Akiva Goldsman has had many highs and many lows in his Hollywood screenwriting career. The writer won an Oscar in 2001 for writing "A Beautiful Mind," but was previously nominated for a Razzies (honoring the worst in filmmaking) for writing the scripts for "A Time to Kill." and the gruesome "Batman and Robin." He is deeply involved in major blockbusters and media franchises, writing The Da Vinci Code, 1998's Lost in Space and The Divergent Series: Rebel. He also wrote I, Robot, I Am Legend and most recently The Dark Tower.

As of 2017, Goldsman has been associated with the Star Trek franchise, serving as one of the franchise's executive producers and writing multiple episodes of Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. ". He also directed five episodes, accepting his new spot at the top of the Trek pile. Goldsman is also working on other projects — he created the 2023 series The Crowded Room — but Star Trek seems to be taking up most of his time.

Goldsman has been a Trekkie for a long time, so joining the new wave of shows from the Paramount+ era was probably a dream come true for him. It also happens that it wasn't the first time the screenwriter played in the Star Trek sandbox. In 2009, Goldsman took on director JJ Abrams—a friend of his—for a cameo appearance in his 2009 Star Trek film. Look closely at the image below and scan the faces of the two members of the Vulcan tribunal looking down at the young Spock (Zachary Quinto). The one immediately to the right of the center judge is none other than Akiva Goldsman in a wig.

In the above below from Star Trek Into Darkness, Goldsman can also be seen as the admiral of the human Starfleet. He is the bald man with the white chest on the right side of the table.

Goldsman discussed his Trekkie belief in 2014 interview with StarTrek.comand how his cameos came about. The writer grew up watching Star Trek and is such a big fan that he has an opinion on the Tekki vs. Trekker debate. He even went to conventions in the past. He said:

"I'm dyed-in-the-wool, stiff, 1000 percent Trekkie." I call her Trekkie, not Trekker, and I don't care what the nomenclature became. I think my first Star Trek convention was at the Statler Hilton in 1977 or 1978. I grew up in Brooklyn and what you saw was on WPIX, Channel 11. And you saw it at 7 every night, I don't think I'm old enough to remember seeing it in prime time.

Goldsman remembers the wild and wooly days of the 1970s when a bunch of teenagers could leave town on their own, get a hotel room and do nothing but watch Star Trek and roll a joint (mostly seeds and stems , he said). on vinyl copies of Goodbye Yellow Road (from recent EGOT Elton John). It's probably no coincidence that his production company is called Weed Road Productions. He said Star Trek connected him to his own sense of adolescent liberation, finally finding "something" of his own.

Goldsman said he followed them all the strange legal battles that Harlan Ellison instigatedand read all the source design books written by show designer David Jerrold. When "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" came out, Goldsman said he was in college and fell in love with Persis Kambata. There was never a moment when Trek wasn't a part of his life.

It seems that Goldsman, being friends with JJ Abrams, could just call up his pal and ask for a cameo. Abrams co-created the 2008 TV series Fringe (with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci), and Goldsman worked on Fringe as a writer, consultant and producer. Goldsman ended up writing 18 episodes of that show and even directed one. Knowing Abrams was working on Star Trek, Goldsman reached out and subtly asked for a favor. Okay, actually he did plead. In Goldsman's words:

“I met JJ and his wife.Tassel. And so when he was doing the first'Star Trek“, I basically begged. That was fine, so then I guess maybe it was just a good idea to bring back all the people from the first one (for 'Into Darkness'). I might have begged a little more. And here I was. I couldn't love him more. I have a bubblegum card right here in my office at the Vulcan Council.”

Akiva Goldsman, curiously, is not one of the many, many producers listed the upcoming Starfleet Academy TV series.currently under development. Both Discovery and Picard have ended, so in terms of Star Trek, Goldsman may be focusing all of his energy on the upcoming seasons of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. His third year will begin in the first months of 2025.