Peter Lauritson | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Producer and director |
| Known for | Star Trek |
Peter Lauritson is a long-time film producer and director and television producer and director who first became involved with the Star Trek franchise with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. He went on to become a producer for Star Trek: The Next Generation, and supervising producer for Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise. He directed three episodes of those series, including the Hugo Award-winning "The Inner Light", as well as being second unit director for two Star Trek films.
Lauritson was the head of the post-production department for television at Paramount Pictures in 1981 when Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was being produced by the television departments there. In 1986, he became involved in the development of Star Trek: The Next Generation where he became an associate producer. By the end of the seventh series, he had been promoted to a producer.[1] Whilst working on The Next Generation, he made his directorial debut with the episode "The Inner Light" and went on to also direct the first episode of the two-part "Gambit".[1] "The Inner Light" is regarded as one of the most acclaimed episodes of the series, and Lauritson accepted a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1993,[2][3] which was the first of two Hugo Awards to be won by the series.[2] The episode was named the third best of the series by Entertainment Weekly in 2007.[4]
Lauritson's face appears briefly as an image of Raymond Thomas on Counsellor Troi's computer screen as a Troi helps Claire Raymond search for living descendants in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Neutral Zone".[5]
Lauritson was one of the ten producers who were named in the Emmy Award nomination of The Next Generation for Outstanding Drama Series in 1994.[6] He became a supervising producer on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise. His third and final Star Trek directorial position was on the Voyager episode "Lineage". He was also co-producer on all The Next Generation films from Star Trek Generations through to Star Trek: Nemesis. He was the director of the second unit on both Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection.[1]