David Filoni (born June 7, 1974) is an American director, producer, and screenwriter currently serving as the Chief Creative Officer of Lucasfilm. He directed multiple episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender, before being hired by George Lucas to oversee direction on the television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars as well as directing and writing numerous episodes, including its theatrical film. He was the creator of follow-up series Star Wars Rebels, and served as a supervising director, executive producer and writer.

Dave Filoni
Filoni in 2010
Born
David Filoni

(1974-06-07) June 7, 1974 (age 50)
Alma materEdinboro University of Pennsylvania
Occupations
  • Director
  • producer
  • writer
  • voice actor
  • animator
Years active1997–present
EmployerLucasfilm
TitleExecutive Vice President & Chief Creative Officer[1]
SpouseAnne Convery

Filoni is the creator, executive producer and sole writer of live-action miniseries Ahsoka, and is an executive producer on The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Skeleton Crew. Filoni is also the creator and executive producer of the animated series Star Wars Resistance, Star Wars: The Bad Batch and Tales of the Jedi, and an executive producer of the web series Star Wars Forces of Destiny. Filoni is an Executive Vice President at Lucasfilm, and in 2023 accepted a promotion to Chief Creative Officer.

Early life and education

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Filoni was born in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, on June 7, 1974.[2][3] 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.[4] 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.[5]

Filoni graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School in 1992 and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 1996.

Career

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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,[6] before moving on to direct many of Nickelodeon's first-season episodes of the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender.[7]

Star Wars

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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.[8] Filoni left Nickelodeon after George Lucas offered him a job, helping him develop a Star Wars animated series.[9] While on The Star Wars Show, Filoni revealed that he originally believed he was being pranked when given the Star Wars job.[10]

Filoni's office, as seen in the extra features on the Star Wars: The Clone Wars DVD, is filled with Plo Koon paraphernalia.[citation needed] 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.[11] He is most associated with developing the characters of Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex.[12]

Producing and directing

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Filoni at Star Wars Weekend in 2009

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.[13]

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.[14] 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.[15] 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.[16]

Filoni was as an executive producer of Star Wars Rebels, which debuted in fall 2014, alongside Greg Weisman and Simon Kinberg.[17] 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.[18] 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.[19][20] He is an executive producer of the show and made his live-action debut as the director of episode one of the first season.[21] 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.[22][23]

Promotion

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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.[24]

In November 2023, it was announced that Filoni had been promoted to Chief Creative Officer of Lucasfilm.[25]

Voice acting

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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.[26]

Acting

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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.[27][28][29]

Filmography

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Live-action credits

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Title Year Credited as Role Notes
Director Writer Executive
producer
Art
department
The WIN Awards 2005 No No No Yes animation director
Star Wars: The Force Awakens 2015 No No No Yes Screaming Jakku villager
(voice)[30]
concept artist
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story 2016 No No No No Chopper (voice) Special thanks
The Mandalorian 2019–present Yes Yes Yes No Trapper Wolf live-action debut
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 No No Yes TBA TBA
The Mandalorian & Grogu 2026 No Yes Yes TBA TBA

Animation credits

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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 Yes No No Yes development artist
Star Wars: The Clone Wars 2008–2014, 2020 Supervising Yes Yes[a] Yes Embo / Various development artist
Star Wars Rebels 2014–2018 Supervising[b] 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
Tales of the Jedi 2022 Supervising Yes Yes No creator
Zen - Grogu and Dust Bunnies 2022 No No No No Special Thanks
Star Wars: Visions 2023 No No No No Special Thanks
Tales of the Empire 2024 Supervising Stories Yes No creator

Episodic directing and writing credits

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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: Forсes of Destiny 1 2 "BB-8 Bandits" No Add. Teleplays written by Jennifer Muro
4 "The Padawan Path" No Add.
5 "Beasts of Echo Base" No Add.
6 "The Imposter Inside" No Add.
13 "Accidental Allies" No Add.
14 "An Imperial Feast" No Add.
15 "The Happabore Hazard" No Add.
16 "Crash Course" No Add.
2 1 "Hasty Departure" Add. Add. Directed by Brad Rau
Teleplays written by Muro
2 "Unexpected Company" Add. Add.
3 "Shuttle Shock" Add. Add.
4 "Jyn's Trade" Add. Add.
5 "Run Rey Run" Add. Add.
6 "Bounty Hunted" Add. Add.
7 "The Path Ahead" Add. Add.
8 "Porg Problems" Add. Add.
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
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

Bibliography

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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

Accolades

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Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2013 40th Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program Star Wars: The Clone Wars Nominated
Outstanding Special Class Animated Program Won
2014 41st Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Won
2015 42nd Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program Nominated
Outstanding Special Class Animated Program Nominated
2017 69th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Children's Program Star Wars Rebels Nominated
2018 70th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Nominated
2019 71st Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Star Wars Resistance Nominated
2020 72nd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Nominated
72nd Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Drama Series The Mandalorian Nominated
2021 78th Golden Globe Awards Best Television Series – Drama Nominated
73rd Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Drama Series Nominated
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series ("Chapter 13: The Jedi") Nominated

Notes

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  1. ^ Only for Season 7.
  2. ^ For seasons 1, 2 and 4.

References

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  1. ^ ""Lucasfilm Leadership"". Archived from the original on November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  2. ^ "Dave Filoni". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on October 19, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
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  4. ^ Young, Bryan (May 29, 2018). "Star Wars composer Kevin Kiner on following in John Williams' galactic footsteps". Syfy. Archived from the original on January 13, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
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  6. ^ Owen, Rob (August 15, 2008). "Director thrilled to be part of 'Star Wars' force". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on April 12, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  7. ^ Vargas, Alani (July 7, 2020). "'Avatar: The Last Airbender' and 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' Have a Small Connection, Thanks To Dave Filoni". Showbiz Cheat Sheet. Archived from the original on July 30, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  8. ^ Boucher, Geoff (August 17, 2008). "'Clone Wars' director is a fanboy at heart". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on September 22, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  9. ^ Boucher, Geoff (August 14, 2008). "A 'Star Wars' fan boy first". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 4, 2018. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  10. ^ Star Wars (August 12, 2016). "Dave Filoni Extended Interview – The Star Wars Show". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  11. ^ Filoni, Dave (July 13, 2012). "Introducing… Dave Filoni!". StarWars.com. Archived from the original on September 10, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  12. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 6, 2020). "'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' Jedi Master Dave Filoni On The Future Of Ahsoka Tano, 'Mandalorian' & 'Rebels'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 7, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  13. ^ de la Vina, Mark (August 8, 2008). "George Lucas talks about "Star Wars: The Clone Wars"". The Mercury News. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  14. ^ Boucher, Geoff (May 29, 2007). "Coming to TV, 'Star Wars' is". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
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  16. ^ "Honorary Members". 501st Legion. Archived from the original on March 8, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
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  18. ^ Jones, Dominic (September 24, 2016). "Report: Justin Ridge Replaces Dave Filoni as Supervising Director of 'Star Wars Rebels' (Updated!)". Star Wars Underworld.com. Archived from the original on January 13, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  19. ^ "That Time George Lucas Asked a Guy From Pittsburgh to Join Him and Rule the Galaxy". Vanity Fair. November 7, 2019. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  20. ^ Keegan, Rebecca (December 19, 2019). "In Baby Yoda, Hollywood Sees Its Past, Present and Meme-able Future". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 30, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  21. ^ Hibberd, James (September 9, 2019). "Jon Favreau plans to direct a 'Mandalorian' season 2 episode himself". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on September 13, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  22. ^ "SWCE 2023: Three New Star Wars Movies Announced". StarWars.com. April 7, 2023. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  23. ^ Ritman, Borys Kit,Alex; Kit, Borys; Ritman, Alex (April 7, 2023). "'Star Wars': New Movies from James Mangold, Dave Filoni in the Works". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ Vary, Adam B . (May 20, 2021). "'The Mandalorian' EP Dave Filoni's 'New' Job at Lucasfilm Isn't Actually New, but Fans on Twitter Got Excited Anyway". Variety. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  25. ^ Breznican, Anthony (November 21, 2023). "'Star Wars Undertakes Universe-Shaking Changes After Ahsoka'". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on November 21, 2023. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  26. ^ Chhibber, Preeti (February 6, 2020). "Chosen One of the Day: Chopper from Star Wars Rebels". Syfy Wire. Archived from the original on January 27, 2022. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
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  28. ^ Hood, Cooper (November 7, 2020). "Who Plays The X-Wing Pilots In The Mandalorian Season 2, Episode 2". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  29. ^ Young, Bryan (March 29, 2023). "The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 5 Goes Full Pirate". /Film. Archived from the original on March 29, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  30. ^ "From "Blast That X-wing!" to "Traitor!": The Voices of Star Wars: The Force Awakens". StarWars.com. January 25, 2016. Archived from the original on July 22, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
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