Spotlights feature conversations with high-profile film and television industry professionals who share helpful advice and insights on their career experiences and creative process. You do not need to have seen the work to participate.

Tony Gilroy didn’t just contribute to the Star Wars saga – he reimagined what Star Wars could be. The Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Michael Clayton defied viewer expectations with Andor, his character-driven take on the galaxy far, far away. As creator, writer, and executive producer, Gilroy brought a writer-first spirit to the franchise.

With razor-sharp dialogue, moral complexity, and the simmering tension of a geopolitical thriller, Andor reimagines Star Wars as something darker, deeper, and far more grounded. The series’ second and final season received 14 Emmy nominations in 2025 for breaking new ground within a nearly 50-year-old franchise. 

Gilroy developed Andor as a slow-burn prequel to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the 2016 film he co-wrote. With his signature blend of intelligence and intensity, he transformed a cinematic space opera into prestige television on a massive scale.  

In this in-depth conversation, Gilroy discusses how he brought layered, long-form storytelling to the Star Wars universe, what it takes to write inside a global franchise, and how his decades in Hollywood have shaped his creative voice. The session concludes with an audience Q&A, which offered a rare opportunity to engage with a visionary in the fields of screen and TV writing, showrunning, producing, and directing.