--- description: Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy says she and others behind the scenes have a responsibility "to nurture talent" title: 'Star Wars' Producer: 'Nothing We'd Like More Than' A Woman Director image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d0d268649080d72/6988682b3c16394b1045a351/kathleen-kennedy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # _Star Wars_ Producer: 'There's Nothing We'd Like More Than to Find a Female Director' ## Video: TIME Explains: The New Star Wars Movie, Episode VII [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Explains: The New Star Wars Movie, Episode VII](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MXrUHtut.m3u8) (2:25)  _Published 2012-11-16. George Lucas recently announced further Star Wars installments. Who will make them and what will they be about? TIME explains_  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 14, 2015 12:47 PM CUT  Lucasfilm's President Kathleen Kennedy speaks at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington Oct. 13, 2015. Lucasfilm's President Kathleen Kennedy speaks at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington Oct. 13, 2015.Kevin Lamarque—Reuters  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 14, 2015 12:47 PM CUT While the new _Star Wars_ sequels all have men directors—J.J. Abrams, Rian Johnson and Colin Trevorrow—the president of Lucasfilm and one of the most accomplished women in Hollywood says there is interest in [finding a woman to direct](http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/14/star-wars-new-female-character-extremely-significant-says-producer "undefined") one of the upcoming stand-alone films. “There’s nothing we’d like more than to find a female director for _Star Wars_,” said Kathleen Kennedy, who’s also a producer of _Star Wars: The Force Awakens_, which hits theaters in December. Kennedy, who revealed that six out of the eight people developing the _The Force Awakens_ were women, told the _Guardian_ that it’s on her and other industry executives to help women directors get experience before they can tackle a film property as big as a _Star Wars_ movie. “It’s a lot to do with opportunity and there has to be a concerted effort to create the opportunity,” she said of the [well-documented](http://time.com/3856444/kathryn-bigelow-aclu-sexism-hollywood/ "undefined") dearth of women in behind-the-scenes roles. “Part of our job is to nurture talent. We need to not go to a filmmaker who’s done one movie and expect them to come in and do something the size of _Star Wars_ without having an opportunity to find other movies they can do along the way.” \[[_The Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/14/star-wars-new-female-character-extremely-significant-says-producer "undefined")\] **Read next:** [_Elizabeth Banks on Directing: ‘I’m Not Interested in Representing My Entire Gender’_](http://time.com/3858530/elizabeth-banks-female-directors-pitch-perfect-2/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4072910/star-wars-kathleen-kennedy-women-directors/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4072910/star-wars-kathleen-kennedy-women-directors/"},"headline":"Star Wars Producer: 'There's Nothing We'd Like More Than to Find a Female Director'","datePublished":"2015-10-14T12:47:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:46:48.377Z","description":"Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy says she and others behind the scenes have a responsibility \"to nurture talent\"","url":"https://time.com/4072910/star-wars-kathleen-kennedy-women-directors/","keywords":["movies","Star Wars topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d0d268649080d72/6988682b3c16394b1045a351/kathleen-kennedy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d0d268649080d72/6988682b3c16394b1045a351/kathleen-kennedy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Kathleen Kennedy","caption":"Kathleen Kennedy","creditText":"Kevin Lamarque—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4072910/star-wars-kathleen-kennedy-women-directors/","name":"Star Wars Producer: 'There's Nothing We'd Like More Than to Find a Female Director'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Explains: The New Star Wars Movie, Episode VII","description":"George Lucas recently announced further Star Wars installments. 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