Trek Nation

2011 television film

Trek Nation
Directed by	Scott Colthorp
Narrated by	Rod Roddenberry
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Producers	Rod Roddenberry Trevor Roth Nicole Rittenmeyer
Running time	82 minutes
Original release
Release	November 30, 2011 (2011-11-30)

Trek Nation is a 2011 documentary film directed by Scott Colthorp examining the positive impact that Star Trek and creator Gene Roddenberry may have had on people's lives as seen through the eyes of his son, Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry, Jr. It includes interviews with castmembers and crew from all five Star Trek incarnations as well as with various fans and celebrities who were markedly influenced by the show while growing up. Rod Roddenberry also visits Skywalker Ranch to learn about the influence Star Trek had on George Lucas. The film premiered on November 30, 2011 on Science.

Production

The documentary was conceived in 2001, although Rod Roddenberry said in interviews that the concept began with the death of his father, Gene Roddenberry, in 1991. He stated that the film was based on discovering his father rather than Star Trek in general. It was shot by Rod Roddenberry between 2001 and 2010, he said that "I'd never done a documentary before. This was 10 years of trying to figure out what to do. We made mistakes all the way."^[1] Trek Nation was produced by Roddenberry Entertainment and New Animal Productions, with Roddenberry, Trevor Roth and Nicole Rittenmeyer as executive producers.^[2]

It was created as an antithesis to the 1997 documentary Trekkies, and was intended not to concentrate as heavily on costumed fans of Star Trek.^[3]

Trek Nation was first broadcast in the United States on the television channel Science on November 30, 2011.^[4] It was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on the channel Quest on July 29, 2012.^{[citation needed]}

Reception

John Tenuto of TrekNews.net wrote " it is rare that after 45 years, any Star Trek documentary could present surprising information or genuine emotional content considering all that has precede it. Trek Nation achieves both results."^[5] Jana J. Monji of RogerEbert.com described it as a "somewhat indulgent documentary".^[6]

Home media

The documentary was released as two disc DVD on 9 July 2013.^[7]

References

^ "A Son Remembers". Mint. July 9, 2012. Archived from the original on June 29, 2013. Retrieved April 8, 2013. (subscription required)
^ "Science Explores the Legacy of the Star Trek Phenomenon With the Definitive Two-Hour Television Event: Trek Nation". Defense & Aerospace Week. November 30, 2011. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2013. (subscription required)
^ Thill, Scott (May 15, 2010). "Q&A: Trek Nation Director Scott Colthorp on Star Trek, Optimism and Dissed Fans". Wired. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
^ Gilbert, Matthew (November 30, 2011). "Critic's Corner". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on February 25, 2016. Retrieved April 8, 2013.(subscription required)
^ Tenuto, John (1 December 2011). "[REVIEW] Trek Nation: A Star Trek Documentary Like No Other". TrekNews.net.
^ Jana J. Monji (24 July 2012). "Comic-Con 2012: Rev your engines :: rogerebert.com :: Film Festivals". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on 2012-08-15.
^ Roddenberry Entertainment (June 17, 2013). "Trek Nation Special Edition DVD Coming July 9, 2013". www.prnewswire.com (Press release).

External links

Official website
Trek Nation on YouTube
Trek Nation at IMDb
Actor Wil Wheaton elaborating on his participation in the documentary

Gene Roddenberry

Television series created

The Lieutenant
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek: The Animated Series
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Earth: Final Conflict
Andromeda

Television pilots written

A.P.O. 923
"A Very Private Affair"
"The Cage"
"Assignment: Earth"
Genesis II
Planet Earth
The Questor Tapes
Spectre
Strange New World
"Encounter at Farpoint"

Star Trek episodes written

The Original Series	"The Cage" "Charlie X" "Mudd's Women" "The Menagerie" "The Return of the Archons" "A Private Little War" "The Omega Glory" "Bread and Circuses" "Assignment: Earth" "The Savage Curtain" "Turnabout Intruder"
The Next Generation	"Encounter at Farpoint" "Hide and Q" "Datalore"

Films produced

Pretty Maids All in a Row (also written)
Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Books

Star Trek: The Motion Picture. A Novel

Unproduced projects

Star Trek: Phase II
Star Trek: The God Thing

Family

Companies

Pan Am Flight 121
Trek Nation

Star Trek

Television series
(episodes)

Live-action	The Original Series episodes The Next Generation episodes Deep Space Nine episodes Voyager episodes Enterprise episodes Discovery episodes Picard Strange New Worlds
Animated	The Animated Series Lower Decks Prodigy
Shorts	Short Treks Very Short Treks

Films

The Original Series	The Motion Picture The Wrath of Khan The Search for Spock The Voyage Home The Final Frontier The Undiscovered Country
The Next Generation	Generations First Contact Insurrection Nemesis
Reboot (Kelvin timeline)	Star Trek Into Darkness Beyond
Television film	Section 31

Setting

Characters	A–F G–M N–S T–Z Crossovers
Concepts	Games Kobayashi Maru Law Prime Directive Materials Dilithium Sexuality Stardate
Locations	Class M planet Galactic quadrant Mirror Universe
Cultures and species	Andorian Bajoran Borg Breen Cardassian Dominion Ferengi Rules of Acquisition Gorn Kazon Klingon High Council culture language grammar Maquis Orion Q Romulan Species 8472 United Federation of Planets Starfleet Academy Section 31 Tribble Vidiians Vulcan nerve pinch salute Xindi
Technology	Cloaking device Communicator Deflector shields Holodeck Hypospray Impulse drive Jefferies tube LCARS Medicine Replicator Spacecraft Deep Space Nine Defiant Earth Spacedock Enterprise NX-01 NCC-1701 A D E Klingon starships Shuttlecraft Voyager Transporter Tricorder Uniforms Warp drive Weapons Bat'leth