Keepers of the Force
> A cabal of Lucasfilm executives ensures that even minute details are regulated throughout the expanded Star Wars universe
with the assumption that there would be no more Star Wars movies,” said Hidalgo, who joined Beck and Williams at a Disney press day in Los Angeles last week.
“When it became apparent that we were going to do Episode VII – and the storyline that George kicked off made it clear that Episode VII did not resemble the galaxy described in the books – we said: ‘Let’s align all this stuff’.”
From 2014, the Story Group was able to furnish creatives, from comicbook writers to theme-park designers, with a rich trove of background material – factchecking dialogue, plotlines and the most obscure ephemera.
Beck, who worked on the relationship between Rebels and Rogue One – which shared the Clone Wars character Saw Gerrera – said it was important to make sure all these properties worked together but could still be enjoyed independently.
“We think about how (characters) enter into this narrative in a way which feels honest to their story,” she said.
The system might seem unwieldy and dictatorial, but it is appreciated by fans and filmmakers alike.
After all, the last thing you want in your Star Wars novel is Chewbacca winning a tap dancing competition when a video game released years earlier established that he has two left feet.
“What we don’t want to do is create something that feel like it is an outlier in a way that it doesn’t feel like it fits within the larger universe,” said Williams.
“What we want is for people to feel engaged and that no matter how varied that expression might be, all things are authentic, valuable.”
It’s not just about nit-picking either – Story Group members work with writers and filmmakers to develop new ideas.
Some are turned down because the timing is wrong, they don’t fit in or are just plain silly.
Others such as Rogue One – offered to the Story Group by Industrial Light and Magic’s special effects guru John Knoll in his first-ever movie pitch – are given the green light.
“It’s not like we tell them what story to tell, but we together find the story that they are looking to tell,” said Hidalgo.
“And because we are a connection point for all that creative activity ... we see it all, we communicate it all and we make sure we’re all in sync.” – AFP