Dave Filoni

Early life and education

Filoni was born in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, on June 7, 1974. He is of Italian descent. Filoni graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School in 1992 and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 1996, earning a degree in animation. 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.

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.

''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.

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. 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.

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

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

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.

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. 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. 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.

''Rebels''

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

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.

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. In January 2026, he was promoted to president at the studio.

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.

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".

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.

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.

Filmography

Theatrical films

Television and streaming

Live-action credits

Animation credits

Episodic directing and writing credits

Bibliography

Accolades

Notes

References

References

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