Rick Famuyiwa

Rick Famuyiwa (born June 18, 1973) is a Nigerian-American filmmaker and television director. He is best known for the films The Wood (1999), Brown Sugar (2002), and Dope (2015), as well as for his work on the television series The Mandalorian, for which he directed six episodes and served as an executive producer for the third season. His films have been nominated for or won multiple awards, including in 2008, when he received an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture for the film Talk To Me (2007). Quotes I had some development meetings at Lucasfilm and met Carrie Beck, who was co-producing the show. She later called and asked if I’d be interested in meeting about Star Wars on TV. And I said, “Of course, I would love to.” I met with Jon Favreau and might’ve been the first person other than Dave Filoni he was talking to about this. He was interested in bringing in different points of view and a diverse set of voices into the world of The Mandalorian and Star Wars. Jon took me through the world and showed me artwork. We just started vibing on our backgrounds in film, and at the end, he asked me to jump in. Jon started talking about the things that he had been doing on The Lion King and expanding it to its furthest potential. I had no clue what this was going to become. But I was excited to jump in and go for the ride. It was a crash course and immersion in visual effects. When I started, my understanding was at a “see spot run” elementary level in terms of visual effects. Jon uses visual effects as a big part of his storytelling, which also remains personal and character-driven. Jon took me through the entire process, starting with VR scouting, setting up shots, shooting, and everything else. At the first meeting, he took me into his world of VR, and it was Pride Rock because he was working on The Lion King at the time. It felt familiar because I had grown up playing video games. It felt natural there, and it was an incredible tool. So, we built out the worlds, both through the virtual art department and then moving into those environments. I learned how to tell a story with it and use extensive previs. It was an incredible education in visual effects. Everything got demystified in the process. It became fun to create in a way where your imagination can take you anywhere. I’d say my skills are maybe grade school or middle school level now.