What do the Beebs think of Trek '09?

[xortex]

Why do you guys keep picking on these people? If it weren't for them, Trek would not have been on for almost 20 years and quite possible this film may not have existed.

The human race has been finding scapegoats to blame for this, that or the other since the time of Solomon, if not well before. It makes some people feel better, and Berman and Braga are no longer even the most recent to be so honored.

See: RDM, RTD, the SAG, Hollywood in general, etc., etc. ...

Yeah, I know. But I actually miss the Trek shows they brought us... there isn't much good TV nowadays. I admit Enterprise wasn't exactly a true prequal, and they probably should of stopped with Voyager but I still found the shows entertaining.

They were grinding metal and exclusionary. They stopped open submissions to further exhalt themselves.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

They were grinding metal and exclusionary. They stopped open submissions to further exhalt themselves.

Nope.

 

[xortex]

why did they stop open submissions?

 

[ManOnTheWave]

Open submissions is like an invitation to get sued by every get rich quick scam artist on the planet.

 

[Broccoli]

why did they stop open submissions?

If memory serves, the stopped it with ENT. They probably did this because of the nature of Enterprise with it being a prequel. I am sure many fans have had ideas with what their version of pre-TOS is like and would try to force it into their scripts even if it doesn't fit with the canvus that B&B were trying to create. It would probably cause a needless headache on the writers/producers.

 

[number6]

why did they stop open submissions?

If memory serves, the stopped it with ENT. They probably did this because of the nature of Enterprise with it being a prequel. I am sure many fans have had ideas with what their version of pre-TOS is like and would try to force it into their scripts even if it doesn't fit with the canvus that B&B were trying to create. It would probably cause a needless headache on the writers/producers.

IIRC, they stopped the open submission policy long before ENT, and it was more of a legal issue than a creative one.

 

[xortex]

Sued? Please. They ran me over a few times. They have all derivative rights. The legal issue is more money for them. Just look at what Braga is doing now. Garbage. He still has his head up berman's ass. Berman made his money. He could care less.

 

[Kryton]

Or worse, he couldn't.

 

[Brutal Strudel]

I know I couldn't.

Why not wonder what Harve Bennett thinks of it? Or William Shatner?

 

[number6]

why did they stop open submissions?

If memory serves, the stopped it with ENT. They probably did this because of the nature of Enterprise with it being a prequel. I am sure many fans have had ideas with what their version of pre-TOS is like and would try to force it into their scripts even if it doesn't fit with the canvus that B&B were trying to create. It would probably cause a needless headache on the writers/producers.

IIRC, they stopped the open submission policy long before ENT, and it was more of a legal issue than a creative one.

Sued? Please. They ran me over a few times. They have all derivative rights. The legal issue is more money for them. Just look at what Braga is doing now. Garbage. He still has his head up berman's ass. Berman made his money. He could care less.

You really don't know what you're talking about.

The open submission policy was stopped for legal reasons. Whatever creative beefs you have with Braga or Berman has very little to do with script submission policy at Paramount.

 

[SalvorHardin]

Just look at what Braga is doing now. Garbage.

Yeah, what a loser.
Being a co-executive producer of a top show like 24...

 

[number6]

Just look at what Braga is doing now. Garbage.

Yeah, what a loser.
Being a co-executive producer of a top show like 24...

Yep. Pretty untalented guy there.

 

[M'Sharak]

If memory serves, the stopped it with ENT. They probably did this because of the nature of Enterprise with it being a prequel. I am sure many fans have had ideas with what their version of pre-TOS is like and would try to force it into their scripts even if it doesn't fit with the canvus that B&B were trying to create. It would probably cause a needless headache on the writers/producers.

IIRC, they stopped the open submission policy long before ENT, and it was more of a legal issue than a creative one.

Sued? Please. They ran me over a few times. They have all derivative rights. The legal issue is more money for them. Just look at what Braga is doing now. Garbage. He still has his head up berman's ass. Berman made his money. He could care less.

You really don't know what you're talking about.

The open submission policy was stopped for legal reasons. Whatever creative beefs you have with Braga or Berman has very little to do with script submission policy at Paramount.

xortex, you might want to look at this article from July 2002, which reads in part:

In the latest edition of his regular question and answer session with the British magazine [Star Trek Monthly], [Rick] Berman also talked about the new Star Trek series, Enterprise. Asked about Star Trek's open script submission policy, which enabled fans to send in scripts without an agent, the producer explained why the operation was discontinued on Series V.

"There are a lot of legal issues involved," he said. "It's a policy that exists on very few television shows. It's something that Michael Piller began a number of years ago and it became very burdensome for us. People had to be hired to sift through hundreds of scripts. Legal documents had to be sent back and forth. It was a huge job and it became very expensive. The people that were running the writing staffs over the years found that it was by and large not worth it in the long run."

The full Berman interview can be found in the issue of Star Trek Monthly which was current at that time; the Sci-Fi Pulse link at the bottom of the article is no longer working, unfortunately.

Note also that Piller (who initiated the open-submissions practice with TNG's third season) had moved on to other things by the time Enterprise began airing.

 

[xortex]

So it would cost extra money. Not like the two million a year Berman was taking in.

 

[number6]

I didn't know you kept such close tabs on Rick Berman's salary.

 

[xortex]

Who thinks Brag'a new show is gonna be a success?

 

[SalvorHardin]

Who thinks Brag'a new show is gonna be a success?

Which show would that be ?

 

[number6]

Who thinks Brag'a new show is gonna be a success?

24 has been pretty successful for a number of years. Threshold was cancelled prematurely. As far as the new one, who knows. It could be good.

 

[M'Sharak]

So it would cost extra money. Not like the two million a year Berman was taking in.

Berman's salary, whatever it may have been, isn't terribly relevant to the topic. As far as open submissions were concerned, it wasn't just a cost issue, but also a matter of ROI. Yes they did get some good scripts and story ideas, but not nearly enough in the long run to justify the expenditures incurred (and in a situation where they were spending Paramount money to produce the show, all expenditures ultimately had to be justified. I think it's a tribute to determination -- mainly Piller's -- that the policy was carried on for as long as they did.)

See also this, in which Ron Moore is speaking about Michael Piller:

Michael insisted that anyone who filled out a proper Paramount release form be given the courtesy of having it [their script] read and considered, and so a team of full-time Readers were hired to do nothing but read Trek specs day in and day out, to the tune of 3,000 scripts per year. A synopsis and commentary was generated on each submission, called "coverage" in the business (and by "the business" I, of course, mean "the industry") and each piece of coverage had to be read by a member of the writing staff before it was either rejected outright (the majority), purchased (a tiny, tiny fraction) or still rejected but with the proviso that the writer was good enough to invite in to pitch the show (less than a majority, but still a relatively common occurrence).

Note the part I've underlined -- for all of the time spent and all of the people involved, it translated into not very many actual purchases of scripts submitted.

Who thinks Brag'a new show is gonna be a success?

Not really a subject for this forum, I'm afraid, but you could ask the question in the TV & Media forum.

 

[cooleddie74]

You meant to say "Trek '9" instead, right?

Shouldn't that be "Trek '009?"

Surely it's "Trek 0009" isn't it?

HOPEFULLY it'll be "Top Ten Blockbuster for '09"...after all the debate, argung and waiting.