Clayton Sandell is an author, producer, and former Emmy Award-winning correspondent for ABC News. He is also a longtime visual effects and sound design enthusiast, contributing regular feature articles for Lucasfilm's Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound. At ABC News, he co-produced The Force of Sound, a behind-the-scenes documentary about the sound design of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Clayton co-authored the bestselling Star Wars Timelines for DK Publishing, as well as Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: A Visual Archive and the upcoming Star Wars: The Phantom Menace: A Visual Archive for Insight Editions. He enjoys hosting and moderating celebrity interview panels at comic conventions, and is working on multiple book projects for 2027.
Feature Writer: ILM & Skywalker Sound
Tap the button below to read Clayton's behind-the-scenes feature stories for Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound.
Panel Host & Celebrity Moderator
Clayton hosted a Celebrity Spotlight Panel with actor and SAG-AFTRA national president Sean Astin (The Goonies, Lord of the Rings) at FanX Salt Lake City in 2025.
Moderating the Manga Mania panel at Star Wars Celebration Japan in for Lucasfilm Publishing in 2025.
At Star Wars Celebration Europe in 2023, Clayton hosted a panel discussion for Industrial Light & Magic featuring Lucasfilm's Doug Chiang (R) and ILM concept artist Jason Horley.
Clayton moderated a Celebrity Spotlight Panel with actor Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica, The Mandalorian) at Indiana Comic Convention in 2025.
Documentary Producer
Go beyond the gates of the legendary Skywalker Ranch to meet the sound designers behind Star Wars: The Last Jedi. An ABC News Features documentary.
Praise forThe Force of Sound from director Rian Johnson.
Biography
Clayton Sandell is an author and lifelong Star Wars fan who contributes feature stories and videos to the websites of Lucasfilm's Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound.
A former award-winning national TV correspondent for ABC News and Scripps News, Clayton covered a wide range of entertainment, space exploration, technology, and breaking news stories.
Clayton co-authored Star Wars Timelines for DK Publishing and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: A Visual Archive for Insight Editions, and has appeared as a stage host and moderator at San Diego Comic-Con and Star Wars Celebration in London and Tokyo.
At ABC News, Clayton regularly appeared on Good Morning America, World News Tonight with David Muir, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, and Nightline.
On the Star Wars beat, he's interviewed Luke Skywalker actor Mark Hamill in Ireland, taken viewers inside ILM and Skywalker Sound, and reported on the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at the Disney Parks.
Clayton has reported from around the United States and the world, covering democracy protests in Hong Kong to melting glaciers in Greenland. In Malaysia and Australia, he covered the disappearance of flight MH-370. He's traveled to the Arctic Circle to report on climate change, China to produce a special series on toy recalls, and Haiti during the violent uprisings and the ouster of President Jean Bertrand Aristide.
He received his first Emmy Award as part of the ABC News team covering the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
Clayton is an honorary member of the 501st Legion and Rebel Legion fan costuming groups. He's also a tiki bar nerd, Disney Adult, and Halloween enthusiast who currently lives near Denver, Colorado.