In this recent fluff piece about Ahsoka season 1, it is revealed that Dave Filoni is now the “Chief Creative Officer of Lucasfilm”:
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/11/star-wars-ahsoka-dave-filoni
“Creator Dave Filoni, Rosario Dawson, Hayden Christensen, and Natasha Liu Bordizzo reveal how their show altered the galactic landscape.”
Dave Filoni has a new mission in the Star Wars universe after guiding Rosario Dawson’s Force-wielding hero to distant celestial realms in the first season of Ahsoka. The writer-producer-director, who started out working alongside George Lucas on the animated Clone Wars show nearly two decades ago, has ascended to a new position at Lucasfilm—one that will give him input into all the galactic storytelling going forward.
“Now I’m what’s called chief creative officer of Lucasfilm,” Filoni tells Vanity Fair, which places him into the development process much earlier and in a much more expansive capacity than his previous advisory duties. “In the past, in a lot of projects I would be brought into, I would see it after it had already developed a good ways” he said.
“In this new role, it’s opened up to basically everything that’s going on. When we’re planning the future of what we’re doing now, I’m involved at the inception phase.”
and later in the article:
“I’m not telling people what to do,” Filoni says. “But I do feel I’m trying to help them tell the best story that they want to tell. I need to be a help across the galaxy here, like a part of a Jedi Council almost.” He described his responsibilities as understanding the intent of the filmmakers and being a resource to them, based on his mentorship under Lucas himself, and his years spent steering The Clone Wars, Rebels, and Ahsoka. “Literally, hours now of Star Wars storytelling I have done,” he said, before pausing to rethink his syntax. “See…I even phrased that like Yoda.”
“To truly help filmmakers, it was really important for me to experience it firsthand,” he says. “I can also lend a perspective on the challenges that telling these stories will present. I feel more capable of actually being helpful outside of just saying, ‘Well, Jedi are like this, and Sith are like this…’”
I think he is a better ideas man than a writer. And also better when it comes to animation than live action, although that may be a little harsh as Ahsoka is his first solo project? The Mandalorian and Book of Boba Fett was alongside Favreau?
Maybe he’ll hire more creatives willing to take risks with their content, that has something to actually say with their stories? Not slavishly adhere to fan service or memberberries at any given opportunity, or do more mystery boxes or off-screen explanations of anticipated and significant story points? No more of the plentiful vagueness littered throughout the story, or cutting away just when a moment or event is actually engaging or holding an interest.
To “show, don’t tell” (or ignore) more? I feel like I’m going into “rant mode”, so I’ll stop here.
Maybe we’ll get more Andor level quality content, and less low-mid level inane content that he and Favreau have put out themselves of late? Although considering many fans seem to be wanting new fresh takes on Star Wars, and not rehashed nostalgia, Filoni does appear to be a strange choice for this CCO role.
I suppose we’ll have to wait and see.