Sci Fi Legend Ronald D. Moore '86 Visits the Cornell Club-NY

Ronald D. Moore is the writer and producer behind some of television's most iconic series, including: Star Trek: The Next Generation; Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; Battlestar Galactica; Outlander; and For All Mankind. He visited the Cornell Club-NY on May 22, 2024 to delve into his career, discuss insights into his creative process, and discover the secrets behind the worlds he has brought to life on screen.?

A short video of highlights from the evening is available here.

RONALD D. MOORE (Executive Producer) Deeply rooted in the sci-fi genre, Moore got his start in the entertainment business on the writing staff of Star Trek: The Next Generation. During his tenure there, he wrote or co-wrote 27 episodes, including the two-hour series finale "All Good Things," for which he won a Hugo Award in 1994. That same year, Moore was honored with an Emmy? Award nomination and was eventually promoted to Producer. In 1994, Moore joined the writing staff of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Supervising Producer and was elevated to Co-Executive Producer the following year. Moore spent five seasons on the series until the end of its successful run in 1999.

Moore also served briefly as Executive Consultant on the USA cable series Good vs. Evil before joining the staff of Roswell as Executive Producer. After two seasons in that post, he took over the reins as Showrunner from Creator Jason Katims in its final year. In the fall of 2002, Moore was named Showrunner and Executive Producer of HBO's critically acclaimed one-hour drama Carnivàle.

In 2003, Moore created the re-imagined series, Battlestar Galactica, and served as Showrunner/Executive Producer of the series, which ran for four seasons.? Battlestar Galactica was honored with a prestigious Peabody? Award and twice as an official selection of the AFI (American Film Institute) top television programs for 2005 and 2006.? In 2006, Moore was nominated for an Emmy? Award for Best Writing in a Dramatic Series, and in 2008, he won an Emmy? for the Battlestar Galactica webisodes. In 2008, Moore co-wrote the pilot to the spin-off series Caprica, a drama set 58 years before the events of Battlestar Galactica. He served as Executive Producer for the run of the series.

In 2010, Moore's production company, Tall Ship Productions, signed an overall deal with Sony Television to develop and produce television series.? Under the Tall Ship banner, Moore is currently producing the Golden Globes?-nominated series Outlander for Starz and For All Mankind for Apple TV+, and previously served as Executive Producer on the Amazon/Channel 4 anthology series, Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams, as well as the SyFy original series, Helix. After a decade with Sony Television, Tall Ship Productions inked an overall deal with Disney's 20th Television in 2020, where Ron is currently developing new television projects. Moore is a native of Chowchilla, California and attended Cornell University, where he studied political science. He lives in California with his wife, Terry. He has three children – Robin, Roxy and Jonathan.

During the interview portion of the evening, Mr. Moore answered the following questions:

1. Where did you grow up? Do you remember anything about your childhood that sent you in a certain direction?

?Ron Moore grew up in central California. He is the son of two educators, and remembers being a fan of science fiction TV shows such as Lost In Space and Star Trek. Science Fiction did have a significant influence on later decisions. The town where he was raised was small enough that he played trumpet in the marching band, and played on the football team.

2. What would influence you to consider Cornell? How did you find Cornell? What made you choose Cornell, and led you to choose government studies?

?There were college catalogs available at his high school, and Cornell's was among them. Given his love of TV shows set in outer space, he was struck by the possibility of studying with Astronomy Professor & TV star Carl Sagan, as well as the opportunity to be quite some distance from his family. Ron chose Government Studies / Political Science from his desire to make a positive change in the world.

3. Could you please tell us anything that you may remember about your student days, favorite: professors, courses, activities, restaurants, beers?

Mr. Moore has many fond memories of Cornell: joining the writing fraternity, Kappa Alpha Society; learning from history professor Walter LaFeber; getting "Suicides" and other delicacies from Johnny's Big Red Hot Truck on West Campus; eating french fries with gravy at a diner; and perhaps a beer or two.

4. You were also a member of Navy ROTC. Could you talk a little about that? How you made that decision and anything that stays with you from those experiences?

Mr. Moore mentioned that his father had been a Marine officer, and that he felt a family tradition of service to be upheld. He enjoyed many parts of his ROTC experience: being on a nuclear submarine; an aircraft carrier; a frigate; wading ashore holding an M-16 with the Marines -- and feels a great appreciation and gratitude for what the military does. Ultimately though, be didn't believe "waking up early and doing what I was told" was for him.?

5. Was there anything about your Cornell and or ROTC experiences that in any way shape or form influence your lead life and career, inspired any episodes or subjects or dialogue??Is there any one or any group from your Cornell days that you miss or whom you stay in contact?

?Mr. Moore said he still feels a closeness to Cornell and the people he met there who helped shape his life, particularly his Kappa Alpha brothers.

6. You left Cornell early, and went to Hollywood. Why???

Although he felt (and still feels) a deep affinity for Cornell, Mr. Moore eventually believed his future lay elsewhere. He discussed his love of outer space and taking first-year astronomy courses, to one day study with Carl Sagan. However, during his 200-level astronomy coursework, he encountered "something called math." Math changed his mind. Likewise, he came to understand that his desire "to be Perry Mason" was not for a love of government or law, but rather "to give great speeches." It was time for a change.

7. You finally got your big break. How? How long did it take??How many people earn a living as writers?

One of his Kappa Alpha brothers had taken the step of moving to Hollywood to become a writer, and invited Ron to join him. They shared a studio apartment in the Century City section of Los Angeles, and started writing. Success took years.

A friend arranged for Ron to tour the set of Star Trek: The Next Generation. He gave a script to the person conducting the tour, who happened to be an assistant to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. The assistant accepted the script, read it, liked it, and helped Ron find an agent -- who then submitted the script through the proper channels, where it sat for seven months. However, once a new executive producer did read the script, it was bought and produced. Ron stayed with the Star Trek franchise for years, with Star Trek: The Next Generation from season 3 through its conclusion in season 7; and then with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, again for seasons 3-7.

It is worth noting that such a break could not happen today, for legal reasons.

Fairly few people are able to earn a full-time living as writers in Hollywood. However, with the introduction of so many new channels and technologies, many more people can do so now than when Ron got started.

8. Was it just a coincidence that your break came in science fiction, or was it your goal?

?The fact Mr. Moore sold his first script to the Star Trek franchise was strictly a coincidence, as he was writing scripts for many different series and genres.

9. What’s the difference in being a: writer; producer; executive producer; show runner? Have you directed?

The job of writers is self-explanatory. However, job descriptions for: producer; executive producer; and show runner are far more convoluted. Generally, a producer handles details and deals, but such job titles are written into contracts for many reasons. For instance, someone who developed a book upon which a TV series or movie is based may receive a producer or executive producer title and have no involvement at all in the project.

10. Battlestar Galactica became a cultural phenomenon not merely for the show's qualities, but also for its connection to "webisodes," DVD / DVR sales & “time shifting.” In fact, the series became a factor in the 2008 Writers Guild strike. Could you discuss this?

Battlestar Galactica (BSG) was launched at a time when new technology created new possibilities. The switch from telephone modems to cable/DSL modems meant internet video content could be much more robust. Likewise, DVDs and digital video recorders (as opposed to video cassette players) created a significant shift in home viewing capabilities. In other words, fans now had an easy ability to watch programs when they wanted to, and not merely when the TV network aired them.

BSG was one of the programs whose audience led the way in exploiting these new technologies. The network saw all the different ways viewers were interacting with the show and were fascinated by them, the show's breakthrough status, and its Peabody-Award-winning critical acclaim. Likewise, "webisodes" were released on the internet to keep fans engaged while BSG wasn't airing on the network -- building momentum. engagement and loyalty for the series and network.

However, the network's only significant concern was the Nielson Media ratings. Many viewers were "time shifting" and watching BSG when it was most convenient for them, not during the scheduled TV broadcasts. Webisodes didn't count toward the ratings either, and the network saw no reason or obligation to reward anything that didn't help the Nielson ratings. Adjusting contracts to take into account the new technologies was a major factor in the 2008 Writers Guild Strike.

11. You’ve worked in syndicated TV, cable TV, streaming, and motion pictures. What are the differences?

Both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine?were released on syndicated TV -- in other words, they were not broadcast by one of the major three networks (ABC, CBS, NBC), but rather by regional networks or local stations. Mr. Moore and the other producers therefore only had to answer to the owner of the shows, Paramount, which also had large budgets for each series.

Dealing with a cable network was a different story, with smaller budgets and an additional layer of bureaucrats -- not merely the owner of the show, but broadcast network executives as well. Some of the complications were discussed above in Question 10.

Streaming services have been easier to deal with than network TV, as there are fewer decision makers with whom to negotiate, and funding seems easier to come by (depending on the streaming service).

The significant difference with films is the relative power of the director. With episodic television / streaming, directors can change from episode to episode and therefore have relatively little authority. A major motion picture, on the other hand, will have a budget of dozens (if not hundreds) of millions of dollars, takes much longer to create, and usually has only one director in charge -- so the director becomes far more powerful.

12. What do you watch?

?Reruns of Seinfeld.

13. If there’s such a thing as a normal day in the life of Ronald D. Moore, what’s it like?

There are no normal days, as there are always new complications. However, the days usually begin drinking tea in bed with the wife and cats, waking up to the day's installment of Morning Joe.

14. What’s next?

Mr. Moore has considered writing books, but acknowledges it requires a different skills set than the one he's already developed. He's currently engaged with two streaming series, Outlander and For the Future of Mankind. The future will probably involve looking for new projects to pitch and produce.

===

After the presentation, Mr. Moore stayed to enjoy dinner and more conversation with Cornell Club-NY members and their guests. The relaxed talk shifted among multiple topics, such as: his status as the resident expert on Klingons and other alien races during his Star Trek days; to his guest participation with the cult TV show, Robot Chicken; to discussing plot direction with Edward James Olmos, the star of Battlestar Galactica.

The discussion also focused on newer projects, such as Outlander and For the Future of Mankind -- as well as newer technologies, such as streaming. The pros and cons of various streaming services were analyzed and debated.

After a fine dinner and several bottles of wine, the evening concluded with the members and their guests having all their questions answered, and enjoying an evening to remember. It's certain that we'll all continue to follow the career of Ronald D. Moore, and look forward to his future projects.

The Cornell Club-New York is a 14 story Members-only Club located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, just off 5th?Avenue. Founded by Cornell University graduates in 1889, The Club has been in existence for over a century. In 1989, through the generosity of an anonymous donor, a Cornell alumnus, our permanent home became 6 East 44th?Street -- steps away from Grand Central Terminal. Enriched in the traditions of higher education, camaraderie, and continual learning, The Cornell Club-New York strives to promote these ideals, much like Cornell University and our prestigious affiliate schools.

Elected as one of the Top 50 City Clubs in the Country by Platinum Clubs of America, The Club offers an array of amenities. Membership includes complimentary membership to our Health & Fitness Center, access to book overnight guest rooms, dining, flexible work spaces, private meeting and event space, and a calendar of networking and social events. Members also enjoy guest access to?170 private clubs?around the world. Visit The Club’s?Member Resource Page?to learn more about The Club, take a virtual tour, and access a membership application.

?

?