Vanity Fair’s Bruce Handy has been quite the busy man these days as he has had the pleasure of interviewing some of the biggest heavyweights associated with the production of The Force Awakens. First he spent time with director J.J. Abrams. Then he chatted for a bit with costume designer Michael Kaplan. And now he goes all the way to the top in his latest interview with Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy.
As a co-founder of Amblin Entertainment, producer Kathleen Kennedy has had a hand in nearly all of Steven Spielberg’s films since Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981. In 2012 she became president of Lucasfilm, George Lucas’s production company, shortly before he sold it to Disney. Now she’s shepherding an ambitious new slate of Star Wars films, including Star Wars: The Force Awakens, from director and co-writer J.J. Abrams, scheduled for December release.
I recently spoke with Kennedy about the mystique Star Wars has for young filmmakers, some unusual ideas she had for releasing the new film, and the odd coincidence that led to her first meeting Abrams three decades ago, when he was a 16-year-old student filmmaker.
