I had Star Trek's Ear!
The Voyager Pitches
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Day 2 - The Voyager Pitches. We spent the day after we arrived in LA putzing around. Getting the rent-a-car, contacting our various friends, contacts and relatives residing in the City of Angels and eating at Denny's. We stayed in a Holliday Inn a block from Hollywood Boulevarde. It's right near Mann's Chinnese.

Paramount used to be Desilu, Lucy and Ricky's studio. It's designed in beautiful Spanish deco. We rolled through the gate and beheld some of the most beautifully manicured landscaping we had ever scene. It was frighteningly beautiful, down to the blade. The first pitch session to Voyager was during the golden hour, that time of day where the sun is about an hour from setting and bathes the world in a deep orange glow. Shadows are long and crisp.

We walked up to the Hart building where the Star Trek's offices are. There was what seemed like a 40 pound grapefruit in my stomach. We stopped in front of the shadow of the building in unison, like we were about to dive into a body of really cold water. I was fine with the golden hour's warm sunlight. Peter took a step. He accidentally stepped directly into the path of Crystal Bernard, the star of Wings. He said a quick hello, something like "love your work." and then went on. He looked back at me and I was smiling at the absurdity of it all. Crystal walked on, waving back as Peter said goodbye. I wasn't nervous anymore. I guess she took my 40 pound grapefruit with her. Thanks Crystal.

The Hart building is a 4 story, ordinary, white building. It doesn't even have a lobby! It looks like it could house dentists' offices, insurance offices, places like that. It's really an amazing place, if you think about what comes out of here all the time. They fly the kites that carry away a billion fantasies. We looked at the who's who on the building directory; Branon Bragga, Lolita Fatjo, Jerry Taylor. This list went on and on. A lot of the people you see at the end of the credits of every Star Trek show were listed. It was pretty damn cool.

We asked around for Jerry's office and were directed down the hall. After spending a few minutes with Jerry's assistant, who supplied a LOT of encouragement, it was time to enter her office.

Though I wasn't nervous at all, as the door to Jerry's office creaked open, it was the longest two seconds of my life. I didn't know who we were about to be face-to-face with. I'll try to express Jerry Taylor. She's like a very patient English teacher who loves her students very much. She is very thoughtful, kind and has an incredibly soothing manner.

She invited us to sit any place that we wanted. There was a long leather couch that looked inviting and she sat at her desk and propped her feet up. She was embarrassed when Peter called her Ms. Taylor and insisted we call her Jerry. After a few minutes of talking about who we were and why we had came, the pitches began. She prefaced the session with the gentle warning that statistically, she wasn't going to buy anything from us. Since we had come 3,000 miles to be there, Jerry was kind enough to let us give her all six of our pitches.

Below are links to the various pitches delivered to Jerry Taylor and her comments and reactions to them. Enjoy!

    Family Man - Our best pitch! Rejected for a reason I'm very proud of. The Doctor announces that he has been having a relationship with a holodeck character and has decided to begin raising a family with her. When she can't get used to life in "reality" and the Doctor's responsibilities, the consequences could be deadly for Kes.

    Altered States - A very cool concept with great comic and dramatic potential. A classic "trading places" story. While scanning a planet for life and other data, a mysterious energy pulse hits Voyager causing Janeway to fall into the Doctor making him human and Janeway the Hologram.

    Draw Bridge - The script that everybody wants to see. Voyager comes across a beautiful world and its inhabitants invite the crew to stay. In a sort of mind-meld a shaman shows Janeway a shocking future where old crew members find themselves on different sides of an insurrection.

    Runaway - A coming around for Tom Paris. A energy being stowaway on Voyager turns out to be a rambunctious adolescent who may not be mature enough to handle the responsibilities of life on Voyager - and may pose a deadly threat.

    3 Clicks - Star Trek meets The   Wizard of Oz. A super long-shot, but what the heck. An alien presence senses the anxiety of the crew and draws Janeway, Chockotay, Neelix and The Doctor into a Wizard of Oz holodeck fantasy.

 I wasn't disappointed when we left Jerry's office. I actually felt great. I felt like we had hit a long fly ball that was caught just as it was going over the fence. I wasn't the feeling that, "nobody else I know of has ever done that." (that comment, incidentally has become incredibly annoying since my return) I felt like a real slugger.

The Voyager Pitches - The DS9 Pitches

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