Agent Pat (Agentpat)
03-20-2002, 10:58 PM
&#34;Par beams up Trekkie titan&#34; <BR>By JOSEF ADALIAN <BR>Daily Variety, Mar. 19, 2002 <BR> <BR>&#34;Star Trek&#34; supremo Rick Berman has reupped with Paramount&#39;s TV and motion picture divisions, inking a five-year, eight-figure overall deal that will keep him at the studio through the end of 2006. <BR> <BR>Exclusive pact calls for Berman to create, develop and produce features for Par&#39;s film units as well as telepics and series programming for the studio&#39;s TV units. He&#39;ll also remain as scribe/exec producer on the latest &#34;Star Trek&#34; skein, UPN&#39;s top-rated &#34;Enterprise,&#34; while continuing as a consultant on projects for Par&#39;s theme parks unit. <BR> <BR>While Berman intends to continue to focus on &#34;Enterprise&#34; and the upcoming Par pic &#34;Star Trek: Nemesis&#34; for at least the next year, he&#39;s expected to begin developing non-&#34;Trek&#34; properties at some point during the term of the new deal. <BR> <BR>Par TV production prexy Garry Hart said he was glad Berman would remain &#34;a part of the Paramount family.&#34; <BR> <BR>Major talent <BR> <BR>&#34;Rick Berman&#39;s guidance of the &#39;Star Trek&#39; franchise and its phenomenal success are testament to his immense talent and dedication,&#34; Hart said. &#34;He is truly a gifted producer.&#34; <BR> <BR>Par Motion Picture Group chairman Sherry Lansing said Berman had been &#34;an enormous contributor to the success&#34; of her unit. <BR> <BR>&#34;He is a wonderful producer, and I look forward to collaborating with him for many years to come,&#34; she said. <BR> <BR>Berman noted that between launching &#34;Enterprise&#34; and filming &#34;Nemesis,&#34; he&#39;s had &#34;more fun writing and producing this season&#34; than any year since he began working on the &#34;Star Trek&#34; franchise in 1987. Nonetheless, Berman is prepping to move himself and his Rick Berman Prods. banner beyond deep space. <BR> <BR>&#34;There&#39;s nothing that dictates you giving your all &#40;more&#41; than the first season of a new TV series,&#34; Berman told Daily Variety. &#34;And I&#39;m going to be very committed to &#39;Enterprise&#39;; it needs a lot of nurturing for at least a couple more years. <BR> <BR>&#34;&#40;But&#41; during the course of this next five-year deal, I&#39;m going to force myself to find the time to start branching out,&#34; he added. &#34;I want to work on the kind of projects where people drive cars and wear sneakers --something a little more earthbound.&#34; <BR> <BR>Total Trek <BR> <BR>Since coming into the &#34;Trek&#34; universe as co-creator &#40;with Gene Roddenberry&#41; of &#34;Star Trek: The Next Generation,&#34; Berman has been responsible for more than 600 hours of &#34;Trek&#34;-related programming. <BR> <BR>In addition to &#34;TNG&#34; followups &#34;Deep Space Nine,&#34; &#34;Voyager&#34; and &#34;Enterprise,&#34; Berman produced and had co-story credit on &#34;Trek&#34; features &#34;Generations,&#34; &#34;First Contact,&#34; &#34;Insurrection&#34; and the upcoming &#34;Nemesis.&#34; <BR> <BR>Before &#34;Trek,&#34; Berman was a series exec at Par &#40;overseeing skeins such as &#34;Cheers&#34; and &#34;Family Ties&#34;&#41; and a director of drama development at Warner Bros. TV.