Star Wars Galaxy's Edge Creatives Panel

[WDW Pro]

https://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201909/7027/

So here we've got what I'm sure was supposed to be a self-congratulatory panel for significant players behind Star Wars Galaxy's Edge, and instead it's a gaggle of incompetence. Expect any Q&A sessions to have questions screened beforehand.

In order, we've got Scott Trowbridge, who used his Universal successes to catapult him into esoteric endeavors at Disney that seldom (if ever) actually pay off. He's a nice guy though, so it's tough to watch him chase unready technologies that tend to blow up his concepts. There's Anisha Deshmane, who screwed up her job so badly that she should honestly consider switching careers. The level of failure on her part is the stuff of legends; in ten years, industry experts will discuss what she did as an example of how you should never, ever handle interactive elements (sort of like how industry insiders use DCA as an example of how to never, ever build a new theme park). Margaret Kerrison is next up, and she was one part of the trifecta of utterly destroying Star Wars Galaxy's Edge (the other two being Kiri Hart and Carrie Beck). Their hubris of believing that George Lucas' Star Wars was a dead era and the new, ideologically driven Star Wars was their vehicle to driving social change permeated everything about the post TFA and SWGE developments. Of all the people on the panel, Kerrison is the one who should face the most heat for being at the forefront of fundamentally changing Star Wars in the belief that you could throw away what people loved about the franchise with no real negative impacts. Finally, there's poor Chris Beatty, who knows better than just about anyone how to put together a beautiful theme park expansion, but realized early on he was just along for the ride on this one. And as a non-Star Wars fan, he was focused more on the logistical designs for the expansions rather than the actual creative focus he needed to be in charge of.

It's almost enjoyable watching people who did the absolute wrong things over and over, now have to live with the fact that their wrong decisions have consequences. Sometimes in a company like Disney, ideologues believe they're suddenly impervious to flawed decision-making because Star Wars or Disney fans will take whatever you give them and go with it.

 

[networkpro]

Ironic indeed when the clash of onscreen ideologies is repeated off-screen.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Margaret Kerrison is next up, and she was one part of the trifecta of utterly destroying Star Wars Galaxy's Edge (the other two being Kiri Hart and Carrie Beck). Their hubris of believing that George Lucas' Star Wars was a dead era and the new, ideologically driven Star Wars was their vehicle to driving social change permeated everything about the post TFA and SWGE developments. Of all the people on the panel, Kerrison is the one who should face the most heat for being at the forefront of fundamentally changing Star Wars in the belief that you could throw away what people loved about the franchise with no real negative impacts

Kerrison is just a WDI employee who was given the task of using the new trilogy, no?

We still have out there competing ""leaks"" of why the new trilogy was used:

1. LucasFilm wanted it.
2. Disney Corp wanted it after seeing the box office returns of TFA.

So, why lambaste someone for following marching order?

And does this mean you're on the side of "LucasFilm wanted new trilogy" and not the "Disney Corp wanted new trilogy"?

 

[erasure fan1]

We still have out there competing ""leaks"" of why the new trilogy was used:

1. LucasFilm wanted it.
2. Disney Corp wanted it after seeing the box office returns of TFA.

So, why lambaste someone for following marching order?

And does this mean you're on the side of "LucasFilm wanted new trilogy" and not the "Disney Corp wanted new trilogy"?

Yea, without knowing where the true mandate came from, it's hard to place blame. My gut tells me both lucasfilm and Disney are both to blame on this one. I tend to blame Iger because a billion plus land, everything goes through him. The land has his upcharge everything stink all over it.

 

[WDW Pro]

Kerrison is just a WDI employee who was given the task of using the new trilogy, no?

We still have out there competing ""leaks"" of why the new trilogy was used:

1. LucasFilm wanted it.
2. Disney Corp wanted it after seeing the box office returns of TFA.

So, why lambaste someone for following marching order?

And does this mean you're on the side of "LucasFilm wanted new trilogy" and not the "Disney Corp wanted new trilogy"?

Here's how it worked:

Kerrison worked with Beck on coordinating SWGE and SW Disney Canon. Beck acted as a liaison between Hart - head at that time of the Lucasfilm Story Group - all of which was part of Kennedy's purview. Kerrison isn't a Star Wars fan, nor was she familiar with it. Beck loathes the George Lucas Star Wars and has been a constant source of failure within Star Wars, including being the driving force behind Forces of Destiny (a feminist approach to Star Wars that failed spectacularly) and Star Wars Resistance (also seen as a tremendous failure). Hart was eventually removed because she actually viewed Star Wars as a vehicle for sociopolitical change, and she became such a toxic figure that even Kathleen Kennedy viewed her as damaging to her career and legacy (I believe Hart is still under contract as a consultant to manage her ability to speak out against Kennedy/Disney/Lucasfilm). Beck still works at Lucasfilm, but she essentially has no power whatsoever any longer. Kerrison is likely to depart Disney after RotR launches.

The change from SWGE celebrating all of Star Wars occurred just after TFA launched. While TFA was JJ's baby, the Lucasfilm Story Group and Rian Johnson basically took the franchise in a totally different direction, even before TFA had launched. This wasn't just limited to TLJ, but to all Star Wars properties. You can think of this as JJ lighting the fuse that made Star Wars bigger than ever, and then a separate team viewing that success as a means to advance social agendas under the belief that Star Wars was too big to fail. However, Iger was unaware of the internal issues at Lucasfilm in which political ideologues had taken over until production for Rogue One revealed massive issues. Because Iger was unaware of the situation, he believed TFA meant the public was head-over-heels for the new trilogy, and he immediately wanted to capitalize off of it. In doing so, he handed Lucasfilm massive power over WDI, via the connection between Kerrison-Beck-Hart. This meant that all of WDI's plans were essentially being run through those three, with theme park experts hand-tied by a Story Group piggybacking off of JJ's massive success, while they were actually entirely incompetent. When you wonder why there's a tiny cantina, why there are basically no OT characters (i.e. C3P0, R2D2, Yoda, etc), why there's no Star Wars music, etc, etc, it's all because the land was not developed by people who knew how to develop a theme park expansion...

By the time Iger became aware of the issues, it was too late to change direction without missing the expected Episode 9 hype window. Panic set in after TLJ second weekend drop-off set in, and the realization that Star Wars was damaged was accepted by Solo. Still, the attendance results were far, far beyond the lowest expectations they had. Further complicating how bad everything has been is the fact that Chapek stepped in midstream and stripped out so many elements that could have mitigated the issues, mostly due to his belief that SWGE could be two rides and a retail space. Combined with the late-game changes to move DHS' SWGE location to save approximately $500 million dollars, and you have the perfect storm for two expansions that are utter failures at their intended goals.

Yea, without knowing where the true mandate came from, it's hard to place blame. My gut tells me both lucasfilm and Disney are both to blame on this one. I tend to blame Iger because a billion plus land, everything goes through him. The land has his upcharge everything stink all over it.

Iger should have known what was going on at Lucasfilm, but in all honesty, his trust in Kathleen Kennedy was so high that he was blindsided. I think he was so concerned about keeping George Lucas placated publicly, that he lost sight of what was going on behind the scenes. As for Kennedy, I think that 1) she's not cut out for the creative side of franchise creation, and 2) she wanted to empower women and empower diversity, but she failed to understand the extremists she was hiring. As an empowered woman who gained massive success in the eighties and nineties, I don't think she knew what modern social justice in the far left looked like, or how it would manifest itself if left unchecked while she enjoyed the perks of her position.

 

[networkpro]

Here's how it worked:

Kerrison worked with Beck on coordinating SWGE and SW Disney Canon. Beck acted as a liaison between Hart - head at that time of the Lucasfilm Story Group - all of which was part of Kennedy's purview. . As for Kennedy, I think that 1) she's not cut out for the creative side of franchise creation, and 2) she wanted to empower women and empower diversity, but she failed to understand the extremists she was hiring. As an empowered woman who gained massive success in the eighties and nineties, I don't think she knew what modern social justice in the far left looked like, or how it would manifest itself if left unchecked while she enjoyed the perks of her position.

That's a problem when you don't have multiple ways to validate the work of your subordinates, you get Yes people who whisper their siren songs of perfection in your ears as the sewers overflow. All company leaders have to delegate, but you also have to have those checks and balances consisting of internal and external resources so you don't end up as the next Enron or GE.

 

[erasure fan1]

As for Kennedy, I think that 1) she's not cut out for the creative side of franchise creation, and 2) she wanted to empower women and empower diversity, but she failed to understand the extremists she was hiring. As an empowered woman who gained massive success in the eighties and nineties, I don't think she knew what modern social justice in the far left looked like, or how it would manifest itself if left unchecked while she enjoyed the perks of her position.

I think you're spot on with Kennedy. It's Disneys biggest mistake with star wars. They should have immediately brought on someone to oversee the creative side and not started until they had someone. Unfortunately they needed to get the movies started to justify the 4 billion. Couple that with point 2, and well, here we are. The question is, how long after rise of skywalker until she "moves on to new challenges."

 

[Mickeyboof]

This saga is absolutely fascinating.

I wish I could go to the panel and personally ask Margaret Kerrison how she can still smile on camera when her work a new standard of tragic.

Anisha Deshmane’s word salad LinkedIn summary is sad, especially after seeing the product of their work.

“I am a maker, designer, and storyteller. My focus on tangible interactivity and spatial storytelling adapts my background in architecture and media studies to explore immersive experiential design in VR development and interactive themed entertainment. I am passionate about taking ideas from inklings in brainstorms through to full production and installation, especially when working on projects that transport guests into new and exciting worlds, giving them opportunities to explore and influence the world around them.”

 

[_caleb]

Here's how it worked:

Kerrison worked with Beck on coordinating SWGE and SW Disney Canon. Beck acted as a liaison between Hart - head at that time of the Lucasfilm Story Group - all of which was part of Kennedy's purview. Kerrison isn't a Star Wars fan, nor was she familiar with it. Beck loathes the George Lucas Star Wars and has been a constant source of failure within Star Wars, including being the driving force behind Forces of Destiny (a feminist approach to Star Wars that failed spectacularly) and Star Wars Resistance (also seen as a tremendous failure). Hart was eventually removed because she actually viewed Star Wars as a vehicle for sociopolitical change, and she became such a toxic figure that even Kathleen Kennedy viewed her as damaging to her career and legacy (I believe Hart is still under contract as a consultant to manage her ability to speak out against Kennedy/Disney/Lucasfilm). Beck still works at Lucasfilm, but she essentially has no power whatsoever any longer. Kerrison is likely to depart Disney after RotR launches.

The change from SWGE celebrating all of Star Wars occurred just after TFA launched. While TFA was JJ's baby, the Lucasfilm Story Group and Rian Johnson basically took the franchise in a totally different direction, even before TFA had launched. This wasn't just limited to TLJ, but to all Star Wars properties. You can think of this as JJ lighting the fuse that made Star Wars bigger than ever, and then a separate team viewing that success as a means to advance social agendas under the belief that Star Wars was too big to fail. However, Iger was unaware of the internal issues at Lucasfilm in which political ideologues had taken over until production for Rogue One revealed massive issues. Because Iger was unaware of the situation, he believed TFA meant the public was head-over-heels for the new trilogy, and he immediately wanted to capitalize off of it. In doing so, he handed Lucasfilm massive power over WDI, via the connection between Kerrison-Beck-Hart. This meant that all of WDI's plans were essentially being run through those three, with theme park experts hand-tied by a Story Group piggybacking off of JJ's massive success, while they were actually entirely incompetent. When you wonder why there's a tiny cantina, why there are basically no OT characters (i.e. C3P0, R2D2, Yoda, etc), why there's no Star Wars music, etc, etc, it's all because the land was not developed by people who knew how to develop a theme park expansion...

By the time Iger became aware of the issues, it was too late to change direction without missing the expected Episode 9 hype window. Panic set in after TLJ second weekend drop-off set in, and the realization that Star Wars was damaged was accepted by Solo. Still, the attendance results were far, far beyond the lowest expectations they had. Further complicating how bad everything has been is the fact that Chapek stepped in midstream and stripped out so many elements that could have mitigated the issues, mostly due to his belief that SWGE could be two rides and a retail space. Combined with the late-game changes to move DHS' SWGE location to save approximately $500 million dollars, and you have the perfect storm for two expansions that are utter failures at their intended goals.



Iger should have known what was going on at Lucasfilm, but in all honesty, his trust in Kathleen Kennedy was so high that he was blindsided. I think he was so concerned about keeping George Lucas placated publicly, that he lost sight of what was going on behind the scenes. As for Kennedy, I think that 1) she's not cut out for the creative side of franchise creation, and 2) she wanted to empower women and empower diversity, but she failed to understand the extremists she was hiring. As an empowered woman who gained massive success in the eighties and nineties, I don't think she knew what modern social justice in the far left looked like, or how it would manifest itself if left unchecked while she enjoyed the perks of her position.

Cool. Could you tell it again but from Margaret Kerrison's perspective?

 

[DDLand]

including being the driving force behind Forces of Destiny (a feminist approach to Star Wars that failed spectacularly)

@WDW Pro you’ve gone too far this time!

Forces of Destiny gave us the greatest moment in Star Wars history. Chewbacca snuggling with a Wampa!

As you all might imagine, Chewbacca managed to get himself into a bit of a pickle. Luckily all the Wampa was interested in was cuddling! Soon Leah was on the scene to save Chewie from his predicament. After some gymnastics skills that make Simone Biles look like a rookie, Leah managed to help everyone live happily ever after.

Best 2 minutes of my life!

 

[Rteetz]

I don't understand the point of this thread. Is it to just bash Disney creatives for their SWGE work or? I have yet to see SWGE but I am a fan of the new trilogy so I would expect to like it.

The "failure" everyone keeps talking about though isn't the only issue at hand. WDW and DL crowds aren't there. Its not like people didn't just not show up to SWGE, they aren't showing up to WDW in general. This is a larger problem than SWGE I think.

 

[WildRide]

I don't understand the point of this thread. Is it to just bash Disney creatives for their SWGE work or? I have yet to see SWGE but I am a fan of the new trilogy so I would expect to like it.

The "failure" everyone keeps talking about though isn't the only issue at hand. WDW and DL crowds aren't there. Its not like people didn't just not show up to SWGE, they aren't showing up to WDW in general. This is a larger problem than SWGE I think.

When acquisitions are such a big part of your last 10 years as a company, you better absolutely nail expansions based upon those acquisitions.

When you market an expansion as big as they did, you should never soft launch it like they decided to do when the main ride isn’t ready.

And if you’re not going to have everything ready that you promised and you soft launch anyways, you better not follow through with a massive set of price increases ever.

Lucasfilm messed up.
Chapek messed up.

 

[Kram Sacul]

I don't understand the point of this thread. Is it to just bash Disney creatives for their SWGE work or? I have yet to see SWGE but I am a fan of the new trilogy so I would expect to like it.

Pretty much. Same reason for every new GE thread. Yawn.

 

[Rteetz]

When acquisitions are such a big part of your last 10 years as a company, you better absolutely nail expansions based upon those acquisitions.

When you market an expansion as big as they did, you should never soft launch it like they decided to do when the main ride isn’t ready.

And if you’re not going to have everything ready that you promised and you soft launch anyways, you better not follow through with a massive set of price increases ever.

Lucasfilm messed up.
Chapek messed up.

I don’t disagree but I also don’t think this is specifically a SWGE problem.

 

[The_Jobu]

Is it to just bash Disney creatives for their SWGE work or?

Yes and no. It's discussing the irony of these specific individuals congradulating themselves when they've made terrible, terrible decisions.

 

[180º]

The editorializing in this thread is so over-the-top. WDW Pro, I know you have great sources and have provided us with nice scoops in the past but you damage your credibility by trying to pass off your hyperbole as gospel.

 

[WDW Pro]

The editorializing in this thread is so over-the-top. WDW Pro, I know you have great sources and have provided us with nice scoops in the past but you damage your credibility by trying to pass off your hyperbole as gospel.

No hyperbole... just the facts as I witnessed them.

 

[tirian]

Cool. Could you tell it again but from Margaret Kerrison's perspective?

“Fans fueled by toxic masculinity trolled my masterpieces online to promote alt-right, MAGA philosophies that deny basic human rights to women. These were the greatest movies ever made, and I was just trying to establish strong female action heroines because Sigourney Weaver and Carrie Fisher never existed.”

 

[HauntedPirate]

This saga is absolutely fascinating.

I wish I could go to the panel and personally ask Margaret Kerrison how she can still smile on camera when her work a new standard of tragic.

Anisha Deshmane’s word salad LinkedIn summary is sad, especially after seeing the product of their work.

“I am a maker, designer, and storyteller. My focus on tangible interactivity and spatial storytelling adapts my background in architecture and media studies to explore immersive experiential design in VR development and interactive themed entertainment. I am passionate about taking ideas from inklings in brainstorms through to full production and installation, especially when working on projects that transport guests into new and exciting worlds, giving them opportunities to explore and influence the world around them.”

From reading that garbage dump of a LinkedIn summary, and this is a first for me - I got a coverall on my BS bingo card!!

Much of this lines up with what I've read elsewhere. And it fills in gaps as well. You can't make up the ineptitude on the kind of scale we're talking here.

 

[WDW Pro]

From reading that garbage dump of a LinkedIn summary, and this is a first for me - I got a coverall on my BS bingo card!!

Much of this lines up with what I've read elsewhere. And it fills in gaps as well. You can't make up the ineptitude on the kind of scale we're talking here.

Once you start to read the word salad products the put out there, it does begin to take off the mystique a bit doesn't it?