- "We work with any creative who is wanting to tell a story of Star Wars, and we help them find the story that they want to tell, while also make sure that story fits within the framework of Star Wars. So it's not just about making sure the number of moons over a planet is correct, it's more about, you know, thematically what are you going for and what's the best way to achieve that with Star Wars. And also, is the story that you're telling—is it something we've done before? Or is it something that's also actually in development somewhere else in the company? So we become this sort of—this point that coordinates all storytelling across the board so that we don't inadvertently tell something that is contradictory, not only from a continuity point of view but from a thematic point of view. Or if we are departing thematically for whatever reason, we understand the artistic decision behind it and it's never because 'Oh we didn't know that was the right way to do it' or 'We didn't know—we did "Y" because we didn't know that "X" was an option.'"
- ―Pablo Hidalgo clarifies the function of the Story Group
From left to right:
Hosts of The Star Wars Show, Andi Gutierrez and Anthony Carboni, and members of the Lucasfilm Story Group, Matt Martin, Diana Williams, Steve Blank, Josh Rimes, Rayne Roberts and Leland Chee at Celebration Orlando
The Lucasfilm Story Group,[2] also known as the Lucasfilm Story Team[3] or as the Franchise Story Team,[4] is a division of Lucasfilm Ltd. founded in 2013 that is responsible for keeping track of Star Wars canon in order to assist writers and directors in the development of new stories. As of May 2017, the group comprises eleven individuals.[5] Pablo Hidalgo, an author and creative executive at Lucasfilm, has been part of the Story Group since its creation, offering expertise on not only details about Star Wars, but also what Lucasfilm has done in the past as well as George Lucas' values.[1]
History[]
Ending credits from the 2013 Star Wars: The Old Republic: Galactic Starfighter, revealing members of the "Lucasfilm Story Team"
The Lucasfilm Story Group began as an initiative from Kathleen Kennedy in 2012. Lucasfilm Vice President Kiri Hart helped form the group as its Development Lead, with the stated goal of abolishing the canon hierarchy system in favor of a single cohesive continuity.[2][6] Lucasfilm Story Group—including Rayne Roberts, Carrie Beck, Diana Williams, Leland Chee, Pablo Hidalgo, and Matt Martin—participated in the making of Star Wars: The Old Republic: Galactic Starfighter, a digital expansion to the video game Star Wars: The Old Republic, being mentioned in the ending credits.[7]
On April 25, 2014, the Lucasfilm Story Group rebooted the Star Wars universe by retiring much of the Expanded Universe storyline and rebranding it as "Star Wars Legends."[8] Besides Lucas' six films, the only previously produced material still considered canon are the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series and film, and the standalone comic arc Star Wars: Darth Maul—Son of Dathomir, which was based on unproduced scripts from The Clone Wars TV series.[9] All subsequent material produced in collaboration with the Story Group including the Disney XD television series Star Wars Rebels and all novels beginning with A New Dawn are considered part of the new canonical continuity.[10]
Story Group members Carrie Beck and Leland Chee were involved in the production of the 2016 non-canon Disney XD animated series LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures to ensure that the show did not contradict the new canon continuity.[11][12]
Author Jason Fry stated that one of the biggest misconceptions regarding the Story Group is that it is omniscient and should somehow be perfect. "Of course there are going to be inconsistencies and slips here and there."[13]
According to author Delilah S. Dawson, the story group tends to encourage content creators to create new elements instead of using pre-existing ones.[14]
Members[]
- Carrie Beck—Senior Vice President, Development & Production[15]
- James Waugh—Senior Vice President, Franchise Content and Strategy[16]
- Rayne Roberts—Vice President, Film Development[7]
- Steve Blank—Director, Franchise Content and Strategy; Creative Executive[17]
- Leland Chee—Sr. Creative Executive; Keeper of the Holocron[18]
- Pablo Hidalgo[19]—Star Wars Lore Advisor[20]
- Phil Szostak— Creative Art Manager[21]
- Matt Martin—Sr. Creative Executive, Franchise Story and Content[22]
- Jason D. Stein—Creative Executive[23]
- Lauren Olsen— Creative Executive, Franchise Content and Strategy[24]
- Kelsey Sharpe—Jr. Creative Executive[25]
- Emily Shkoukani—Jr. Creative Executive[26]
- Shiree Cole[4]—Executive Assistant[27]
- Kate Izquierdo[4]
Former members[]
- Cara Pardo (former employee)[28]
- Stephen Feder (former employee)[29]
- Kiri Hart (former employee)[29]
- Josh Rimes (transitioned to new position)[30]
- Diana Williams (former employee)[31]
Sources[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1
The Star Wars Show: Pablo Hidalgo Extended Interview on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 ForceCast #273: The Galaxy is Reading on ForceCast.net (archived from the original on April 12, 2020)
- ↑ Star Wars: The Old Republic: Galactic Starfighter
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2
Star Wars: Visions — "The Duel"
- ↑ Cover Story: Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Definitive Preview by Kamp, David on Vanity Fair (May 24, 2017) (archived from the original on February 21, 2020)
- ↑
Kiri Hart on Lucasfilm.com (backup link)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chris Taylor, How Star Wars Conquered the Universe
- ↑
Leland Chee (@HolocronKeeper) on Twitter: "@pauldunahoo @rwknopp Star Wars Canon is now determined by the Lucasfilm Story Group which @infinata and I are both a part of." (screenshot)
- ↑ Dave Filoni on Facebook: Dave Filoni comments on Son of Dathomir (January 10, 2014): "Happy New Year! You may have seen the recent Clone Wars / Dark Horse Comics news, and I thought I would chime in and clarify things a bit..." (backup link)
- ↑ The Legendary Star Wars Expanded Universe Turns a New Page on StarWars.com (backup link)
- ↑ LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures is more intense than you think on IGN (archived from the original on April 22, 2020)
- ↑ SWCE 2016: LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures Panel Liveblog on StarWars.com (backup link)
- ↑ Jason Fry Keeps Talking To Us: Wired For The Classics by Mike Cooper on Eleven-ThirtyEight (November 14, 2014) (archived from the original on June 16, 2020)
- ↑ Exclusive preview: Star Wars Galaxy's Edge: Black Spire is 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine in space' by Spry, Jeff on syfy.com (August 20, 2019) (archived from the original on August 5, 2020)
- ↑ Carrie Beck on Lucasfilm.com (backup link)
- ↑ James Waugh on LinkedIn
- ↑ Steve Blanke on LinkedIn
- ↑ Leland Chee on LinkedIn
- ↑ The Book of Boba Fett — "Chapter 7: In the Name of Honor"
- ↑ Obi-Wan Kenobi — "Part I"
- ↑ Phil Szostak (@PhilSzostak) on Twitter: "If you attended any of my recent panels, this is old news. And it's truly old news given that I made this move well over six months ago. But I'm still your friendly-neighborhood Creative Art Manager, now helping out with a lot more projects than before, which is cool!" (backup link)
- ↑ Matt Martin on LinkedIn
- ↑ A Step Into the Dark, Art of The High Republic, and More! on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link)
- ↑ Lauren Olsen on LinkedIn
- ↑ Kelsey Sharpe on LinkedIn
- ↑ Emily Shkoukani on LinkedIn
- ↑ Shiree Cole on LinkedIn
- ↑ Cara Pardo on LinkedIn
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 Rian Johnson's T-Street Studio Brings on 3 Producers on www.hollywoodreporter.com (archived from the original on March 29, 2022)
- ↑ Josh Rimes on LinkedIn
- ↑ Diana Williams on LinkedIn
External links[]
- Inside the 'Star Wars' Writers Room: Meet the 5 Architects of the Franchise on www.hollywoodreporter.com (archived from the original on June 22, 2020)
- 'Star Wars' story group manages teeming galaxy on www.cnn.com (archived from the original on April 20, 2020)
- How Star Wars authors work with Lucasfilm and earn creative control on www.syfy.com (archived from the original on May 12, 2020)
- The Women Who Run the 'Star Wars' Universe on www.nytimes.com (archived from the original on September 18, 2020)