Star Trek producer Michelle Paradise reflects on Jonathan Frakes’ positive impact on the franchise: “I just can’t say enough about him”

Jonathan Frakes directs Shazad Latif as Ash Tyler and Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham in Star Trek: Discovery

OCTOBER 15, 2020 - All the way back in the third season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Jonathan Frakes began his directing career with the episode “The Offspring”. Since then, Frakes has directed a total of 22 episodes (and counting) in five different Star Trek series, as well as two feature films. In a recent interview with SYFY WIRE, Star Trek: Discovery showrunner Michelle Paradise shared a heartwarming perspective on the dedication and positive influence that Frakes brings to the set.

“First of all, he's wonderful,” Paradise beamed, and went on to call him a “lovely person” and “an amazing energy on set”. Admitting that both the cast and crew “adore him”, Paradise said, “Having him on set to direct any episode is a treat [...] but his knowledge of Trek, his innate feel for tone is really so important.” 

The tone Paradise referred to is the ability of a director to find balance between action sequences, special effects, and the emotional drama of each episode. As a seasoned actor and director in the franchise, Frakes has been on both sides of the camera enough to know what it takes to make a well-balanced episode of Star Trek. “There's a lot that's packed into any given episode,” Paradise said, “and he's just so deft at it and such a great communicator.”

When it comes to prepping an episode of Discovery, Paradise explained that Frakes is always active in the process, with plenty of questions and suggestions. "He's super collaborative,” she said. “We're always so proud of the scripts that we come up with [...] and I feel like [with Jonathan] in particular, he helps to make it better.” Paradise finished by saying, “I just can't say enough about him.”

In addition to his previous work directing various Star Trek series, you’ll also be able to see more of it in three upcoming episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season three, the first episode of which is streaming now on CBS All Access.