Starfleet Logsitics:AOL chats/Ronald D. Moore/ron056.txt

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Subj:  Answers
Date:  9/19/97 6:55:39 PM
From:  RonDMoore       

<<Can you tell us anything about the future of the Trek universe? With DS9
ending this season or next and maybe another 4 years of Voyager, I'm
wondering if all we'll have to look forward to is a feature film every 2
years.>>

Nothing has been decided for the post-DS9 era.  The TNG cast will presumably
keep making features, but whether DS9 will be revived in some other format or
if there will be another Trek series are both questions without answers at
this point.

<<Has there been any word from the keepers of the slush towers regarding
turn-around time on specs?>>

Nothing new.  Still takes forever and a day.

<<*Besides* the Dominion business, and the mirror universe episode, what kind
of stories are we going to be seeing this year?  How many episodes are either
a go for production or "in the can" for the season thus far?>>

We're shooting show # 8 today, and we have the next four episodes lined up.
 Beyond that we have some story ideas and general notions for the rest of the
season.  Beside the Dominion-themed episodes, we're working on an
action-oriented Ferengi show, a Bashir show that follows up on his genetic
background, and a really intriguing Dukat show.

<<And the wild card question...who are some of your favorite musical artists?
 What are some titles in that Moore family CD collection?>>

I'm not that musically aware.  My wife buys virtually all the CDs in the
house and I rely on her to keep me reasonably in tune with what's happening
out there.  Personally, I'm a sucker for "classic" rock stuff:  The Beatles,
The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, almost anything on the "Dazed and Confused"
soundtrack (which is also a *great* movie, BTW)  -- that sort of thing.  My
tastes in current artists (yeah, I know the Stones are still "current") run
to Tori Amos, Joan Osborne, Cowboy Junkies, Sandra Bernhart (she's got a
great cabaret album out there if you haven't heard it), and Little Jimmy
Scott.

<<Jadzia has all of Curzon's memories, how did she not know that Curzon loved
her? She found out during a ritual where all of her past hosts seem to come
to life from the memories and impressions that the symbiont contained (or at
least that's what I thought). If the symbiont knows that Curzon loved Jadzia,
then why didn't Jadzia know?>>

I think our reasoning was that the memories of Dax's previous hosts were not
available to her as a literal transcript in her brain, but are subject to the
same "fuzziness" of memory that humans are familiar with.  Not everything is
accessible to her at every moment and some things are deeply buried in
memory.  Curzon certainly didn't want Jadzia to know about his feelings and
evidently made some kind of effort to bury those thoughts and memories
somewhere down deep in his psyche.  (We've never established specific Trill
mental disciplines that would allow him to do this, but it's not too far of a
stretch to imagine that it's possible.)  When Jadzia recalls memories from
her prior hosts, it is assumed that there are certain things she's unable to
summon into conscious memory even if those memories do in fact exist
somewhere in the mind of the symbiont.

<<Do you know anything about the Roddenberry show "Earth"?  Is it up and
running and are you interested in signing on if DS9 don't get the next
year???>>

I don't know anything more about than you do and I haven't considered going
to their show.

<<I heard that my wonderful Gul Dukat plays a major portion of the next 6!!!
 Is this true???>>

You'll see quite of bit of the Gul in the first six.

<<What's up with the character of Major Kira? She seems to have lost
direction and purpose and I am concerned... Do you or any of the writers feel
that this is the case and if so do you have any plans for the Major?>>

We don't feel this way and Kira has a lot to do in the first six shows as
well.
--------
Subj:  Answers
Date:  9/19/97 7:17:20 PM
From:  RonDMoore       

<<On the writing side we have "Ronald D Moore" and on the visual effects side
we have "Ronald B Moore."  So (whichever Ron you really are) what do the "D"
and the "B" stand for?>>

I don't know what the "B" stands for in his name and no one has ever guessed
what the "D" stands for in mine.

<< I've noticed that some of the actors due other projects while DS9 is in
production, like Avery Brooks, for example.  How do you schedule all the
different scenes.   Do you have a set schedule for production or can it be
adjusted if one of the cast is shooting another film.   Or do they have to
work around DS9 production schedule.   >>

Usually the actor in question will call us ahead of time and say, "I've been
offered a movie on these dates, can I do it?"  We'll look ahead in the
schedule and see if we can accomodate them.  For instance, if we know that
Sid will be gone for three days on a show that's mostly about Worf and the
Klingons it's no big deal, but if we have an O'Brien/Bashir show working on
those dates, we'll tell him there's a conflict.  As a general rule, we'll
juggle things around to allow the cast to do outside projects if at all
possible.

<<With Cardassia in the Dominion, is there even a Demilitarized Zone anymore
(since the DMZ was created by a treaty between the UFP, and the UFP doesn't
recognize the current Cardassian gov't.)? If not, is it Dominion territory,
or a part of the Federation?>>

Given the state of war that now exists between the UFP and the
Dominion/Cardassia, I don't think that there even is a Demilitarized Zone
anymore.

<<We've seen a little background of faith with the Bajorans and
Klingons...How about our Cardassians?  Are you guys going to do a little more
depth with them?  I'd like to see what you could come up with for "God
through Cardassian eyes"  :) >>

We've talked about exploring the belief system of the Cardassians, but
haven't had a story that allowed us to do it yet.  It's still something we
might do at some point.

<< I realize the experience may not have permitted it, but during your
conversation with Prince Charles during the FC premiere, were you able to
discern whether or not either William or Harry were fans of Trek?   Were
either or them present at the screening?>>

The princes were not present and there was no mention of Harry or William
during our brief chat.  It was mostly stuff about how long I'd been writing,
how I got into it, that sort of thing.

<<If the Intendant were to hide out in this universe, what do you think her
future plans might be?>>

You'll have to wait and see.

<<Hi Mr. Moore, just a quick question. I attended the chat last night with
Mr. Behr and Mr. Hewlitt and somebody asked why Worf was brought onto DS9 and
made captain of the Defiant? I always thought that Worf was the First Officer
of the Definat and Sisko was teh Captain, but neither Behr or Hewlitt
coorected the question asker. So, is Worf the Captain or First Officer of the
Defiant? Thanks.>>

Worf is the Defiant First Officer when the ship's official Captain (Sisko) is
aboard.  When Sisko isn't there, Worf commands the ship and should be called
Captain by custom.

<<I asked Robert Wolfe a while back if you guys were ever going to mention
what happened to Kira's brothers.  He said he was thinking about it, but I
never heard it mentioned.  Do you have any thoughts on this?>>

We haven't talked about them among ourselves in a long time.  Certainly
nothing will be mentioned in the near future.
--------
Subj:  Answers
Date:  9/19/97 7:38:15 PM
From:  RonDMoore       

<<It seems to us that Worf read a lot of books on what it means to be a
KLINGON when he was a kid and actually believed all the stuff that was in
there--which is why Worf has so many problems with other klingons. How about
it Ron?  How well do you think Worf knows Klingon traditions?  Is he making
this up as he goes along?>>

While I doubt he's making it up as he goes along, I do think that most of his
knowledge of Klingon lore and beliefs comes from books and that may color his
thinking a bit.  Some of the traditions and rituals he clings to may not be
practiced by the Klingon population at large.  I think it's also safe to
assume that there's a fair amount of diversity in Klingon society and that
Worf's study of societal conventions was probably focused on the traditions
and rules associated with his own family.  Other Klingon mileage may vary.

<<As a fan of the original series, is there any plot, planet, character, or
other sequelization from that series that the fan in you would love to see
 revisited on modern Trek, but that the writer/producer in you knows better
than to try or even bring up?>>

In one of my first pitch sessions for TNG, I tried to sell the story of the
Enterprise crew returning to Iotia, the planet of gangsters from "Piece of
the Action."  The gag would've been that by now the Iotians were all Kirk and
Spock imitators that wore the TOS uniforms, had somehow managed to get logs
and other info about the original Enterprise crew, and had modeled their
entire society around TOS -- in essence a planet of Trekkers.  Something
about the image of an entire planet populated by bad Shatner and Nimoy
impersonaters just tickled my fancy.  I pitched the notion again when we were
casting about trying to come up with a 30th anniversary show on DS9 last
season before Rene came up with the idea of revisiting an episode a la
"Forest Gump."  That was my last hurrah on that particular concept.  I'm
still intrigued by the idea of bringing the Tholians into DS9 at some point,
but that's the only other TOS-related thread I'm thinking about picking up.

<<Does anyone else worship the Prophets besides the Bajorans? For example, do
the Prophets also send orbs to other races in the Gamma Quadrant too? >>

This is a distinct possibility, but we haven't explored it yet.

<<By refusing to take a stance on [Voyager], and by not coming to its defense
when it is reviled on this board, are you not in effect taking a stance on
the show?  I find it surprising that if you and Mr. Braga have a sense of
comradery from working together that you do not watch his work set in the
same fictional universe as yours.  >>

It's not that surprising, really.  I didn't watch DS9 while I was on TNG
either, and I had friends on that DS9 staff whose work I liked and respected
also.  It's a matter of time or rather a lack thereof.  I spend all day
working on Trek, and a fair amount of time thinking about it when I'm at
home.  One of the last things I want to do when I've got free time at home is
*watch more Trek*.  Ruby will watch Voyager on occasion, but sometimes I just
don't want to deal with it and I'll go do something else.  

<<Ron, is it true that Brock Pters will retern in the season opener as Gandpa
Sisko?>>

Yes.
--------
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