Above (L-R): Former ‘Discovery’ showrunners Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts, executive producers Heather Kadin and Alex Kurtzman.
Star Trek executive Alex Kurtzman continues to make news today as a new interview reveals his reaction and reasoning for stepping in as showrunner on Star Trek: Discovery after a number of tumultuous shake-ups impacted the series in 2017 and 2018.
Speaking today with The Hollywood Reporter, Kurtzman for the first time talked publicly about the departure of fired showrunners Aaron Harberts and Gretchen J. Berg, who were removed from the series in June 2018 after reports of verbal abuse and human resources complaints caused CBS to make a change at the series.
After the departure of Bryan Fuller — the Discovery creator who was also fired from the show in 2017 — Kurtzman decided he needed to step in personally, even though he hadn’t planned on it:
Gretchen and Aaron were put in a tough spot because we were inches from production when we lost a showrunner [Bryan Fuller]. They were there to pick up the pieces.
When the writers weren’t happy, I couldn’t hand the show off to someone else again. I couldn’t stay at 30,000 feet.
It was my responsibility to get into that room and make sure the show was working. I created it, and I didn’t want to stand back and be removed from that process. I wasn’t planning on showrunning ‘Discovery.’ It was difficult.
While Kurtzman is the main main for Discovery moving forward, he remains general a franchise facilitator for the expanding Trek universe, which includes (so far) the upcoming Captain Picard series, the animated comedy Star Trek: Lower Decks, along with other rumored projects still unannounced by CBS.
He also addressed how he views the ongoing Trek development slate, and what limits the franchise may have on expanding too far:
What was the mandate for ‘Trek’ when you signed your overall CBS deal?
I came to CBS and said, “Let’s open this world up and see what else there is — and make sure that each show has its own identity.” My job is to run ‘Discovery’ and, in the case of other shows, remain at 30,000 feet so I can weigh in meaningfully and significantly at all the critical junctures of the development.
Is there a cap on how many ‘Star Trek’ shows is too many?
There has to be. At a certain point people are going to say, “It all feels so familiar.” The only thing I’d throw back is that nobody seems to have said that about Marvel. Between film and TV, no one is tired of them. That means that in a world of a global audience, there is always room for more, but the more has to be meaningful.
Kurtzman announced yesterday that a second animated Star Trek show is set to follow Lower Decks, along with additional “Short Treks” coming in animated form this Spring.
The Star Trek producer also appeared at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas yesterday (at the 5:05:00 mark in the video above), speaking about the benefits and challenges of producing television for multiple delivery platforms, including comments on the new aspect ratio for the show as we discussed with him in October.
On the potential for virtual-reality storytelling in the entertainment world:
I think that, as long as you stay on top of what people are doing and how they are consuming [content], you can start iterating and innovating the way you’re telling stories, and on what format. For me, when a new piece of technology is introduced – like when Oculus came out, or any version of VR or AR particularly, which I think is the next big phase of where we’re headed – there’s going to be a whole new area of stories to explore in that realm.
Right now, the technology isn’t quite there yet, and it’s limiting… but once the technology becomes more immersive and you’re not so limited in your range of movement, you’re going to see incredible stories being to emerge.
Alex Kurtzman directs “Brother,” the Season 2 premiere of Star Trek: Discovery, returning to CBS All Access on January 17.