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My god! Bryan Fuller is sending all the right signals about Trek!

SpaceLama

SpaceLama

Commander
Red Shirt
Consider the people that have been assembled:

- Bryan Fuller himself: Representative of innovation in television and storytelling

- Nicholas Meyer: Representative of Trek's literary legacy and exploration of pathos

- Rod Roddenbury: Representative of Trek's humanism and enlightenment ideals

I think I'm seeing his game - sending signals that each part of what makes up Star Trek will be respected.

Nicholas Meyer hopefully with his tendency to tell deep and literary character stories with the characters we love; replete with references to Arthur Conan Doyle, Herman Melville, William Shakespeare and C S Forrester. Rod Roddenbury hopefully bringing some of the optimism that characterised Star Trek at it's most inspiring; the idea that the universe is a natural wonder waiting to be explored and understood. And Fuller, who experimented wildly with shows like Hannibal and Pushing Daisies. I'm not trying to put these people on a pedestal, but damn if they aren't embodiements of different aspects of Star Trek that we love.
 
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As I said in the other thread, don't forget that Alex Kurtzman is the one ultimately in charge of the whole production. He probably won't have that much involvement with the series once it gets underway, since he has plenty of other series and movie projects to concentrate on, but as the head of the production company behind the show, he's probably largely responsible for the initial staffing decisions, including the hiring of Fuller.

Also, Rod Roddenberry is not a writer (mostly), just a production executive. So he's unlikely to have that much creative input to the show, beyond offering notes on the scripts.
 
Christopher said:
As I said in the other thread, don't forget that Alex Kurtzman is the one ultimately in charge of the whole production. He probably won't have that much involvement with the series once it gets underway, since he has plenty of other series and movie projects to concentrate on, but as the head of the production company behind the show, he's probably largely responsible for the initial staffing decisions, including the hiring of Fuller.

Also, Rod Roddenberry is not a writer (mostly), just a production executive. So he's unlikely to have that much creative input to the show, beyond offering notes on the scripts.
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Fuller's production company, Living Dead Guy Productions, and Roddenberry Entertainment are involved too.

Fuller is credited as creator, executive producer, showrunner and his production company is developing the show with Kurtzman's and Roddenberry's.

He won't be taking orders from Kurtzman, they're at most on equal level.
 
Nope, Kurtzman is ultimately in charge.

Having Roddenberry involved is PR plain and simple. How much more than that Meyers represents is something we'll have to wait and see.
 
Dennis said:
Nope, Kurtzman is ultimately in charge.

Having Roddenberry involved is PR plain and simple. How much more than that Meyers represents is something we'll have to wait and see.
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Other than him being announced first, there's no reason why anyone should think this.

Fuller has just as much control as Kurtzman.
 
Shalashaska said:
Other than him being announced first, there's no reason why anyone should think this.
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Not unless you understand how TV works and what the various jobs represent, that is.

You're entirely mistaken. The buck stops with Kurtzman and his partner here.
 
Christopher said:
Also, Rod Roddenberry is not a writer (mostly), just a production executive. So he's unlikely to have that much creative input to the show, beyond offering notes on the scripts.
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That still sounds good, given his production company's objective of "preserving the Roddenbury legacy".

Here are the various statements when people cam onboard:

Bryan Fuller:

“My very first experience of Star Trek is my oldest brother turning off all the lights in the house and flying his model of a D7 Class Klingon Battle Cruiser through the darkened halls," Fuller said in a statement. "Before seeing a frame of the television series, the Star Trek universe lit my imagination on fire. It is without exaggeration a dream come true to be crafting a brand new iteration of Star Trek with fellow franchise alum Alex Kurtzman and boldly going where no Star Trek series has gone before.”

“Bringing Star Trek back to television means returning it to its roots, and for years those roots flourished under Bryan’s devoted care,” said Kurtzman, who will executive produce the new show along with Fuller. “His encyclopedic knowledge of Trek canon is surpassed only by his love for Gene Roddenberry’s optimistic future, a vision that continues to guide us as we explore strange new worlds.”

“For the past 50 years, Star Trek has been a groundbreaking franchise that not only changed the landscape of television, but made a significant impact on pop culture,” said David Stapf, President, CBS Television Studios. “When we began discussions about the series returning to television, we immediately knew that Bryan Fuller would be the ideal person to work alongside Alex Kurtzman to create a fresh and authentic take on this classic and timeless series. Bryan is not only an extremely gifted writer, but a genuine fan of Star Trek. Having someone at the helm with his gravitas who also understands and appreciates the significance of the franchise and the worldwide fan base was essential to us.”

Nicholas Meyer:

“Nicholas Meyer chased Kirk and Khan ’round the Mutara Nebula and ’round Genesis’ flames, he saved the whales with the Enterprise and its crew, and waged war and peace between Klingons and the Federation,” Fuller said. “We are thrilled to announce that one of Star Trek’s greatest storytellers will be boldly returning as Nicholas Meyer beams aboard the new Trek writing staff.”

Rod Roddenbury:

“Gene Roddenberry, the Great Bird of the Galaxy, left a finely feathered nest for all who love Star Trek to enjoy,” Bryan Fuller said in a statement. “And it is only fitting that Rod Roddenberry and Roddenberry Entertainment join our new Trek adventure to ensure that his father’s legacy of hope for the future and infinite diversity in infinite combinations runs through our tales as Gene Roddenberry intended.”

“Moral dilemmas, human issues, complex characters, and a genuine sense of optimism: These are the cornerstones of Star Trek and are what have made it such an influential and beloved franchise for the last 50 years,” Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry said. “While I will always be humbled by its legacy and the legions of fans who are its guardians, it’s a genuine honor to be joining a team of imaginative and incredibly capable individuals whose endeavor it is to uphold the tenants of Star Trek’s legacy while bringing it to audiences in a new era and on a contemporary platform.”

I like what I'm hearing basically.
 
Shalashaska said:
Other than him being announced first, there's no reason why anyone should think this.

Fuller has just as much control as Kurtzman.
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I'm not interested in value judgments or manufactured rivalries; there's no sense treating this like a competition when they're all on the same team. They just have different roles on the team, and I'm trying to clarify how the process works. Every show needs producers who focus on the business side or the logistics of production so they can leave the writer-producers free to focus on the creative side. And a lot of producers are strictly financial partners or figureheads.

Kurtzman started out as a writer, but he's the head of a production company that makes multiple TV series (including Hawaii Five-O, Sleepy Hollow, Scorpion, and Limitless), and he's developing the new Universal Monsters film franchise and directing the re-remake of The Mummy, so he won't be able to have day-to-day control over any of his series. So he does the same thing that other executives in that position have done -- he brings in showrunners, works with them to create and develop the shows, then lets them run the day-to-day operations under his nominal supervision.

So yes, naturally, Bryan Fuller will be in charge of the overall creative process of the show once it gets underway. That's what Kurtzman and CBS hired him to do. But at the moment, they're still staffing and bringing in new production partners like Rod Roddenberry. That's the business side of the operation. And that's Kurtzman's ultimate responsibility, along with his production partner Heather Kadin. I'm not pitting him against Fuller; on the contrary. They play distinct and complementary roles in the process. You could probably liken Kurtzman to Rick Berman and Fuller to Michael Piller, more or less. Although Kurtzman will probably be much less hands-on than Berman was, since Berman was producing ST exclusively while Kurtzman has to divide his attention among half a dozen or more projects.
 
People seem to dislike Kurtzman, mostly because of his (seriously underwhelming) writing credits, including Transformers, the horrible Legend of Zorro (the one where they ruined the perfect Mask of Zorro, by including a kid), the underwhelming Amazing Spider-Man 2 and generally a bulk of mostly forgettable blockbusters. In fact, I would even say the two nuTrek movies are probably the strongest outings Kurtman and Orci have ever offered...

That being said, his television shows are amazingly produced. I actively dislike the new Hawaii Five-O, haven't watched Fringe, and only saw a few episodes of Sleepy Hollow. But here is the thing: Those shows look amazing. They almost have a motion picture-like quality to them. The cast in all those shows is very talented and diverse, and he seems to have a good hand finding a consistent tone for the writers. The shows are fast paced, strongly character focused, and the production values (like visual effects, prosthetics and make-up design, e.g. in Fringe or Sleepy Hollow) looks gorgeos. The only weaknesses I see are plot- and writing-related. And we got that covered with Fuller (and Meyer, depending on the actual extent of his involvement).

So yeah, however good (or bad) the series will eventually turn out: it's not for lack of trying!
 
Christopher is right to point out that they are all on the same team. We don't want to encourage or spread rivalries in the culture surrounding this new show. Do fans want a repeat of early TNG and the David Gerrold thing? God I hope they don't read these forums. I hope they just do their jobs, have fun, throw ideas around, take creative risks, enjoy it, and have a great time. Just re-watched the writers room thing on TNG and we could only hope for an environment as good as that - with people who love what they do, and a cast that gets on so well together (or Buffy / Firefly / Farscape / Stargate SG-1, etc).

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Rahul said:
That being said, his television shows are amazingly produced. I actively dislike the new Hawaii Five-O, haven't watched Fringe, and only saw a few episodes of Sleepy Hollow. But here is the thing: Those shows look amazing. They almost have a motion picture-like quality to them. The cast in all those shows is very talented and diverse, and he seems to have a good hand finding a consistent tone for the writers. The shows are fast paced, strongly character focused, and the production values (like visual effects, prosthetics and make-up design, e.g. in Fringe or Sleepy Hollow) looks gorgeos. The only weaknesses I see are plot- and writing-related. And we got that covered with Fuller (and Meyer, depending on the actual extent of his involvement).

So yeah, however good (or bad) the series will eventually turn out: it's not for lack of trying!
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Limitless is one of my favorite shows on this season. So yeah, I trust Kurtzman to make TV.
 
SpaceLama said:
Consider the people that have been assembled:

- Bryan Fuller himself: Representative of innovation in television and storytelling

- Nicholas Meyer: Representative of Trek's literary legacy and exploration of pathos

- Rod Roddenbury: Representative of Trek's humanism and enlightenment ideals

I think I'm seeing his game - sending signals that each part of what makes up Star Trek will be respected.

Nicholas Meyer hopefully with his tendency to tell deep and literary character stories with the characters we love; replete with references to Arthur Conan Doyle, Herman Melville, William Shakespeare and C S Forrester. Rod Roddenbury hopefully bringing some of the optimism that characterised Star Trek at it's most inspiring; the idea that the universe is a natural wonder waiting to be explored and understood. And Fuller, who experimented wildly with shows like Hannibal and Pushing Daisies. I'm not trying to put these people on a pedestal, but damn if they aren't embodiements of different aspects of Star Trek that we love.
Click to expand...
Don't forget, Kurtzman adds the dynamicism and modernity to Star Trek, an equally important element or no one will watch the show in the crowded Tv landscape.
 
So....

One TOS era writer - Meyer
One TNG era writer - Fuller
One "nu" trek writer - Kurtzman

I wonder if this thinking was used here?

Oh, and one part of Star Trek's #1 family... (not sure what he brings to the table)
 
This complete vacuum of actual information on the new show makes me suspect it'll be exactly what I personally want in every way. The more no information we get, the stronger I believe this.
 
Just don't get it massively wrong (I'm looking at you DS9) and just stick to what we love, Character driven plots with action often secondary (Which is why I rather liked enterprise)
 
USS Einstein said:
Christopher is right to point out that they are all on the same team. We don't want to encourage or spread rivalries in the culture surrounding this new show. Do fans want a repeat of early TNG and the David Gerrold thing? God I hope they don't read these forums. I hope they just do their jobs, have fun, throw ideas around, take creative risks, enjoy it, and have a great time. Just re-watched the writers room thing on TNG and we could only hope for an environment as good as that - with people who love what they do, and a cast that gets on so well together (or Buffy / Firefly / Farscape / Stargate SG-1, etc).

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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
Click to expand...


I'd really like to see Seth MacFarlane added to Fuller/Meyer/Roddenberry/Kurtzman (though too many cooks?), that could be very interesting!!
 
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