Moore Your-heroes-have-feet-of-clay dystopia)

They need to not do that again.

UKS (BTW this is my job - I can go as deep as you would like on this!)

 

Yup. Directing a movie set and directing an entire franchise and a gigantic company are two different things.