Roddenberry Producing DVD Set Of Unseen Star Trek Behind Scenes Footage & Interview

Roddenberry Productions has just closed a deal with Toolbox Productions to to put together a new DVD set sourced from a library of 500 hours of unseen behind the scenes footage and interviews from the Star Trek: The Next Generation Star Trek: Enterprise era.  Details below.

Footage Goldmine
News of the deal comes from today’s Variety which reports that Roddenberry Productions as inked a $2 million deal with Toolbox Productions to get access to the 500 hours of footage. According to the report, the library consists of

interviews with cast and crew, as well as behind-the-scenes material shot over the past 20 years, starting with “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and progressing through the three other spinoff series that followed.

The plan is to put the material into a video encyclopedia that covers “Star Trek’s” mythology and characters with Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry as host of the DVD set. Of the library Rod is quoted:

This footage is a gold mine. With the enormous success of the new movie, now is the perfect time for us to share what made ‘Star Trek’ so special with the legions of new and old fans worldwide.

TrekMovie contacted Roddenberry Productions, for more details, but none were available at this time on how or when this new set will be distributed (or how much). However we will be the first to bring you news on this exciting new project as it becomes available.

For more on Roddenberry Productions (and to view Rod’s review of the Star Trek movie), visit roddenberry.com.

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That’s something I’d be very interested in…especially if it has bloopers. :D I grew up on TNG and VOY, so it’d be a real blast.

First? way to go rod!

Oh, very cool!

I adore seeing behind-the-scenes footage; makes it seem even cooler than it already is. 8D

We had the pleasure of meeting Rod shortly before the movie’s release, and I hope he won’t mind sharing with you the fact that he showed me and Alex just a little taste of some of the moments. It truly is a gold mine for anybody who cares about Star Trek or TV and movie history in general.

Hello, Mr. Orci. Always nice to see you drop by.

Did you ever get to actually meet the Gene Roddenberry?

I’ve only had the honor of meeting a Star Trek comic book artist… But, as an artist myself, it was pretty neat.

I’d buy that, this sounds neat.

Line flubs followed by expletives = pure gold. Can’t get enough o’ that.

This could be a continuing series of DVDs rather than one big volume. I’d line them up on my DVD shelf!

5. Christine – May 20, 2009

Sadly, no, we never met.

Thanks Bob for that, and Rod we all look forward to reliving these memories and getting a new perspective on this great legacy

#9; Boborci ::

Oh, shame. He actually passed away two years before I was even born, but I’m sure it would have been incredible to meet him.

But, who knows. Maybe I’ll meet Alex Kurtzman, or Abrams, or.. even you, someday!

(Ah, a girl can dream.)

Mr. Orci,

I know ideas from fans aren’t usually welcomed, but here’s what I’d like to see on the next movie. Come up with a new adventure that doesn’t remake any of the old shows… but to give the fans a thrill, START THE MOVIE with the end of a big episode’s edventure, re-imagined to be big, but wrapping up what we knew happened. E.G., start with the big finale of The Doomsday Machine, which everyone knows, and show the explosive finale. Just to kick off the new adventure with a glimpse of a little of the old. That lets us know the adventures we saw are happening around the movies, which are new and unseen stories. I think that would be an awesome way to have an exciting, familiar start and then kick off an unrelated adventure.

Oh yeah, I’m definitely interested in this!

I never met Roddenberry, but I did see him lecture at my college in the early 80s.

I brought a friend who thought it was boring, but I bet he’s happy he went now!

#14 :: Oh, wow, you’re so lucky!! Just out of curiosity, what college was it?

Great news, this is something I will definitely purchase. I have seen EVERY episode of TNG, DS9 and Voyager MULTIPLE times, so any new insights would be appreciated.

Post-TNG Trek takes a lot of crap. I don’t care, I LOVE it all.

Very cool, I can’t wait! I really want to buy the movies on blu-ray but I am really opposed to non directors cuts lol. But the interviews with Stewart, Frakes, Shatner, and Nimoy hosted by Whoopie…I am tempted to buy it. For me I love to have the interviews and extra tidbits like that, bloopers are a must!

Cool.

#7: Even some of the ones without cussing are great. Of the ones on YouTube, I remember a few Voyager bloopers: one where Tim Russ is escorting the little girl into the cave (in “Innocence”), then suddenly says “Man, I ain’t going in there!” and runs away; another one where he gets hit by a phaser and flops to and fro in his bridge station for probably a good quarter-minute before finally falling over; and one where Robert Beltran slips up and ends up substituting “ship” for very other word in his line. Those all had me cracking up.

This seems way cool… I’d definitely be interested in it!

I am just lovin that Trek is back… and in such a huge way. SO many of my friends that were never fans now suddenly are rabid for more… I keep telling them that there’s over 700 hours for them to sink their teeth into.

Rod seems like a good guy… let’s see what he’s got in this goldmine!

#12… wow, you’re young. lol. I was just mulling that comment in my head that you weren’t born until 1993… sorry, no offense meant in anyway, it’s nice to see that there are some young fans out there. :-p

P.S. I am VERY interested in this DVD… I’ll snap that one up in a heartbeat!

Bloopers would be cool, I have always wanted to see more interviews with Jennifer Lien and Nicole De Boer.

must…buy…now…!

#13

Damn, that’s a cool idea!

Rod Roddenberry is a cool dude. He is a nice guy in person and a decent fellow to carry his dad’s legacy. I look forward to seeing the video he compiles.

#15 Christine

It was the University of California at San Diego. I guess Mr. Roddenberry just hopped in his car and took a pleasant drive down the freeway to see us!

any shat footage?

I’d be very interested in this. I love behind the scenes stuff. I don’t care how much I’ll definitely buy it.

Nice!

I’d be all over this! Very exciting! Pity it doesn’t cover TOS as well, but still.. a set of behind-the-scenes DVDs culled from 20 *YEARS* of material????

o_O

It *WILL* be mine. Oh yes!!!!

Ooh! I am excited for this!!!!!!!!! I will be buying it.

(Mr. Orci – you guys did awesome w/ the new film. Saw it 4 times!)

#19
Not that I like the cursing so much as I enjoy seeing our venerable heroes letting down their hair/dropping out of character. I mean, Picard saying, “Phvk!” is something to see. All right, maybe I do like the cursing. Did I just invent a new Klingon word?

Hi Mr Orci, thanx for the great effort you an jj an all involved did on Trek for us all! I was lucky enough to see Gene R speak at the Seattle Center arena a couple of times back in the 70s-sold out both times-showed the bloopers reels and the cage original-I took my brothers to that and they took me opening day to see jjs Trek in Imax at the Seattle Ctr. so our Trek tradition continues-Hope you guys make more trek traditions for us to go see Bob Orci and crew!

I have wondered why Roddenberry hasnt ever released the original bloopers as well as tng and any bloopers plus behind the scenes footage-they only exist as lousy quality fan videotapes-if rod is around this sounds like a great start!

I never met Gene Roddenberry personally, but my wife did on a Sea Trek cruse she went on in 1989. She was in an elevator on the ship when Mr. Roddenberry and William Campbell (Trelane from “The Squire of Gothos” and Klingon Capt. Koloth from “The Trouble with Tribbles”) stepped in with her and her other female friend. They were too struck to say anything to them, so to break the ice, Mr. Campbell leaned over to my wife and said, gesturing to Mr. Roddenberry, “He’s not wearing any underwear.” It cracked everybody up. If that’s any indication of some of the stuff on footage, it will be hilarious!

#21 :: Eh, don’t worry ’bout it. I’m used to that comment. xD I get that from some friends of my mom and dad.

However, almost NONE of them know anything about ENT. That is, except for like… one of my peers and my church youth director!

QUESTION

Can you explain the disparity between the width between the primary dorsal fin of the secondary power coupli..

oh shoot; wrong page

#13. frederick –

Swell idea!

This sounds awesome!

This definitely sounds interesting. Sign me up for the full set.

I think this would be a rental unless the reviews of it (which I’m sure TM will post an indept review when its released) are high.

In 1974, I was living in Connecticut, Gene came out to Yale University to show “The Cage,” and I was fortunate enough to be able to meet with him after the screening. We talked for something like two hours about everything from the Apollo moon landings (the last one was only two years before) to his hopes for a second TV series or even a feature film. He was gracious, generous with his time, and genuinely interested and concerned about humankind’s future. I’m happy to have known him and to have been able to help bring his vision to the screen. And I can think of no one better than Rod to keep the history alive.

Does Rod Roddenberry have the production rights to STAR TREK now or is that now controlled by Paramount?

Uhm…… what about the GOOD STAR TREK?????

@43

Depends: If its Rod’s private footage they can’t do much about it if they allowed the initial recording. Otherwise he should go and release in some african or oceanian country were they don’t care so much about copyrights – you have to love those countries….(-;

But I hope they make it – and yes – also hope for bloopers.

This is fantastic!!

You know what’s really great about this site, people like Bob Orci and Rick Sternbach just pop in for a quick comment and hello, amazing.

That is so awesome Rick. And also thank you to you for all your hard work and design genius for Trek over the years! I love all the star Treks and every incarnation has something worth watching it for and I know you were a major part of Trek. Thank you so much!

The last and only Trek Convention I have been to was the 40th Anniv. in Vegas. My girlfriend went too and she is slightly handicapped. When we were in the audience watching some of the guests she went to the restroom after Majel Barrett and Rod had finished talking. Majel was in her wheelchair with Rod in the hallway by the bathroom. They made it a point to call Sheri over and say hi to her, were so very friendly and nice to her even though they never met her and she wasnt even sure who they were. Offered to take a pix with her etc. but I had the camera in the main auditorium. She came back and told me the lady in the wheelchair on stage just talked to her….I couldnt believe it we got up and went out but they were gone. So Sheri did Meet Mrs. Roddenberry and Rod and I just missed it….But I will tell you for Rod and Majel to treat Sheri so nice when she is used to people ignoring her staring at her etc…was just wonderous. Wish I had the chance to tell them how special they are to me for being so nice to Sheri….

#34: “I have wondered why Roddenberry hasnt ever released the original bloopers as well as tng and any bloopers plus behind the scenes footage-they only exist as lousy quality fan videotapes-if rod is around this sounds like a great start!”

Blooper reels are a touchy subject with actors (for a variety of reasons).

If the tales are true, the 60s blooper reels were a huge point of contention between Gene Roddenberry and Leonard Nimoy.

I am sure the actors’ guild has rules about blooper reels and dispensation to the actors, but it sounds like Rod has this covered. You go, Rod!!!

This could prove invaluable to fans as well as those interested in choosing filmmaking as a career.

AND speaking of careers, Mr. Orci, thank you so much for your continued presence here showing your interest in what we fans think.

You and your partners have provided us with a movie infused with a great deal of heart and fun (while I know I don’t speak for all fans, I trust you to give us a great sequel– even better than this film)! LL&P!

This is boxset will be a wonderful boon for Trek fans. And Mr Orci, look what you’ve done to Trek! The new movie obviously has re-energized the Trek community, and associate projects like this one Rod is assembling is just indicative of the momentum that is surely to follow on the footsteps. You guys pushed the snowball down the hill, so to speak…

Gene was an ‘old soul’ and you guys definitely channeled him in the movie you worked so hard to bring to fruition.

Nice also to read about ppl’s reminisces of meeting Gene, Majel, Rod, etc.