Victoria Mahoney will be a second unit director for Episode IX, fellow director Ava DuVernay announced this evening on Twitter. “Catt’s outta the bag,” Mahoney tweeted. “Thank you @ava for putting my name in the #StarWars #LucasFilm hat. Thank you #JJAbrams for inviting me on your ferocious ride. *This one’s for the outliers, dreaming big–in small corners of the Earth.”
Mahoney will be the first African-American woman to hold a directing role in the franchise. Her directing credits include episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, American Crime, Power and DuVernay’s Queen Sugar.
As for what exactly a second unit director does, @Geek_Kay on Twitter pointed to an article that talks about the job with John Mahaffie, who held the position on the Lord Of The Rings films, Rogue One, The Avengers and more.