"Madeira is an incredible place in so many ways, not just for location," the producer said. "The people, the environment, the island, [it's] spectacular," Damian Anderson raved.  'The Acolyte' is set to premiere on June 5 on the Disney+ streaming platform, and marks a new direction for the Star Wars series, going back in time and showing scenarios and worlds never seen before in the saga.  "We quickly realized that Madeira was the one location that offered us the majority of the locations that we needed to find, on one island," Anderson explained. "It offered environments that we had never seen before and gave us the opportunity to expand our creativity to create new worlds."  Conceived by Leslye Headland and starring Amanda Stenberg, Carrie-Anne Moss, Dafne Keen and Lee Jung-jae, the series produced in London is set about 100 years before the events of Episode I -- 'The Phantom Menace' --, between the High Republic era and the prequel trilogy.  "It's something that the audience hasn't experienced before, because of the period in which it's set and because we've been given the tools to explore something new that other producers and series from Lucasfilm haven't had," Damian Anderson pointed out.  As it is an innovative story with never-before-seen worlds, the team needed a location that had never been the setting for a major production. "That was another reason that made Madeira so attractive, because it gave us locations that people had never seen put on screen."  Anderson said that the logistics were a challenge and that the production would not have been possible without the collaboration of the regional government, the Portugal Film Commission and local structures. "They were all absolutely fantastic," Anderson praised, noting that the team hired local talent whenever possible, while trying to keep the production secret.  "We had a lot of support from everyone in that balance. I would vouch for Madeira anytime, it was honestly a paradise," he reinforced.  With filming in locations such as Fanal, Ribeira da Janela and Caniçal, even the island's unpredictable climate contributed to the way the team told the story of 'The Acolyte', the producer said.  "We allowed the narrative to embrace those possible changes. We had amazing days, we would wake up the next day with the sky completely overcast and then the clouds would disappear," he described. "We integrated that into the story. It wasn't just a standard location, it gave us the ability to adapt with nature instead of having nature adapt to us." The producer estimates that Madeira was the setting for a quarter of the filming. Its scenarios will be spread throughout the episodes and do not represent just one specific planet. The sea, which is not something Star Wars fans are used to, gives an idea of how remote the places where the action takes place are. "The ocean and the style of the locations we chose portray the solitude and remoteness of certain characters," Damian Anderson said. There are also other elements that separate 'The Acolyte' from other Star Wars series, such as 'The Mandalorian' and 'Andor'. It approaches the mystery thriller genre, which begins with an investigation into a series of crimes, and has a lot of action, including a new fighting technique never seen before in the canon. "I hope this launches a new era in the Star Wars 'franchise', which we're all excited to see continue," the producer said.  Anderson said he has been a personal fan of Star Wars since he was a child, with the original trilogy having a profound emotional impact on his life. Working on this project, which offers the audience something different and emotional while being faithful to the universe created by George Lucas, gave him a new perspective on what is possible to do as a filmmaker.  "I feel like it gave us the ability to spread our wings in terms of narrative and be more daring in how we imagine aspects that have never been done."  'The Acolyte' has eight episodes and the first two will premiere on June 5, in Portugal, one day after being made available in the United States, followed by one per week. Read Also: Disney+. Próxima série de 'Star Wars' ganhou um novo trailer (Portuguese version)