Dave Filoni

Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.

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"There isn't a thing that we do in the storytelling space that I don't check with Dave. What I find about Dave is you don't just sit down and have a discussion about plot or review characters inside the Star Wars world. You end up having meaningful, thoughtful discussions about what it is we're trying to say inside the storytelling."

―Kathleen Kennedy^[src]

Dave Filoni is an animation producer who has been involved in various ways with Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: Forces of Destiny, Star Wars Resistance and The Mandalorian.

Biography

"When Revenge of the Sith was over, I found myself in the incredible position of carrying the torch forward."

―Dave Filoni^[src]

Filoni grew up in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. While attending Mt. Lebanon High School, he was in the school's marching band as well as player goaltender for the hockey team. He went on to attend Edinboro University.

Filoni made an appearance at Celebration IV on Sunday, May 28, 2007 with producer Catherine Winder in the Celebration Theater (Room 408AB), to discuss the beginnings of the new television series and reveal how The Clone Wars was being created. During San Diego Comic Con 2014, Filoni admitted that he knew about contradicting the Expanded Universe by establishing The Clone Wars as canon. In his defense, he said that they still included the Expanded Universe elements when they could.^[1]

Filoni was one of the executive producers on Star Wars Rebels,^[2] and he voiced Chopper in the series, a role which was not revealed until the series finale.^[3]

He is also an executive producer on The Mandalorian,^[4] for which he directed two episodes^[5]—his first venture outside the realm of animation.^[6] Around the debut of Star Wars Rebels Season Four, Filoni had hinted that he'd been exploring other forms of storytelling and learning from live-action directors.^[7]^[8] (He visited the sets and studied the productions of The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.^[9])

Personal life

An avid Plo Koon fan, Filoni dressed up as the Jedi Master for the opening of Revenge of the Sith.^[10] Dave 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. Filoni also has a small model of the character Appa on his desk, from Avatar: The Last Airbender. He is also a fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Pirates.