{"id":512440,"date":"2026-03-09T05:57:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T05:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/512440\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T05:57:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T05:57:08","slug":"kathleen-kennedy-talks-lucasfilm-handoff-new-mandalorian-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/512440\/","title":{"rendered":"Kathleen Kennedy Talks Lucasfilm Handoff, New ‘Mandalorian’ Movie"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tKathleen Kennedy<\/a>, the venerable filmmaker and former president of Lucasfilm<\/a>, spent her Sunday singing the praises of American sound designers. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe prolific producer-turned-executive received an honorary award from the Motion Picture Sound Editors at the group\u2019s annual Golden Reel Awards in Los Angeles \u2014 marking a distinguished career responsible for indelible movie moments across titles like \u201cJurassic Park,\u201d \u201cBack to the Future\u201d and \u201cSchindler\u2019s List.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSound helps root the story. It helps represent where characters are, not only geographically, but emotionally. It helps foreshadow the intent of a character or define what they\u2019re going through. In short, it takes the audience on the journey of the film,\u201d said Kennedy, accepting the prize from iconic sound designer Ben Burtt (films, series and games in the Star Wars universe) at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve been incredibly lucky in my career to work with some of the absolute titans of this craft,\u00a0people who taught me very early on that sound isn\u2019t just pasted on at the end, it\u2019s the heartbeat of the story that should be conceived and designed and refined from the earliest stages of the process,\u201d Kennedey said. <\/p>\n

\n\tSteven Spielberg\u2019s \u201cE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial\u201d was an important lesson, the producer said, on which she worked with Burtt.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c[Steven and I] spent so much time worrying about how E.T. was going to look, but it wasn\u2019t until we heard those heavy, shuffling footsteps and the raspy, melodic breathing that E.T. became real. He wasn\u2019t a puppet anymore, he was a friend,\u201d said Kennedy. \u201cThat friend\u2019s voice came from recording a woman named Pat Welsh, who smoked two packs of Kools cigarettes every day. Ben overheard her at a photography store in San Anselmo, and waited outside on the sidewalk for her to come out. He asked her if she\u2019d like to be an alien in a movie.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBackstage, Kennedy spoke with Variety about the upcoming May release of \u201cThe Mandalorian & Grogu,\u201d which she greenlit and also serves as producer. Asked what it was like the first time she heard Grogu (aka Baby Yoda), speak, she shared that the little green guy is \u201canother perfect example of a character that has to emote and you have to feel connected to, and he never speaks a word.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKennedy said audiences will fall deeper in love with the popular character \u201con the big screen, and he never says a word.\u201d She confirmed that, despite Yoda\u2019s oft-quoted broken English, Grogu will not gain the power of speech in the new film. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe exec also reflected on handing over the reins to Lucasfilm in January to longtime deputies Dave Filoni\u00a0(now president and chief creative officer) and Lynwen Brennan (co-president). <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt didn\u2019t just happen six months ago. I spent 10 years talking Dave into gradually stepping into live action. He had so much experience in animation. He\u2019s so knowledgeable about Star Wars and loves it so much, it\u2019s really been a 10-year mentoring process for both of them. Lynwen came out of Industrial Light & Magic. She was my GM the entire time. I would argue that the transition has been really pretty seamless,\u201d Kennedy said.<\/p>\n

\n\tPatton Oswalt hosted Sunday\u2019s Golden Reels ceremony. Following Kennedy\u2019s acceptance speech, the comic joked that she had gone backstage for a ritual \u201cfreeing her from the nerd mafia she\u2019s been trapped with for years.\u201d Regarding the fervent (and occasionally toxic) Star Wars fandom, Oswalt said Kennedy had been \u201cfreed from the comments section.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBackstage, Kennedy reflected on her time at the top of Lucasfilm in relation to the fanbase.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI really segued into [that job] when the fan expectations collided with social media. That really has created a kind of explosion. It\u2019s alway has been important to Lucasfilm, that the fans are huge part of what the franchise is. So that was something that was new to me and something that grew over time, but it\u2019s remained incredibly important to the company,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\n\tShe concluded on-stage remarks with a tribute to people behind sound design, making reference to her 1981 film \u201cRaiders of the Lost Ark,\u201d the first in the Indiana Jones franchise.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhat I love most about sound designers and editors is your curiosity. You\u2019re the only people I know who can hear the scrape of a toilet lid and think that\u2019s it. That\u2019s it! That\u2019s the sound of the Ark of the Covenant opening,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a recent interview about her Disney exit, Kennedy said was interested exploring the possibilities of AI as it relates to filmmaking. She clarified to Variety that she wished \u201cit was called augmented reality, not artificial intelligence. Many of us in the industry absolutely are committed to human beings and a human point of view. [We\u2019ll see] if these tools can end up augmenting that process, speed things up and find a place in the flow of creativity. That\u2019s what I find quite intriguing about some of these tools. But, to actually replace human beings in the process? No.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tKennedy has received eight Oscar nominations over her career. Films released on her watch include the highest-grossing domestic film of all time, \u201cStar Wars: The Force Awakens,\u201d as well as \u201cRogue One,\u201d \u201cThe Last Jedi\u201d and \u201cSolo.\u201d Her remaining projects as a producer at Lucasfilm include the imminent release of \u201cThe Mandalorian and Grogu,\u201d and the forthcoming Ryan Gosling-led Star Wars vehicle \u201cStar Fighter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPrior to joining the Disney label, Kennedy served as producer or executive producer more than 70 feature films, collectively garnering 120 Academy Award nominations and 25 wins. Those titles include \u201cJurassic Park,\u201d \u201cE.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,\u201d \u201cThe Sixth Sense,\u201d the \u201cBack to the Future\u201d trilogy, \u201cWho Framed Roger Rabbit,\u201d \u201cGremlins\u201d and \u201cThe Goonies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKennedy\u2019s other accolades include a BAFTA fellowship and a CBE Award. She\u2019s served as board chair for the AFI, and was one of the founding Council Members of the Hollywood Commission to Eliminate Sexual Harassment and Advance Equality. Kennedy is currently on the board of the LA Promise Fund, Library of America and USC\u2019s School of Cinematic Arts. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kathleen Kennedy, the venerable filmmaker and former president of Lucasfilm, spent her Sunday singing the praises of American…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":512441,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[236,88,196749,9466,232311],"class_list":["post-512440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-kathleen-kennedy","tag-lucasfilm","tag-mpse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}