With a new film due for release by Christmas, “Star Trek” has once again become fashionable.
A resident of Bayonne since he was 10 years old, William Stape, 39, has become a part of the Star Trek universe, both as the author of scripts for “The Next Generation” and “Deep Space Nine” TV series, but also by recently unveiling details concerning the sets of the upcoming Star Trek movie.
Stape had the fortune of selling his first effort for the Star Trek series, “The Next Generation,” in the early 1990s after he had heard that another non-professional scriptwriter got work accepted by the program.
Until then, Stape had largely written short fictional stories that he had been marketing to various magazines, such as “Amazing Stories.”
“I’ve always been a science fiction, fantasy, and horror fan,” he said, recalling times at Bayonne High School when he used to discuss the books of J.R.R. Tolkien, who authored “The Lord of the Rings.”
Along with classic science fiction movies, Stape was a big fan of “The Twilight Zone,” a network TV series.
He currently freelances for an online network called “Associated Content,” where he conducts interviews on a variety of subjects. He is currently serving as one of the judges in the Frontier Film Festival, featuring science fiction films.
A big fan of science fiction
Born in Jersey City, Stape moved with his family to the Toms River area before relocating to Bayonne.
He became an avid fan of Star Trek and science fiction in general, often using old episodes of Star Trek to research the scripts he authored.
“I try to remember all of the old episodes and relied on the ‘Star Trek Companion’ as a reference,” he said, though noted that fans have since invaded the Internet with very detailed Web sites.
The original Star Trek series ran from 1966 and 1968, and starred William Shatner as Captain James Kirk. It rapidly developed a cult-like following that eventually resulted in a new series being launched in the late 1980s, called “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” This was followed up by “Deep Space Nine,” as well as a few other less popular series.
Stape’s episodes for both “The Next Generation” and “Deep Space Nine” tended to emphasize socially conflicted characters.
In one episode, Stape wrote a script dealing with a character named Warf, whose race was one of the primary opponents of the Federation, and Stape’s story explored some of the issues involved in this character’s evolution into a hero.
His script entitled “Shadowdance” was purchased for “The Next Generation” and turned into “Homeward,” guest starring Paul Sorvino as Nikolai Rozhenko.
In “Deep Space Nine,” Stape’s story centered on another alien, Quark, a greedy merchant, who did business with the Federation, often struggling with the practical issues of everyday survival. Stape’s script, “Charity,” was later adapted into “Prophet Motive,” guest starring Wallace Shawn.
“While the other characters were larger than life, he was dealing with the real issue of how to make a living,” Stape said.
The impact of Star Trek
Star Trek, as with the science fiction creations of authors Jules Verne and Isaac Asimov, has had an influence on mainstream society – such as with the development of cellular telephones that flip open like the original Star Trek communicators. But the real surprise came when Stape interviewed Dr. Mark Rayman, a principle engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and found that Rayman was not only a Star Trek fan, but had built the Ion Propulsion System that Star Trek had envisioned as the power source for its space ships.
Stape will be sharing judging duties with UFO Expert Peter Robbins for the Frontier Film Festival in New York City, out of which Stape hopes the next generation of science fiction filmmakers might come.
But rather than the technological innovations these films might produce, Stape said one of the things he will be seeking is “a good story.”
Details for the film festival can be found at the Web site http://www.scifitheater.com/.
Stape expects to dip his own fingers into independent film production as well, following the festival. “I’m going to pitch some ideas later this year,” he said.