Dave Filoni
American film director (born 1974)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
David Filoni (born June 7, 1974) is an American director, producer, and screenwriter currently serving as the president and chief creative officer (CCO) of Lucasfilm.[5] Widely considered the creative protégé of George Lucas, Filoni was personally hired and mentored by Lucas for nearly a decade. He is viewed as the "torchbearer" for Lucas's original vision of the Star Wars franchise, with Lucas having intended for Filoni to remain a central creative pillar following the studio's sale to The Walt Disney Company.[6][7]
June 7, 1974
- Director
- producer
- writer
- voice actor
- animator
Dave Filoni | |
|---|---|
Filoni in 2010 | |
| Born | David Filoni June 7, 1974 |
| Alma mater | Edinboro University of Pennsylvania |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Employers |
|
| Title | President and CCO of Lucasfilm[3][4] |
| Spouse | Anne Convery |
Filoni graduated from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 1996, earning a degree in animation.[8] His early career included work as a director and storyboard artist on the first season of Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender, which caught the attention of George Lucas.[9][10] In 2005, Lucas recruited Filoni to Lucasfilm Animation to help build the studio and develop Star Wars: The Clone Wars, an Emmy Award-winning animated series (2008–2020) that he co-created, directed, wrote, and executive produced across seven seasons and over 100 episodes.[5][10]
Filoni's influence grew with subsequent Star Wars projects, he later created the follow-up series The Bad Batch, Tales of the Jedi, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars Resistance, executive producer on Star Wars Forces of Destiny, Skeleton Crew, and Maul – Shadow Lord, co-created and is an executive producer on The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka, serving as the latter's sole writer. In 2023, Filoni was promoted to Chief Creative Officer of Lucasfilm, granting him creative oversight over all upcoming films and television projects in the franchise.[11][12] In January 2026, Filoni was announced as president of Lucasfilm, alongside co-president Lynwen Brennan, taking over from Kathleen Kennedy.[a]
Early life and education
Filoni was born in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, on June 7, 1974.[18][19] He is of Italian descent.[citation needed] Filoni graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School in 1992 and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 1996, earning a degree in animation.[20] Filoni's father was an opera and a classical music fan, according to composer Kevin Kiner, who did most of the music for The Clone Wars and Rebels. As such, he inherited appreciation for classical music and helped with the collaboration process, with Kiner crediting Filoni for suggesting the organ in Grand Admiral Thrawn's theme from Rebels.[21]
Career
Early career
Prior to his work with Lucasfilm Animation, Filoni worked as a storyboard artist and/or assistant director for various animated series, including Mike Judge's King of the Hill and Disney Television Animation shows such as Teamo Supremo and Kim Possible.[22]
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Before the creation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Dave Filoni introduced co-creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino to Hayao Miyazaki's film Princess Mononoke. Konietzko later described this as an "awakening and a turning point" in his own view of anime; he had previously perceived the medium overall as "misogynistic" and "gratuitously violent" before Filoni's introduction to Miyazaki's work. Which inspired Konietzko to work in animation in the first place, fundamentally changing his view of animation's directly inspiring him to pursue a more ambitious, dramatic project, such as Avatar: The Last Airbender.[23]
Filoni was subsequently hired as a director and storyboard artist for the series, working on many of Nickelodeon's first-season episodes, including the pilot episode, marking a significant step in his career.[9] His work on Avatar established him as a talented director and led directly to his recruitment by George Lucas. Filoni initially believed the job offer was a prank call from his colleagues at Nickelodeon, who often teased him about his well-known enthusiasm for Star Wars.[24]
Lucasfilm and Star Wars
Early work and The Clone Wars
An avid Star Wars fan, particularly of character Plo Koon, Filoni dressed up as the Jedi Master for the opening of Revenge of the Sith.[25] Filoni left Nickelodeon after George Lucas offered him a job, helping him develop a Star Wars animated series.[26] While on The Star Wars Show, Filoni revealed that he originally believed he was being pranked when given the Star Wars job.[27]
Filoni's office, as seen in the extra features on the Star Wars: The Clone Wars DVD, is filled with Plo Koon paraphernalia.[28] He has a bust of Plo Koon's head, a model of Plo Koon's ship, an autographed portrait by the actor who played Plo Koon, a replica of Plo Koon's lightsaber on his desk, and his personal Plo Koon costume on display. Filoni also has a notebook-sized planner on his desk with Plo Koon's picture taped to the outside, and he has written the words "Plo Kool" on concept art designs for the Clone Wars, indicating that he liked those designs. Filoni also has a small model of the character Appa on his desk, from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Filoni has attended all the Clone Wars premieres and attended the fifth-season premiere in Orlando, Florida during the special event Celebration VI on August 24, 2012.[29] He is most associated with developing the characters of Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex.[30]
Directing & producing
In 2008, he served as director of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated feature film, and the supervising director of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series.[31]
Filoni made an appearance at Celebration IV in May 2007 with producer Catherine Winder to discuss the beginnings of the new television series and reveal how The Clone Wars was being created.[32] At the time, he announced he would be writing for the Clone Wars monthly comic. Filoni voices the bounty hunter Embo during various episodes in different seasons.[33] In February 2009, Filoni was inducted as an Honorary Member of the 501st Legion international costuming organization in recognition of his contributions to the continuing Star Wars saga.[34]
Rebels
Filoni was as an executive producer of Star Wars Rebels, which debuted in fall 2014, alongside Greg Weisman and Simon Kinberg.[35] For the first two seasons, he also served as its supervising director. He appointed Justin Ridge as his successor for the remainder of the show, though he still remained as executive producer. Filoni departed as supervising director in September 2016 when he was given the job as overseer of all future and current Lucasfilm Animation projects.[36] He returned as supervising director for season four. Throughout the show's run, Filoni also voiced the astromech droid Chopper.
In 2019, Jon Favreau invited Filoni to work with him to create The Mandalorian, a live-action Star Wars television series that premiered on Disney+ in November 2019. Referred to as a "Lucas encyclopedia", he contributes to and consults on many aspects of the series' production and began influencing the direction of the story in season two.[37][38] He is an executive producer of the show and made his live-action debut as the director of episode one of the first season.[39] Filoni has also been involved as executive producer of other Star Wars interconnected shows, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka and Skeleton Crew. In April 2023, it was announced that Filoni would write and direct a Star Wars film, closing out these interconnected stories with a focus on the New Republic.[40][41]
Promotion
In mid-2020, Lucasfilm quietly promoted Filoni as executive producer and executive creative director for the studio. His promotion was not announced to the public until Lucasfilm updated its list of executives on its website with the addition of Filoni in May 2021.[42]
In November 2023, Filoni announced that he was promoted to chief creative officer at Lucasfilm, granting him creative oversight over all upcoming films and television projects in the Star Wars franchise.[11][12] In January 2026, he was promoted to president at the studio.[b]
Voice and acting roles
Filoni provided the voice of the bounty hunter Embo and the droid CH-33P ("Cheep") in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. In the Star Wars Rebels season three episodes "The Holocrons of Fate" and "Legacy of Mandalore", Filoni voiced a Rebel Crewman, Stormtroopers, and Mandalorian Warrior, respectively. He also voiced Chopper for the entirety of the show, a fact not revealed until the end credits of the series finale.[43]
Filoni made his live action acting debut in The Mandalorian as an X-Wing pilot named Trapper Wolf in "Chapter 6: The Prisoner". He later reprised the character in "Chapter 10: The Passenger" and in "Chapter 21: The Pirate".[44][45][46]
Creation process and influences
Filoni has frequently cited anime and manga as a primary creative influence on his later works, notably Princess Mononoke using the character San as a blueprint for the design and temperament of Ahsoka Tano, and later integrated the film's spiritual and nature-based themes into Star Wars Rebels and the live-action Ahsoka series.[47][48]
Filoni has also said that his grandfather and uncle were pilots, with the latter specializing in restoring planes. He cited this as a significant influence with regard to the concept of Star Wars Resistance.[49]
Filmography
Theatrical films
| Title | Year | Credited as | Role | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | Producer | Art department | ||||
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 2008 | Yes | No | No | Yes | animation film / development artist | |
| Star Wars: The Force Awakens | 2015 | No | No | No | Yes | Screaming Jakku villager (voice)[50] |
live-action film / concept artist |
| Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | 2016 | No | No | No | No | Chopper (voice) | live-action film / special thanks |
| The Mandalorian and Grogu | 2026 | No | Yes | Yes | TBA | Embo (voice) / Trapper Wolf | live-action film |
Television and streaming
Live-action credits
| Title | Year | Credited as | Role | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | Executive producer | Art department | ||||
| The WIN Awards | 2005 | No | No | No | Yes | animation director | |
| The Mandalorian | 2019–2023 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Trapper Wolf | live-action debut second unit director |
| Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian | 2020–2023 | No | No | Yes | No | Himself | documentary |
| The Book of Boba Fett | 2021–2022 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| Disney Gallery: The Book of Boba Fett | 2022 | No | No | Yes | No | Himself | documentary |
| Obi-Wan Kenobi | 2022 | No | No | No | No | Special Thanks to, Executive Creative Counsel | |
| Ahsoka | 2023–present | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Chopper (voice) | creator |
| Skeleton Crew | 2024–2025 | No | No | Yes | No | ||
Animation credits
| Title | Year | Credited as | Voice role | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | Executive producer | Animation department | ||||
| King of the Hill | 1997–1999 | No | No | No | Yes | character & storyboard artist / assistant director | |
| Mission Hill | 1999–2002 | No | No | No | Yes | storyboard artist / assistant director | |
| The Oblongs | 2001 | No | No | No | Yes | retakes / assistant director | |
| Teamo Supremo | 2002 | No | No | No | Yes | storyboard artist | |
| Kim Possible | 2003 | No | No | No | Yes | storyboard artist & revisions | |
| Fillmore! | 2003 | No | No | No | Yes | storyboard artist | |
| Lilo & Stitch: The Series | 2003–2004 | No | No | No | Yes | storyboard artist | |
| Dave the Barbarian | 2004–2005 | No | No | No | Yes | storyboard artist | |
| American Dragon: Jake Long | 2005 | No | No | No | Yes | storyboard artist | |
| Avatar: The Last Airbender | 2005 | Yes | No | No | Yes | storyboard artist / character designer | |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 2008–2014, 2020 | Supervising | Yes | Yes[c] | Yes | Embo / Various | development artist |
| Star Wars Rebels | 2014–2018 | Supervising[d] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Chopper / Various | co-creator / storyboard artist |
| Star Wars Forces of Destiny | 2017–2018 | Additional | Additional | Yes | Yes | Chopper / Stormtrooper | storyboard artist |
| Lego Star Wars: All-Stars | 2018 | No | No | No | No | Chopper | |
| Star Wars Resistance | 2018–2020 | No | Story | Yes | No | Bo Keevil / Various | creator / developer |
| Star Wars: The Bad Batch | 2021–2024 | No | Yes | Yes | No | Chopper | creator / developer |
| Zen - Grogu and Dust Bunnies | 2022 | No | No | No | No | special thanks | |
| Star Wars Tales | 2022–present | Supervising | Yes | Yes | No | creator | |
| Star Wars: Visions | 2023 | No | No | No | No | special thanks | |
| Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures | 2023–2025 | No | No | No | No | executive creative advisor | |
| Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord | 2026 | TBA | TBA | Yes | TBA | creator / developer | |
Episodic directing and writing credits
| Title | Se. | Ep. | Name | Director | Writer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avatar: The Last Airbender | 1 | 1 | "The Boy in the Iceberg" | Yes | No | |
| 2 | "The Avatar Returns" | Yes | No | |||
| 6 | "Imprisoned" | Yes | No | |||
| 10 | "Jet" | Yes | No | |||
| 13 | "The Blue Spirit" | Yes | No | |||
| 14 | "The Fortuneteller" | Yes | No | |||
| 17 | "The Northern Air Temple" | Yes | No | |||
| 20 | "The Siege of the North, Part 2" | Yes | No | |||
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | Theatrical film | Yes | No | |||
| 1 | 2 | "Rising Malevolence" | Yes | Add. | Teleplays written by Steven Melching | |
| 3 | "Shadow of Malevolence" | No | Add. | |||
| 4 | "Destroy Malevolence" | No | Add. | |||
| 9 | "Cloak of Darkness" | Yes | No | |||
| 2 | 22 | "Lethal Trackdown" | Yes | Yes | Co-written with Drew Z. Greenberg | |
| 3 | 1 | "Clone Cadets" | Yes | No | ||
| 21 | "Padawan Lost" | Yes | No | |||
| 22 | "Wookiee Hunt" | Yes | No | |||
| 4 | 14 | "A Friend in Need" | Yes | No | ||
| 5 | 2 | "A War on Two Fronts" | Yes | No | ||
| 20 | "The Wrong Jedi" | Yes | No | |||
| 7 | 2 | "A Distant Echo" | No | Yes | Co-written with Matt Michnovetz & Brent Friedman | |
| 5 | "Gone with a Trace" | No | Yes | Co-written with Charles Murray | ||
| 6 | "Deal No Deal" | No | Yes | |||
| 7 | "Dangerous Debt" | No | Yes | |||
| 8 | "Together Again" | No | Yes | |||
| 9 | "Old Friends Not Forgotten" | No | Yes | |||
| 10 | "The Phantom Apprentice" | No | Yes | |||
| 11 | "Shattered" | No | Yes | |||
| 12 | "Victory and Death" | No | Yes | |||
| Star Wars Rebels | Shorts | 1 | "The Machine in the Ghost" | Yes | No | |
| 4 | "Property of Ezra Bridger" | Yes | No | |||
| 1 | 10 | "Path of the Jedi" | Yes | No | ||
| 15 | "Fire Across the Galaxy" | Yes | No | |||
| Special | "The Ultimate Guide" | Yes | No | Co-directed with Steward Lee & Steven G. Lee | ||
| 2 | 3 | "The Lost Commanders" | Yes | No | Co-directed with Sergio Paez | |
| 7 | "Wings of the Master" | Yes | No | |||
| 21-22 | "Twilight of the Apprentice" | Yes | Yes | Co-written with Melching & Simon Kinberg | ||
| 3 | 12–13 | "Ghosts of Geonosis" | No | Yes | Co-written with Melching & Michnovetz | |
| 15 | "Trials of the Darksaber" | No | Yes | |||
| 20 | "Twin Suns" | Yes | Yes | Co-written with Henry Gilroy | ||
| 4 | 6 | "Flight of the Defender" | No | Yes | Co-written with Melching | |
| 7 | "Kindred" | No | Yes | Co-written with Gilroy | ||
| 9 | "Rebel Assault" | No | Yes | Co-written with Melching | ||
| 10 | "Jedi Night" | No | Yes | Co-written with Gilroy | ||
| 11 | "DUME" | No | Yes | Co-written with Christopher Yost | ||
| 12 | "Wolves and a Door" | Yes | Yes | Co-directed with Bosco Ng | ||
| 13 | "A World Between Worlds" | Yes | Yes | Co-directed with Steward Lee | ||
| 14 | "A Fool's Hope" | Yes | No | Co-directed with Saul Ruiz | ||
| 15–16 | "Family Reunion and Farewell" | Yes | Yes | Co-directed with Ng & Paez Co-written with Gilroy, Kinberg, Melching & Kiri Hart | ||
| Star Wars: Forces of Destiny | Specials | 2 | "Volume 2" | No | Add. | Teleplays written by Jennifer Muro |
| 3 | "Volume 3" | Add. | Add. | Directed by Brad Rau Teleplays written by Muro | ||
| Star Wars Resistance | 1 | 1–2 | "The Recruit" | No | Story | Teleplay written by Brandon Auman |
| The Mandalorian | 1 | 1 | "Chapter 1: The Mandalorian" | Yes | No | |
| 5 | "Chapter 5: The Gunslinger" | Yes | Yes | |||
| 2 | 5 | "Chapter 13: The Jedi" | Yes | Yes | ||
| 3 | 4 | "Chapter 20: The Foundling" | No | Yes | Co-written with Jon Favreau | |
| 7 | "Chapter 23: The Spies" | No | Yes | |||
| Star Wars: The Bad Batch | 1 | 1 | "Aftermath" | No | Yes | Co-written with Jennifer Corbett |
| The Book of Boba Fett | 1 | 6 | "Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger" | Yes | Yes | Co-written with Favreau |
| Star Wars: Tales | Tales of Jedi | 1 | "Life and Death" | No | Yes | |
| 2 | "Justice" | No | Yes | |||
| 4 | "The Sith Lord" | No | Yes | |||
| 5 | "Practice Makes Perfect" | No | Yes | |||
| 6 | "Resolve" | No | Yes | |||
| Tales of the Empire | 1 | "The Path of Fear" | No | Story | Teleplays written by Amanda Rose Muñoz | |
| 2 | "The Path of Anger" | No | Story | |||
| 3 | "The Path of Hate" | No | Story | |||
| 4 | "Devoted" | No | Story | Teleplay written by Nicolas Anasatassiou | ||
| 5 | "Realization" | No | Story | Teleplays written by Matt Michnovetz | ||
| 6 | "The Way Out" | No | Story | |||
| Tales of the Underworld | 1 | "A Way Forward" | No | Story | ||
| 2 | "Friends" | No | Story | |||
| 3 | "One Warrior to Another" | No | Story | |||
| 4 | "The Good Life" | No | Story | |||
| 5 | "A Good Turn" | No | Story | |||
| 6 | "One Good Deed" | No | Story | |||
| Ahsoka | 1 | 1 | "Part One: Master and Apprentice" | Yes | Yes | |
| 2 | "Part Two: Toil and Trouble" | No | Yes | |||
| 3 | "Part Three: Time to Fly" | No | Yes | |||
| 4 | "Part Four: Fallen Jedi" | No | Yes | |||
| 5 | "Part Five: Shadow Warrior" | Yes | Yes | |||
| 6 | "Part Six: Far, Far Away" | No | Yes | |||
| 7 | "Part Seven: Dreams and Madness" | No | Yes | |||
| 8 | "Part Eight: The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord" | No | Yes | |||
| 2 | 1 | TBA | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2 | TBA | No | Yes | |||
| 3 | TBA | No | Yes | |||
| 4 | TBA | No | Yes | |||
| 5 | TBA | No | Yes | |||
| 6 | TBA | No | Yes | |||
| 7 | TBA | No | Yes | |||
| 8 | TBA | Yes | Yes | |||
Bibliography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | The Clone Wars 1 | Cover arts | Comics |
| 2009 | The Clone Wars 7: In Service of the Republic, Part 1 | ||
| 2012 | The Clone Wars: The Sith Hunters | ||
| 2015 | Dark Disciple | Based on screenplays of eight unproduced episodes for The Clone Wars co-written with Filoni | Novels |
| 2016 | The Confidence Chronicles | Illustrations |
