Memory Alpha:AOL chats/Ronald D. Moore/ron019.txt

Subj:  Answers
Date:  4/11/97 6:26:26 PM
From:  RonDMoore       

<<So, what do we do now?  Write Paramount or keep after our local stations?
 And if DS9 is still making money and holding its own in the ratings, even
though they were not where they were, why are we even facing cancellation
rumors?>>

If you want to write to someone, write to BOTH your local affiliate and to
Gary Hart, President Network Television, Paramount Pictures, 5555 Melrose
Ave, LA CA 90038.  Now if you're going to go to the trouble of actually doing
this, I strongly suggest you observe the following guidelines:

1. TYPE your letter neatly and make it look professional.  This is to insure
that your letter will actually be opened and keep it out of the "wacko" file
once it is.
2. Be polite and to the point.  NO profanity, threats to boycott Paramount
products, comments on the plot of Mission Impossible, or quoting your
personal "animal spirit guide".  Just tell them that you're a supporter of
the show, you really want it kept around for seven years, and then tell them
why.
3. Avoid petitions or "form letters."
4. Be polite.

Will this work?  Who knows?  The question of whether or not to continue
production is ultimately a business decision -- creatively, the studio
already likes the show and so do the writers, so it's not a question of
whether we have more stories to tell.  It all becomes an involved calculation
that takes into consideration things like: the cost per episode of doing a
7th season (all the actors and all the writers will have to have new
contracts negotiated); the number of shows that make the ideal strip
syndication package (will having 26 more shows increase the value of the
overall package enough to justify the expense of doing a 7th year?); the
ratings; and the desire of the individual affiliates to have a 7th year of
first-run Trek since Voyager is UPN.

<<Did you submit ["The Bonding"] through an agent?>>

Yes.  At that time, you had to have an agent on TNG in order to be
considered.  I found my first agent through the production member who I had
conned into reading my spec in the first place.  He liked the script, knew an
agent and recommended me to her (Sherri Robb -- I think she's in the phone
book and the Guild list) and she then submitted the script through the proper
channels.

<<If you don't do another Trek series when DS9 is over, what do you think
will happen to your career?  Will you begin working on other shows, or will
you try to write Trek movies if reasonable intervals are given? >>

I'm looking forward to a promising career in writing for Psychic Hotlines and
doing the occasional phone sex teleplay under the name of Luwanda Picard.

Seriously, I don't know what the future will bring.  Trek X is a looong ways
away and I have no idea if that will even be offered, much less whether or
not I'd do it.  I hope to keep writing for both film and television -- that's
what I do, I'm a writer.

<<Speaking of the Tal'Shiar, just what is the situation with the Romulans,
now?  Are they going to figure (next season, of course) into the
Federation&Klingon/Maquis/Cardassian&Dominion triangle at all?>>

The Romulan angle will be present in the season finale, but not as a major
element.

<<Why not insert it from stock footage? or computer generate it, if ye have
to! it doesn't have to be any thing fancy. just dock it at the good station,
or have it fly by, or rendevous with the Defiant. >>

It's not that simple.  You can't "just insert" the Enterprise into a shot, it
has to be "composited" into the shot and that means taking into consideration
things like the angle of lighting, the background, the motion of the
Enterprise versus the motion of other elements -- trust me, it can get
complicated.  We still might use this class of ship, though, and I will look
into it.

<<Oh, speaking of which (Ron here's your cue to listen), are there any
chances of seeing one of those orion slave girls like from TOS?>>

The only one I've seen in a while is the one I've got one chained here in my
office and she's busy.

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