[Summer Storm Pictures]

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

I am the writer of the Star Trek ''Soldiers of Pawns'' screenplay. Soldiers of Pawns is currently being novelized by published science fiction author, Glenn E. Smith (The Call of Duty) and myself.

With a new Star Trek trailer expected to debut this weekend, along with news tidbits from an overseas ''preview'' beginning to roll in already, many of us will soon see and know a lot more about the exciting movie coming our way next summer. From all accounts so far, it looks like the future of ''official'' Star Trek is in excellent hands with J.J. Abrams and his creative team.

Considering all of this, now also seems like an appropriate time to ''officially retire'' the Soldiers of Pawns screenplay and give it to the fans to enjoy. It might even offer a ''temporary fix'' to get some of you by until the release of next summer's anxiously awaited movie.

Anyone who wishes to do so can now download, read and enjoy the screenplay at their pleasure.

While just as equally epic in scope as the new movie, Soldiers of Pawns is a much different story, and while ''our story'' may not fit the movie's ''new canon'', it does, however, readily fit into everything up to now, with some allowances for creative license.

Soldiers of Pawns follows the story of young James Tiberius Kirk and his friendship with Gary Mitchell, beginning in Iowa where the boys first meet, and later rejoins them on the bridge of the U.S.S. Farragut eleven years before Kirk's ultimate destiny commanding the Enterprise.

It is a story of heroes and villains, fathers and sons, family, best friends, first love, loyalty, honor, legacy, and it uncovers a the first sinister signs of a conspiracy that looms in the shadows of a still young Federation. Every turn of the page brings intrigue, mystery, surprise and adventure, and it is guaranteed to make you laugh, cheer, hope and even perhaps shed a tear or two. It is a grand story of epic proportions; a sweeping Star Trek tale for fans of all ''generations.''

Glenn and I will jointly monitor this topic, and gladly welcome the opportunity to respond to any questions or comments anyone might have. Please, however, be sensitive to the other potential readers by implementing ''spoiler'' tags appropriately.

Best wishes and Enjoy!

Geoffrey Alan Holliday
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Star Trek ''Soldiers of Pawns'' is an original story and screenplay based on Star Trek®. Star Trek® and all associated marks and characters are registered trademarks of Paramount and CBS. All Rights Reserved. The use of anything related to ''Star Trek'' in Star Trek ''Soldiers of Pawns'' is not meant to be an infringement on Paramount or CBS property rights to ''Star Trek.''

You may either continue and read the FAQ below or you can
click here to download an Adobe Acrobat PDF of the screenplay

THE ''JOURNEY'' BEHIND STAR TREK ''SOLDIERS OF PAWNS''

Soldiers of Pawns began its decades long journey in the imaginations of two young boys growing up during the ''dry years'' of Star Trek in the 1970's. Just like everyone else at that time, my brother Stuart and I had only the original 79 episodes to watch over and over in syndication...and we wanted more. What would eventually become Soldiers of Pawns evolved over many endless summers spent together growing up and playing Star Trek. The story drew upon many of our adventures as we beamed down from our ''basement bridge'' to explore a surprisingly large number of forested class-M planets provided by the woods behind our home.

Unfortunately Stu did not complete his life's journey in this world, which he left far too early by his own choice in December of 1984, but it was my privilege to know such a creative soul for those precious few years. All the creativity, inspiration and collaboration I was blessed with lives on in Soldiers of Pawns.

In the years that followed, I continued to develop Soldiers of Pawns alone. During my undergraduate years and later while attending the American Film Institute (AFI), it underwent many incarnations and has evolved with the times, but the core elements have survived intact.

Fast-forward to just a few years back when what was popularly coined as ''franchise fatigue'' began to set in after many wonderful years of the ''TNG era.'' I had just pitched for the final season of Star Trek Enterprise. This led to my former manager being able to arrange a meeting for me with some studio executives at Paramount who were looking for ''tentpole'' feature ideas. I formulated several concepts to pitch and decided I would also include ''my big Star Trek idea'' as well. I felt the time was right to give Star Trek a more epic and sweeping scope, and even to consider new faces on perhaps some of the most beloved characters in science fiction--our intrepid heroes from the original Star Trek series. I was not alone in thinking this obviously.

Unfortunately, as fate would have it, the meeting vaporized during an untimely but all too common ''shuffle'' of studio executives, and among those ''shuffled out'' were very executives with whom I was to meet. They were gone and so, with that, my ''big Star Trek idea'' found its way into my ''dusty shoebox of memories'' and I moved on.

Well, as we all know, almost three years ago, Star Trek arose ''from the ashes'' once again like the Phoenix, brought to us by the incredible J.J. Abrams, and it is now only just a few long unbearable months away.

When I first heard the news, I decided to ''dust off'' Soldiers of Pawns one last time and give it a final revision with ''shoot the Moon'' plans to perhaps take it to the small screen as a mini-series, or ''plan-B''...to perhaps realize it as the most ambitious fan-produced Star Trek-inspired project ever undertaken.

It was also during this time that I had the privilege to become acquainted with writer Glenn E. Smith, author of The Call of Duty. Before we knew it, destiny compelled us to collaborate to adapt this wonderful story and screenplay into a novel. As work progressed, I decided eventually to set aside all other ''grand plans'' for Soldiers of Pawns and focus everything on the novel. Collaborating with Glenn in this endeavor has been an absolutely wonderful experience. It is truly the first time since those early days with my brother that I feel such a synergy of imagination and creativity I've missed for so long since losing Stu.

Being a story that takes place before the TOS era, not all of the characters we know and love appear. We did not ''throw in the kitchen sink.'' We included familiar faces appropriately, but it was never our quest to ''parade'' all of the wonderful characters from the original series in some sort of busy and confusing spectacle. Some familiar faces appear, some don't--and some even make appearances from other incarnations of Star Trek.

At its best, Star Trek was always a look into the future and a look at the present...all wrapped up in a compelling story. Some creative license has been taken as Soldiers of Pawns evolved over its decades long journey, but my brother and I, and now Glenn as well, have always done our very best never to stray too far from the spirit of Gene Roddenberry's original vision or from the core story elements hatched in the imaginations of two brothers growing up together so long ago.
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Star Trek ''Soldiers of Pawns'' is an original story and screenplay based on Star Trek®. Star Trek® and all associated marks and characters are registered trademarks of Paramount and CBS. All Rights Reserved. The use of anything related to ''Star Trek'' in Star Trek ''Soldiers of Pawns'' is not meant to be an infringement on Paramount or CBS property rights to ''Star Trek.''

You may click here to download an Adobe Acrobat PDF of the screenplay or you can click on the banner as indicated below.

[dholleyuk]

Interesting I thing I will read more, when I am not at work that is...

[dholleyuk]

and that ment to read "think" not "thing" dam my boss standing near me!!!

[Admiral Archer]

Wow, this really makes me want to get involved! This script certainly has potential. I very much enjoyed some of the plot twists (i.e. Kirk's grandmother), but just so I don't ruin it for someone else I won't go that much into the details. I don't know about anyone else, but I sincerely hope that someone eventually makes a movie of this someday...just as long as I get to be involved in some way!

[JSnyder4]

Have you considered submitting it to IDW comics as a possible mini-series?
In screenplay format it is much easier to convert to a usable form for comics than having to retroactively do so. With their Myriad Universes general imprint it could be something that might spark attention. With the movie lead in coming up from them I doubt they would want to confuse readers. There is also TokyoPop's Star Trek Manga as an alternative.

I wish you well in the novelization regardless.

[Summer Storm Pictures]

Hey guys -- thanks for the comments. They are very much appreciated!

Originally Posted by Admiral Archer

Wow, this really makes me want to get involved! This script certainly has potential. I very much enjoyed some of the plot twists (i.e. Kirk's grandmother), but just so I don't ruin it for someone else I won't go that much into the details. I don't know about anyone else, but I sincerely hope that someone eventually makes a movie of this someday...just as long as I get to be involved in some way!

It was a heck of a lot of fun to write and now that Glenn and I are well into the second draft of the novel, so much more is coming out. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. While ''retiring'' the screenplay was both for practical and personal reasons, one never knows. Entertainment and technology keep evolving so quickly.

I'll tell you one of my ''secret dreams'' is to gather together a coalition of all the modeling artists out there all over the world and do a Star Trek along the lines of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Imagine the talent and computing power of a world-wide network of artists of all walks collaborating virtually to make something like this?

Hey, one can dream.

Originally Posted by JSnyder4

Have you considered submitting it to IDW comics as a possible mini-series?
In screenplay format it is much easier to convert to a usable form for comics than having to retroactively do so. With their Myriad Universes general imprint it could be something that might spark attention. With the movie lead in coming up from them I doubt they would want to confuse readers. There is also TokyoPop's Star Trek Manga as an alternative.

I wish you well in the novelization regardless.

Thanks for the compliment. The graphic novel...that's a great idea. I guess the best response to this is ''who knows?'' While things have currently settled down into the ''novel only'' phase, someone did broach the subject of a graphic novel to me. I'll freely admit that this realm is entirely ''alien'' to me as I did not grow up reading comics of any kind. I know what you mean by screenplays being readily adaptable to the graphic novel format. Graphic novels remind me of very detailed storyboards. Man I wish I could draw that well.

[JSnyder4]

IDW is the most contemporary since they hold the license.
There have been a few interesting Trek titles to come from them recently.
Since I prefer TOS only I can only speak on that front.

Assignment: Earth (5 issue series) John Bryne story/artist
Mirror Images (5 issue series) Scott & David Tipton story
Star Trek: Year Four (6 issue series) David Tischman story
Enterprise Experiment (5 issue series) D.C. Fontana & Derek Chester story
Klingons - Blood Will Tell (5 issue series) Scott & David Tipton story
Romulans - The Hollow Crown (2 issue series) John Byrne story/artist

Then some individual issues on Alien Spotlight
Gorn Scott & David Tipton story
Orions Scott & David Tipton story
Romulans John Byrne story/artist
Vulcans story submitted by Rick Remender / James Patrick story

They prefer 5 issue series as these are easily made into Trade Paperbacks afterward.
The last entry seems to suggest they are open to submissions.

[Summer Storm Pictures]

Originally Posted by JSnyder4

IDW is the most contemporary since they hold the license.
There have been a few interesting Trek titles to come from them recently.
Since I prefer TOS only I can only speak on that front.

Assignment: Earth (5 issue series) John Bryne story/artist
Mirror Images (5 issue series) Scott & David Tipton story
Star Trek: Year Four (6 issue series) David Tischman story
Enterprise Experiment (5 issue series) D.C. Fontana & Derek Chester story
Klingons - Blood Will Tell (5 issue series) Scott & David Tipton story
Romulans - The Hollow Crown (2 issue series) John Byrne story/artist

Then some individual issues on Alien Spotlight
Gorn Scott & David Tipton story
Orions Scott & David Tipton story
Romulans John Byrne story/artist
Vulcans story submitted by Rick Remender / James Patrick story

They prefer 5 issue series as these are easily made into Trade Paperbacks afterward.
The last entry seems to suggest they are open to submissions.

Thanks much for the information. It will definitely figure in the future possibilities for the screenplay.

Also, we'd love to hear from others who are reading or have finished reading.

Particularly I'm interested in reactions to some of the choices I made in the plot points as they relate to canon. Notwithstanding the upcoming movie, do you as fans find them ''acceptable'' within the boundaries of increasingly ''fuzzy'' canon? Does anything in particular bother, bug, make you go ''hmmm...'' or otherwise give you pause, good or bad?

Also, please do make use of the spoiler tool. We don't want to ruin things for those still reading.

[SgtGlennSmith]

Hello, everyone. It's been some time since I've stopped by here, as I tend to keep myself extremely busy with my writing. I'm glad you're enjoying, or have enjoyed, the Soldiers of Pawns screenplay. As Geoff has mentioned, so much more has come out in the writing of the 400+ pages of prose -- which, by the way, promises to increase in the next draft.

What a journey it has been so far. Our collaboration started with a question -- something to the effect of, "Hey Glenn, can you help me not to violate canon too drastically while I write this screenplay as a Christmas gift to the fans?" And I answered, "Sure, Geoff. No problem. It'll be fun."

And it was fun. A lot of fun. And then, somewhere along the line, it clicked in Geoff's mind that I was a published science fiction author. He suffered a brainstorm. Or was it a concussion? He told me he thought the story would make a good novel, and I agreed.

"And so it began."

Writers are like many other kinds of artists, in that we tend to strongly believe that our ideas are the better ideas for "project X", and that the other guy's ideas are much weaker, so I am constantly amazed by how Geoff and I have been of one mind from day one of this collaboration. On those few occasions when I've gone to him to tell him why I thought a particular detail needed to be changed, he's either received that suggestion enthusiastically and agreed, or told me that he was already thinking the same thing and was going to suggest it to me. Not once that I can remember have we butted heads in disagreement. He and I truly have had one vision for this story since the beginning, and I am honored that he asked me to join him in the monumental task of bringing his and his brother's story to novel form.

Glenn E. Smith

[Elizadolots]

I'm enjoying it.

I've been very busy with the end of Pop Warner season (we burned something like 100 DVDs in the last two weeks) so have stalled out a bit but it's definitely worth a read!!