Berman Reveals 'Enterprise' Writing Staff

Demonstrating that the producers are intent on bringing in new voices among the writers, Executive Producer Rick Berman mentioned mostly new names when describing the Enterprise writing staff in a new interview.

"We are in the process of putting the staff together," Berman told the Star Trek Communicator (via TrekWeb), in an interview that was conducted while shooting on 'Broken Bow' was still going on. "We have a number of writers that are in place right now. We have a woman named Antoinette Stella, [and] a guy named Fred Dekker. We have two teams of writers as well. We also have Andre Bormanis who has been working with us for years, but is on the writing staff now. We're all working very hard. Brannon and I have written one additional hour episode and the stories for three or four others so we are putting the staff together slowly but surely."

Besides revealing some of the writers, Berman also spoke of one storyline those writers will be developing - the Klingons. "They are a little bit more primitive. One of the lines we have in our pilot script is that we're dealing with a time where 'the Klingons still sharpen their teeth before they go into battle.'"

The Klingons will be appearing in the standard modern makeup, though Berman hinted that the shift away from the Original Series makeup may finally be dealt with on screen. "We've thought about it. I don't know. When the Klingons suddenly changed dramatically in Star Trek - The Motion Picture nobody asked for an explanation. I think it is something we have discussed possibly doing."

Finally, Berman confirmed that Jolene Blalock's character had originally been intended to be the Original Series character T'Pau, instead of T'Pol. "[It] was discussed as a possibility but it was also determined that there were legalities that made it difficult for us to do so we decided against it." T'Pau was created by Theodore Sturgeon for the episode 'Amok Time,' meaning that the rights to the character likely resided with the Sturgeon estate.

Berman made his comments in the new issue of the Star Trek Communicator, which has a cover story on the new series. Features in the new edition of the magazine include part two of their Voyager farewell, an interview with Enterprise designer John Eaves about the Captain's Yacht he designed for 'Insurrection,' and of course the full Rick Berman interview. Information on how to subscribe to the magazine can be found here, while more excerpts from the interview can be found here. Finally, read on for biographical information on the three new writers:

• Antoinette Stella - Stella fits the description of 'fresh blood,' as according to the TV Tome Enterprise will be her first foray into science fiction. She apparently started in the television industry with the animated series Hey Arnold, which she joined in its second season. Stella also voiced the character of Arnold's mother in an episode she wrote for the series.

  Stella continued to write episodes for the show's later seasons, but also moved on to hit show Melrose Place at the middle of that show's run. She started out as staff writer, but later was promoted to Executive Story Editor and eventually Co-Producer. In one of the show's episodes, she had a cameo as a patient who wants a doctor to interpret her dream about her husband blow-drying her hair until it burst into flames.

  Following Melrose Place's cancellation, she joined Providence as a full producer. The last project she worked on was the short-lived series Titans, for which she wrote the second-to-last episode.

• Fred Dekker - Dekker is currently already listed in the Internet Movie Database, not only as writer, but also in the capacity of consulting producer. The IMDB lists as other credits for Dekker being the writer and director of films such as 'Night of the Creeps,' 'The Monster Squad' and 'RoboCop 3,' but as no further credits are listed for the 'RoboCop Dekker' since 1993 it is not known if this is the same person.

• Andre Bormanis - Bormanis should be a familiar name to Star Trek fans, as he worked on TNG, DS9 and Voyager as Science Consultant, and on 'Star Trek: Insurrection' as technical advisor. To SpaceJobs.com, he once recounted how he got on the show, after already trying his luck with a TNG spec script:

  "[My agent] was in the process of trying to get me a meeting to pitch stories to Star Trek when she found out that they needed a new science consultant, and they specifically wanted somebody who had both a creative writing background and a background in real science. Somebody who knew how to read a script, who understood the needs of the show, and also knew the technical aspect of things. And so, my agent thought, 'Oh, hey, you’d be perfect for this.'"

  Once on the show, he was able to write or co-write several episodes, including 'Fair Trade,' 'Nightingale' and 'Human Error.' In addition, he has written several articles and a book on astronomy and science, including the Star Trek Science Logs.

Much more about Enterprise can be found in the new edition of the Star Trek Communicator, which will be on newsstands next week. To get the magazine delivered to you at home every two months, please click here to subscribe to the magazine for only $19.95 for a full year - that's 33% off the cover price. Thanks go out to TrekWeb for this!

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