Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) has promoted its president and general manager Lynwen Brennan to general manager of Lucasfilm. She will oversee all operational matters for Lucasfilm, ILM, and Skywalker sound.
Lynwen will report to Lucasfilm president Kathy Kennedy and Walt Disney Studios president Alan Bergman. She will be responsible for developing and overseeing Lucasfilm’s business strategy and supervise implementation of the company vision.
Brennan has been at ILM for 16 years and has headed business operations it since 2009.
Speaking on her appointment, Kathy said, “As we accelerate production of content for television, film, theme parks, and interactive games, Lynwen will focus on our strategic vision and lead day-to-day operations.”
Lynwen told Variety that she will be concentrating on Lucasfilm’s operations, “I will make sure we have a company where everybody can bring their best game, and also collaborating and communicating with our partners at Disney and our partners throughout the Lucasfilm organisation to make sure that we are nurturing the (‘Star Wars’) franchise in the right way and that we have a long-term strategic vision for the company.”
“We’re more than a film company, and we’re more than a franchise company,” she added. “The thing that is at the forefront of all of our minds, both here at Lucasfilm and at Disney, is the responsibility to continue George’s legacy with the Star Wars films. Star Wars means so much to people around the world. That responsibility weighs on me quite heavily, to make sure we make the right choices for the franchise and the fans.”
She will still be involved with ILM but at a higher level.
Her career with Lucasfilm started with her role as technical area leader for the Computer Graphics Technical Directors. She was promoted a year later to the manager of Production Technical Directors, where she supervised technical directors, sequence supervisors, and assistant technical directors. In 2002, Brennan was promoted to director of Digital Artists, a role she held until her promotion to executive in charge of production in 2006.
Prior to Lucasfilm, she had 10 years of experience in visual effects software development. Brennan began her career as an original member of Parallax Software where she held a variety of roles from support to sales. In 2005, Parallax was sold to Avid Technology and she was a key member of the transition team. Brennan spent two years with Avid as a marketing manager before joining Alias Wavefront as a product manager focusing on strategic business development and product management.