In making "Trek Nation," Roddenberry said he was able to meet people from all over the world who loved "Star Trek."
AMHERST — Although he said it might be hard for people to believe, Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry, the son of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry, says that when he was young, he didn’t understand the impact that his father and the series had.
Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry, son of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry will speak at Hampshire College Thursday night. “It wasn’t till after he passed away that I found out ‘Star Trek’ actually touched people,” he said in his documentary “Trek Nation.” “It was really very inspiring,” he said.
Roddenberry will be at Hampshire College on Thursday night to screen the film directed by Scott Colthorp and then answer questions about his father, who died in 1991 when Rod Roddenberry was just 17 years old.
Roddenberry said he spent a decade looking at his father’s life through a fan’s eyes. Those fans include George Lucas of “Star Wars” fame, J.J. Abrams, the man behind “Lost,” as well as stars from "Star Trek" television shows and films.
“I kind of knew 'Star Trek' was significant, but didn’t understand why it was significant,” Roddenberry said in the film. “I set out to learn what 'Star Trek' meant for people.”
The series began on television in 1966 and spawned myriad spinoffs, toys and films.
In making "Trek Nation," Roddenberry said he was able to meet people from all over the world who loved the show.
According to a press release about the film, Roddenberry said, “by exploring my father through a variety of untapped touchstones, we are able to introduce the world to a Gene Roddenberry it’s never met before. Through this process of humanization, 'Trek Nation' reminds us that none of us are perfect but that within our imperfections lays the potential for greatness.”
The film first aired on the Science Channel last year.
According the Science Channel website, the documentary “draws on hundreds of hours of exclusive footage, including never-before-seen home movies from the Roddenberry family collection and the first-ever 'Star Trek' convention.
"This film demonstrates that Roddenberry's work has not only inspired legions of fans across the globe, but generated a cultural movement. 'Star Trek' is a phenomenon that goes beyond entertainment; it has influenced politics, space travel, social morality and much more. 'Star Trek' was a catalyst, which has fostered an enhanced understanding of the human condition, capturing man's constant search for a better world.”
"(The network) understood that, as personal as the film was for me, 'Trek Nation' is really a universal story of a son coming to understand his father," Roddenberry said. "The experience allowed me to learn more about the man behind this incredible science fiction phenomenon as well as the man I knew as 'Dad.' I think it's something that 'Star Trek' fans and those less familiar with the franchise will enjoy."
He is an alumnus of Hampshire College, where he studied film in the 1990s. His wife Heidi Roddenberry also is a graduate.
This is the first time he has come back to the college, said Killara Burn, director of alumni and family relations. “We invited him, there’s a lot of interest here,” she said. He’ll be speaking to faculty and students.
The screening is free and open to the public and begins at 7 p.m. in Franklin Patterson Hall.