Lucasfilm Honors Service Award Recipients Including Ben Burtt and Dave Filoni
The annual company tradition includes Lucasfilm’s first ever 50-year recipient in 2025.
Every year, Lucasfilm honors employees from across the company who have reached milestone anniversaries in their tenure, including 20, 30, or sometimes even 40 years. While 2025 includes more than two dozen 20-year honorees and more than a dozen 30-year honorees, it also marks an exceptional occasion with the company’s first 50-year recipient: Ben Burtt of Skywalker Sound.
Hired in the summer of 1975 as one of the first dedicated sound designers in the history of cinema, Burtt’s first Lucasfilm project involved the creation of original sound effects and alien voices for Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), ultimately earning him a Special Achievement Academy Award.
Ever since, Burtt has remained Lucasfilm’s Renaissance artist, continuing to innovate in the field of cinema sound, as well as serving as a writer, editor, director, and archivist on countless projects. His 50-year milestone is yet another first for the celebrated storyteller who has remained at the heart of Lucasfilm’s culture and spirit since the company’s earliest days.
Among this year’s 20-year recipients is Lucasfilm’s chief creative officer, Dave Filoni. Hired at Lucasfilm Animation in the spring of 2005, Filoni joined the new team as supervising director of Lucasfilm’s first self-produced animated series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008-20), which went on to receive multiple Emmy Awards. He would influence every aspect of the show’s creative development and in the process establish production workflows that have continued at Lucasfilm Animation to this day.
Filoni’s mentorship under company founder George Lucas and creative leadership of the animation team carried the Star Wars saga into a new era of storytelling. His movement into live action work on productions like The Mandalorian (2019-23) and Ahsoka (2023–present), in addition to his animation endeavors, has only solidified his central role in Lucasfilm’s continuing story.
Our company wishes a heartfelt congratulations to each and every one of our 2025 Service Award recipients. At a place like Lucasfilm, the people are the heart and soul of everything that we do.
50 Years: Ben Burtt
30 Years: Heather Austin-Weir, Pete Chesloff, Jonathan Greber, Lora Hirschberg, Alexander Jaeger, Tom Martinek, Yves Metraux, Kenn Moynihann, David Nakabayashi, Khatsho Orfali, Erik Pampel, Kevin Reuter, Gary Rizzo, Amy Shepard, John Walker, Sheryl Warnock
20 Years: Luxie Aquino, Jim Austin, Christopher Balog, Jean-Paul Beaulieu, Steve Bissinger, Stephen Bowline, Luke Dunn Gielmuda, Dave Filoni, Rene Garcia, Pascal Garneau, Angela Giannoni, Eric Haber, Rick Hankins, Peter Horner, Orion Kellogg, Frankie Kwak, Marissa Martinez-Hoadley, Neil Michka, Michael Midlock, Ullas Narayana, Luke O’Byrne, Frank Rinella, Vick Schutz, Daniel Slavin, Mark Tudo
–
Read more about Ben Burrt’s Lucasfilm career at Skysound.com.
