Best News Ever, Part 3: Bryan Fuller gets Nick Meyer onto #ST2017

See how simple it is when the right mix of pro producer and Trekkie get the keys? 

We are barely out of the gate, but if Bryan keeps making boldly obvious choices like adding Nick Meyer to his writing staff (and is allowed to) there's no telling what we'll be warping with come January. 

It also shows the paradigm-ripping nature of streaming, now. Just go be smart and creative--no TV-vs-film "boxes"/ labels to stop up the flow.

Hmmmm--maybe it's time to dig out my long Hi8 vidchat w Nick I never posted back from 2009.

Ironic it is that I last saw Nick at Harve Bennett's memorial last spring (photo above)--and now it's news because another Trek runner has come calling. Of course there's a lot of hurdles, both financial and human, to get over between now and premiere night. Nothing is ever certain, sadly.
But let's hope for at least an equal outcome to ST II Etc .... and to more undiscovered country in Trekland.

So long, Harve Bennett: Don't forget this savior of Trek

This is unbelievable, but in the midst of already reflecting and mourning the loss of Leonard Nimoy comes word that 1980s Trek film producer Harve Bennett passed away quietly near his retirement town in Medford, Ore.—a couple days earlier, actually, on Feb. 25. With no immediate family nearby and his current wife ill as well, news of his passing and the exact date was delayed getting out until DeForest Kelley biographer Terry Rioux got local police to check on him, then worked with Nick Meyer to get the word out in L.A.

I and others have long noted that Harve—as the guy entrusted with the leaner, meaner comeback from the production bog-down of Star Trek—The Motion Picture, and the guy who brought Nick to the franchise through the films of the 80s that cemented all future Trek—has to be on any short list of The Guy Who Saved Star Trek, of which there at least four or five by now.

But it's personal now, as Harve as producer of his big-woop smash comeback charge, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, also jumped at the chance late in retirement to talk to me on camera for my documentary, The Con of Wrath, about the meltdown mega-show moment we both unwittingly shared back in Houston, Texas just after ST II premiered. Harve's agreement to take part in my doc was one of the early check-marks that had to happen before I knew it would be do-able at all.

That sit-down over Memorial Day weekend 2011—where we shared local beers, at his insistence—was later confided to me by his wife to be his last-ever interview, a sobering realization. The Harve on camera is still sharp as we talk about not only the "Ultimate Fantasy" story but others as well from his career—Trek and non-Trek—but his fatigue grows even as he tells me he's okay to go on and on, each time I ask his permission. It's been hard to stay in touch since then, and now I know why.

Harve's story throughout Trek, much less his years running TV's "Bionic Empire" and pioneering the art of the TV mini-series, is well chronicled. His Emmy and other awards attest to that—but we took time that day to talk of smaller and equally amazing stories, as well. I hope to share some of those as well at the right time, too.

For all you did for Trek, Harve—and for all you shared with me that day, for posterity... safe travels, Admiral Bob. This will not be the last time we speak of or hear from you in this space... We will not let your legacy be unknown to those whose are still coming to enjoy what you brought new life to.

Nick Meyer's dark Frank Lloyd Wright bio-script moves forward

Picked this up in the trades chatter recently:

Nick Meyer, author of The View From the Bridge—and, oh yes: writer and/or director of the even-numbered TOS Trek films, which are included in the book—has penned a great script about a darkly bizarre 1910s chapter in the otherwise iconic American architecture giant, Frank Lloyd Wright. Here's the story start—and a comment from Nick below the fold:

Bruce Beresford to Direct Frank Lloyd Wright Biopic 'Taliesin' 

by Megan Lehmann/Hollywood Reporter 12/5/11

Producers J. Todd Harris and Ed Bachrach are behind the film, about the fabled American architect, which was written by Nicholas Meyer. Veteran filmmaker Bruce Beresford has signed on to develop and direct Taliesin....

The title refers to the architect’s former home and studio in rural Spring Green, Wis., where the key events in the film take place. The rambling hillside compound, considered a masterpiece of Prairie-style architecture, was the focus of scandal as Wright built it for himself and his married mistress Martha "Mamah" Cheney. In 1914, while Wright was away, a domestic worker murdered Cheney, her two children and four others by locking them inside and setting fire to the building.

“It’s a very good script,” Beresford told The Hollywood Reporter. “It doesn’t cover his whole life, just a small section of it, and it doesn’t whitewash him into some sort of saint." ...

Meanwhile,  Nick told me briefly about his script:

"Someone once said that Great Men are seldom Good Men. The movie explores that proposition and also questions whether the "ordinary rules" apply to such people—and what is the difference between chance and comeuppance.

I think that's what it's about."

And I think this will be a whale of a flesh-and-blood revelation into what has been for decades just a dusty-pedestalled cultural icon. Fun, fun.

(Photo: Meyer at the Star Trek Day picket during the WGA strike, December 2007)

LA ALERT!: Big screening, little screening for Trek movie(s) this weekend

If you're in SoCal this weekend and have room for one more look at Star Trek 2009 (and who doesn't?):

--You can catch it no-frills and free Saturday, Dec. 12 at 1:30 p.m. at the North Hollywood Regional Library, 5211 Tujunga Ave., North Hollywood CA 91601-3119 ... (818) 766-7185. The USS Angeles local Starfleet chapter is acting as host with door prizes, refreshments and a little Q&A prior.

—Or if you'd care for a bigger splash, JJTrek opens a double-bill in a special two-day Trek film event at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Santa Monica's historic Aero Theater, sponsored by American Cinematheque, Geek Monthly and trekmovie.com. PineKirk & Co. open things on screen Friday, followed by Marc Altman and Robert Meyer Burnett's 10th anniversary screening of their affectionate Trek homage, Free Enterprise—complete with their cast-crew reunion and panel afterwards. Saturday brings The Film Trilogy—Treks II, III and IV—with a special Q&A session with writer-director Nick Meyer.

So, set sail and take your pick; no 3-D glasses required. 2012, of course, could be a different story...