Michael Piller was the exec who bought the first teleplay written by an outside, non-WGA writer for ST:TNG. That writer was Sally Caves (pseudonym), my client (as her agent), and the script was "Holo Pursuits," in which the thereafter-recurring character of Barcley was introduced. He had become addicted to the Holo-deck on Enterprise because he had difficulty interacting with real people. Since then, every time Barcley reappears in film or television, Sally and I get a check. Piller was a great show-runner who took a chance on a "newbie" writer. Later "Sally" sold another script to ST:DS9. Mr. Piller will be missed. I am anxious to read his book. And if anyone is up for more SF check out my post on Forbidden Planet at http://www.thelastreveal.blogspot.com.

Hey Lee, did Sally's sale pre-date Ron Moore's? Just curious because Ron's episode "The Bonding" actually aired a bit before Sally's and Piller seems to cite it as the first outside now-WGA writer's script he bought.

But yes, for all of his time on Trek, he had an "Open door" policy. They'd accept unsolicited spec scripts from ANYONE.

Piller is directly responsible for starting the careers of Ron Moore (Battlestar Galactica, Carnivale, Roswell), Rene Echevarria (The 4400, Medium, Castle, the forthcoming True Lies pilot) and Brannon Braga (Threshold, 24, FlashForward.)

I'm hoping to do an in-depth post on Piller and the book later this week. I'm 200 pages in so far and I think even non-Trek fans would find it interesting.

Wow. I'm ten pages in and already my head is spinning. This is a goldmine!

I'm a moderate ST fan, I certainly have enjoyed the show and movies in every incarnation. Insurrection was a strange animal... it seemed like it wanted to be something bigger than it actually was... studio tampering perhaps?

Hey Scott, I just discovered in this bio...

http://www.startrek.com/database_article/piller

...that Piller graduated from none other than UNC - Chapel Hill. Go figure!

I don't know when the Moore sale happened, but Sally's was many months before it eventually aired. They told us at the time that it was the first outside sale. I don't know if that was just schmoozing or if it pre-dated Moore's. Perhaps they were concurrent, both awaiting deals being closed, and signatures determining the actual fact. In that case it could've been beaten by Moore's. Our sale happened in the November previous to the air-date, which I can't recall.

@Jeff: Joining other notable UNC-CH grads writers Clyde Edgerton, Armistead Maupin, Walker Percy and actors Billy Crudup, John Forsythe, Louise Fletcher, Andy Griffith, and Lewis Black.

Of course, being a UVA graduate, I get a bit uncomfortable pimping UNC's accomplishments, even though I teach here. It's a great school and I absolutely love Chapel Hill, truly a wonderful community. But once a Wahoo, always a Wahoo. ACC loyalties are pretty serious stuff in this area...

Hmm... The Bonding has an airdate of October 21, 1989, so that would suggest that Moore was the first.

"Hollow Pursuits" is an interesting one considering we're discussing Piller, because Moore says he and Piller had some strong debate about story points in that one.

And Jeff, there's a point in the book when Piller talks about speaking to a group of UNC students (p. 137). I almost emailed Scott right then and there, but figured if he didn't know already, he'd soon stumble across that fact.

It was probably "It's one of the first..." and I remember it as "It's the first..." because the info was so cool to even hear. But it WAS one of the first.

exciting stuff. thanks for the post.

http://issuu.com/pineapples101/docs/fade_in