New 'Communicator' Rick Berman Interview

Over at TrekWeb, they've put up a transcript of an interview with Rick Berman, which appeared in issue #129 of the Star Trek Communicator. As usual, Berman talked about the three big topics in Trek's future - Series V, Trek X and 'Voyager'.

Series V Berman said that he and Brannon Braga are currently working on the story for the Series V pilot episode, which they'll be discussing with the studio shortly. In another four to six weeks, they hope to start working on the screenplay for the series, which Berman said they are "extremely excited" about, saying "this is really a unique and fresh approach to Star Trek." When asked if, conceptually, the series will be combining the best of DS9 and Voyager, Berman said:

"Well, that's not really accurate. It is much more than that. The concept for this new show is a somewhat dramatic departure from previous Star Trek series but it is a show that will be both fresh and unique while at the same time being Star Trek to the core. It is a show that takes place on a Starfleet vessel but, at the same time, a rather dramatic departure from the previous three Star Trek shows. I believe it will be more Star Trek than anything since The Next Generation and, perhaps, anything since the original series in terms of its principles and its tone and style."

He did, however, again stress that during the development process Braga and Berman felt it was "imperative" to not just give the fans another variation on the last three shows, with just another crew on another starship. Also, the cast of the series will "probably be a slight bit smaller but, right now, [their] focus is on seven major characters."

Trek X

Berman was able to provide some more firm news on the development process of the tenth Star Trek film, if not what it will actually be about. A story involving the Next Generation crew has been finished and submitted to the studio, and at the time of the interview they were waiting for approval to start working on the script. Here is Berman's description of the story:

"Well, we've never done a film that I wouldn't say to you at this stage "this is going to be the biggest and the best." And there is no difference with this one. We have a writer who has never done Star Trek before and has an extremely fresh approach to this. We are dealing with a story that is extremely poignant in ways that I wish I could tell you. It is a story that will focus around a remarkable villain and is a very action-oriented space film. A lot higher percentage of this film will take place in outer space than in our previous films. It is tentatively scheduled for Thanksgiving of 2001."

On 'Voyager', Berman said that Brannon Braga was currently working with Joe Menosky on the script for 'Unimatrix Zero, Part Two'. Besides revealing that this interview was conducted a few weeks ago already, as the episode is currently being shot, this is especially interesting considering the fact that Menosky left the 'Voyager' staff at the end of this season to pursue research in Italy.

In addition to this, Berman said that several scripts were already in the works for next season, including one that tentatively will be a special two-hour movie that will appear in November. How the series will end is still being discussed, and nothing has been decided yet.

In the full interview, Berman also talks about how it feels to work on Trek at this time, and that he would love to tell us about the concepts being developed, but is unable to until Paramount gives the green light.

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