"[My husband] Frank worked closely with Alli in making the Bourne movies when she was an executive at Universal, and during that time, we all became very close friends. We went to Alli and [her husband] Ed's wedding and we've known their kids since they were born; it's a relationship we've all had for 20 years. So my decision to bring her on to the Star Wars movies came out of my incredible respect for the work she was doing, how great she was with story. When she left as an executive to become a producer, I knew right away she would have the skills to make it.

"Alli was in every way my right arm. Her follow-through skills were second to none, and she had such an amazing attention to detail and a wonderful sense of story. Her role alongside me was watching every detail of these movies being made, which required lots of eyeballs on lots of things. She was just a remarkable partner.

"Everybody deals with these things in their own way, and she didn't want to tell anybody [of her illness]. She confided in me in the beginning. What she loved more than anything was making movies. It was so important to her during her treatments to find a way to keep working. That's what's so incredible — she literally was in a visual effects session just last week. She worked tirelessly whenever she could. Every day I spoke with Alli, sometimes multiple times. We were constantly in touch on everything.

"She was so thrilled to be a part of these movies. She was just so much fun. She had such an incredible attitude, endless energy and a great way with people. Everybody loved her. She often was the person bringing consensus around difficult problems and issues. She could be tough but also just so honest and easy to deal with."