# Dave Filoni

David Filoni (born June 7, 1974) is an American director, producer, and screenwriter currently serving as the chief creative officer of Lucasfilm. He directed multiple episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender, before being hired by George Lucas to oversee direction on the television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars as well as directing and writing numerous episodes, including its theatrical film. He was the creator of follow-up series Star Wars Rebels, and served as a supervising director, executive producer and writer.
Filoni is the creator, executive producer and sole writer of live-action miniseries Ahsoka, and is an executive producer on The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Skeleton Crew. Filoni is also the creator and executive producer of the animated series Star Wars Resistance, Star Wars: The Bad Batch and Tales of the Jedi, and an executive producer of the web series Star Wars Forces of Destiny. Filoni is an executive vice president at Lucasfilm, and in 2023 accepted a promotion to chief creative officer.

## Early life and education

Filoni was born in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, on June 7, 1974. 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. 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.
Filoni graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School in 1992 and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 1996.

## 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, before moving on to direct many of Nickelodeon's first-season episodes of the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender.

### 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.

#### Producing and directing

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.
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, it was announced that Filoni had been promoted to Chief Creative Officer of Lucasfilm.

#### Voice acting

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.

#### Acting

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.

## Filmography
### Live-action credits

| Title | Year | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as | Role | Notes |
| Title | Year | Director | Writer | Producer | Art department | Role | Notes |
| The WIN Awards | 2005 | No | No | No | Yes | | animation director |
| Star Wars: The Force Awakens | 2015 | No | No | No | Yes | Screaming Jakku villager (voice) | concept artist |
| Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | 2016 | No | No | No | No | Chopper (voice) | Special thanks |
| The Mandalorian | 2019–2023 | Yes | Yes | Executive | No | Trapper Wolf | live-action debut |
| Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian | 2020–2023 | No | No | Executive | No | Himself | documentary |
| The Book of Boba Fett | 2021–2022 | Yes | Yes | Executive | No | | |
| Disney Gallery: The Book of Boba Fett | 2022 | No | No | Executive | No | Himself | documentary |
| Obi-Wan Kenobi | 2022 | No | No | No | No | | Special Thanks to, Executive Creative Counsel |
| Ahsoka | 2023–present | Yes | Yes | Executive | No | Chopper (voice) | creator |
| Skeleton Crew | 2024—present | No | No | Executive | No | | |
| The Mandalorian & Grogu | 2026 | No | Yes | Yes | TBA | Embo (voice) | |

### Animation credits

| Title | Year | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as | Credited as | Voice role | Notes |
| Title | Year | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Animation department | Voice role | Notes |
| King of the Hill | 1997–1999 | No | No | No | Yes | | character & storyboard artist / assistant director |
| Mission Hill | 1999–2002 | No | No | No | Yes | | storyboard artist / assistant director |
| The Oblongs | 2001 | No | No | No | Yes | | retakes / assistant director |
| Teamo Supremo | 2002 | No | No | No | Yes | | storyboard artist |
| Kim Possible | 2003 | No | No | No | Yes | | storyboard artist & revisions |
| Fillmore! | 2003 | No | No | No | Yes | | storyboard artist |
| Lilo & Stitch: The Series | 2003–2004 | No | No | No | Yes | | storyboard artist |
| Dave the Barbarian | 2004–2005 | No | No | No | Yes | | storyboard artist |
| American Dragon: Jake Long | 2005 | No | No | No | Yes | | storyboard artist |
| Avatar: The Last Airbender | 2005 | Yes | No | No | Yes | | storyboard artist / character designer |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 2008 | Yes | No | No | Yes | | development artist |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 2008–2014, 2020 | Supervising | Yes | Yes | Yes | Embo / Various | development artist |
| Star Wars Rebels | 2014–2018 | Supervising | Yes | Yes | Yes | Chopper / Various | co-creator / storyboard artist |
| Star Wars Forces of Destiny | 2017–2018 | Additional | Additional | Yes | Yes | Chopper / Stormtrooper | storyboard artist |
| Lego Star Wars: All-Stars | 2018 | No | No | No | No | Chopper | |
| Star Wars Resistance | 2018–2020 | No | Story | Yes | No | Bo Keevil / Various | creator / developer |
| Star Wars: The Bad Batch | 2021–2024 | No | Yes | Yes | No | Chopper | creator / developer |
| Tales of the Jedi | 2022 | Supervising | Yes | Yes | No | | creator |
| Zen - Grogu and Dust Bunnies | 2022 | No | No | No | No | | Special Thanks |
| Star Wars: Visions | 2023 | No | No | No | No | | Special Thanks |
| Tales of the Empire | 2024 | Supervising | Stories | Yes | No | | creator |

### Episodic directing and writing credits

| Title | Se. | Ep. | Name | Director | Writer | Notes |
| Avatar: The Last Airbender | 1 | 1 | "The Boy in the Iceberg" | Yes | No | |
| Avatar: The Last Airbender | 1 | 2 | "The Avatar Returns" | Yes | No | |
| Avatar: The Last Airbender | 1 | 6 | "Imprisoned" | Yes | No | |
| Avatar: The Last Airbender | 1 | 10 | "Jet" | Yes | No | |
| Avatar: The Last Airbender | 1 | 13 | "The Blue Spirit" | Yes | No | |
| Avatar: The Last Airbender | 1 | 14 | "The Fortuneteller" | Yes | No | |
| Avatar: The Last Airbender | 1 | 17 | "The Northern Air Temple" | Yes | No | |
| Avatar: The Last Airbender | 1 | 20 | "The Siege of the North, Part 2" | Yes | No | |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | Theatrical film | Theatrical film | Theatrical film | Yes | No | |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 1 | 2 | "Rising Malevolence" | Yes | Add. | Teleplays written by Steven Melching |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 1 | 3 | "Shadow of Malevolence" | No | Add. | Teleplays written by Steven Melching |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 1 | 4 | "Destroy Malevolence" | No | Add. | Teleplays written by Steven Melching |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 1 | 9 | "Cloak of Darkness" | Yes | No | |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 2 | 22 | "Lethal Trackdown" | Yes | Yes | Co-written with Drew Z. Greenberg |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 3 | 1 | "Clone Cadets" | Yes | No | |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 3 | 21 | "Padawan Lost" | Yes | No | |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 3 | 22 | "Wookiee Hunt" | Yes | No | |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 4 | 14 | "A Friend in Need" | Yes | No | |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 5 | 2 | "A War on Two Fronts" | Yes | No | |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 5 | 20 | "The Wrong Jedi" | Yes | No | |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 7 | 2 | "A Distant Echo" | No | Yes | Co-written with Matt Michnovetz & Brent Friedman |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 7 | 5 | "Gone with a Trace" | No | Yes | Co-written with Charles Murray |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 7 | 6 | "Deal No Deal" | No | Yes | Co-written with Charles Murray |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 7 | 7 | "Dangerous Debt" | No | Yes | Co-written with Charles Murray |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 7 | 8 | "Together Again" | No | Yes | Co-written with Charles Murray |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 7 | 9 | "Old Friends, Not Forgotten" | No | Yes | |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 7 | 10 | "The Phantom Apprentice" | No | Yes | |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 7 | 11 | "Shattered" | No | Yes | |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 7 | 12 | "Victory and Death" | No | Yes | |
| Star Wars Rebels | Shorts | 1 | "The Machine in the Ghost" | Yes | No | |
| Star Wars Rebels | Shorts | 4 | "Property of Ezra Bridger" | Yes | No | |
| Star Wars Rebels | 1 | 10 | "Path of the Jedi" | Yes | No | |
| Star Wars Rebels | 1 | 15 | "Fire Across the Galaxy" | Yes | No | |
| Star Wars Rebels | Special | Special | "The Ultimate Guide" | Yes | No | Co-directed with Steward Lee & Steven G. Lee |
| Star Wars Rebels | 2 | 3 | "The Lost Commanders" | Yes | No | Co-directed with Sergio Paez |
| Star Wars Rebels | 2 | 7 | "Wings of the Master" | Yes | No | Co-directed with Sergio Paez |
| Star Wars Rebels | 2 | 21-22 | "Twilight of the Apprentice" | Yes | Yes | Co-written with Melching & Simon Kinberg |
| Star Wars Rebels | 3 | 12–13 | "Ghosts of Geonosis" | No | Yes | Co-written with Melching & Michnovetz |
| Star Wars Rebels | 3 | 15 | "Trials of the Darksaber" | No | Yes | |
| Star Wars Rebels | 3 | 20 | "Twin Suns" | Yes | Yes | Co-written with Henry Gilroy |
| Star Wars Rebels | 4 | 6 | "Flight of the Defender" | No | Yes | Co-written with Melching |
| Star Wars Rebels | 4 | 7 | "Kindred" | No | Yes | Co-written with Gilroy |
| Star Wars Rebels | 4 | 9 | "Rebel Assault" | No | Yes | Co-written with Melching |
| Star Wars Rebels | 4 | 10 | "Jedi Night" | No | Yes | Co-written with Gilroy |
| Star Wars Rebels | 4 | 11 | "DUME" | No | Yes | Co-written with Christopher Yost |
| Star Wars Rebels | 4 | 12 | "Wolves and a Door" | Yes | Yes | Co-directed with Bosco Ng |
| Star Wars Rebels | 4 | 13 | "A World Between Worlds" | Yes | Yes | Co-directed with Steward Lee |
| Star Wars Rebels | 4 | 14 | "A Fool's Hope" | Yes | No | Co-directed with Saul Ruiz |
| Star Wars Rebels | 4 | 15–16 | "Family Reunion and Farewell" | Yes | Yes | Co-directed with Ng & Paez Co-written with Gilroy, Kinberg, Melching & Kiri Hart |
| Star Wars: Forсes of Destiny | 1 | 2 | "BB-8 Bandits" | No | Add. | Teleplays written by Jennifer Muro |
| Star Wars: Forсes of Destiny | 1 | 4 | "The Padawan Path" | No | Add. | Teleplays written by Jennifer Muro |
| Star Wars: Forсes of Destiny | 1 | 5 | "Beasts of Echo Base" | No | Add. | Teleplays written by Jennifer Muro |
| Star Wars: Forсes of Destiny | 1 | 6 | "The Imposter Inside" | No | Add. | Teleplays written by Jennifer Muro |
| Star Wars: Forсes of Destiny | 1 | 13 | "Accidental Allies" | No | Add. | Teleplays written by Jennifer Muro |
| Star Wars: Forсes of Destiny | 1 | 14 | "An Imperial Feast" | No | Add. | Teleplays written by Jennifer Muro |
| Star Wars: Forсes of Destiny | 1 | 15 | "The Happabore Hazard" | No | Add. | Teleplays written by Jennifer Muro |
| Star Wars: Forсes of Destiny | 1 | 16 | "Crash Course" | No | Add. | Teleplays written by Jennifer Muro |
| Star Wars: Forсes of Destiny | 2 | 1 | "Hasty Departure" | Add. | Add. | Directed by Brad Rau Teleplays written by Muro |
| Star Wars: Forсes of Destiny | 2 | 2 | "Unexpected Company" | Add. | Add. | Directed by Brad Rau Teleplays written by Muro |
| Star Wars: Forсes of Destiny | 2 | 3 | "Shuttle Shock" | Add. | Add. | Directed by Brad Rau Teleplays written by Muro |
| Star Wars: Forсes of Destiny | 2 | 4 | "Jyn's Trade" | Add. | Add. | Directed by Brad Rau Teleplays written by Muro |
| Star Wars: Forсes of Destiny | 2 | 5 | "Run Rey Run" | Add. | Add. | Directed by Brad Rau Teleplays written by Muro |
| Star Wars: Forсes of Destiny | 2 | 6 | "Bounty Hunted" | Add. | Add. | Directed by Brad Rau Teleplays written by Muro |
| Star Wars: Forсes of Destiny | 2 | 7 | "The Path Ahead" | Add. | Add. | Directed by Brad Rau Teleplays written by Muro |
| Star Wars: Forсes of Destiny | 2 | 8 | "Porg Problems" | Add. | Add. | Directed by Brad Rau Teleplays written by Muro |
| Star Wars Resistance | 1 | 1–2 | "The Recruit" | No | Story | Teleplay written by Brandon Auman |
| The Mandalorian | 1 | 1 | "Chapter 1: The Mandalorian" | Yes | No | |
| The Mandalorian | 1 | 5 | "Chapter 5: The Gunslinger" | Yes | Yes | |
| The Mandalorian | 2 | 5 | "Chapter 13: The Jedi" | Yes | Yes | |
| The Mandalorian | 3 | 4 | "Chapter 20: The Foundling" | No | Yes | Co-written with Jon Favreau |
| The Mandalorian | 3 | 7 | "Chapter 23: The Spies" | No | Yes | Co-written with Jon Favreau |
| Star Wars: The Bad Batch | 1 | 1 | "Aftermath" | No | Yes | Co-written with Jennifer Corbett |
| The Book of Boba Fett | 1 | 6 | "Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger" | Yes | Yes | Co-written with Favreau |
| Star Wars: Tales | Tales of Jedi | 1 | "Life and Death" | No | Yes | |
| Star Wars: Tales | Tales of Jedi | 2 | "Justice" | No | Yes | |
| Star Wars: Tales | Tales of Jedi | 4 | "The Sith Lord" | No | Yes | |
| Star Wars: Tales | Tales of Jedi | 5 | "Practice Makes Perfect" | No | Yes | |
| Star Wars: Tales | Tales of Jedi | 6 | "Resolve" | No | Yes | |
| Star Wars: Tales | Tales of the Empire | 1 | "The Path of Fear" | No | Story | Teleplays written by Amanda Rose Muñoz |
| Star Wars: Tales | Tales of the Empire | 2 | "The Path of Anger" | No | Story | Teleplays written by Amanda Rose Muñoz |
| Star Wars: Tales | Tales of the Empire | 3 | "The Path of Hate" | No | Story | Teleplays written by Amanda Rose Muñoz |
| Star Wars: Tales | Tales of the Empire | 4 | "Devoted" | No | Story | Teleplay written by Nicolas Anasatassiou |
| Star Wars: Tales | Tales of the Empire | 5 | "Realization" | No | Story | Teleplays written by Matt Michnovetz |
| Star Wars: Tales | Tales of the Empire | 6 | "The Way Out" | No | Story | Teleplays written by Matt Michnovetz |
| Ahsoka | 1 | 1 | "Part One: Master and Apprentice" | Yes | Yes | |
| Ahsoka | 1 | 2 | "Part Two: Toil and Trouble" | No | Yes | |
| Ahsoka | 1 | 3 | "Part Three: Time to Fly" | No | Yes | |
| Ahsoka | 1 | 4 | "Part Four: Fallen Jedi" | No | Yes | |
| Ahsoka | 1 | 5 | "Part Five: Shadow Warrior" | Yes | Yes | |
| Ahsoka | 1 | 6 | "Part Six: Far, Far Away" | No | Yes | |
| Ahsoka | 1 | 7 | "Part Seven: Dreams and Madness" | No | Yes | |
| Ahsoka | 1 | 8 | "Part Eight: The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord" | No | Yes | |
| Ahsoka | 2 | 1 | TBA | TBA | Yes | |
| Ahsoka | 2 | 2 | TBA | TBA | Yes | |
| Ahsoka | 2 | 3 | TBA | TBA | Yes | |
| Ahsoka | 2 | 4 | TBA | TBA | Yes | |
| Ahsoka | 2 | 5 | TBA | TBA | Yes | |
| Ahsoka | 2 | 6 | TBA | TBA | Yes | |
| Ahsoka | 2 | 7 | TBA | TBA | Yes | |
| Ahsoka | 2 | 8 | TBA | TBA | Yes | |