logo Sign In

Kathleen Kennedy

Author
Time

Feel free to post anything relevant.

Articles like these below have the recent press release of her new role at Lucasfilm:

http://www.slashfilm.com/george-lucas-distance-lucasfilm/

http://www.deadline.com/2012/06/lucasfilms-names-kathleen-kennedy-as-co-chair/

 

Older articles:

http://articles.latimes.com/2001/nov/05/entertainment/ca-505

Kathleen Kennedy, Spielberg's longtime producer, said she wouldn't speculate on other Spielberg plans to rethink older films, but she considers the changes to "E.T." minor compared with Lucas' "Star Wars" revisions.

"There's no comparison, because George went in and he redid whole scenes and sequences," she said. In contrast, "E.T." is receiving "a wide variety of subtle changes."

*OMIT*

"I don't quite understand what the controversy is all about," Kennedy said. "It would be a big controversy if the studio was going in making a bunch of changes to movies and then releasing DVDs because they felt the movie was better or something. But if a director is reissuing a movie and wants to go in and make adjustments, that's entirely up to the vision of the director."

More quotes on the topic in:

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,181608,00.html

 

Here is a 4 part interview with her and Frank Marshall.  (mostly about Benjamin Buttons)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXVM7i3uVyQ

Listening to this and other interviews, there's a repeated sense of a want of the people they work with to feel like family.  This is something Lucas had wanted for his Ranch folks.  But that's hard to accomplish as the company is thousands strong and many are contracted on a job-by-job basis.

Author
Time

Lucasfilm COO, President Micheline Chau Retires

http://www.thewrap.com/movies/article/lucasfilm-coo-president-micheline-chau-retires-54891

Micheline Chau, president and COO of Lucasfilm, has retired after two decades with the company, Lucasfilm announced on Wednesday.

Kathleen Kennedy, who joined Lucasfilm as co-chairman in June, will serve as interim president. The heads of the various departments, such as Industrial Light & Magic animation, LucasArts (gaming) and licensing, will report to Kennedy for the time being.

The company has no plans to name an immediate replacement for the COO position.

“I’ve spent the past two decades at Lucasfilm growing the business and in the process have had the distinct pleasure of working with some of the most creative people in the world,” Chau said in a statement. “I’m very proud of what Lucasfilm has accomplished during my tenure and I know the company is set up for great things and will continue to inspire audiences for a long time to come.”

Chau joined the company as CFO and became president and COO in 2003. She oversaw the development of several projects that helped grow the Lucasfilm brand, including the a TV series, "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," and the creation of the company’s animation division.

She has also been a driving force behind the company's international expansion, including the opening of a studio in Singapore.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have Mich at the helm of my company,” George Lucas, founder and co-chairman of Lucasfilm, said in as statement. “She has provided the focus and strategy needed to keep Lucasfilm at the  forefront of the global entertainment industry. Mich has been a key  member of my executive team for over 20-years and she will be missed. I wish her the best in her retirement."

Lucas has been eying an exit from the company as well, stating his plans to retire within the next few years. The arrival of Kennedy, a long-time Lucas collaborator,  was yet another sign of the "Star Wars" creator's slow but steady march out of the company that bears his name.

Author
Time

Kathleen Kennedy said:


"I don't quite understand what the controversy is all about," Kennedy said. "It would be a big controversy if the studio was going in making a bunch of changes to movies and then releasing DVDs because they felt the movie was better or something. But if a director is reissuing a movie and wants to go in and make adjustments, that's entirely up to the vision of the director."


*yawn*

Author
Time
 (Edited)

She sounds very poorly spoken, childish, non-entertaining, annoying, and unintelligent...all the qualities of the current state of the Star Wars franchise...  She's a good match! 

-Someone, someday, needs to bring back the LIGHT SIDE to Star Wars.  Has anyone else noticed striking similarites between the character of Anakin/Vader and George Lucas, or is it just me? 

-It's called STAR WARS. NOT "Episode IV: A New Hope". Kids, get this straight.  

-Please read the Archie Goodwin daily SW comics: Too good to be forgotten! 

Author
Time

Star Wars Purist wrote: She sounds very poorly spoken, childish, non-entertaining, annoying, and unintelligent...all the qualities that the current state of the Star Wars franchise shares...  She's a good match!

That quote was from 2001.  Much has happened since then.

Author
Time

none said:

Star Wars Purist wrote: She sounds very poorly spoken, childish, non-entertaining, annoying, and unintelligent...all the qualities that the current state of the Star Wars franchise shares...  She's a good match!

That quote was from 2001.  Much has happened since then.

Yeah...

MORE changes

 

-Someone, someday, needs to bring back the LIGHT SIDE to Star Wars.  Has anyone else noticed striking similarites between the character of Anakin/Vader and George Lucas, or is it just me? 

-It's called STAR WARS. NOT "Episode IV: A New Hope". Kids, get this straight.  

-Please read the Archie Goodwin daily SW comics: Too good to be forgotten! 

Author
Time

She's actually very sharp. I have faith in her to do good things, if she's allowed.

Author
Time

Which Kathy Kennedy are you talking about the one who worked on ET and Raiders, or Kingdom of the Crystal Skull?

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

God i hope Frank Marshall is right and INDY V is dead in the water. 

Lucas quit  as leader at Lucasfilm and retired again, on movie 4 Spielberg and Ford had their arms twisted to do it.  Both who thought the Alien idea was bad but that they owed Lucas because of previous relationships in film and friendship.

They won't publicly say they thought part 4 was shit but they got their payday.

I hope IMDB   is wrong because i have zero interest in Jurassic Park IV and Indiana Jones V.

Would prefer Spielberg make new stand alone films.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Lincoln was in development hell for so long Liam neeson told Spielberg off.

 

After working with Lucas and Spielberg he must have some stories to tell, horror stories,lol.


You work with moguls that big and ego will be an issue.

Though i do respect Kathy and Frank's work at Disney with the works of Miyazaki and studio Ghibli.  I completely disagree with their backing Lucas destruction of the oot.  But so does Spielberg even though he thinks films should be released untouched now, weird.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

Author
Time

Kathleen Kennedy will bring balance to the Force.

“Grow up. These are my Disney's movies, not yours.”

Author
Time

Oh man, I fear my Youtube feed is going to be into overdrive with ‘suggested’ Star Wars videos again… Is there any way to tell Youtube to stop suggesting negative hot takes? Haven’t they built that into their algorithm?

What’s the internal temperature of a TaunTaun? Luke warm.

Author
Time

I think the bad rap Kennedy has been getting since TLJ was released on theaters is undeserved. She’s a producer first and foremost, and has been in the business for over thirty years knowing how the industry works, so I’m pretty sure she knows what she’s doing.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

 
^ from the 2012 ‘Henry Thomas and Kathleen Kennedy Talk E.T. The Extra-Terrestial, Jurassic Park 4, Lincoln, Steven Spielberg, and More’ interview with the Collider website. (Found by Cobra Kai - here)
 

Interviewer: ‘When it came out on DVD, there was the special edition version that had some notable changes (walkie-talkies in the government agents hands instead of guns, sanctifying certain dialogue exchanges) but the Blu-ray reverts back to the original version. What brought about that decision?’

Kathleen Kennedy: ‘To be perfectly honest, I think Steven always regretted having made the decision to do anything to the film. I think he was feeling a certain amount of pressure to be politically correct. And then he realized that it maybe wasn’t the correct [decision]. I think most fans and most people who like classic movies that have stood the test of time, don’t want them to be tinkered with.

 

^ Wow. Yep, you got it absolutely spot on there, Kathleen…

And many of us would also just like to be able to have the option of buying and watching an official release of the old ‘untinkered with’ classic Original Trilogy movies on a quality modern digital format.

 
 

A few other OT•com thread re Kathleen Kennedy…

Kathleen Kennedy Shuts Down any Hope for Unaltered Release (*not really) (2017 thread; re KK’s much-misconstrued quotes)

I wish someone would ask Kathleen Kennedy about the original versions of the movies (2022 thread; + more misconstruing)

Kathleen Kennedy worse than Lucas (2017 thread; Ugh…!)

A little patience goes a long way on this old-school Rebel base. If you are having issues finding what you are looking for, these will be of some help…

Welcome to the OriginalTrilogy.com | Introduce yourself in here | Useful info within : About : Help : Site Rules : Fan Project Rules : Announcements
How do I do this?’ on the OriginalTrilogy.com; some info & answers + FAQs - includes info on how to search for projects and threads on the OT•com

A Project Index for Star Wars Preservations (Harmy’s Despecialized & 4K77/80/83 etc) : A Project Index for Star Wars Fan Edits (adywan & Hal 9000 etc)

… and take your time to look around this site before posting - to get a feel for this place. Don’t just lazily make yet another thread asking for projects.