Moments of Discovery: Inside Section 31

A new YouTube video on the Star Trek YouTube page features Section 31, and includes commentary by Alex Kurtzman, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Mario Moreira, Gersha Philips, Tamara Deverell and Michelle Yeoh.

“Section 31 is an organization that is dedicated to protecting the universe by any means necessary,” said Kurtzman.

Section 31 is a super secret organization very similar to the CIA,” said Osunsanmi, “and they are participating with Discovery, with Captain Pike and Burnham in the hunt for the Red Angel.”

“Unlike Starfleet, who has very clear rules and regulations, Section 31 operates in the grey areas,” added Kurtzman. “They bend the rules and they try not to break them, but ultimately given the threats that are coming in season two, the challenge for Section 31 is to figure out how to protect our freedoms without violating them.”

The black badge for Section 31 came first and was the inspiration for the look of the organization’s personnel and ship. “When we designed the badge, that was sort of the first step into Section 31, so the badge itself sort of fed the design for the whole look,” said Prop Master Mario Moreira.

Yeoh spoke about the black leather outfits worn by Section 31 personnel, and Costume Designer Gersha Philips showed off one of the beautiful leather costumes.

Osunsanmi described the Section 31 set, saying that the two-story set featured one hundred different screens, and six hundred thousand individual LED light bulbs.

Production Designer Tamara Deverell liked the symmetry of the Section 31 set, while Moreira showed off the advanced technology of Section 31, including a phaser that extends out when it goes from stun to kill.