WORLD PREMIERE OF TREK NATION

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30 @ 8PM ONLY ON SCIENCE





SCIENCE EXPLORES THE LEGACY OF THE STAR TREK PHENOMENON WITH THE DEFINITIVE

TWO-HOUR TELEVISION EVENT: TREK NATION

-- George Lucas, J.J. Abrams and Seth MacFarlane join Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry Jr. on the journey of a lifetime featuring never-before-seen footage in TREK NATION premiering Wednesday, November 30, at 8PM ET/PT on SCIENCE--



SCIENCE celebrates the 45th anniversary of one of the greatest television franchises of all time, Star Trek, with the world-premiere two-hour event, TREK NATION. This tribute follows Gene Roddenberry’s son, Rod, as he explores the deep impact of his father’s singular vision for the future. Through interviews with fans, including George Lucas, J.J. Abrams, Seth MacFarlane, and many notable Star Trek alums, TREK NATION chronicles a son’s journey to discover his father’s work that helped defined science fiction. TREK NATION premieres on SCIENCE on Wednesday, November 30 at 8PM ET/PT.



TREK NATION draws on hours of exclusive footage, including never-before-seen home movies from the Roddenberry family collection and the first-ever Star Trek convention. This film demonstrates that Roddenberry’s work has not only inspired legions of fans across the globe, but generated a cultural movement. Star Trek is a phenomenon that goes beyond entertainment; it has influenced politics, space travel, social morality and much more. Star Trek was a catalyst which has fostered an enhanced understanding of the human condition, capturing man’s constant search for a better world.

Wired.com posted a new interview with producer Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry, the son of late Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, in which he talks about his 2-Hour documentary Trek Nation, which airs tonight on the Science Channel. Here are few excerpts.



GD: Based on past interviews, you seem open to creative interpretation of your father’s work. If you were approached by a motion picture studio, would you consider conceptualizing and producing another Star Trek series for TV, and what social issues might you explore?

These are awesome questions and you are really making me think, so I appreciate it. I’m torn as to whether I would accept or not. It depends on what the offer was, and I’m not taking about financial. I guess I really mean creative control. Not that I want to have complete creative control myself. I would just like to surround myself with people I know, trust and who get the philosophy. So I would be open to the idea. What sort of issues? There’s unfortunately, a lot of the same issues that were relevant in the sixties that are still plenty relevant today. Tolerance. You said it. In the documentary — I really want people to not just tolerate. I want people to accept the diversity of our planet. Acceptance doesn’t mean that you have to accept their ideas. That means just be willing to sit in the same room, accept the people for who they are and don’t fear their ideas, embrace them, learn about them. If it’s two different religions or two political views, I want people to not get so emotional and be able to sit down with someone of — I don’t want to say opposing — opposite beliefs and have a discussion back and forth. I mean, that’s the only way we’re going to grow and evolve. That’s how we’re going to learn new things.

GD: As Rod Roddenberry, do you plan on continuing your father’s work? Do you have any particular plans on continuing his legacy and putting your own stamp on that, in your own way?

RR: Absolutely. And, I don’t consider myself a Hollywood producer or a filmmaker, even with this documentary. I’m still not a filmmaker, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be one. What I am interested in is taking the family, taking the next steps. My father presented this future where everyone works together for the greater good and thirsts for diversity and new ideas. A lot of fans, and I’m not going to point the finger at them, I’ll point it at myself, we’re all sitting on the couch waiting for that to happen. Well, what we’ve done, we’ve created the Roddenberry Foundation, which, we’re out there working with organizations and institutions that are on the cutting edge of technology working for a long term solution for issues for our future. We’ve branched out in to the environment, human achievement, science and technology and education.



GD: Is there anything else you want to add in particular about the documentary that you feel we should know?

RR: Yeah, it’s not along the same lines for kids or anything like that. And, it’s not me just saying this. But, there’s no way that I could have done this documentary by myself. Don’t worry, I’m not going to rattle off a list of names to you. There’s many, many times, I don’t want to say I gave up, but I definitely threw my arms up in the air and said “I don’t know what to do next.” And there’s a number of people who really helped make it happen, so I always feel awkward for getting the credit for Eugene Roddenberry creating this documentary. It wouldn’t have happened without them. I’ll just quickly say: Trevor Ross, New Animal, Science Channel and Amateur Pictures. They literally made it all happen.

Trek Nation airs on the Science Channel Wednesday, November 30, at 8:00 P.M. EST.