Jonathan first Star Trek movie memories and his desire to direct one himself

Actually, I remember watching Star Trek Four ( the one with the whales, as they often refer to it) as an out and out fan. I thought it was a wonderful movie, and like First Contact, was a movie that stood out on its own. You didn�t need to be a Star Trek fan to enjoy it, and that�s a - that�s my memory of the movie, outside of watching them obviously for research and preparation of other jobs.

I had started to direct episodes in the third season [thanks to] the generosity of Rick Berman and putting myself through Paramount University. As it became clear there was going to be a couple of Next Generation. movies, I threw my hat in the ring and again to Rick�s credit and to the studio�s credit, they decided that they should stay with someone in the family and I was the lucky one.

[Before Paramount University] I knew something about acting and about how the set worked, but I knew very little about editing, for instance, and post production. What I had to do before I was given an episode to direct was learn the other aspects of what - what was needed. It has served me so well to have spent those three hundred hours in the editing room, going through post and going through the working with the composer. Just observing it all and then getting to do it all, as opposed to being given an episode to direct and then having someone else cover up the areas that you don�t know anything about. It�s allowed me to continue to direct outside of space, which has been a gift.