20 Things You Never Knew About Star Trek: Insurrection

15. Michael Piller Was Stuck In Development Hell Before Rick Berman Called Him

Star Trek Insurrection Michael Piller
CBS

Michael Piller had joined the Star Trek franchise as The Next Generation had gone into its third season, though when the time came for a script for Star Trek: Generations, he turned it down. He recommended Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore to write the film instead. He had stepped back from Star Trek a bit by then, having been deeply involved in Deep Space Nine and Voyager as well.

In the years between Generations and Insurrection, he had written several projects that he thought were quite strong, though there was one glaring issue with them - none of them had actually been produced. It was what the industry referred to as development hell, or in other terms, everyone really liked the pieces, but not quite enough to greenlight them.

Rick Berman then called Piller, asking him if he would be interested in penning the script for the ninth Star Trek film. Piller accepted, and two years of a laborious process began.

Contributor
Contributor

Seán is the host and head writer/presenter for TrekCulture, as well as a writer/presenter on WhoCulture and WhatCulture Horror. He has authored two novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles for WhatCulture. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. As part of his work with TrekCulture, Seán has been invited to participate in collaborations with Roddenberry Entertainment, as well as contributing to several Star Trek community projects. An avid fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the horror genre at large, Seán's expertise has helped develop these channels to the successes they are today. As host of the Ups & Downs series on TrekCulture, Seán has become internationally recognised for his positive yet critically informed approach to reviewing every episode of modern Star Trek, ensuring he is one of the go-to voices in the Trek community. Favourite Quote to describe himself: "I'm serious about what I do, just not always about the way that I do it"