Taking a step closer to his retirement, the Star Wars creator George Lucas has named Steven Spielberg’s long-time producing partner Kathleen Kennedy as his co-chair and successor at the studio he created four decades ago, Lucasfilm.

The company says sixty eight year old Lucas will continue as CEO while Kennedy settles into her new role.

Lucas says he chose Kennedy, who’s ten years his junior, to succeed him, because he wanted “someone with great creative passion and proven leadership abilities, but also someone who loves movies.”

Having spent his life buildling the studio, Lucas said he wanted to make sure he left it in the hands of someone equipped to carry his vision into the future.

Lucas has recently said he planned to move away from big-budget films to concentrate on smaller, art-house productions.

Kennedy has produced Spielberg films including the Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park franchises, ET, Schindler’s List, The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse.

In a statement, she said she was honoured that Lucas trusted her with taking care of his beloved film franchises.

Lucasfilm, which was founded in 1971, produces feature films, TV shows, designs interactive software and creates special effects.