Interview with LFL Content Creators Tim Veekhoven, Sander De Lange and Kevin Beenjes (Part 1 of 2)
Today, we bring you a treat: an exclusive interview with three content creators for StarWars.com and Lucasfilm Ltd. See what they have to say about the opportunity to write for the Star Wars universe, and get an insider’s look at the “Canon vs. Legends” issue and more, after the jump…
Courtesy of our staff member, Trevor, we bring you the following interview from three of LFL’s content creators (fellow Star Wars fans, each one of them.) All three are key players in theĀ BelgianĀ Star Wars fanclub, TeeKay-421. Kevin Beentjes is anĀ administrator for Yodapedia, the Dutch Star Wars Wikia, and has been contributing to StarWars.com since 2013. Tim Veekhoven, TeeKay-421’s president and co-founder, also works on Yodapedia andĀ writes forĀ StarWars.com. Ā Sander De Lange has worked with Leland Chee on content for the Star Wars Insider and is a co-administrator forĀ the Star Wars Sourcebooks page on Facebook.
And now, without further ado… take it away, gentlemen!
1. Have any of you had any input and/or been asked by LFL/Disney for new content forĀ the new canon?
Kevin Beentjes: First of all,Ā let’s get this difficult discussion about the “canon” over with. What is “canon”Ā and what is “Legends” is seen too black and white by many. For me personally, it means thatĀ certain storylines are no longer canon, as for me a canon is a recounting of historical events.Ā Names of planets, species and starships, as well as background information for such topics IĀ see separately. We all know that the story after Return of the Jedi will change, but with theĀ exception of something like Moraband, not much has really changed beside storylines in theĀ “new canon”. And even then, a different name for a planet is not something new, as weĀ already knew Korriban before as “Horuset I” and “Pesegam”. That being said, creating newĀ content for the new canon is now in the hands of authors who write the books and comics.Ā For the articles on StarWars.com, we mostly stick to what is already out there. If there isĀ something we want to connect, it’s always with official approval. One example is that in one ofĀ the articles I’ve linked the Dazouri species to the planet Gibbela.
Tim Veekhoven: Yep, just want to add that the canon issue is really so uncertain right now that we mightĀ be adding something today that will be canon tomorrow.
2. Will you have any involvement with any upcoming movies or series?
KB: I think I can speak for the three of us, and say we are not in any way involved in theĀ creation of upcoming movies and television series. The only thing we can do at this point isĀ include information that’s been released through official channels into our articles.
3. Any idea if there is a plan to incorporate more Legends content into canonĀ eventually as rumors have stated?
KB: This connects to what I have explained in the answer to the first question. You may alsoĀ want to note that novels that have been published and will be published around this time eachĀ have a “canon timeline” or a “legends timeline” included. Careful study of these timelinesĀ show only novels, there is no word on the status of sourcebooks for example. Anyone whoĀ reads the RPG books by Fantasy Flight Games might have noticed the Story Group isĀ mentioned in the credits. Also, reading through the new Fact Files might give a goodĀ indication of what is happening. They’ve recently started adding Expanded Universe contentĀ into the magazine, but the article about A’sharad Hett stops at the end of the Clone Wars,Ā stating that he was most likely killed when Darth Vader hunted down the remaining Jedi. ThisĀ fits with the new canon, where there is probably not a Darth Krayt. Again, this is my ownĀ interpretation of it. We are not privy to any inside information at this moment, but I do suspectĀ we may start seeing a better integration of canon and EU in the future.
TV: The Build the Millennium Falcon Magazine of DeAgostini is written from an in-universeĀ point of view, right after the events of Return of the Jedi. So it deliberately avoids the formerĀ post-RotJ Expanded Universe, but includes and combines previous source information. AndĀ Legends has been turned into canon from the moment the decision was made. But the oldĀ post-Endor Expanded Universe is beyond repair for inclusion into canon. The earliest post-Ā RotJ stories could have been salvaged, but we now know they won’t.
4. Are you aware of any Legends material that definitely will become Canon?
TV: No, it all depends on what information authors want to use.
5. How does it feel to know that you create content for a fictional universe that so manyĀ millions admire?
Sander De Lange: It feels absolutely amazing and quite surreal. I recently spoke with someone from FFGĀ about our new found status as an official and how weird it would be to walk around an officialĀ SW convention like Celebration, knowing what we did. I have the same with fans adding meĀ on their Facebook, it is nice but a bit strange because I consider myself a fan first, despiteĀ having written Rogues Gallery entries with Kevin and Tim, or articles on the official Star WarsĀ website.
KB: It’s one of the best things that have happened to me, and I am very thankful of Tim toĀ include me in the Rogues Gallery series we were allowed to do for four issues of Insider. AfterĀ that I was able to contribute to a series of blogs together with Tim, and have started writingĀ solo last year. It’s funny to see how you indeed get these Facebook requests by other fans, asĀ well as someone granting me a page on Wookieepedia.
TV: It’s fantastic and something out of a dream. But still, you got to stay awake, for the dreamĀ can be gone if you wake up. Sander, Kevin and myself all non-native English speakers andĀ we’re from relative small countries in the world, but I’m very proud that we’re all part ofĀ TeeKay-421, the Belgian Star Wars fanclub, which I co-founded in 1997. I’ve been writingĀ about Star Wars since the nineties so it’s great to share your writings through official channelsĀ and publications.
6. When you create SW historical content for characters, where do you draw thatĀ information from and what are the guidelines and limitations that you work by?
KB: All the historical content and background stories come from official publications, be it theĀ former Expanded Universe, the new canon or one of the many sourcebooks or RPG gameĀ books. As long as we don’t write about stuff that’s obviously legends as if it were still “real”Ā (someone’s role in the New Republic, or things that happened during the Yuuzhan VongĀ invasion for example), there are not that many limitations.
TV: Like Kevin says, existing information needs to come from officially published sourceĀ material. When I created new lore for characters, ‘Rogues Gallery’ for example, I used myĀ experience of reading Star Wars sourcebooks again and again. I had a special booklet duringĀ āWhat’s the Storyā with names I wrote down whenever I encountered something that wasĀ interesting or obscure. Of course there are always personal inspirations. I’ve added thingsĀ from ‘Masters of the Universe’ to ‘Final Fantasy’ in the lore I created. The only guideline I everĀ got was that the name of a character could not be linked to any existing person.
SdL: Besides the guidelines and limitations mentioned above, I recall that when Tim and IĀ wrote for Whats the Story (a contest held on the official website’s Hyperspace section inĀ which you got to create official backstories for background characters) that there was a word-Ā limit as well next to that you had to use what little information was known and given aboutĀ said background character. The fun was that at some point many of our group started to tieĀ characters that someone else had won with to whatever new character we had to write about.Ā Which to me was a creative freedom we had then, and what we have to this day when weĀ were able to suggest our own themes/group shots to cover for the Rogues Gallery and ideasĀ for articles on the official website. The only limitation to writing for the website is that we areĀ not allowed to add new information to the articles, but even that has happened when it wasĀ done in good harmony and discussion with Leland Chee, which resulted in Tim and myselfĀ adding more information about the Odupiendo and Kevin with the Dazouri species.Ā Usually when I started with a new character background for Whats The Story, or for RoguesĀ Gallery, I would look to existing characters who had no face and who could be connected toĀ the unnamed person we had to name and then expand on what is known. There is a dangerĀ in retconning for the sake of retconning, but it is rewarding when you able to both connect andĀ expand on an existing character. Which is why my entry for Niai Fieso (trough Whats theĀ Story) and Bialar Selis (Rogues Gallery) remain among my favorite work with their mix ofĀ connections, retcons and expanding.
7. Do you have any ideas (more than the typical fan) at this time as to who the TFAĀ characters are?
KB: No, we don’t. And I don’t think I would want to. I would really like to see Episode VIIĀ without knowing where it will all lead, although some things may be predictable without evenĀ knowing all the spoilers.
SdL: I know even less than the typical fan because I do not follow every spoiler.
TV: I guess it depends on how well you have followed the spoilers so far and if the spoilersĀ are true. I don’t know anything more about TFA than what I’ve been able to read in theĀ spoilers.
(TO BE CONTINUED…)
Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.
Born on April 24, 1980.
It was great insight into the worlds of those that help create the world we know as “Star Wars”, and they have my greatest thanks for taking the time to chat with me. š
Awesome! Nice to know that content creators are fans of the material first!
My one wish is that they are able to add KOTOR to the cannon.
Of course, they absolutely should! Or even reboot KOTOR in the same vein as the old games (not the MMO) for the new generation consoles. The story-telling in those games are just too rich to be left alone forever.
I too think they should eventually make KOTOR canon or at least use a lot of elements from that time period. It was very well written and just about everyone can agree on that. It shouldn’t be ignored forever that’s for sure.
There is a VERY good chance that kotor might be rebooted. I mean look at star wars battlefront, its being created by dice and its a reboot of the franchise we all know and love today!!! Plus lets not forget that bioware is creating a star wars game too and its not just ea and visceral games and considering they created the kotor series there’s a good chance will be seeing canon story telling set hundreds or even thousands of years back in the past! Hell I wouldn’t even mind if Disney desides to turn the idea into a film trilogy (and that would be AWESOME !!!!)
i love MMO
It’s a good game, with good class stories, but nowhere close to KOTOR and KOTOR II. I think they should add KOTOR and KOTOR II to the canon, then make a KOTOR III to finish the trilogy, and who knows, maybe after that, make a sequel trilogy. Ah, a man can only dream.
Dude the only thing I saw as canon from TOR was the awesome cgi cutscene trailers and the books and comics. I’d never played the mmo and as much fun as the mmo looks its hard to accept any of those stories as canon in the legends timeline
Yeah, that’s why I said, that I only want to see the 2 KOTOR games added to the canon.
I liked the MMO, it has its moments, but ultimately in my opinion it lacked the creativity of the single player games, and went into a direction, where it wasn’t really Star Warsy (whatever that means).
Trust me, you are not the only one with that dream. If anything, they should remake Kotor 1 and 2 with Mass Effect style gameplay and cinematics, and finish it up with a REAL Kotor 3!!!
So I can write a novel about Jaina and Jacen with no fear of Disney chasing me out of town?
PLS no JAINA and JACEN! NOOOO!
I’d like to see a book about Jacen and Jaina, as long as they don’t get screwed up like in the NJO series. I’d also like to see Tenel Ka, Zekk, Tahiri and Lowbacca.
No Jagged Fel though. I hated that guy. He was so wrong for Jaina.
After reading this article it seems that it is only a matter of time before the tier levels of canon are reintroduced, just like Campea hinted. I really hope they learn from their mistakes and don’t turn this into a royal mess again.
Agreed. They would have to have categories in the future. You can’t alienate 90% of the fan base that only watches the films by introducing comic/book/tv characters to the films. My only canon is the films. Everything else is just extra…and i’m not liking it.
I still don’t like a legends thingy slapped on all the old books and things I enjoy… DC comics did this by re launching all their comics back to number one,because you have batman as an old man in one comic and the Batman we know in another and blah blah,I am intelligent enough to know they are different stories for different reasons,I don’t need my hand held,you watch though this new continuity will end up being all over the place again and they will wipe the slat clean once day…
and until then i will wipe my bum with all this legends stuff.
I think this whole thing is pretty asinine.
Lucasfilm exists because of the money that they made from licensing the (literal) life out of a movie that was released in 1977. In my opinion everything that came after was fanfiction, some of it was excellent (TESB) and about 85% of it is just junk. It’s junk that fans keep gobbling up hoping that part of it is going to be good and the money from that junk fuels the junk machine that keeps cranking out more junk that fans keep buying in hope that, you know, this one is going to be the good one.
Now they come and say all of this stuff is moot. OK, first, how about a 100% refund to the fans who bought all this stuff over the years that kept your company liquid?
Second – someone tells you the stuff that you like is not canon anymore & you get your undies all twisted in agony? Seriously? Does this mean that all the stuff that you liked, well you don’t like it anymore because it’s missing an “official” stamp? Or it doesn’t fit in a new and official chronology so it’s….it’s…what? Well, it’s a comic or a book or a game you really like so keep liking it. If it is really that important to you that some half-baked fan fiction fits into an “OFFICIAL” chronology you need to re-examine your values and honestly, get a life.
Your argument seems to cross itself there… You tell everyone to get a life because they are sad their favorite literature isn’t “canon” anymore implying you don’t care if things are official but then you also say that the studio should give us our money back for stuff that we enjoyed just because they made it not canon implying you do care if things are offical.
Lastly…what? You consider “the empire strikes back” to be fan fiction? In what way is a follow up to movie made by the same creator fan fiction? Was George Lucas a fan? Does that mean that the Godfather Part II was fanfiction of the Godfather Part I? It’s totally fine to have your opinions or to complain about stuff…it’s just very unclear from what you wrote what exactly you are upset about…
That’s because he’s a jackass and jackasses usually tend to contradict themselves