Braga’s worked on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Voyager, and Enterprise. More recently, he helped reboot Cosmos. We spoke with Braga about his career, from science fiction to science fact.
Geek & Sundry: How did you start working on Star Trek?
Brannon Braga: I started off as a scriptwriting intern with the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. They told me I was going to be on a show called Star Trek: The Next Generation. I went in that first day, in June of 1990, for an eight-week internship. I essentially never left; I stayed with the franchise for 15 years, all the way to the end of Enterprise.
What was the experience on each Trek series?
On Next Generation, I was just one of the writers, with really talented people like Ron Moore, Joe Menosky, Michael Piller, [and] Jeri Taylor. I was 25 years old. I wrote some memorable episodes and ended up doing the finale with Ron. I then got offered the first TNG movie. So Next Generation was a coming of age for me as a screenwriter. I was lucky to work with and be mentored by the best writers imaginable. I wouldn’t have a career if it wasn’t for the collaboration and the kindness of my colleagues.
On Voyager, I was rising through the ranks. Eventually it would become my first showrunning job, around season 4. That was a big moment. And then in season 6, as that was coming along, I got a call from Rick Berman that he wanted me to create the next Star Trek show with him. That was my trajectory and along the way, I produced 300 episodes of Trek.
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