Posted in: Star Trek, TV | Tagged: Carlos Baena, Lawrence Selleck, Sam Witwer, star trek, william shatner

Star Trek: Unification Director on TOS & Discovery-Inspired Additions

Star Trek: 765874 Unification director Carlos Baena spoke with Bleeding Cool about the storytelling, TOS/Discovery guest stars, and more.

If there's one of the biggest fan-friendly franchises in science fiction, it's Star Trek. Not only do they have nearly six decades of material to treasure, but there have been a plethora of fan productions circulated that even casted actors from Generations' Alan Ruck, Deep Space Nine's Cirroc Lofton and Chase Masterson, The Original Series' Walter Koenig and Nichelle Nichols, and Voyager's Garrett Wang and Tim Russ. Another project emerged courtesy of OTOY and The Roddenberry Archive called Star Trek: Unification (aka 765874) that allowed fans to see the proper farewell from William Shatner's Kirk and Leonard Nimoy's Spock we never got from canon. When Nimoy passed in 2015, fans saw his Kelvin Universe counterpart, played by Zachary Quinto, mourn for all of us in 2016's Star Trek Beyond, which felt a bit awkward considering actors Shatner, Koenig, and Nichols were still around at the time.

Thanks to the efforts of directors Carlos Baena and OTOY CEO and writer Jules Urbach, actors Sam Witwer and Lawrence Selleck becoming digital stand-ins for Kirk and Spock, masterful visual effects, composers Michael Giacchino and Johan Söderqvist, and special guests from TOS, films, and Discovery, we got a masterpiece we never imagined. Baena spoke to Bleeding Cool about constructing the various Kirk-eras hallway scenes, the inspired casting choices from TOS and Discovery, if he considered a script, and if Paramount would have any creative interest in the story to expand.

Star Trek: Unification Director Carlos Baena on Generations of Kirk, Saavick, Gary Marshall & Yor Returns

Bleeding Cool: How much of Kirk was Shatner and Witwer, and how did you film the scene with the multiple Kirks with his TOS era, cinematic, and Generations?

Every Kirk stand-in and performance was done by Sam himself, covering all versions of the character—The Original Series Kirk, Wrath of Khan Kirk, and Generations Kirk. For the tunnel sequence where all three Kirks appear together, the characters were filmed separately on a green screen and then combined in compositing and post-production.

You brought back Robin Curtis, Gary Lockwood, and Gordon Tarpley to reprise their roles as Saavik, Mitchell, and Yor. You also brought in Mahé Thaissa to play the TOS character J.M. Colt. What went into the selection process of having those characters around, and were there other original actors or characters you considered bringing back?

A lot of that was thanks to Jules. He deserves credit for thinking deeply about these characters—when and how they should be introduced. Sometimes, these decisions came about naturally during discussions while reviewing the edit. For instance, we always planned to film the Kirk/Yor exchange at a Pasadena fountain, but I felt the space was too vast for just the two of them. So I shared an idea with Jules about filling that space with many characters significant to Kirk's life, as if they were waiting for him. I drew from a personal experience of flying back to Spain years back, going straight to the hospital to see my dad, and finding a hallway full of loved ones already there. It felt like a poignant way to add depth. Jules then put together a list of key characters who should be present, including Saavik and her son. In the case of Gary Mitchell, Jules had shown me a comic book early in the process where Mitchell was levitating in front of planets, which inspired his inclusion in the film. Ultimately, Jules' suggestions shaped the way these characters were incorporated, and I wanted to find ways during both the shoot and the edit to ensure they felt like a natural part of the film rather than forced additions.

Did you consider having a dedicated script for the short, or was it always intended to come out as it has visually with the backgrounds, actors, and score from Michael Giacchino?

We never worked from a script. But even if we had, my goal was always to emphasize visual storytelling—using body language, facial expressions, and internal dialogue to create something that felt like a visual poem. Music played a crucial role in shaping that experience. The idea was to make the short film universally accessible, and by removing dialogue, I hoped to encourage viewers to bring their own emotions and interpretations to the scenes and these special characters. For a couple of scenes, I created script pages focused on subtext—lines of dialogue meant to be spoken through the actors' expressions rather than their words. I later refined these while working with Sam and Lawrence, incorporating their deep understanding of the characters to enhance the exchanges.

How does this short differentiate what has been done at Paramount as the gatekeepers of the franchise? Would it be something that Paramount could expand upon in the future? Was creating it with the Roddenberry Archive and OTOY a way to maintain creative independence? Would it be officially canon or something that offers more closure for the fans?

While working on the shorts and prior to Unification, I watched Star Trek: The Original Series and classic films like 'The Motion Picture' and 'The Wrath of Khan' to get a better grasp of it all. And that era was inspiring to me. Even the more nuanced and less theatrical performances of 'TWOK' were interesting. I didn't have the same level of familiarity with the newer Star Treks, so I turned to those who knew it well to help me understand its universe, characters, and timelines. As for the future—Paramount's plans and what's next—I don't have much insight or information in that regard.

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