Creating a universe as vast and diverse as Star Trek takes a whole army of people. The most ruminant are the ones in front of the camera bringing the heroes of Starfleet to life. But behind the scenes is an army of artists shaping the hopeful vision of the future.
From designing stunning landscapes to making sure someone rank pins are on straight, every hour on screen takes an army of creative minds to bring the vision together and more production crew than could fit on a starship to make it all work.
Some jobs are just there to pay the rent. Some jobs are dreams come true. When it comes to working for a production like Star Trek, one thats influenced so many over the decades, there are few lucky enough to transition from fan to being a core part of the universe. One of those lucky souls not only got his job thanks to his fandom, but made a career from it like few others.
For over a hundred years Hollywood has been the mecca of film production in the united states and still stands as the place to go to follow your dreams in show business. Los Angeles is filled with artists clamouring for their chance to prove themselves and make it. Most never do and more often than not, those who do get their foot in the door only get that far by sheer luck.
After graduating from the Cornell University, mastering in political science, a young and hopeful Ronald D Moore took his chance, moving from New York to Los Angeles in the hopes of becoming a writer. And just like the hundreds of other people who followed the same path, nothing happened. Even when he was able to get a tour of the Star Trek set, sneakily dropping in one of his own scripts to showcase what he could do, it all seemed a futile endeavour.
Months passed and no one was biting. That Star Trek script was tossed aside and left to collect dust. Just as Moore had given up all hope and was getting himself ready to join the Navy instead, Star Trek producer Michael Piller found his script and liked it so much that it was making it’s way into production. The Bonding was a story of an officer who died in action and Worf caring for the orphaned son she left behind. It left an impression. Piller wanted to see what else this unknown writer had.
By the end of 1989, Moore was a part of the writers room. Staying the distance, he became a strong fixture within the Next Generation production team, becoming synonymous with Klingon plot-lines and being entrusted to write the series finale, All Good Things, as well as the Next Generations first feature film Generations alongside Brannon Braga.
His legacy in Star Trek continued, with a move to Deep Space Nine following the Next Generations run, working his way up to Co-Executive producer by the final season. As a fan of the original series growing up, his episodes usually features references to the classic era of Star Trek, or in the case of Trials and Tribbleations, an entire flashback episode using footage of the original cast mixed with Deep Space Nine.
Collaborating on Deep Space Nine under lead show-runner Ira Stephen Behr gave Moore room to explore beyond the usual sci fi trappings of the Next Generation. Aside from being one of the key writers for shaping Klingon culture stemming from Sins of the Father, Moore and the team explored a more personal and darker turn through the Dominion war and exploration of what Starfleet under pressure looked like.
Once Deep Space Nine came to an end in 1999, so did Moore’s Star Trek career. After a very brief stint on Voyager, Moore’s desire to push that creative field a little further saw disagreements with former writing partner Brannon Braga and moved him to a new direction.
Moving on to another science fiction show, Roswell, Moore ended up being approached by David Eick to delve into another childhood favourite; Battlestar Galactica. The premise of the last survivors of humanity fleeing from their synthetic creations gave him just the opportunity he was looking for. With no ceiling or Star Trek styles he was bound to, Battlestar became a whole new story from the original as it followed the few highs and many, many lows of a struggling fleet looking for a new home while under constant attack.
Spanning a handful of season, two films and a spin off, BSG didn’t just give Moore another job but became a creative touchstone for sci fi, shifting the balance from showcasing humanity’s idealism to focusing on the struggles and conflicts it takes to get there. The style would influence not only new shows being made, but long term franchises including Stargate and even back to Star Trek itself.
Showing no signs of slowing down, Moore’s career has continued to move to fresh ideas. The short lived Helix focused on small scale horror while fantasy series Outlander became a massively successful period drama with a bit of a time traveling twist.
While Outlander is still ongoing, Moore developed alternate history sci fi For All Mankind – the story of US Space Exploration following Russia being first to land on the moon – has been another huge success for Apple TV.
Having grown and evolved in style, Moore’s career now is a far cry from Piller stumbling upon a random hopeful’s script in a pile. Twenty five years on though, Moore’s career beginning with a ten year mission in the Star Trek universe makes it not only hard to escape from him being a huge part of the franchise, but one of Star Trek’s best behind the scenes success stories.
You can watch his current projects For All Mankind on Apple TV while Outlander is currently exclusive to Prime Video.
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