David Filoni (born June 7, 1974) is an American filmmaker currently serving as the president and chief creative officer (CCO) of Lucasfilm. 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.
Filoni graduated from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 1996, earning a degree in animation. 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. 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.
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. In January 2026, Filoni was announced as president of Lucasfilm, alongside co-president Lynwen Brennan, taking over from Kathleen Kennedy.
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Early life and education
Filoni was born in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, on June 7, 1974. 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, Kim Possible, and Lilo & Stitch: The Series.
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, directing 8 of season one's 20 episodes, including the series premiere "The Boy in the Iceberg", and the season finale Part 2 of the "The Siege of the North" arc, 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
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.
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.
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.
Creation process and influences
Filoni has frequently cited anime and manga as a primary creative influence on his 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.