Dave Filoni has been named Chief Creative Officer (CCO) of Lucasfilm, giving him more control of the “Star Wars” franchise. The director and producer has been heavily involved in “Star Wars” since directing the animated “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” in 2008.

“Now I’m what’s called chief creative officer of Lucasfilm,” Filoni told Vanity Fair. “In the past, in a lot of projects I would be brought into it, I would see it after it had already developed a good ways.”

As CCO, Filoni will work directly with Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy and Head of Development Carrie Beck to create future “Star Wars” movies and shows.

“In this new role,” Filoni said, “it’s opened up to basically everything that’s going on. When we’re planning the future of what we’re doing now, I’m involved at the inception phase.”

After his work on the animated “Star Wars” shows, including “The Clone Wars” and “Rebels,” Filoni went on to be a writer, director, and executive producer of most of the franchise’s new live-action series, starting with “The Mandalorian.”

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