Did Insurrection get inspiration from real events ?

[Can]

I was rewatching Insurrection other day. Suddenly I remembered something. First time it was aired at the end of 1998 , there was a whole mess in Albania and Kosovo , Serbs were actually driving out native Albanians out of Kosovo by force because it was convenient for them.

In the movie Picard actually rebels against Starfleet because he opposes forced relocation of Ba'ku due to its convenience to bigger powers. Is there any parallels ?

 

[Peach Wookiee]

Perhaps... though some Trek fans might argue that the movie was arguing about how wrong displacement in the American past was...

 

[Sec31Mike]

Forced relocation is a recurring theme throughout history. I don't think the writers were taking their cue from the events in Kosovo.

I'm not sure, but I think the process for generating the story idea and script do take some time.

As I recall, Roddenberry ws fond of utilizing current political and social issues as backdrops for the stories told in TOS.

 

[CaptainStoner]

That really was 98 , dang. Life has just flown by since then.
I do remember some buzz about the film relating to Kosovo in the ways you mention.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Michael Piller wrote a tell-all "making of" book, but Paramount supposedly quashed it. It may have had all the answers you seek.

See the interview archived at: Trek Galaxy.

Piller said, at the time, "With the approval of Viacom Consumer Licensing and Pocket Books, I wrote a book during the writing of 'Star Trek: Insurrection' which was meant to be a text book for screenwriters. My pitch to the publisher was to take the reader through the entire process of the development of the film..."

Joe Nazzaro's book, "Writing SF TV" added a new perspective:

Piller said in that, "I've written a whole book about it, which unfortunately Pocket Books chose not to publish after a barrage of telephone calls from the studio. The irony is that the people at the studio who complained about it hadn't even read it. It's basically a book for young screenwriters about how an idea turns into a movie, and all the changes that you go through. I talk about the notes from Patrick Stewart, the notes from the studio, a first draft of the story that we threw out and started over..."

 

[cardinal biggles]

Awww, dammit... I would have loved to read that book, both as a Trekkie and as someone who's toyed with writing a screenplay from time to time.

 

[Data Holmes]

cardinal biggles said:
Awww, dammit... I would have loved to read that book, both as a Trekkie and as someone who's toyed with writing a screenplay from time to time.

Indeed. Couldn't someone who knew him leak it onto the net or something...