Kathleen Kennedy Steps Down as President of Lucasfilm; Dave Filoni & Lynwen Brennan Promoted In Her Place

Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy, and Lynwen Brennan. Courtesy Lucasfilm (2); Joel Aron

There has been an awakening at Lucasfilm.

After serving as President of Lucasfilm for 14 years, Kathleen Kennedy is stepping down, paving the way for new leadership to take over. That new leadershop will include Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan being promoted to Co-Presidents of the studio for the forseeable future. Both Filoni and Brennan have been with Lucasfilm for over 20 years, ensuring that the studio will have experienced and capable hands at the top, to help steer the ship in a new direction.

Dave Filon and Lynwen Brennan. Lucasfilm

In a move that has been expected to take place for some time, Kathleen Kennedy has announced that she will be stepping down as President of Lucasfilm this week. In an internal email sent out to Disney employees, Co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment Alan Bergman stated that:

Kathy has been a tremendous force in the industry for 50 years, and it’s been our privilege to have her here at Disney. George Lucas asked her to join him to lead Lucasfilm in 2012, shortly before it became part of Disney. She immediately got to work on Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which shattered box office records around the world and still stands as the biggest movie of all time in the U.S. It marked the start of a new era for Star Wars, and within the span of four years, Kathy and the Lucasfilm team delivered four of the biggest films in history with a box office total of nearly $6B, along with the launch of the incredibly popular The Mandalorian series, Star Wars’ first foray into live-action series, which anchored the debut of Disney+.

With Kennedy stepping down as President of Lucasfilm, it gives the oppourtunity for others to step up to the plate. With that, she selected two of her top right-hands to step up to the top job within the studio. Dave Filoni, who has been serving as Lucasfilm's Chief Creative Officer and Executive Vice President since 2023, will retain his CCO title, but will add President to the front of it. Meanwhile, Lynwen Brennan, who has been serving as the President and General Manager of Lucasfilm Business, will be promoted to Co-President, while also still having full supervision over the business side of the studio, while Filoni continues to focus on the creative side of the studio.

A partial statement from Filoni, shared on StarWars.com, reads:

Kathy has overseen the greatest expansion in Star Wars storytelling onscreen that we have ever seen. I am incredibly grateful to Kathy, George, Bob Iger and Alan Bergman for their trust and the opportunity to lead Lucasfilm in this new role, doing a job I truly love. May the Force be with you.

Meanwhile, Brennan has "unwavering faith in Dave’s creative vision for the next chapter in this storied studio's legacy." The faith of Lucasfilm's future is in experienced hands, as Star Wars is heading towards its 50th anniversary in 2027, with multiple Star Wars film and television series projects either in active development, or are on deck to go into production very soon.