When Big Franchises Change Leaders: What Star Wars’ Filoni Era Teaches Jazz Festivals Facing New Curators

When a beloved franchise swaps leaders, the ground shakes — and jazz festivals feel the same tremor

Hook: If you run a jazz series or festival, you’re juggling ticket sales, artist relationships, and the stubborn question: what happens when a new artistic director walks in? Recent headlines about Dave Filoni stepping into the top creative role at Lucasfilm in early 2026 after Kathleen Kennedy’s departure offer a clear, timely analogy. Filoni’s arrival has already shifted expectations for programming, franchise identity, and fandom reaction — and those exact dynamics play out when a festival changes curators.

The most important insight up front

Leadership change is a turning point, not just a personnel swap. It resets curatorial priorities, reframes brand identity, and rewires audience expectations. If you plan for that reality — with clear communication, data-informed pilots, and legacy stewardship — you can convert disruption into renewal and growth.

Why the Filoni/Kennedy moment matters to festival curators in 2026

In January 2026 Lucasfilm announced a leadership shift: Kathleen Kennedy, who guided franchise strategy for years, stepped down and Dave Filoni — known for deeply serialized, character-driven storytelling from animated and streaming realms — assumed a leading creative role. The media reaction captured a familiar cultural debate: fans worried about a tonal shift, executives signaled a production surge, and critics parsed a slate of proposed projects that some called risky or undercooked.

Swap the words 'film slate' for 'festival lineup' and the scene is familiar to jazz organizers. Long-running festivals have institutional memory and fan expectations. A new artistic director (AD) often brings a signature aesthetic, new relationships, and a different risk tolerance. That can be exciting, but it can also alienate long-time attendees if the transition isn’t managed thoughtfully.

Three Filoni-era lessons every jazz festival should translate into practice

1. A change in creative leadership re-centers storytelling — not just acts

Filoni’s strength is serialized, lore-driven storytelling that rewards hardcore fans while gradually building broader appeal. Applied to jazz festivals, this means the AD may prioritize narrative curation: thematic arcs across days, multi-set artist residencies, or commissioned works that create a through-line.

• Actionable: Convert a portion of your program into narrative projects — a composer-in-residence series, a tribute arc, or a cross-genre collaboration — and run it as a pilot (one or two days) before committing festival-wide.

2. Fan expectations fragment; communicate early and often

After the Filoni announcement, social platforms lit up with speculation: old-school fans feared a drift; new viewers hoped for bold risks. For festivals, audiences range from traditionalists who attend for established names to curious younger listeners attracted to cross-genre acts. Leadership change often intensifies these divisions.

• Actionable: Publish a transition roadmap and audience Q&A within 30 days of appointment. Offer listening sessions (virtual or local) where stakeholders — patrons, artists, and volunteers — can ask questions and offer input.

3. Programming velocity and production scale will change — plan the operational pivot

Filoni’s reported goal to accelerate production mirrors a curator who wants to expand commissions or add satellite events. Rapid scaling tests operations — contracts, vendor capacity, sponsorship alignment, and sustainability commitments.

• Actionable: Run a capacity stress-test before scaling: vendor readiness, backstage facilities, staffing pipeline, and environmental impact. Use a three-tier plan (pilot, scale, full) tied to revenue and audience KPIs.

Mapping the analogy: Filoni traits and festival outcomes

Below are practical pairings of Filoni-era traits and the equivalent festival symptom or opportunity, followed by concrete responses festival leaders can take.

Trait: Deep canon knowledge and fan-first storytelling

Festival equivalent: A curator who prizes jazz history, rare repertoires, and artist narratives.

• Response: Build archival programming — late-night sessions, masterclasses, and contextual panels — to anchor new material in the festival’s tradition.
• Metric: Track late-night attendance and workshop conversion to main-stage tickets.

Trait: Serialized, interlinked projects

Festival equivalent: Multi-set residencies or thematic strands that reward repeat attendance.

• Response: Package day- or weekend-passes with narrative descriptions. Market the story, not just the names.
• Metric: Monitor pass uptake vs. single-ticket sales and social engagement on serialized content.

Trait: Polarizing fandom reactions

Festival equivalent: Long-time supporters push back on experimental programming.

• Response: Maintain a legacy strand — a curated subset of the program that preserves the festival’s signature sound while allowing experimentation elsewhere.
• Metric: Net promoter score (NPS) among year-over-year attendees and membership renewals.

2026 trends festival curators must factor into leadership transitions

As you engineer change, match strategy to the live events landscape in 2026. These developments matter for programming, revenue, and audience-building.

1. Hybrid and hyper-local experiences: Post-pandemic habits solidified into hybrid consumption. Festivals that offer high-quality livestreams and local pop-ups extend reach and serve different price tiers.
2. AI-driven personalization: Recommender tech now tailors festival schedules to attendees; use it to promote niche sets and measure interest in experimental acts.
3. Climate and community accountability: Attendees demand sustainable logistics and community investment. Leadership changes often reset these commitments — make them explicit.
4. Monetization beyond tickets: Subscriptions, memberships, digital merch, and recorded-set sales are now expected revenue lines.
5. Decentralized fan communities: Fans build their own micro-scenes online. Honor and partner with them during transition phases.

A practical 12-month roadmap for a smooth curator transition

Below is a phased plan — swap the timing to fit your festival cycle.

1. Month 0–1: Announcement & Stabilization
   • Public announcement with shared values, immediate priorities, and a 12-month outline.
   • Launch an online feedback forum and schedule two listening sessions.
2. Month 2–4: Pilot & Data Baseline
   • Run 1–2 pilot projects (e.g., a composer residency or hybrid-streamed mini-festival).
   • Establish KPIs: ticket velocity, conversion, social sentiment, membership sign-ups.
3. Month 5–8: Iteration & Partner Alignment
   • Refine programming based on pilot data; lock in sponsorship alignment for new projects.
   • Start community ambassador program to seed word-of-mouth.
4. Month 9–12: Scale & Legacy Preservation
   • Scale successful pilots into the main festival. Announce legacy strand to reassure core fans.
   • Publish impact report (audience data, sustainability metrics, artist payments) to build trust. Also run an operational capacity audit tied to a scaling plan.

Metrics that show you’re succeeding — beyond box office

Ticket sales are essential, but leadership change requires multidimensional measurement. Monitor these KPIs.

• Retention rate: Percentage of returning ticket-holders vs. new-attendee ratio.
• Engagement depth: Average sessions attended per attendee and time spent with recorded content.
• Community sentiment: Social sentiment analysis, membership NPS, and qualitative feedback from listening sessions.
• Artist pipeline: Number of first-time commissions and repeat-artist relationships.
• Revenue diversification: Share of revenue from tickets vs. memberships, digital sales, and sponsorships.
• Operational readiness: Vendor satisfaction scores and contingency execution time (how fast you can scale/back down).

Three common pitfalls and how to avoid them

Pitfall 1: Branding rupture — alienating core supporters

Fix: Preserve a recognizably consistent identity by designating a permanent legacy strand and telling the story of evolution, not erasure.

Pitfall 2: Over-scaling too quickly

Fix: Prioritize pilot-to-scale pipelines — fund pilots with clear go/no-go criteria and avoid one-year, all-in commitments.

Pitfall 3: Silence during transition

Fix: Over-communicate. Even if the director is still shaping vision, issue regular updates, host town halls, and publish KPI dashboards.

Case examples and experiential notes

From experience advising regional series and mid-size festivals, the most successful transitions honored three things: the institution’s history, the practical realities of production, and the emotional intelligence needed to bring artists and audiences along. When curators used pilot programming to test their voice and published transparent metrics, stakeholder friction dropped and donor confidence rose.

Change invites both risk and renewal — plan like a producer, communicate like a community organizer.

Predictions for 2026–2028: How curator changes will reshape jazz festivals

1. Curators will become brand auteurs: Expect artistic directors to cultivate public personas that drive audience choices, similar to showrunners who attract fandoms.
2. Subscription ecosystems will deepen: Festivals that become year-round content hubs (recorded sets, masterclasses) will outperform boxed-event models.
3. Audience-driven curation: Data and community votes will inform 20–30% of programming, balancing risk with demand validation.

Checklist: What to do in the first 90 days after a new curator arrives

• Announce the new curator with clear priorities and a 12-month plan.
• Hold at least two public listening sessions and one donor briefing.
• Launch one pilot program with KPIs and a published evaluation date.
• Preserve a legacy strand in next year’s lineup.
• Run an operational capacity audit tied to a scaling plan.

Final takeaways: Turn the Filoni moment into a playbook

Dave Filoni’s arrival at Lucasfilm in 2026 is a high-profile reminder that creative leadership reshapes institutions. For jazz festivals, leadership change can be a stress test and a strategic opportunity. Treat it like product development: pilot boldly, measure consistently, communicate transparently, and preserve the core identity that drew audiences in the first place.

Actionable next steps

Start today by publishing your transition roadmap and scheduling two listening sessions. If you want a ready-to-use toolkit, download our festival transition template (programming pilots, KPI dashboard, stakeholder script). Put structure around the uncertainty — and you’ll turn a moment of change into a new chapter for your festival community.

Call to action: Share this piece with your board or new artistic director. Subscribe to our Live Events & Tours newsletter for monthly case studies, transition templates, and a live Q&A with curators who’ve led successful turnarounds.

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