Former Trek Writer Nabs 'CSI' Executive Producer Slot

Naren Shankar, a science consultant and writer for Star Trek: The Next Generation,Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager has just signed a deal naming him executive producer on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and extending his tenure with the show through May of 2007.

Variety (via Yahoo! News is reporting that Shankar's deal is in the seven-figure range. Shankar's science background makes him a perfect fit for the show; the writer has a PhD from Cornell University in applied physics.

After starting out in Hollywood as a WGA intern, Shankar moved on to become a science consultant on The Next Generation, working as a story editor on the 1993-1994 season and also adding his expertise to Star Trek Generations. Shankar penned Deep Space Nine's "The Quickening" and Voyager's "Heroes and Demons".

Shankar also wrote episodes of Farscape, The Outer Limits and UC: Undercover. He has been with CSI since the show's third season. Executive producer and CSI showrunner Carol Mendelsohn praised Shankar's contributions to the CSI writing team. "[He fits in with] all of us on the show, who are preoccupied with death and murder," she said. "And he brought his own warped sensibility with him to the show."

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