Changes: Brannon Braga

Latest revision as of 18:31, 17 April 2024

Real world article
(written from a Production point of view)

"Fun to write – Fun to watch."

– Brannon Braga, Writer/Producer, on his adage that the best episodes/films are those which writers have the most fun working on themselves, 2 August 2014 VegasCon.

Brannon Braga (born 14 August 1965; age 58) is a writer, producer and creator, serving as such on the spin-off television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, as well as on the Star Trek films Star Trek Generations and Star Trek: First Contact.

Star Trek

A twenty-five year old youth, Brannon Braga started working on Star Trek in 1990 as a writer/producer on The Next Generation, it being his first professional employment within the motion picture industry. Braga was recognized for his work on the Star Trek franchise with eight award nominations, winning two of them. In all, he has written or co-written 109 Star Trek television episodes with two additional movie writing co-credits to boot, more than anyone else in the history of the franchise. [2]

The Next Generation

On his first day as an intern, Brannon Braga already met his future mentor Michael Piller, who was working on "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" at the time; "I came in just at the right time," he recalled later. [3] Actually, it was Piller who picked him out of a group of finalists of an internship program in script writing offered by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences at the university Braga was attending in his final year in 1990. After an eight-week internship period at the studio, Braga was hired "on staff" at the writing department, the episode "Reunion" becoming his first official co-credit and with "Identity Crisis" as his first solo teleplay credit. [4] As a writer/producer on The Next Generation, Braga was responsible for some of the most popular episodes including the series finale "All Good Things...". For this episode he won the Hugo Award for excellence in science fiction writing, along with Ronald D. Moore.

Klingon aria music sheet — The Klingon aria lyrics by Braga

Braga is a big fan of directors Roman Polanski and David Lynch and their way to create mysterious atmospheres. As a result he was very happy with the way the seventh season episode "Genesis" was brought up. (TNG Season 7 DVD-special feature, "Departmental Briefing Year Seven: Production") Braga also co-wrote the movies Generations (1994) and First Contact (1996). For the sixth season episode "Birthright, Part II", Braga wrote the lyrics for the Klingon aria with music composed by Jay Chattaway.

At the conclusion of the sixth season of the series, Piller asked Braga to move over to his co-creation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but Braga wanted to "(…)see Next Generation through to the end and I am glad I did because Ron [Moore] and I wrote the final episode ["All Good Things"], which was probably our best work on that show." [5] Deep Space Nine therefore remained the only spin-off television production Braga did not work on, though he did write a couple of Deep Space Nine-scenes featuring Julian Bashir for the episode "Birthright, Part I". Having declared the series "terrific" and "an amazing television show", Braga acknowledged its "middle child" status, when he commented, "Personally, with Deep Space Nine, I don't think Voyager should have come on the air so quickly. I think Deep Space Nine should have been on its own for a while." [6] Nevertheless, his decision to stick with The Next Generation did result in him being promoted to co-producer for its last season and his first television award.

Generations and First Contact

After having completed "All Good Things…", Brannon Braga immediately set to work with partner Moore and Rick Berman writing the first Next Generation film, with the missive that it somehow featured the "passing the baton from one generation to another". For Braga, as it was for Moore, it was their first motion picture assignment, "Writing the movies, those were amazing experiences. It was a different kind of storytelling. It was an opportunity to write feature films, which I'd always wanted to do. It led to some other feature work. Ron and I were new writers and we'd never written a movie before when we did Generation[s]. We were trying to serve a lot of masters and we were passing the baton from one generation to another. I didn't turn out as well as I would have liked." [7] While generally well received, Braga was referring to the ending of the movie, as not only fans but also Spock performer Leonard Nimoy (who had declined both appearing in, and directing the feature, partly for this reason [8]^(X) ) took exception to the demise of Captain James T. Kirk as being unceremonious. "The decision to "kill Kirk" was a complex one, made by many people, including Shatner himself [note: confirmed by the latter in his autobiography Star Trek Movie Memories], who was heavily involved in the process of developing that script. I don't remember where the idea originally came from, but I can tell you that everyone was on board. It seemed a fitting way to "pass the baton" to a new generation and a final farewell to Shatner's character. But I don’t argue that his mode of death was less than overwhelming.," defended Braga [9], adding at a later point, "I don't want to speak for Ron or for Rick Berman, but I think that Kirk and Picard should have been locked in battle on spaceships, on their respective bridges, and not cooking eggs. I can say that now that enough time has passed. I just don't think it was the right second half of the movie, personally. If a fan wants to sit down and watch Generations with the commentary Ron and I did for the DVD, we're pretty honest about what we liked and don't like about that film." [10] As it turned out, Braga even considered resurrecting Kirk, "Kirk back from the grave? Hell, yeah. I even noodled a story that would do that on Voyager. Involved the Klingon hijacking of a modern-day 747 (and some time travel of course). Never wrote it, though." [11]

Two years later, Braga, again with Moore and Berman, turned their attention to the movie that "turned out so well" [12]; Star Trek: First Contact. "I had a saying when we were working on Star Trek: "fun to write – fun to watch." Generally speaking if you are struggling to write something and it’s not making sense, then it is going to be kind of crappy on the screen. First Contact was blast to write, blast to make. We just knew it was going to be fun." [13] On the introduction of the Borg Queen, which a minority of fans had gripes with as well, Braga said, "I think some people liked the Borg Queen and some didn't, but to us the Borg Queen was the thing that made it all work. We realized very quickly that the Borg aren't that interesting for a feature film for two hours because they don't say anything. They're robot zombies. So, to me, the Borg Queen was the coolest new thing about that movie." [14] Countering the perceptions that some fans held, Braga pointed out, "I disagree that Kirk's "death" signaled the "demise" of the franchise. Star Trek: First Contact went on to become the highest grossing Trek film ever, and one of the best reviewed. The TV shows were doing pretty damn well, too." [15] Being very proud of his work on First Contact, Braga had indeed a valid point; First Contact went on to become the highest grossing and best received of all the prime universe movies, even surpassing the hitherto most beloved ones, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. (see for details, Star Trek films: Performance summary)

Buoyed on by the success of First Contact, Braga was an obvious choice for the writer's chore of the subsequent Next Generation movie, Star Trek: Insurrection, but he "(…) didn't write any more movies after "First Contact" because I was running "Voyager" at that point and didn't feel like I could do both justice. Having written two movies with Ron Moore while also doing the TV shows was just too much. I chose to focus my energies on "Voyager" and I'm glad I did. I'm most proud of my work on that show." [16]

Voyager

Brannon Braga moved to Star Trek: Voyager as a producer, receiving another promotion to co-executive producer in 1997 and a further promotion to executive producer in 1998 when Jeri Taylor retired. During his time on Star Trek: Voyager he entered into a relationship with Seven of Nine actress Jeri Ryan, which has since ended. After Deep Space Nine finished its run, Braga immediately hired his Next Generation writing partner Ronald D. Moore for Voyager, but Moore resigned shortly afterward, citing creative differences with Braga and the other Voyager writers, and criticizing the lack of emphasis on continuity.

Though the series as a whole was by the fans received with somewhat mixed feelings, Braga was, predominantly in conjunction with Writer Joe Menosky, responsible for some of its best-received episodes, most notably including the two-part episodes "Scorpion", "Year of Hell", "Equinox", and "Unimatrix Zero". Braga had reveled in working with Menosky, later emphatically stating, "Joe Menosky was brilliant. He and I wrote what I thought were some of the best ever episodes. Feel free to disagree, but if you look at those 2-parters we did…cool stuff." [17] Braga himself had stated that he "had the most fun" working on Voyager, and cited the two-parter "Dark Frontier" and "Someone to Watch Over Me" as the episodes he considered his best work [18], on another occasion adding "Timeless" and "Deadlock", but also citing "Threshold" as "the one I'd just as soon forget." [19]

Enterprise – controversy, atonement, and defense

In 1999, Brannon Braga began work on Star Trek: Enterprise as the series' co-creator with Rick Berman (leaving Kenneth Biller to take over the production of Voyager), and had become Star Trek's "number two man" behind Berman. Unlike his former writing partner Ron Moore, Braga has never been a Star Trek: The Original Series fan, and it was for this reason that he had earlier turned the writing chore for the Next Generation homage episode "Relics", which was originally slated to be his, over to Moore, or as he himself had put it, "I knew I couldn't possibly write it. I didn't even know who Scotty was. This was a Ron [Moore] show." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 24, issue 3/4, p. 22) Braga not being a "Trekkie" was not lost on Writer/Journalist Mark A. Altman, who had recorded his "Relics" statement for Cinefantastique magazine, as he subsequently offered rather acerbically in 1999 when Voyager was in production, "The dirty little secret is Berman and the people running Star Trek right now hate The Original Series and hate being compared to it. They are not people who have any affection for the old show. When Harve Bennett and Nick Meyer took over the franchise for Star Trek II, they went back and looked at every episode of The Original Series and learned everything they could about what worked and what didn't. When these guys [Berman and writer Brannon Braga] took over, they hated the original and resented being in the shadow and avoided watching it. They'd be happy if people forgot the original, and that's unfortunate." [20]^(X) His admitted lack of understanding of original Star Trek-lore however, backfired on his work on Enterprise, as he was held co-responsible for the dismal performance of the series in its first three seasons, due to the perceived canon violations in established continuity – which, as it turned out, even though Ron Moore resigned over it, had not been an issue of note for Voyager, due to that show's premise, and despite Altman's assessment.

Actually, when the new series was announced less than a year later, there were those who feared that the franchise would overstretch itself. When interviewed by TV Guide, Altman, even though he was and is a life-long Star Trek fan, additionally expressed his great doubt and was not convinced of the viability of the franchise when a fifth, prequel series was announced, what eventually was to become Enterprise, being on record as having stated, "People are sick of Star Trek. But rather than give the franchise a rest and re-launch in a few years when fervor has built again, Paramount is going to run it into the ground until it's dead." [21]^(X) He was not alone in this assessment as Star Trek legend Robert H. Justman had in effect already voiced similar concerns earlier, in regard to Voyager; "(…)less is more," stated Justman, "I think the show has been flogged unmercifully and its going to rebound. The reaction is essentially going to be a negative reaction. If it is around in another 30 years, I don't think it's going to resemble what it has been in the past." [22]^(X) Events however, would prove them largely right, and Braga came to concur with them to a large extent in later years, "Star Trek was wearing out its welcome. Rick Berman didn't want to make a show so soon but Paramount [Television] did. I think it was too soon for another show. It was a quality show, but the ratings weren't really what they should be. And I don't think the network – the new regime [at UPN] – I don’t think they treated the show with the tender loving care that it needed to thrive." [23]

With the additional failure of Star Trek Nemesis (on which Braga had not worked incidentally, he deciding to focus all his energy on the television show, just as he had done with the prior one) at the box office in 2002, outspoken critics vehemently clamored for the removal of the "current leadership of the franchise from their positions, including Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, and their entire staff". [24]^(X) At the end of the third season of Enterprise, Paramount and UPN indicated its cancellation and the apparent end of Berman's tenure as the overseer of Star Trek productions. Whether or not influenced by the vocal criticism, and though retaining their official credit, both men were indeed essentially relegated to the role of figureheads by franchise management at the end of the third season, their relinquished places de facto filled for the remaining season by Manny Coto and Michael Sussman, under whose tenure as show runners much of the perceived continuity violations was redressed, aided by writers such as Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens, who, like them, had an equally thorough understanding of the original Star Trek-mythology.

Candidly admitting to his reduced role, Braga has outlined his scaled-down responsibilities for the last season, "I was indeed involved in Ent-season4. But only in a supervisory capacity. Manny was really running that writing staff. I was there to help him fashion stories and give notes, which was only part of the time because Manny was doing an amazing job. I rewrote an episode called "Divergence" I believe. No offense to the credited writer [note: the Reeves-Stevens']. It just needed work and I was happy to help Manny out." [25]

While the season as a whole was generally very well received by the fans – though it did not save the series, as its cancellation had already been decided upon – both Berman and Braga yet again took firmly hold of the reins when it came to producing the last episode, "These Are the Voyages...", also turning out to be the very last of the entire television franchise for the time being. Intended to be "a valentine to all the Star Trek shows", as Braga had put it in 2007 at the below-mentioned VegasCon, the well-meant intention was again met with intense criticism, again resulting in a violent backlash from production staffers and fans alike, causing Berman to admit years later, "I would have never done it if I had known how people were going to react." [26] In 2013, Braga made the even more unusual, but equally magnanimous, gesture of prostration by openly apologizing for the episode to cast and crew of Enterprise, conceding that he and Berman had made a "narcissistic move" in trying to make the episode a "valentine" to Star Trek. He also called it "a crappy episode" (ENT Season 2 Blu-ray-special feature, In Conversation: The First Crew), and "an idiotic move on my part" in 2014, having caused "(…) the only time Scott Bakula got pissed off at me". [27]

Actually, and contrary to former partner Berman – with whom Braga has had no contact for seven years after the series had wrapped (In Conversation: Rick Berman and Brannon Braga) – Braga had already shown real character, when he made a personal appearance at the August 2007 VegasCon, opening himself up for up-close-and-personal scrutiny by the fans. "To those who comment "it took guts" to get on that stage: yes, I was nervous as hell. Because as you point out, I had no clue what the reaction would be," Braga conceded, "But I was prepared to handle it no matter what. And to my relief, the audience could not have been more gracious". With the most vehement passions subsided over time and discussions being waged in a more civilized manner, a relieved Braga continued to chime on the blog covering his VegasCon appearance at TrekMovie.com for the remainder of the month, clarifying issues which had not been addressed during his live-performance as well as discussing his other Star Trek work. On that occasion Braga lauded the efforts of Coto and Sussman for the fourth season of Enterprise, "I thought Manny Coto did a great job. One could argue that Enterprise might have been that from the beginning. When I was seeing what Manny was doing it was like "you know what? Maybe this should have been the show from the start"," having added, "If Enterprise had continued, we would have kept going with Manny Coto's unique vision of the show." [28]

Aside from the "canon violation" allegations, the writing staff, including Braga, were also facing unrelated allegations of sexism, or rather sexist attitudes, exhibited in Enterprise at the time, which actually were already leveled against them with the introduction of the Seven of Nine character in Voyager. In regard to Seven of Nine, Braga has commented, "To me, Seven of Nine added a nice touch of magic that the show needed at the time. The fact that she was a beautiful woman was just, to me, a benefit. A lot of people thought it was in poor taste that we had a buxom babe, but I'm like, "Have you actually watched TOS?" That was babes on parade. Kirk would be considered a sex addict by today's standards. A certain sensuality has always been at the heart of Star Trek. So I'd dispute that criticism of Seven. I thought the character was a great addition to the show. And it kind of lit a fire under the cast, too. It was very controversial. We got rid of Kes and brought in Seven of Nine, and some people in the cast were upset about it and some thought it was cool, but at the end of the day I think it did all the right things creatively to the show, in my opinion." [29]

On addressing similar concerns leveled against them in regard to Enterprise, Braga has stated, "I suppose I did (along with Rick and the other writers) infuse Trek with a few sexual moments over the years. Took a lot of flack for Seven’s catsuit. But you know, Roddenberry's Trek universe had an undercurrent of sexuality. He established it in the original series with episodes like "The Cage". Orion slave girls anyone? [note: as a matter of fact reintroduced by Coto in the lauded fourth season, albeit with a twist] How about Kirk's escapades? And is the catsuit any more offensive than those miniskirts? Roddenberry took some criticism for some of this, I realize; especially for being sexist at times, as in "Turnabout Intruder", where he established that women could not command starships. But we always did it in the spirit of fun and exploration. What's wrong with Vulcan neuro-pressure, I ask you? What's so insulting about creating moments of physical intimacy for the characters? Star Trek explores all dimensions of humanity, and sexuality is arguably one of the most prominent. I will concede, however, that Hoshi losing her shirt was a bit "Girls Gone Wild" [note: in "Shockwave, Part II"]," and pointing out some hypocrisy, "But then, Trip in his blue underwear didn't seem to get a lot of complaints. Just ask Connor Trinneer. Entire websites have been erected in honor of his skivvies." [30]

Though Braga has conceded that "[w]ould I change anything? Of course! Hell, man, if I could travel back to 1999 I would change a lot of things. (…) There are certain episodes that are really stinky that I wish I hadn't done, but how can I go back and change that. There were also episodes that turned out great that we thought were going to be terrible," [31] and that the series "(…) needed Manny Coto. I wish he had been there since season one. That fourth season should have been the first season. It was really what the show was always supposed to be and I didn't until Manny came in and put his imprint on it," [32] he remained steadfast in his pride and defense of the series as a whole. He took exception to the persistent "violations in established continuity" allegations, "Contrary to some people's opinions we paid very close attention to continuity. There has always been a perception that we spit in the face of Star Trek canon and nothing could be further from the truth." [33] Sources of pride for him were the episodes "Dear Doctor", "Stigma" (for its AIDS allegory theme), as well as the entire third season Xindi story line, having called it "(…) really cool, (…) a science fiction concept I'd never seen before". "Terra Nova" was cited by Braga as his least favorite episode, deeming it too boring. [34]

Coda

Once Brannon Braga became a staff writer on Star Trek his responsibilities expanded to organizing writing work shops at conventions, and attending story line pitches from aspiring writers. Together with Ronald D. Moore, René Echevarria, and Naren Shankar he became part of a somewhat pampered writer's quartet, authors Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann have affectionately dubbed "The Young Guns" in their reference book Star Trek: The Next Generation 365. Braga was initially so successful in conjuncture with writing partner Moore, that their colleagues Echevarria and Shankar, jokingly referred to them as the "A-Team" while referring to themselves as the "B-Team". (TNG Season 7 Blu-ray: ""Preemptive Strike", audio commentary) Being all very young, Braga assumed an attitude and sense of humor that was not always appreciated, and which he himself came to regret in later years, as he related in the 2007 blog session, "I wish my 15 years on Trek had all been smooth-sailing. I wish every day and every episode had gone without a hitch. There are arrogant comments I wish I hadn't made in interviews, and in pitch meetings (as one email points out, and dude, I am sorry for that). I don't think I ever really grasped how much I would be scrutinized in my position. I learned the hard way."

The "dude" Braga was apologizing to was an aspiring writer, who, under the blogname "Stefanbkk", had in the same blog session described a "pitch session from hell" experience to the Star Trek producers and writing staff,

"I pitched to Next Gen, DS9, and Voyager several times during the 90's when I was living in LA trying my hand as a screenwriter. I also had quite regular contact with Brannon, Ron Moore and Lolita Fatjo during that time, as I assisted them doing grunt work at the Trek Writers Workshops they did for Creation at conventions. Ron was a great guy, as was Brannon… one of the quickest wits of anyone I've ever met. But my opinion of Brannon changed when I pitched to him once for Voyager. In the room was Brannon, another writer (can't remember who) and an intern who was taking notes. I was a pitching a pretty cool Harry Kim story, one in which he had a new love interest… the girl character's name was Kayla if I remember correctly. Now Brannon knew me, and he knew that I was gay. This had never been an issue before, but on that day things suddenly were different. Although my story had no gay overtones, Brannon was determined to rattle me throughout the entire pitch:
Brannon: "Now Steve, is Kayla a woman or a man?"

Me: "Uh… she's a woman, Brannon. Harry's not gay."

As I started to pitch again, I was constantly interrupted with comments meant to shake me up and amuse his cronies in the room:

Brannon: "So… at any time does Harry actually get to "lick her wormhole"?"

followed by guffaws of laughter. It went on like that throughout the rest of my story pitches that day. I was so shook up when I left that I stopped and talked to Lolita, the script coordinator, and after much coaxing from her, I told her what happened. Well she was so pissed at him, that the next day I got a call from Jeri Taylor, who apologized for him and told me that any future pitches from me who be heard by her directly. I think I went back and pitched to Jeri once after that. But the whole experience just left a really bad taste in my mouth about continuing.
So it's strange. When I first met Brannon, he was a funny, witty and extremely talented and insightful newcomer to Next Gen who was excited about his work and about writing what he and Michael Piller always called "high concept" stories. Then I encountered him again during Voyager and saw a completely different guy… arrogant, insecure and… a bit of an ass. Loved MOST of his work, but in the end, was not too fond of the guy himself… Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Braga's acknowledgment of, and apology for the episode was appreciatively accepted by Stefanbkk; "You deserved an apology. Just sorry it was a decade late," Braga added further down the line. [35]

His three main writing collaborators on the Star Trek franchise, in chronological order, were Ronald D. Moore, Joe Menosky, and Rick Berman, for the television properties The Next Generation, Voyager, and Enterprise respectively, while the first and the latter were his main writing collaborators for the movie properties Generations and First Contact.

The controversy surrounding Enterprise has somewhat overshadowed his previous Star Trek work for a time, but as fan reactions on TrekMovie.com have shown, Braga's more endearing work for the franchise is in the process of being reaffirmed, as was exemplified by blog master Anthony Pascale who summarized, "I know that it seems to be some kind of accepted blood sport to rag on Brannon Braga and Rick Berman. However (as I have noted before), Braga was part of some of the best Trek ever. Besides the "highs" mentioned above, Braga was behind what are sure to be top episodes in each of the three series he worked on such as TNG's "Parallels", VOY's "Year of Hell," or ENT's "Zero Hour". I wish many things (especially with VOY and ENT) were different (and apparently he agrees), but I also try and look at his career with Trek in the context of the full body of work".

Braga and Berman were rumored to have worked in the early stages on the 2009 movie, Star Trek, but Braga has since made it clear that his days with the Star Trek franchise were over, as he had already indicated at the 2007 VegasCon, declaring it his last Star Trek convention appearance. Yet, Braga was unable to resist the lure of the convention circuit and has since then returned to the circuit, appearing among others at the 2010 and 2014 VegasCons. [36]

Despite all the "grief" Enterprise had brought him, Braga stated in 2014, "I miss Star Trek. I didn't realize how badly I missed it. It's such a great premise. You can do anything you can possibly imagine. It has such a great message. It has such a great feeling. I think one of the reasons I was so passionate about Cosmos [see below] and threw myself so deeply into it was because there was some part of me that missed that Star Trek feeling so I channeled some of that into Cosmos." [37]

In 2012, Braga was given the opportunity to slake his worst Star Trek thirst, when he was sought out by publisher IDW Publishing to co-author the four-issue comic book miniseries Star Trek: The Next Generation - Hive. "It'd been a long time since I'd written Next Generation, but the characters came back quickly. I remember, when I was conceiving the story, it just amazed me how fluidly it came back…and how much I missed it," Braga stated in an interview on the occasion. [38]

Much of what Braga has stated on the aforementioned occasions, he reiterated in a lengthy in-depth interview, spread over several special features, specifically produced by Roger Lay, Jr. for the 2013-2014 Enterprise Blu-ray Disc releases, mentioning in passing that by then his relationship with the fan base had all but been mended. Braga also mentioned that there had been an additional, personal reason for him handing over the reins of Enterprise to Manny Coto; the stress surrounding the production – which included the negative backlash from audiences – of the series had gotten to him, suffering from a severe case of burn-out by the end of season three. Braga also mentioned that it was he who had selected Coto to work on the series during season three after seeing his work on the short-lived science fiction series Odyssey 5, whereas Coto himself divulged that it had been Braga personally who informed him that he had become the show runner for season four.

Career outside Star Trek

Brannon Braga was born in Bozeman, Montana (though spending much of his youth in Venice, California, followed by Canton, Ohio) and during his stay on the Star Trek franchise has frequently slipped references to his place of birth into episodes and films he has written (see USS Bozeman, Eli Hollander, Gallatin). He studied Theater Arts and Filmmaking at Kent State University and The University of California. He received the aforementioned Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Writing Internship in 1990. An atheist, he has suggested Star Trek as an "atheistic mythology."^[1]

During his stay on the Star Trek franchise, Braga made one contribution to a non-Star Trek production, when he co-wrote a first draft for the 2000 theatrical feature Mission: Impossible II (which was rapidly becoming a hugely successful, reemerging Mission: Impossible franchise for Paramount Pictures – see also Paramount Pictures: Footnotes), once again in collaboration with Ron D. Moore.

After his tenure on the Star Trek franchise ended, Braga worked on various other television projects. In 2005, he was the executive producer of the CBS science fiction series Threshold (co-starring Brent Spiner), which was canceled after thirteen episodes (of which only nine were aired). Braga also wrote the first two episodes of the series.

In 2009, Braga co-created the series FlashForward (based on a novel by Robert J. Sawyer and co-starring John Cho), where he also served as executive producer and wrote the first two episodes. In 2012, he served as executive producer and writer on Terra Nova, a science fiction action series, reuniting him with René Echevarria and April Nocifora. Both shows were canceled after one season, though FlashForward's episode "No More Good Days" netted him an additional 2010 Hugo Award nomination.

From 2009-2010, Braga worked on FOX's hit series 24, as a writer and Executive Producer, working alongside former Enterprise writer/producer Manny Coto on several scripts. He is also credited for the television film 24: Redemption as co-executive producer. Star Trek: The Next Generation – Hive had not been Braga's first foray into the world of comics; in the same period he co-authored the four-issue 2010 miniseries Iron Man vs. Whiplash for Marvel Comics.

Braga's more recent work is credited as Executive Producer and Director for the 2014 docu-series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey and the 2020 sequel series Cosmos: Possible Worlds (both hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson), the updated and modernized remakes of Carl Sagan's 1980 series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (featuring visual effects from Magicam, Inc.). [39]^(X) As he had explained above, he approached this project with a particular zeal, and it did net him no less than five 2014-2015 award nominations, one of which, a 2015 PGA Award, won, and most of them shared with Seth MacFarlane (the creator of Family Guy and Rivers on Enterprise), who served as one of the series' executive producers. Braga has subsequently started work as an executive producer on the 2014 fantasy television series Salem, which he had co-created.

Having joined up again with MacFarlane, Braga has as of 2017 been working as executive producer and occasional director on MacFarlane's Sci-fi series, The Orville. Similar to Star Trek, the series is about space exploration set and contains comedy elements. Described by several sources (including show creator/star MacFarlane himself) as an homage to the Star Trek franchise, The Next Generation in particular, Braga himself states the series "is aiming to tell stories that ride the line between drama and comedy, with an eye toward earnestness." [40]

Writing credits

TNG:
- Season 4 – Staff Writer/Intern (26 episodes, uncredited)
- "Reunion" (teleplay with Thomas Perry, Jo Perry and Ronald D. Moore)
- "Identity Crisis" (teleplay)
- Season 5 – Staff Writer/Intern (26 episodes, uncredited)
- "The Game" (teleplay, story with Susan Sackett and Fred Bronson)
- "Power Play" (teleplay with Rene Balcer and Herbert J. Wright)
- "Cause And Effect"
- "Imaginary Friend" (teleplay with Edith Swensen)
- Season 6 – Story Editor (26 episodes)
- "Realm Of Fear"
- "Schisms" (teleplay)
- "A Fistful of Datas" (teleplay with Robert Hewitt Wolfe)
- "Aquiel" (teleplay with Ronald D. Moore)
- "Birthright, Part I"
- "Frame of Mind"
- "Timescape"
- "Liaisons" (uncredited)
- "Phantasms"
- "Parallels"
- "Sub Rosa" (teleplay)
- "Eye of the Beholder" (story)
- "Genesis"
- "Emergence" (story)
- "All Good Things..." (with Ronald D. Moore)
VOY:
- "Parallax" (teleplay)
- "Phage" (teleplay with Skye Dent)
- "The Cloud" (story)
- "Emanations"
- "Cathexis" (teleplay, story with Joe Menosky)
- "The 37's" (with Jeri Taylor)
- "Projections"
- "Non Sequitur"
- "Cold Fire" (teleplay)
- "Threshold" (teleplay)
- "Deadlock"
- "Flashback"
- "Remember" (story with Joe Menosky)
- "Future's End" (with Joe Menosky)
- "Future's End, Part II" (with Joe Menosky)
- "Macrocosm"
- "Darkling" (story with Joe Menosky)
- "Rise" (teleplay)
- "Distant Origin" (with Joe Menosky)
- "Scorpion" (with Joe Menosky)
- "Scorpion, Part II" (with Joe Menosky)
- "Year of Hell" (with Joe Menosky)
- "Year of Hell, Part II" (with Joe Menosky)
- "Prey"
- "The Killing Game" (with Joe Menosky)
- "The Killing Game, Part II" (with Joe Menosky)
- "Living Witness" (teleplay with Bryan Fuller and Joe Menosky, story)
- "Hope and Fear" (teleplay with Joe Menosky, story with Rick Berman and Joe Menosky)
- "Night" (with Joe Menosky)
- "Drone" (with Bryan Fuller and Joe Menosky)
- "Timeless" (teleplay with Joe Menosky, story with Rick Berman and Joe Menosky)
- "Latent Image" (story with Eileen Connors and Joe Menosky)
- "Dark Frontier" (with Joe Menosky)
- "Think Tank" (story with Rick Berman)
- "Someone to Watch Over Me" (story)
- "11:59" (story with Joe Menosky)
- "Warhead" (story)
- "Equinox" (teleplay with Joe Menosky, story with Rick Berman and Joe Menosky)
- "Equinox, Part II" (teleplay with Joe Menosky, story with Rick Berman and Joe Menosky)
- "Dragon's Teeth" (with Michael Taylor and Joe Menosky)
- "Memorial" (story)
- "Fury" (story with Rick Berman)
- "Life Line" (teleplay with Robert Doherty and Raf Green)
- "Unimatrix Zero" (teleplay with Joe Menosky)
- "Unimatrix Zero, Part II" (teleplay with Joe Menosky, story with Michael Sussman and Joe Menosky)
- "Human Error" (teleplay with André Bormanis)
- "Author, Author" (story)
- "Endgame" (story with Rick Berman and Kenneth Biller)
ENT:
- "Broken Bow" (with Rick Berman)
- "Fight or Flight" (with Rick Berman)
- "Strange New World" (story with Rick Berman)
- "Unexpected" (with Rick Berman)
- "Terra Nova" (story with Rick Berman)
- "The Andorian Incident" (story with Rick Berman and Fred Dekker)
- "Shadows of P'Jem" (story with Rick Berman)
- "Fusion" (story with Rick Berman)
- "Shuttlepod One" (with Rick Berman)
- "Rogue Planet" (story with Rick Berman and Chris Black)
- "Acquisition" (story with Rick Berman)
- "Oasis" (story with Rick Berman and Stephen Beck)
- "Detained" (story with Rick Berman)
- "Vox Sola" (story with Rick Berman and Fred Dekker)
- "Fallen Hero" (with Rick Berman and Chris Black)
- "Desert Crossing" (story with Rick Berman and André Bormanis)
- "Two Days and Two Nights" (story with Rick Berman)
- "Shockwave" (with Rick Berman)
- "Shockwave, Part II" (with Rick Berman)
- "Carbon Creek" (story with Rick Berman and Dan O'Shannon)
- "A Night in Sickbay" (with Rick Berman)
- "Marauders" (story with Rick Berman)
- "The Seventh" (with Rick Berman)
- "The Communicator" (story with Rick Berman)
- "Vanishing Point" (with Rick Berman)
- "Precious Cargo" (story with Rick Berman)
- "Stigma" (with Rick Berman)
- "The Crossing" (teleplay with Rick Berman, story with Rick Berman and André Bormanis)
- "Cogenitor" (with Rick Berman)
- "Bounty" (story with Rick Berman)
- "The Expanse" (with Rick Berman)
- "The Xindi" (with Rick Berman)
- "Carpenter Street" (with Rick Berman)
- "Harbinger" (story with Rick Berman)
- "Azati Prime" (story with Rick Berman and Manny Coto)
- "Zero Hour" (with Rick Berman)
- "These Are the Voyages..." (with Rick Berman)
Films:
- Star Trek Generations (screenplay with Ronald D. Moore, story with Rick Berman and Ronald D. Moore)
- Star Trek: First Contact (screenplay with Ronald D. Moore, story with Rick Berman and Ronald D. Moore)

Producing credits

Star Trek: The Next Generation ("Descent, Part II" – "All Good Things...") – Co-Producer
Star Trek: Voyager ("Parallax" – "The 37's") – Producer
Star Trek: Voyager ("Initiations" – "Scorpion") – Supervising Producer
Star Trek: Voyager ("Scorpion, Part II" – "Hope and Fear") – Co-Executive Producer
Star Trek: Voyager ("Night" – "Unimatrix Zero, Part II") – Executive Producer
Star Trek: Voyager ("Imperfection" – "Endgame") – Consulting Producer
Star Trek: Enterprise – Executive Producer

In-universe onscreen appearance

Star Trek interviews

TNG Season 4 DVD special feature, "Chronicles from the Final Frontier", interviewed on 15 November 2002
TNG Season 5 DVD special feature, "Departmental Briefing Year Five" ("Cause And Effect"), interviewed on 15 November 2001
TNG Season 5 DVD special feature, "Intergalactic Guest Stars" ("Crew Profile: Ensign Robin Lefler", "Profile: Captain Morgan Bateson"), interviewed on 15 November 2001
TNG Season 6 DVD special feature, "Bold New Directions Year Six", interviewed on 15 November 2001
TNG Season 7 DVD special feature, "Mission Overview Year Seven", interviewed on 15 November 2001
TNG Season 7 DVD special feature, "Departmental Briefing Year Seven: Production" ("New Director, New Challenges", "Creating Parallel Worlds"), interviewed on 15 November 2001
TNG Season 7 DVD special feature, "The Making of "All Good Things…" Year Seven" ("Writing The Final Episode"), interviewed on 15 November 2001
VOY Season 1 DVD special feature Lost Transmissions from the Delta Quadrant, interviewed on 25 August 2003
ENT Season 1 Blu-ray special feature, In Conversation: Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, interviewed on 12 December 2012
ENT Season 4 Blu-ray special feature, "Decommissioning Enterprise – Part Four: End of an Era" (2014)
All Good Things Blu-ray special feature The Unknown Possibilities of Existence: Making "All Good Things" (2014)

Star Trek awards

For his work on Star Trek Braga received the following awards and nominations in the various writing categories.

Emmy Award

Braga received the following Emmy Award nomination in the category "Outstanding Drama Series":

1994 for Star Trek: The Next Generation, shared with Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor, David Livingston, Peter Lauritson, Merri D. Howard, Wendy Neuss, and Ron D. Moore

Hugo Awards

Braga received the following Hugo Award and nominations in the category Best Dramatic Presentation

1995 Hugo Award for the episode TNG: "All Good Things...", shared with Winrich Kolbe and Ron D. Moore
1995 Hugo Award nomination for Star Trek Generations, shared with David Carson, Rick Berman, and Ron D. Moore
1997 Hugo Award nomination for Star Trek: First Contact, shared with Jonathan Frakes, Rick Berman, and Ron D. Moore
2003 Hugo Award nomination for the episode ENT: "A Night in Sickbay", shared with David Straiton, and Rick Berman
2003 Hugo Award nomination for the episode ENT: "Carbon Creek", shared with James Contner, Chris Black, Rick Berman, and Dan O'Shannon

Saturn Award

Braga received the following Saturn Award nomination in the category Best Writer

1997 for the episode "All Good Things…", shared with Ron D. Moore

Universe Reader's Choice Award

Braga received the following Universe Reader's Choice Award in the category Best Writing for a Genre Motion Picture

1995 for Star Trek Generations, shared with Ron D. Moore

External links

References

↑ International Atheist Conference in Reykjavik Iceland June 24 & 25, 2006. Archive of speech at [1]^(X)

[1] International Atheist Conference in Reykjavik Iceland June 24 & 25, 2006. Archive of speech at [1]^(X)

[1]