Draft:Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (TV series)

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is an upcoming American television series created by Gaia Violo for the streaming service Paramount+. It is intended to be the 12th Star Trek series and part of executive producer Alex Kurtzman's expanded Star Trek Universe. Set in the 32nd century, it follows the first new class of Starfleet cadets in over a century as they come of age and train to be officers.

Holly Hunter stars as the chancellor of Starfleet Academy, with Kerrice Brooks, Bella Shepard, George Hawkins, Karim Diané, and Zoë Steiner portraying cadets. Versions of a Starfleet Academy-based series were in development for several years before it received an official series order in March 2023, with Kurtzman and Noga Landau as showrunners. Production is scheduled to begin in late 2024.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is expected to be released on the streaming service Paramount+ in 2025 or 2026 and consist of 10 episodes.

Premise
The series is set in the 32nd century, a time period in the far-future of the Star Trek franchise where Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets are recovering from a cataclysmic event, as depicted in Star Trek: Discovery. Starfleet Academy follows the first new class of Starfleet cadets in over a century as they come of age and train to be officers.

Episodes
Kurtzman is also directing the second episode.

Main

 * Holly Hunter as the captain and chancellor of Starfleet Academy
 * Kerrice Brooks as a Starfleet Academy cadet
 * Bella Shepard as a Starfleet Academy cadet
 * George Hawkins as a Starfleet Academy cadet
 * Karim Diané as a Starfleet Academy cadet
 * Zoë Steiner as a Starfleet Academy cadet

Recurring

 * Paul Giamatti as someone with a dark past who is connected to one of the cadets

Development
In June 2018, after becoming sole showrunner of the series Star Trek: Discovery, Alex Kurtzman signed a five-year overall deal with CBS Television Studios to expand the Star Trek franchise beyond Discovery to several new series, miniseries, and animated series. One series that was being planned as part of this deal was a "younger-skewing" project set at Starfleet Academy. It was being developed by Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz, who were known for creating other young adult-focused television series. The project was still in development in January 2020, but production was not expected to begin until 2021 at the earliest. In February 2021, Kurtzman said a new series was unlikely to be added to streaming service Paramount+'s slate of Star Trek Universe series until one of the existing five series came to an end, but development on the Starfleet Academy series was re-confirmed in August, and a month later Kurtzman gave it as a specific example of a future Star Trek series that he was excited to make and that he had seen "a lot of conversations" about.

Kurtzman said in February 2022 that his team were planning Star Trek projects that would be released two or three years later, including Star Trek: Section 31 and a new series that he did not want to give details about. Soon after, a new version of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was reported to be in development with writer Gaia Violo. It was expected to be pitched to Paramount+ shortly, with production planned to begin within a year as the next Star Trek series after Section 31. In May, Kurtzman confirmed that Section 31 and Starfleet Academy were the two projects in development that he and his team were focusing on. That December, Kevin and Dan Hageman said they changed plans for their animated series Star Trek: Prodigy, which would have originally shown its young protagonists joining Starfleet Academy, in part to avoid covering the same ground as this series.

In March 2023, after revealing that Discovery would be ending with its fifth season in 2024, Paramount+ announced that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy had been ordered to series. Kurtzman and Noga Landau were set as showrunners and executive producers alongside Violo, Aaron Baiers, Jenny Lumet, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Frank Siracusa, and John Weber. The first season has 10 episodes.

Writing
The writers' room was based at Kurtzman's Secret Hideout offices in Santa Monica. By the time of the series' official announcement, Violo had written the first episode, and Tawny Newsome had been hired as a writer. Newsome, who voices Beckett Mariner on the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks, is the first Star Trek actor to be hired for a staff writing position on a Star Trek series. Kurtzman approached Newsome about joining the series after being impressed with her improvisation skills during filming of the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds crossover episode "Those Old Scientists". The writers were expected to finish work on the series by the end of 2023, but this was delayed by the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. They returned to work in mid-October after the strike ended in late September, and were halfway through the first season by March 2024.

The series is set in the 32nd century, the far-future era of the Star Trek franchise that was introduced in Discovery. It follows the first new class of Starfleet cadets in over a century as they come of age and train to be officers. Kurtzman felt the characters in the series, who are a new generation of Starfleet operatives that are inheriting "massive, massive challenges", were relatable to the "generation now" who would be watching the series. Newsome also said the series was aimed at a younger generation than past live-action Star Trek series, but added that there were writers on staff who were "real canon hound dogs" and wanted to ensure that the series remain true to the franchise for long-time fans. In addition to serving as a metaphor for real world challenges, the 32nd century setting gave the writers some freedom from the existing Star Trek canon and helped them introduce new young fans to the franchise without needing to know the details of past Star Trek series. Kurtzman encouraged the writers to ground the series in science and have the main characters use science to solve their problems.

Casting
In the fourth season of Discovery, Mary Wiseman's Sylvia Tilly becomes a teacher at Starfleet Academy. This storyline led to speculation about whether Wiseman would be reprising her role in Starfleet Academy. There was also speculation about other Discovery stars making guest appearances in the series. In March 2024, Kurtzman said casting for the cadets was yet to begin but some of the series' adult roles had been filled already. Later that month, Doug Jones expressed interest in reprising his Discovery role of Saru as a "guest speaker" at Starfleet Academy, but said he had not been contacted about the series.

Holly Hunter was revealed in May 2024 to be cast in the series as the chancellor of Starfleet Academy, which was described as a lead role. The character was written with Hunter in mind, but the writers did not expect her to be interested in the part and were surprised when she "signed on right away". Paul Giamatti was cast in the recurring guest role of the first season's main villain in June. The next month, the casting of Kerrice Brooks, Bella Shepard, George Hawkins, Karim Diané, and Zoë Steiner as cadets was announced.

Design
Matthew Davies was working as production designer for the series by March 2024. The set for the atrium of Starfleet Academy is the largest ever built for a Star Trek series and fills the biggest soundstage in Canada, which is 45900 sqft. The atrium set is two stories and features a mess hall, amphitheater, multiple classrooms, catwalks, trees, and a view of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.

Filming
Filming was expected to begin in early 2024, before production on the series was delayed by the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. In March 2024, Kurtzman said filming would begin later that year, at Pinewood Toronto Studios in Toronto, Canada, where Discovery and Section 31 were filmed. Kurtzman is directing the first two episodes of the series. Frequent Star Trek director Jonathan Frakes was asked to direct an episode, but the schedule clashed with his son's wedding. Frakes expressed interest in directing an episode of a potential second season.

Release
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is expected to be released in 2025 or 2026 on the streaming service Paramount+ and consist of 10 episodes.