From left to right:Hosts of The Star Wars Show, Andi Gutierrez and Anthony Carboni, and members of the Lucasfilm Story Group, Matt Martin, Diana Williams, Steve Blank, Josh Rimes, Rayne Roberts and Leland Chee at Celebration Orlando
Established in 2013, the Lucasfilm Story Group, also referred to as the Lucasfilm Story Team or the Franchise Story Team, functions as a division within Lucasfilm Ltd.. Their primary function is to maintain oversight of Star Wars canon, aiding writers and directors as they craft fresh narratives. As of May in 2017, the team consisted of eleven members. Since the Story Group's inception, Pablo Hidalgo, both a Lucasfilm creative executive and author, has been a key figure, providing expertise on Star Wars specifics, past Lucasfilm decisions, and the principles of George Lucas.
Kathleen Kennedy's initiative in 2012 led to the formation of the Lucasfilm Story Group. Kiri Hart, Lucasfilm's Vice President, played a crucial role in establishing the group as its Development Lead. Their stated aim was to replace the canon hierarchy system with a unified and consistent continuity. The Lucasfilm Story Group, which included Rayne Roberts, Carrie Beck, Diana Williams, Leland Chee, Pablo Hidalgo, and Matt Martin, contributed to the development of Star Wars: The Old Republic: Galactic Starfighter, a digital expansion for the video game Star Wars: The Old Republic, and received recognition in the game's end credits.
On April 25, 2014, the Lucasfilm Story Group initiated a reboot of the Star Wars universe. This involved retiring a significant portion of the Expanded Universe storyline, rebranding it as "Star Wars Legends." Apart from Lucas' original six films, the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series and film, along with the standalone comic arc Star Wars: Darth Maul—Son of Dathomir, derived from unproduced The Clone Wars TV series scripts, were the only previously released materials to maintain canon status. Every subsequent piece of content created in collaboration with the Story Group, including the Disney XD television series Star Wars Rebels and all novels starting with A New Dawn, is considered integral to the revised canonical continuity.
Carrie Beck and Leland Chee, both members of the Story Group, participated in the production of the non-canon Disney XD animated series LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures (2016), ensuring the show's consistency with the new canon.
Author Jason Fry has commented that the misconception that the Story Group possesses complete knowledge and should be flawless is a prevalent one. He stated, "Inconsistencies and errors are inevitable."
According to author Delilah S. Dawson, the story group generally encourages content creators to come up with new concepts rather than depending on existing ones.
- Carrie Beck — Development & Production, Senior Vice President [15]
- James Waugh — Franchise Content and Strategy, Senior Vice President [16]
- Rayne Roberts — Film Development, Vice President [7]
- Steve Blank — Franchise Content and Strategy Director; Creative Executive [17]
- Leland Chee — Keeper of the Holocron; Sr. Creative Executive [18]
- Pablo Hidalgo [19] — Star Wars Lore Consultant [20]
- Phil Szostak — Creative Art Manager [21]
- Matt Martin — Franchise Story and Content, Sr. Creative Executive [22]
- Jason D. Stein —Creative Executive [23]
- Lauren Olsen — Franchise Content and Strategy, Creative Executive [24]
- Kelsey Sharpe —Jr. Creative Executive [25]
- Emily Shkoukani —Jr. Creative Executive [26]
- Shiree Cole [4] —Executive Assistant [27]
- Kate Izquierdo [4]
- Cara Pardo (previously employed) [28]
- Stephen Feder (previously employed) [29]
- Kiri Hart (previously employed) [29]
- Josh Rimes (moved to a different role) [30]
- Diana Williams (previously employed) [31]
- Inside the 'Star Wars' Writers Room: Meet the 5 Architects of the Franchise on www.hollywoodreporter.com (archived from the original on June 22, 2020)
- 'Star Wars' story group manages teeming galaxy on www.cnn.com (archived from the original on April 20, 2020)
- How Star Wars authors work with Lucasfilm and earn creative control on www.syfy.com (archived from the original on May 12, 2020)
- The Women Who Run the 'Star Wars' Universe on www.nytimes.com (archived from the original on September 18, 2020)