René Echevarria

René Echevarria
Born St. Petersburg, Florida
Residence Los Angeles, California
Nationality American
Ethnicity Cuban-American
Alma mater Duke University
Occupation Screenwriter and producer
Years active 1990 - present

René Echevarria is an American-Cuban screenwriter and producer. He has worked on a number of television series, including Star Trek: The Next Generation, Dark Angel and Castle. He created The 4400 for USA Network, and was show runner on Terra Nova.

Early life

Born in St. Petersburg, Florida, René Echevarria attended St. Petersburg Catholic High School as a child.[1] Echevarria graduated in 1984 from Duke University with a major in history.[2] He has a Cuban-American background.[3] Before attending university, he was expecting to follow his father into medicine. However, he joined a production of Cats at Duke and decided to go into the theatrical arts.[1] After graduation, he travelled to New York in order to start work in theatre. He started work at the Circle Repertory Company, and became assistant director on a production of a play entitled Darts. He also took to appearing in plays, and appeared at productions at the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club and the Chelsea Theater Center. He travelled to the UK with a production of a play called Prepared, which was performed both at the World's End Theatre and at the Edinburgh Film Festival.[2]

Screenwriter career

Echevarria's first screenwriting credit came after he submitted an unsolicited script to the science fiction series Star Trek: The Next Generation. After re-writes by both Echevarria and the writing team on the show, this became the episode "The Offspring". He was hired to redraft "Transfigurations" and was subsequently hired as a writer on the series.[4] During his time working on the series, he wrote over thirty episodes.[5] Following this, he began writing for fellow Star Trek series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.[1] One of the episodes he co-wrote with Ronald D. Moore, "Trials and Tribble-ations",[6] was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.[7] Following Trek, he worked on a series of television shows including Now and Again, Castle, Dark Angel and Medium.[1]

Producer career

He created The 4400 alongside Scott Peters for USA Network. He was reunited with one of his colleagues from Deep Space Nine, as Ira Steven Behr was one of the producers on the series.[8] Echevarria was also involved in the development of the Teen Wolf television series for MTV,[1] where he remains as executive producer.[9]

Echevarria was working as the show runner on ABC's television adaptation of the film True Lies, when he was asked to take over production duties on the pilot of Terra Nova. This followed the termination of four writers and another producer, amid a series of other issues with the production.[10] The production cost $14 million, and suffered from a three month delay, and Echevarria and fellow producer Brannon Braga both denied that there was a deliberate axing of staff, attributing it to the movement of the production to Australia.[11] Echevarria subsequently signed a full-time deal with 20th Century Fox Television, the studio behind Terra Nova, as show runner for the television series,[12] and was involved in the promotion of the show.[13]

In February 2013, he joined the team on television series Intelligence as executive producer and show runner.[14] He left the series during the following July, in a split which was described as amicable.[15] In July 2014, he signed a two-script deal with Legendary Television to develop new series from the back catalogue of the studio.[16]

Personal life

Echevarria purchased a 1930s era four bedroom house in Los Feliz area of Los Angeles in 2005 for $4.05 million from actor Vince Vaughn. Echevarria listed the property for sale in 2014 for $4.2 million.[17]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Deggans, Eric (September 23, 2011). "St. Petersburg native René Echevarria has write stuff with 'Terra Nova' and before that 'Star Trek'". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Echevarria, Rene". Star Trek.com. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  3. ↑ Deegans, Eric (July 28, 2002). "Diversity? Signs point in all directions but forward". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  4. ↑ Anders, Lou (July 1997). "The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword". Star Trek Magazine (Titan). pp. 30–34.
  5. ↑ McShane, Larry (July 11, 2004). "Gone missing, and suddenly back". The Record (HighBeam Research). Retrieved January 6, 2015. (subscription required (help)).
  6. ↑ Erdmann & Block (2000): p. 384
  7. ↑ "1997 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  8. ↑ O'Hare, Kate (June 17, 2005). "Picardo feels at home on USA's `The 4400'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  9. ↑ Littleton, Cynthia (October 12, 2013). "MTV Renews ‘Teen Wolf,’ Sets Companion After-Show". Variety. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  10. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (November 4, 2010). "What Is Going On With Fox's 'Terra Nova'?". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  11. ↑ "TCA: Fox Going Back To The Future With 'Terra Nova'". Deadline Hollywood. January 11, 2011. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  12. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (May 11, 2011). "'Terra Nova' Showrunner Rene Echevarria Signs Overall Deal With 20th TV". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  13. ↑ Goldberg, Larry (March 10, 2011). "'Terra Nova' Showrunner Rene Echevarria Promises Results". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  14. ↑ Andreeva, Rene (February 27, 2013). "Rene Echevarria Joins CBS Drama Pilot ‘Intelligence’ As Exec Producer/Showrunner". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  15. ↑ Patten, Dominic (July 11, 2013). "Showrunner Rene Echevarria Exits ‘Intelligence’". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  16. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (July 18, 2014). "René Echevarria Inks Development Deal With Legendary TV". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  17. ↑ David, Mark (March 31, 2014). "René Echevarria Lists Vince Vaughn’s Former House in Los Feliz". Variety. Retrieved January 4, 2015.

References

  • Erdmann, Terry J.; Block, Paula M. (2000). Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 978-0-671-50106-8. 

External links

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