treknews.com | feature | Michael Piller Q&A MENU FREE EMAIL FEATURES HOME OTHER SITES StarTrek.com Delta Blues TrekToday TrekSearch TrekHosting Trekker Newsletter LINKS Search Now: MICHAEL PILLER Q&A MICHAEL PILLER Q&A Now here's your questions for Michael, has your one been picked, read on below. 1) Brian: How do you feel about Ken Biller's creative decisions as evident in the episodes of Voyager's season 7 that have aired? Has the show improved, gotten worse, or continued steadily along as always? MP: What impresses me most about season seven is the return to the emphasis on character development. Anybody who knows me knows how important I feel that is in storytelling. A Humanitas Award nomination could be in the offing this year for “Lineage.” 2) Justin Pfeil: Most of the subject matter in Star Trek (Federation, Vucans, etc.) are ultimately derivative of Roddenberry's production teams. With the polar opposites of the 'Trekkie(er)' fan base and the desire to entice new viewers to the franchise. What are the difficulties, that you see, in trying to retain an original character for the new shows, but still be 'Star Trek' enough for fans? MP: I’m a strong believer in staying true to the basic principals that Roddenberry set forth from the very beginning. I believe they are the reason why Star Trek has lasted as long as it has when other science fiction shows seem dated and shallow. Gene always felt that this was a show about exploring the human condition. As long as you tell stories about life, exploring characters’ moral and ethical dilemmas, find allegories and metaphors to contemporary social issues, I think you will create programming that stands the test of time. But Star Trek is at a cross-roads, caught in a paradox, because the demographics of the franchise are growing older. There is continued pressure to build elements into the series and movies to appeal to a younger audience. The paradox of that, of course, is that Roddenberry’s initial concept was that this was going to be adult storytelling. So, in a sense, trying to attract young viewers to the franchise, which is imperative to keep it alive, is at odds with Roddenberry’s creative vision. 3) Garret Hiller: Mr. Piller, what do you feel has been your most significant contribution to the phenomenon that is "Star Trek" and why? MP: I’m proud that my work as head writer, starting with the third season of The Next Generation, helped guide the franchise back to creative distinction. When I first met Gene Roddenberry, I told him I could help his characters grow and I believe I delivered on that promise. I took particular pride in guiding young, new writers like Ron Moore, René Echevarria and later Brannon Braga, Robert Wolfe and Ken Biller toward stories that tested and challenged our characters. I am, of course, very proud of Deep Space Nine and Voyager, but no matter which series we’re talking about, the thing that pleases me most is having developed and executed television episodes that I believe will stand the test of time. 4) Cliff Bechard: "What was your greatest creative challenge you had to make for Patrick Stewart on "Next Generation"? MP: Perhaps the greatest creative challenge was to continue to give him material that was up to his remarkable abilities. 5) amin: Will you return to oversee a possible ds9 movie? MP: I do not believe there will be a Deep Space Nine movie, although it’s always possible that characters from Deep Space Nine will appear in Star Trek movies. I have no plans to oversee any other Star Trek creative endeavors. 6) Salvador Nogueira Rick Berman and Brannon Braga are now developing a new Star Trek series. You've done this twice, working with Rick Berman and Jeri Taylor. What do you expect from the next series? Did Berman or Braga asked your opinion about their ideas? MP: No. I really haven’t heard any of the details about the next series. I would not expect Rick or Brannon to ask my opinion about their ideas in these circumstances. 7) Ron Where and how would you continue the Star Trek legacy? MP: As I said earlier -- listen to Roddenberry’s voice with every creative decision you make. 8) Brad McNeely When comparing the last three Trek series (TNG, DS9, and Voyager), DS9 had a much different look and feel to some of the later stories. From about season 4 or 5 on, major story arcs began to form and develop and intricate sub-plots were introduced and neatly packaged together. This is a major divergence from it's earlier seasons as well as TNG, Voyager or TOS. The only other show I've seen this done on is Babylon 5. Did the writing style and story telling process used in Babylon 5 in any way, shape, or form influence the later seasons of DS9 or was there a major story outline completed when the series began its run? MP: I’ve never watched Babylon 5, so I can’t give you any comments on that show. The credit for the story arcs on Deep Space Nine really needs to go to Ira Behr who became the executive producer and head writer on the series after I left the day-to-day operation. I think he did a remarkable job of keeping the series fresh and ambitious. But I did have occasional problems about the inaccessibility of the show to potential new viewers. I felt the arcs made it harder to attract new audiences. While I can understand that the hardcore Trek fan would appreciate this kind of storytelling, I continue to believe that stories that have a beginning, middle and end are a critical part of keeping a science fiction series appealing to a wide audience. 9) brian There are a lot rumors circulating on the net that you might publish the first draft of the script for Star Trek: Insurrection. Are these rumors true and, if so, does it reflect any dissatisfaction you might have had with the final product? MP: Let me clarify this and make it very clear. With the approval of Viacom Consumer Licensing and Pocket Books, I wrote a book during the writing of Star Trek: Insurrection which was meant to be a text book for screenwriters. My pitch to the publisher was to take the reader through the entire process of the development of the film, starting with the idea and showing how changes, problems, opinions, studio requests, financial considerations, would effect the final product. And, in essence, to see if the reader would make the same decisions that Rick and I made as the script evolved. The book was by no means critical, nor did it burn any bridges, it just showed an insight into the behind-the-scenes of making a Star Trek movie that had never been told before. For reasons I won’t go into here, decisions were made at a very high level not to publish the book, which was greatly disappointing to me. However, it does not reflect any dissatisfaction that I had with the final product. I think Star Trek: Insurrection holds its own when compared to other Star Trek movies. The goals of this particular film were quite different from the ones that preceded it. And for the most part, we met those goals. But do I ever second guess any of the choices I made on the movie? Sure. I started out with a vision of Jean-Luc Picard standing alone on a mountainside holding a phaser rifle, defending a weak and helpless people against two of the most powerful forces in galaxy. A true mythic hero against impossible odds. That’s not quite how it turned out. I’m not satisfied that, when all was said and done, we adequately established the odds against Picard. Yes, maybe a little more of the ground action that was cut along the way might have helped -- the attack comes from only three Son’a shuttlecraft and the drones -- but that’s not really at the heart of the issue as I look back at it now. The true villain in the picture is the Federation leadership, but as written, their crimes are mostly philosophical. That leaves the Son’a, whom I described in dialogue as “petty thugs”, to provide the entire threat. I think the film might have had more scope if I’d pitted Starfleet forces as well as Son’a against Picard and crew. The second second-guess: during the editing process we lost most of Picard’s personal journey. I wish I had started with a more substantial arc for Picard -- one that could have withstood the loss of a scene or two. I have to emphasize that, based on the assembled film, I fully endorsed the cuts that Jonathan, Rick and the studio decided to make. But a trip to the fountain of youth deserves a profound re-birth of some kind for the hero and we didn’t quite get there. That’s a missed opportunity, one that bothers me a lot. I keep thinking back to how the script might have changed if we had faded in to find Picard weary from two years of war, first with the Borg and now with the Dominion, having lost many crew members fighting to protect the ideals of the Federation. Now, he discovers his own command is about to sacrifice those very ideals to steal the Ba’ku planet. In that scenario, the peaceful world would have provided an immediate contrast to Picard’s dark days of war. My colleague, Alan Spencer, tells the story of the artist who is caught trying to steal his own work from the Louvre. “I just want to finish a few things in my painting that aren’t quite right yet,” he says. “It’s not yours anymore,” says the Louvre guard as they take him away. “It’s ours now.” As I consider the work that will forever be ‘unfinished’ in my mind, there is still much that I find pleasing in Star Trek: Insurrection. I wanted to write a film that was uplifting and optimistic in the Roddenberry tradition. I wanted to explore the intellectual, moral leadership that I felt set Picard apart from other heroes. I wanted to show how this crew is a family that love and support one another. And I wanted to get the Enterprise back to exploring strange new worlds. Star Trek: Insurrection achieves those goals. Is it a good movie? That’s up to you. Whether your thumb is up or down, I know I brought every skill I have to this screenplay. A writer can’t ask any more of himself. In sixth grade, Artie Paulson and I always stayed up late on Friday nights to watch The Twilight Zone. Never missed it. I started writing Twilight Zone short stories. I just wanted to make other people feel the way Rod Serling made me feel. I still do. They were low budget shows, filmed in black and white and had minimal special effects but it remains a benchmark of good writing for me because every show told us a little bit about who we are and who we might be. I’ve tried to do that with each Star Trek script I’ve worked on and I think that’s what Gene Roddenberry was asking me to do. I tried to do it with Star Trek: Insurrection. One of the first reactions to this film was from an anonymous fan who wrote a long and thoughtful letter to a website that included many pros and cons before concluding with the line: “...this movie left me with a nice warm feeling inside.” I wonder if she realizes how much that matters to the guy sitting in my chair. A comment like that... well, that’s what makes all the sleepless nights worthwhile. That’s why I became a writer. LINKS NEWS HEADLINES 'Enterprise' Filming Starts Monday, Break After Pilot Berman, Braga, Plus Cast Talk Voyager Run Update on Next Series, 'Enterprise' Developments 'Renaissance Man' Promos Now Online TV Guide to Feature Four Voyager Goodbye Covers New 'Renaissance Man' Photos Online John Logan Talks More Star Trek X Details Voyager's 'Homestead' Overnight Ratings Good Interplay Production of 'Shattered Universe' Scott Bakula Officially Captain of Enterprise Series © 1996-2001 Local Geeks Communications | We're ICRA rated | disclaimer | privacy info. | join our team