Rick Berman Bio
Richard Keith Berman (born December 25, 1945) is an American television producer and screenwriter best known for guiding the Star Trek television franchise for nearly two decades. He served as executive producer on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise, and acted as lead producer on four Star Trek feature films. Berman succeeded Gene Roddenberry as head of the Star Trek franchise and held that position until Enterprise was canceled in 2005.
Beyond Star Trek, Berman built a long career in American dramatic television, holding senior leadership roles at Paramount and shaping long-form programming for broadcast and cable audiences. His work has been recognized within the industry, including an Emmy Award earned early in his career for his work on a children’s series.
Early Life and Background
Richard Keith Berman was born on December 25, 1945, in New York City, New York, where he was raised. He grew up in a Jewish family in the city, an environment that exposed him early to a wide range of cultural and artistic influences. The vibrant media landscape of New York helped shape his early interest in storytelling and visual work.
He attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he studied English and film production, earning his degree in 1967. During his college years, Berman first considered pursuing acting as a career, but he chose not to because of the high degree of difficulty in achieving success in that field. Instead, he turned his attention to writing, directing, and producing behind the camera.
After completing his education, Berman began his professional life as an independent film producer, director, and writer. He focused on documentaries and industrial films, with clients that included the United Nations and the United States Information Agency. By 1977, his work had taken him to more than 90 countries, giving him broad international experience before he entered mainstream American television.
Path to Television Producing
From 1977 to 1982, Berman served as the senior producer of the PBS children’s program The Big Blue Marble, which won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Children’s Series during his tenure. The series gave him valuable experience managing a long-running production with global themes and an international audience. He then worked as an independent producer between 1982 and 1984, contributing to HBO’s What on Earth and PBS’s The Primal Mind.
In 1984, Berman joined Paramount as the director of current programming, where he oversaw successful series such as Cheers and Family Ties. He later became executive director of dramatic programming, supervising projects such as the miniseries Space and the ABC action series MacGyver. In 1986, he was promoted to vice-president of long-form and special projects at Paramount Network Television, a position that placed him at the center of the studio’s dramatic output.
His path to Star Trek began in 1987, when series creator Gene Roddenberry selected Berman and writer Maurice Hurley to help develop Star Trek: The Next Generation. Initially sharing supervising producer duties with Robert H. Justman, Berman was promoted to co-executive producer and, eventually, to executive producer by the show’s third season. As Roddenberry’s health declined, Berman assumed greater responsibility for the series’ day-to-day production and creative direction.
Rick Berman Career
Early Career (1977–1986)
Berman’s early career was defined by work on educational and documentary programming. As senior producer of The Big Blue Marble from 1977 to 1982, he helped shape a PBS series that earned an Emmy Award for Outstanding Children’s Series. The role established his reputation as a steady, hands-on producer capable of managing large-scale projects with international scope.
Between 1982 and 1984, he worked independently on projects including HBO’s What on Earth and PBS’s The Primal Mind, further building his documentary and unscripted production credentials. After joining Paramount in 1984, he quickly rose through the ranks, overseeing hit comedies such as Cheers and Family Ties and the dramatic miniseries Space. By 1986, his promotion to vice-president of long-form and special projects placed him among the senior creative leaders at Paramount Network Television.
Breakthrough (1987–2005)
Rick Berman’s breakthrough arrived with Star Trek: The Next Generation, which he helped develop alongside Gene Roddenberry and Maurice Hurley beginning in 1987. The series became a major success in syndication, and in its final year it became the first syndicated television show to be nominated for the Best Dramatic Series Emmy. Berman wrote two episodes of the series, “Brothers” and “A Matter of Time,” and was promoted to executive producer in its third season.
During The Next Generation’s later seasons, Berman co-created Star Trek: Deep Space Nine with Michael Piller, marking the first time two Star Trek series aired simultaneously. After The Next Generation ended, he co-created Star Trek: Voyager with Piller and Jeri Taylor, and in 2001 he co-created Enterprise with Brannon Braga. He also served as lead producer on the four Next Generation feature films: Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), receiving producer and story credit on each.
In 2005, Berman was involved in developing an eleventh Star Trek feature film based on a script by Erik Jendresen, but the project was shelved after Gail Berman became president of Paramount Pictures. By mid-2006, Berman confirmed he would no longer be involved in producing Star Trek, signaling the end of his nearly two-decade run with the franchise.
Notable Works and Milestones
Berman’s signature contribution to television is his stewardship of four live-action Star Trek series across nearly two decades, along with four Star Trek feature films. His work on Star Trek: The Next Generation helped redefine the possibilities of first-run syndication and earned the franchise its first Emmy nomination for Best Dramatic Series. After stepping back from Star Trek in 2005 and 2006, Berman indicated he remained active in television production and other projects outside the franchise.
Rick Berman Family
Rick Berman has been married to Elizabeth Berman since 1980, and the couple has three children. Details about his family life have been kept largely private, with Berman focusing public attention on his professional work in television production.
Personal Life
Berman married Elizabeth Berman in 1980, and they have three children together. He has spoken publicly about his interest in writing a memoir of his experiences on Star Trek, and he has indicated continued involvement in television production as well as projects outside the television business since leaving the franchise in 2005 and 2006.