title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: The first season of the American television series "" features the character Jean-Luc Picard after he retired from Starfleet following the destruction of the planet Romulus. Living on his family's vineyard in 2399, Picard is drawn into a new adventure when he is visited by the daughter of android lieutenant commander Data. The season was produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Secret Hideout, Weed Road Pictures, Escapist Fare, and Roddenberry Entertainment, with Michael Chabon serving as showrunner.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: Patrick Stewart stars as Picard, reprising his role from the series "" as well as other "Star Trek" media. Alison Pill, Isa Briones, Harry Treadaway, Michelle Hurd, Santiago Cabrera, and Evan Evagora also star. Stewart announced the series in August 2018, after being convinced to return to the role by creators Akiva Goldsman, Chabon, Kirsten Beyer, and Alex Kurtzman. Chabon was named sole showrunner ahead of filming, which took place from April to September 2019 in California. The producers focused on differentiating the season from previous franchise installments and rehabilitating the Romulan and Borg species. The story and setting take inspiration from the political landscape of Brexit and Donald Trump, as well as the Syrian refugee crisis. The season features special guest stars reprising their roles from "The Next Generation" and other "Star Trek" media.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: The season premiered on the streaming service CBS All Access on January 23, 2020, and ran for 10 episodes through March 26. It was released to new viewership records for the service and generally positive reviews from critics who highlighted Stewart's performance and the focus on character over action. However, they criticized the season's slow pace and complex story, and its darker tone than previous "Star Trek" series was controversial with critics and franchise fans alike. The season won a Primetime Emmy Award for its Prosthetic Makeup, and received several other awards and nominations. A and were ordered in January 2020, before the first season's debut.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: In June 2018, after becoming sole showrunner of the series "", Alex Kurtzman signed a five-year overall deal with CBS Television Studios to expand the "Star Trek" franchise beyond "Discovery" to several new series, miniseries, and animated series. One of these new series was reported to star Patrick Stewart, reprising his role of Jean-Luc Picard from the series "". Stewart had previously said that he did not want to return to the franchise, but was convinced to join the project after a pitch by Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, and Kirsten Beyer. Stewart officially announced the series in August 2018, and revealed in January 2019 that the first season would consist of 10 episodes. Kurtzman said the series did not have a traditional showrunner and was instead being "shepherded" by a larger creative team, including himself, Goldsman, Chabon, and Beyer, but in June CBS named Chabon as the sole showrunner of the series. This decision was made by Kurtzman and CBS ahead of filming and despite Chabon's lack of production experience (his background is in writing novels rather than television series). Chabon worked closely with Kurtzman and Goldsman on day-to-day production of the season.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: The creators began writing the series by the end of September 2018, working alongside Stewart for two weeks. Chabon said Stewart's input was priceless, with the actor discussing his memories of the character, what he wanted to see in the series, and what acting challenges he wanted to face and avoid. They created the overall plot for the season, before expanding to a full writers room to break the episodes and write scripts. The stories for eight episodes were broken by December, and all scripts for the season were completed by August 2019. Chabon re-wrote most of the other writers' scripts to ensure consistency of tone, and found the collaborative writing process to be the biggest difference between his work on "Picard" and the shorts series "". Chabon also compared "Picard" to his work on the film "John Carter" (2012), for which he felt constrained by having to adapt the source material. In contrast, writing "Picard" allowed him to expand the franchise in new directions. Chabon wanted the series to focus on a retired Picard's life on his vineyard, potentially solving local mysteries, with no spaceships or gun fights. He acknowledged that the "Star Trek" fandom was probably not prepared for such a radical departure, and he had to balance these ideas with a more plot-driven approach.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: The series tells a single serialized story, beginning 20 years after Stewart's last appearance as Picard in the film "" (2002). It finds Picard deeply affected by the death of his android colleague Data in "Nemesis", which Chabon and Goldsman felt had ended Data's character arc prematurely. They wanted to complete his journey with the first season of "Picard", and it ends with Picard saying goodbye to the consciousness of Data before allowing him to "die" for good. Chabon began writing this scene early in development and did not complete it until the night before it was filmed. The season introduces new androids derived from Data's consciousness, referred to as synthetic beings or "synths". In the series' backstory, synths have been banned, and Picard fights for their right to exist. He gives his life to save the synths, and his consciousness is transferred into a synthetic body which the writer felt made him the "living embodiment" of the theme. This storyline builds off a terminal illness that Picard is diagnosed with in the season; since Picard is 94-years-old, the writers had wanted to discuss relatable issues like this that people face at the end of their lives. Chabon unintentionally incorporated his personal experiences into this storyline after his father died during the making of the season.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: The series takes place following the destruction of the planet Romulus as seen in the film "Star Trek" (2009), and reveals that Starfleet has abandoned the Romulans. Stewart wanted the series to depict the Federation as more isolationist than it was in "The Next Generation" to acknowledge the politics of Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. He felt that "The Next Generation" was "too perfect and too protected ... a safe world of respect and communication and care" that did not reflect the real world. Chabon wanted to rehabilitate the Romulans in a similar way to how "The Next Generation" rehabilitated the Klingons by "open[ing] them up a little bit beyond the mustache twirling". This meant explaining why the species is so secretive and revealing a distrust that they have for synthetic life. Beyer, a long-time "Star Trek" writer and novelist, believed that the season's explanation for the Romulans' secrecy did not contradict the species' previous appearances in the franchise. Chabon wrote many pages of mythology about the Romulans as background for the season's story, including a history for the newly introduced Qowat Milat, a sect of warrior nuns. The season depicts many Romulans as refugees using imagery reminiscent of the Syrian refugee crisis, which Kurtzman said would be a difficult subject to approach if he was not confident in Chabon's writing. Initial director Hanelle Culpepper compared the Romulans to Muslims in the way that "the actions of a few can drive people to stereotype the whole bunch".


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: Stewart was reluctant to include the Borg in the series due to not wanting to repeat stories from "The Next Generation", but was convinced by the "very unique" story that the writers wanted to tell with the group. Chabon had first questioned the franchise's antagonistic portrayal of the Borg while watching the film "" (1996), believing that it was wrong for Starfleet to treat them as less-than-human when Picard had already been shown to have regained his humanity after being assimilated by the Borg and becoming Locutus of Borg in "The Next Generation". Because of this, the season depicts the Borg as victims, focusing on former Borg drones that have had their implants removed and are now trying to regain their former identities. Picard eventually visits a Borg Cube in the season and is forced to face the trauma of his time as Locutus of Borg, which is backstory that Chabon thought could not be ignored by "Picard". When doing research for his role in the series as a former Borg drone and protector of a group of other former Borg drones, guest star Jonathan Del Arco listened to hours of interviews with Holocaust survivors, researched the psychology of abuse survivors, and drew on his own experience of having friends die during the AIDS crisis.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: Patrick Stewart stars as Jean-Luc Picard, which he confirmed when announcing the series. The rest of the cast was hired in March and April 2019: Alison Pill as Agnes Jurati, Isa Briones as Dahj and Soji Asha, Evan Evagora as Elnor, Michelle Hurd as Raffi Musiker, Santiago Cabrera as Cristobal "Chris" Rios, and Harry Treadaway as Narek. In the two-part season finale, Briones is revealed to also be portraying Sutra, an older model of android with a similar appearance to the twin androids Dahj and Soji.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: In April 2019, several of Stewart's co-stars from "The Next Generation", including Wil Wheaton, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Gates McFadden, and Marina Sirtis, were asked whether they would reprise their roles for "Picard". McFadden said she had not been contacted about it, while Sirtis said the group did not know anything about the series. That July, Spiner, Frakes, and Sirtis were revealed to be reprising their roles in the first season, respectively as Data, William Riker, and Deanna Troi. Also announced as returning were Jonathan Del Arco as Hugh, a guest star from "The Next Generation", and Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine, a regular cast member on "". Despite Seven of Nine never meeting Picard in the franchise before, the writers felt that she was the perfect character to include in the series due to her being a former Borg drone like Picard.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: In January 2020, Kurtzman and Stewart explained that the writers did not want to "just throw people in" to the series because they had been in "The Next Generation". Spiner was included after it became clear that Data would be important to Picard in the series, and Frakes and Sirtis were added halfway through the season when the writers came up with a story idea that required them. In addition to returning as Data, Spiner also portrays Altan Inigo Soong, the son of Data's creator Noonien Soong whom Spiner also portrayed in "The Next Generation". In March 2020, Spiner said the season was a "gentle sendoff" and fitting end to Data's story, and would be the last time he reprised that role.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: To establish the changes in Picard's life since the end of "The Next Generation", the writers decided to have several Romulan characters working for Picard that may have been depicted as enemies in previous series. These include Orla Brady as Laris and Jamie McShane as Zhaban. Picard also has a dog named "Number One", portrayed by a dog named Dinero. Stewart felt that giving Picard a dog would, "without any dialogue or any dramatic reference, [say] a lot about this man, that he now has a dog always at his side". As an advocate for pit bulls, Stewart insisted that Number One be a member of the breed. Chabon and Culpepper explained that Dinero was a rescue dog and was not a good actor, so he was left out of some scenes that he was originally going to be included in. Chabon felt they were able to get a good performance from the dog for the scenes that he does appear in.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: Also recurring throughout the season are Sumalee Montano as an artificial intelligence that Dahj and Soji believe is their mother; Tamlyn Tomita as the half-Vulcan, half-Romulan Commodore Oh; Rebecca Wisocky as Ramdha, a Romulan who was assimilated by the Borg; and Peyton List as Narek's sister Narissa. List's performance was influenced by Narek and Narissa being originally written as both siblings and lovers, though the writers moved away from this, and her role was expanded after she impressed during early table reads. Additionally, two new actors take on existing "Star Trek" characters: John Ales portrays Bruce Maddox, taking over from "The Next Generation" guest star Brian Brophy; and Casey King appears as , who was portrayed by Manu Intiraymi in "Voyager".


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: When first approaching the costumes for the series, Christine Bieselin Clark looked at costumes from throughout "Star Trek" as research. Clark wanted to humanize Picard and show more vulnerability through his clothing. She acknowledged that he comes from a "lifetime of service and structure and order" and his clothes should reflect that, but she also wanted to depict him as a "very fit and active and viable older man" while showing the changes in his character since "The Next Generation". An example of the latter comes in the episode "Absolute Candor", which begins with a flashback to Picard's time in Starfleet where he is seen arriving on the planet Vashti in a white suit with his Starfleet badge. This is contrasted later in the episode when he returns to the planet in rugged, darker clothing that matches the changes in his personality and in the state of the universe.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: At the beginning of the season, the costumes seen at Chateau Picard are supposed to feel warm and familiar rather than futuristic, since it should be a place that the audience wants to return to once the adventure begins. The costumes include some asymmetry to acknowledge the time period, but this is kept subtle to not distract from the intended emotions of the setting. On "La Sirena", the suggestion is that the replicators that create clothing on the starship are limited to its darker color palette and geometric designs which is why all the character's costumes on the starship reflect its own design. Clark still tried to reflect the personality of each character in subtle ways, such as having Jurati's costume look awkward while Raffi's is sleek. Clark was able to create "loud, fun outfits" for the planet Freecloud, taking inspiration from bioluminescent jellyfish for the character Bjayzl.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: Clark designed two sets of Starfleet uniforms for "Picard": one for the series present time period, and one for the flashback to when Picard retired from Starfleet. She said this was an especial challenge due to the history of the franchise and its costumes, and started her work on the uniforms by looking at the designs for Starfleet from throughout the franchise and creating a timeline of the evolving costumes. She then moved forward from those designs to create the new uniforms. Clark wanted the present day uniforms to have a "severity of lines", focusing on blocks of color, geometry, and simple shapes. In contrast, the uniforms from the flashback are more elegant, with the shapes and lines having "fluidity". Clark highlighted that the flashback is the first time that Picard is shown to be an admiral in the franchise, and she wanted to have a "grand" uniform for Stewart to wear.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: For returning characters such as Troi and Riker, Clark intended for their costumes to be an evolution of their "Next Generation" costumes, wanting to maintain consistency with the main colors of their costumes across the two series. Clark chose to move away from Seven of Nine's "classic silver catsuit" costume from "Star Trek: Voyager", deciding to reflect the character's physical strength rather than her sexuality while also acknowledging her Robin Hood-like role in "Picard" as a member of vigilante group the Fenris Rangers.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: The series' prop master, Jeff Lombardi, began designing different props while Stewart was still in London and sent different designs to the actor to help choose which direction the designs should go. This allowed Lombardi to create the props and have them ready when Stewart arrived on set knowing the actor was already happy with the designs. This included tea cups, watches, badges, and a cane that incorporates a telescope into its handle. Lombardi was given freedom to develop different weapons that looked more advanced than those in previous series, and included new modifications that the writers could then include in action sequences where possible. These weapons were first created in 2D mock-ups to get the sizing correct for the actors and stunt department, before being created for real using 3D printing technology. Artist Andrea Dopaso painted the oil painting named "Daughter" that is created by Data in the series, before Briones was cast. Dopaso had a week to "plug her into it" once the actress joined the series.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: For the new Starfleet badges, Lombardi began by looking at the designs done for episodes of "Star Trek: Voyager" that visited a similar time-period to "Picard". These included a ribbon shape beneath the traditional delta, and Lombardi refined this look to get the new badge design. The new badges were created out of real metal so they would "pop" like real chrome objects do on screen. Picard is also seen wearing the Starfleet badge from "Nemesis", and when at Chateau Picard he wears a pin featuring the Picard family crest which doubles as a communicator like the Starfleet badges do. The season also introduces what appears to be Romulan tarot cards which are revealed to be playing cards for the game zhamaq. For the episode "Nepenthe", the prop department was able to develop and portray the personality of Thad, the deceased child of Riker and Troi, by dressing his bedroom set with props that revealed his character and backstory. These included maps of fictional places and breakdowns of new languages that Thad created himself.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: An early challenge for the prop department on the series was the scene in which the disembodied parts of B-4, a failed copy of the android Data, are displayed in a drawer. Lombardi wanted to use the original props from "Star Trek: Nemesis" which had already aged the required number of years to match the in-universe time difference, but these had been auctioned off and "scattered across the world" years earlier along with numerous other props from the franchise. John Van Citters, the vice president of "Star Trek" brand management at CBS Studios, helped Lombardi find the owners of the original B-4 parts. They found B-4's head in Calgary and his torso in Hong Kong. The rest of B-4's parts had to be replicated for "Picard" based on the head and torso. They were custom made by Paul Elliot of Makeup Effects Lab, a company that has worked on the "Star Trek" franchise before.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: When approaching the design of the Romulans in the series, creature designer Neville Page of Alchemy Studios noted that the look of the species had evolved throughout the franchise, but had retained a basic design of specific ears, foreheads, and eyebrows. Page found that he had to be careful with the shape of the Romulans' foreheads in particular to prevent the characters from appearing like Elves. After Page completed his designs for the species, Vincent Van Dyke created variations on these for the individual prosthetics. The series includes two types of Romulans: those that required full silicon prosthetic foreheads, and those that appeared more human. For the latter, a "brow transfer" piece was used to cover the actors' eyebrows and allow their Romulan eyebrows to be placed over-top in a different direction. The eyebrows were created by hand stitching individual hairs into a piece of lace that was applied with the rest of the prosthetics. This was done for both the "hero" characters and background extras due to the requirements of high definition cameras, and the biggest challenge for the series' prosthetics team was having to create these complex prosthetics for up to 30 Romulan characters in some scenes.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: At the start of the project, Page was most excited about getting to redesign the Borg, feeling that he had a clear vision for what the full head-to-toe character designs should be in a modern re-telling of that story. However, he soon realized that the Borg characters in the series are actually "XBs", former Borg drones that have had their implants mostly removed. How to approach this version of the characters was not obvious to Page, but he appreciated the challenge. Page's first instinct was to attempt to understand the reasoning behind the various Borg implants in previous "Star Trek" media, but he felt this was not the right approach due to the Borg assimilation being an alien process. He ended up trying to channel original designer Michael Westmore to attempt to make design decisions from the same place that the original prosthetics were designed from. For the remnants of implants that are seen on the XBs in the series, Page designed different variations which were then 3D-printed in plastic and glued onto silicon prosthetics by Van Dyke's team. Page noted that the XBs have an almost monstrous, Frankenstein-like appearance but tried to also create empathy for the characters. The prosthetics for the XBs were sent to set in modules with different facial prosthetics and small tech-based remnants that could be mixed-and-matched on set to create a unique selection of XBs based on which extras were there.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: The gold make-up used for Data and the other synthetic beings in the series was compared to the paint on the original "Nemesis" B-4 head to ensure it was consistent with the films. Additionally, Page was able to design several new species for the series. This includes the Beta Annari character Mr. Vup, who appears in the fifth episode. His skin has a crocodile-like texture which was achieved through prosthetics for his face and hands, as well as layers of paint to help create the depth and texture. Page discussed his designs for the character with guest actor Dominic Burgess before sharing them with the production to ensure that the actor was comfortable with the prosthetics first. During the season, Page suggested to Kurtzman that they cast McKenzie Westmore, daughter of "The Next Generation" make-up designer Michael Westmore, for a background appearance wearing alien make-up that Page had designed for an older project. The character is named Rhomsew ("Wesmohr" backwards), and is an acknowledgement of Michael Westmore's work.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: Production designer Todd Cherniawsky found the experience of working on "Picard" to be quite different from "Discovery", with the latter exploring a new era before the original "Star Trek" series that gave Cherniawsky freedom to develop new designs, while "Picard" follows on from the designs of "The Next Generation" which Cherniawsky wanted to honor. All of his designs for "Picard" began by studying the work of Herman F. Zimmerman on "The Next Generation" and many of the "Star Trek" films. He also worked closely with Beyer to take advantage of her knowledge of the franchise. Cherniawsky noted that a lot of the technology depicted in "The Next Generation" was based on what was deemed futuristic at the time, and so by creating technology for "Picard" that is deemed futuristic in modern times there was a natural evolution between the two series.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: Cherniawsky stated that world building was difficult on a feature film let alone with a television schedule and budget, and the series' art department struggled to create unique new planet designs as they were required for "Picard". This was an especial concern because the series is produced in California, which has been widely depicted on film and used for various fictional worlds before. Two of Cherniawsky's favorite scenes in the season were the bookending scenes between Picard and Data: the opening dream sequence, for which a portion of the "Next Generation" Ten Forward set was recreated; and the last scene between the characters in the digital "Dataverse". The latter was filmed on the set for Picard's study, which is used throughout the season as both a physical place at Chateau Picard and as a virtual location onboard "La Sirena". For the Dataverse, the art department first considered painting the set all white before deciding to have the set reflect Data and his synthetic appearance, leading to a "gun-metal silver aluminized metallic" color.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: John Eaves and Scott Schneider, designers of the starships for the "Star Trek" franchise, worked with Cherniawsky. This included designing the Borg Cube, which was updated from previous "futurized steampunk look" designs to be "completely made out of smart material, the purest of pure Borg components". "La Sirena" was designed to reflect Rios and his backstory. Cherniawsky described the character as a "warehouse of memories [with] an extensive collection of skeletons in his closet", and so the ship was designed as a "warehouse in space" that was very different from previous "Star Trek" starships. The "Nostromo" from the film "Alien" (1979) was an influence on the design.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: In December 2018, the series was granted $15.6million in tax credits by the California Film Commission for the production to take place in California rather than in Toronto, Canada, where "Discovery" is filmed. Before this grant, the intention had been for the series to be made in Toronto as well to take advantage of the existing "Discovery" crew. Ahead of the beginning of filming, director and guest star Jonathan Frakes said the season was being split into five "blocks" for production. Doug Aarniokoski served as producing director for the season, and worked with all the individual episodic directors to ensure a consistency in visuals and tone.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: Philip Lanyon and Darran Tiernan served as cinematographers for the season, alternating episodes which allowed each of them time to prepare an episode while another was being filmed. Lanyon had filmed an episode of the second season of "Star Trek: Discovery" that was directed by Aarniokoski, and was subsequently asked to be the main cinematographer for "Picard". "Discovery" used Anamorphic/i SF lenses made by Cooke Optics for its second season and Lanyon "fell in love" with them while working on the episode. He tested several different lenses for use on "Picard", but ultimately returned to the same ones used on "Discovery". It was important to Lanyon to honor the established visual tone of the "contemporary" "Star Trek" franchise, which he attributed to the J. J. Abrams-directed "Star Trek" films as well as "Discovery", and this meant including lens flares in the visual language of the series. The SF ("Special Flair") lenses gave Lanyon greater control over when flares and other aberrations appeared on the images, and he felt the lenses provided a "warmth" to the series that worked well with Stewart's performance. The production had two complete sets of the lenses, covering several different focal lengths, and used them in conjunction with three Arri Alexa Mini cameras. The sets for the season were specifically designed to suit the wide 2.39:1 anamorphic aspect ratio of the lenses. Lanyon focused on practical lighting by taking advantage of the natural light of the vineyard in early episodes, and then tried not to use off-camera lighting on the series' sets.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: Production began on April 22, 2019, at Santa Clarita Studios, California, under the working title "Drawing Room". The first block of two episodes was set to be directed by Hanelle Culpepper, who previously directed for "Discovery" and is the first woman to direct the initial episode of a "Star Trek" series. Culpepper wanted to differentiate the style of the series from her work on "Discovery", and felt there was some natural differences that arose from "Picard" being filmed on more locations than "Discovery". Culpepper's general style involved more handheld cameras but less movement than "Discovery", though she differentiated the scenes set in space from those on Earth by using more steady cam for the former to give it a "floaty" feeling. Culpepper first pitched her take to the producers in terms of colors, noting that the palette of "Discovery" features a lot of cool colors such as blues and purples and wanting "Picard" to be a warmer series with red, green, and orange. Culpepper was inspired to use these colors by the first episode's vineyard setting, and felt they reflected Picard's emotions in the series.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: For the scenes set in Chateau Picard, Culpepper filmed several shots looking at Picard through objects such as wine bottles and glasses to give the impression that the character is trapped by his life at the vineyard. Chateau Picard is in France in the "Star Trek" universe, but the series could not logistically film on location in the country. When looking for a location to portray the vineyard and chateau in the United States, Culpepper wanted somewhere that felt more like an actual chateau than was depicted in "The Next Generation". The final location was Sunstone Winery in Santa Ynez Valley, California, which features a villa constructed from reclaimed French materials. Filming took place there for a week in April 2019.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: A scene from the first episode that Stewart fought for but was ultimately cut during editing featured Picard berating workers at his vineyard for their racist taunts of the Romulans on Picard's staff. The scene would have furthered the discussion of the treatment of Romulans by the Federation in the franchise, and also helped introduce the audience to the older and angrier version of Picard in the series, but ultimately the producers felt that it made him too angry at the start of the episode and undermined the impact of the television interview several scenes later. Stewart agreed to remove the scene after watching a cut of it with Kurtzman. Filming for the first episodes also took place on location at Vasquez Rocks in the Sierra Pelona Mountains in Los Angeles County, California, where Raffi's home is located in the series; the location has been frequently used as a stand-in for various planets on previous "Star Trek" series.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: While Culpepper was editing the first two episodes, the writers came to feel that there was too much exposition required during later episodes that would be better served earlier in the season. After watching an almost completed version of Culpepper's episodes, the writers decided there were natural breaks where the two episodes could be split into three, which would allow new scenes to be added that could improve the overall storytelling. For instance, the writers realized that without showing the synth attack on Mars earlier in the season, the audience would not understand the horror of the moment and would be biased against the Federation's decisions. Subsequently, a flashback sequence depicting this event was added as the start of the new second episode. Culpepper said the new scenes make up most of the second episode and some of the first, with the completed third episode being predominantly footage from the original second episode. The flashback that opens the third episode and depicts the aftermath of Picard resigning from Starfleet was cut from the original second episode during writing, and was filmed after the episodes were split so it could be added to the third. Goldsman described the first three episodes as the season's first act, comparing them to the pilot episode of a traditional television series since they all introduce the main cast. The production referred to the episodes as 101, 102A, and 102B for logistical reasons.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: Frakes directed the second block of two episodes. Kurtzman felt confident that Frakes could tell a "Star Trek" story while pushing the boundaries due to his long history of acting in and directing "Star Trek" series and films. He also felt it was appropriate for Frakes to direct the fourth episode, which features a father-son story between Picard and Elnor, due to the similar father-son dynamic between Stewart and Frakes in real life. Goldsman said that Frakes brought a lighter energy to the set and Stewart became more comfortable and humorous with the crew beginning with these episodes. Discussing filming two episodes back-to-back, Frakes stated that this is usually done to take advantage of the two episodes sharing sets, tones, and characters, but in this case the two episodes were quite different: in his words, the fourth episode has a western tone, while the fifth episode is like a futuristic nightclub. Goldsman explained that these two episodes are the most standalone of the season, which allowed for the writers to experiment more with tones, and this was done due to their focus on the hunt for Bruce Maddox which resembles a mission from a more serialized "Star Trek" series such as "The Next Generation".


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: Contrasting his work on "Picard" with his previous work on "Discovery", Frakes explained that the filming style of "Discovery" was more influenced by that of the J. J. Abrams-directed "Star Trek" films, while many of those elements such as unmotivated camera moves did not fit within the style of "Picard". Despite this, he said the series still needed to look "cool" and not follow the "closeup, two shot, closeup" style of "The Next Generation" because of the way television has advanced since that series was made. The fifth episode was originally titled "Freecloud", but this was later changed to "Stardust City Rag" partly as a reference to David Bowie who is alluded to in several different ways throughout the episode. Another element changed for the episode was the villain Bjayzl, who was originally written to be a catlike Caitian (as previously seen in "") who lives in an aviary and eats birds. This would have been realized through motion capture technology and CGI which ultimately proved to be beyond the limits of the series' budget. Frakes felt grateful that he was able to re-introduce the character Seven of Nine with his two episodes, and was particularly proud of the fifth episode scene in which Seven of Nine and Picard discuss the lingering effects of their past assimilation by the Borg, a topic that Frakes had previously explored with the character of Picard when directing the film "Star Trek: First Contact". Frakes described the scene between the two characters in "Picard" as one of his favorites ever, noting that the self-doubt and emotional catharsis of the scene were less common on "The Next Generation" due to "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry's rule that there be no conflict between the main characters of that series.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: Maja Vrvilo directed the sixth and eighth episodes of the season. Describing the atmosphere on set when Vrvilo was directing, Chabon said that it was very different from Frakes' episodes with a more "focused energy" because of her directing style which was "very methodical, focused, prepared ... she has an energy of her own". The purpose of the eighth episode for Chabon was to explain the mysteries of the season's plot and tie the ongoing development of the supporting characters into that mystery to allow the two-part season finale to focus on the effects that the mysteries have on the characters rather than have to be the explanation themselves. Vrvilo worked closely with visual effects supervisor Jason Zimmerman for the scene where the various holograms of Rios onboard "La Sirena" come together. The scene made use of a motion control camera system to film multiple takes of the scene with Cabrera as the different holograms, which were later combined into single shots. Choreography between the different characters was required to control whenever the different holograms interacted with each other. Zimmerman noted that motion control shots take a long time film, but it was worth it for the result.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: Producing director Doug Aarniokoski directed the seventh episode. Chabon saw the seventh episode as a pause or respite for the characters since all the seasons elements were well set by that point, and Picard had finally crossed paths with Soji. This led to the introduction of Riker and Troi, with their backstory tied into the idea that they brought their family to the planet for their son's attempted recovery. The scenes at Riker and Troi's cabin were filmed at the Universal backlot in a cabin first used by "The Great Outdoors" (1988). Sirtis was only available for filming for four days due to commitments to another show that she was making in London, which necessitated changing which production block her scenes were filmed in. While filming these scenes, "The Next Generation" cast members Michael Dorn and LeVar Burton visited the set for a reunion with Stewart, Frakes, and Sirtis. The seventh episode also includes Del Arco's final scenes as Hugh in which he watches fellow former-Borg drones being executed before dying himself. Del Arco was acting half-blind due to having a scratched cornea from one of his contact lenses, and found the scenes emotionally taxing to film, but was grateful that he was able to film them in order so his death scene was his final for the series.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: Executive producer Akiva Goldsman directed the last block comprising episodes nine and ten, which Chabon considered to be a two-part season finale. Goldsman filmed the two episodes as one and considered them to be almost arbitrarily split into two parts, feeling that this was mainly done to have a ten-episode season rather than for any story-based reasons. The production rented a parking lot on which a set for the androids' settlement was built. They ultimately had to work around the set due to a heat wave, with location shooting in Malibu also used for the planet. A moment where Raffi and Seven touch hands, implying a romantic connection, was ad-libbed by Hurd and Ryan on set.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: The final scene between Picard and Data was filmed on the "Dataverse" version of the Chateau Picard study set. A full day was spent filming the scene, with Goldsman choosing to allow Stewart and Spiner to perform the full scene in long takes. He felt that they "know each other and these characters very well, and they don't need a lot of help". He would discuss ideas for each take at the start with them before letting them play out the scene. It was important to Goldsman that the scene make it clear that Picard had died for real as that was an important emotional element of the scene, even though the character was going to be resurrected soon after. Filming this scene was the highlight of the season for Stewart, calling it an "intense experience" due to the seriousness of the subject and the fact that it was the last time Picard and Data would be together. The following day, when the set was being dismantled, Stewart bought the chair he was sitting in for the scene from the production and took it back to his home in England; it is one of the few mementos that Stewart kept from his work on "Star Trek", which he attributed to the emotion of the scene as well as the fact that it was "an incredibly comfortable chair". Stewart promised the production that he would bring the chair back to set if it was ever required again.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: Frakes's appearance in the final episode aboard the USS "Zheng He", named for the Chinese explorer of the same name, was filmed on the set of "Star Trek: Discovery". The set was redressed for this, with the "Discovery"s captain's chair changed and the distinctive glass panels removed from the rest of the set. Frakes directed himself for this footage while he was directing an episode of the of "Discovery". Chabon announced that filming for the season had concluded on September 1, 2019.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: The series' visual effects were provided by Pixomondo, DNEG, Crafty Apes, Ghost VFX, Gentle Giant Studios, Technicolor VFX, and Filmworks/FX. Visual effects supervisor Jason Zimmerman explained that all design work for the visual effects began with the designs from "The Next Generation". These were then updated to match the in-universe time difference as well as to take advantage of the advancements in visual effects since that series was produced. He noted that production designer Todd Cherniawsky is experienced with visual effects-heavy series and always designed for "Picard" with the visual effects team in mind. Pixomondo began work on the series before filming began, working alongside the production design department to help flesh out their designs into 3D assets that the vendors could use. These computer generated models included the Borg Cube, "La Sirena", and the Romulan ships. The visual effects team also worked with the cinematography department to replicate the series' lenses and lighting correctly.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: A lot of the effects work on the series consisted of digital set extensions and world building, something that differentiated the series from "Discovery" for Zimmerman. For establishing shots, fictional elements such as buildings and starships were added to exterior shots which also sometimes required modern-day elements like cars to be removed or hidden. Scenes set on Mars were based on reference images taken by Mars rovers, with Zimmerman noting that "Star Trek" fans expect the series to be "rooted in science" like that. The new planet Freecloud, and the holographic advertisements that appear when the characters approach the planet, were inspired by Las Vegas, which Zimmerman acknowledged was a departure from previous "Star Trek" planet designs. The visual effects team used digital doubles to help populate crowd scenes on different planets, as well as the interiors of the Borg Cube. For scenes in space, the visual effects team used reference imagery from throughout the "Star Trek" franchise as well as new footage from NASA, and worked to find logical ways to light starships in space such as having the light come from nearby planets or stars. Another difficult effect that Zimmerman highlighted was the outdoor transporter booths seen on Earth in the series, which use the bright flashes seen in previous "Star Trek" series but in broad daylight, something that required "a lot of finessing to get a good blend". The visual effects team also digitally de-aged Brent Spiner for his appearances as Data in the series, to make him appear as he did in "Nemesis".


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: The Borg Cube is across, and conveying that scale was difficult for the visual effects team since it is floating in space with no size reference. Pixomondo's model was created with 23 different pieces that the modelling team repeated over 9 million times across the surface of the cube. It also includes a Romulan hangar that is differentiated in terms of design from the rest of the cube. The final Borg Cube model consisted of 82.7 billion polygons, which Pixomondo was only able to render due to using the Arnold rendering software and its ability to create "stand-ins" to simplify elements of the render. Pixomondo then needed to share the model with DNEG and Ghost VFX who were using different rendering software; Pixomondo worked with the other companies to simplify the model down to a base language that they could use to get similar results with their own software. The interiors of the Borg Cube were built as sets, but were digitally extended; Zimmerman gave this as an example of the more "subtle" visual effects created for the series. The Borg Cube is revealed in the first episode with an "ambitious pullback reveal" inspired by a similar shot from the film "Star Trek: First Contact", showing the advancements in visual effects since that film was made. The shot included almost every asset that Pixomondo created for the series, including the Borg Cube, Romulan hangar, and Romulan ships. Pixomondo CG supervisor Dan Smiczek said the vendor was "really proud" of the shot, with almost all of their "Picard" team having worked on it.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: The season finale was the largest episode for visual effects that Zimmerman had worked on across both "Picard" and "Discovery", requiring 60 to 70 visual effects shots. The visual effects team had eight to ten weeks to complete the episode. They began by mapping out the battle between the Romulan fleet, the giant space orchids used by the synthetics, and the Federation fleet, figuring out where the factions would be in relation to the planet Coppelius. Once Goldsman approved the plan, a previsualization of the sequence was created and then the animation was refined from there. For the orchids, Chabon was loosely inspired by the works of Jean Giraud, and mentioned orchids throughout the season as part of Soji's backstory to set-up their later appearance. The final orchid models were scaled down from the original designs, and their colors were adjusted to be photo-real and to better contrast with the Borg Cube since they appear onscreen together. The bridges of the Federation and Romulan ships in the finale were also created digitally.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: Composer Jeff Russo had several ideas when he began work on the main title for "Picard", but the first melody that he played became the idea that he associated with Picard and the series. He then had to fashion this into a theme that matched the tone of the show, and went through several different iterations: a "swashbuckling" version, a "'space' show" version, a darker and more contemplative version, and finally a more emotional and stirring version which became the actual theme. It is bookended with a piccolo, which Russo felt sounded similar to the fictional Ressikan flute that Picard played in the "Next Generation" episode "", while the main melody is played on a cello which Russo often uses since it "fills that same harmonic space as the human voice". In addition to his original ideas, Russo chose to use Fred Steiner's Romulan theme from the "Star Trek: The Original Series" episode "Balance of Terror" (1966) to represent the Romulan characters in the season. He also referenced the main theme from "Star Trek: Voyager" for Seven of Nine's appearances. Russo had more opportunities to help tell the story in the season than his work on "Discovery", with more scenes in "Picard" featuring the music and little dialogue such as Soji and Narek's waltz in "Absolute Candor" and Picard's death in the finale.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: The season is bookended with the song "Blue Skies" by Irving Berlin, which is heard during Picard's dream of Data in the premiere and then again during Data's death in the finale. This is a reference to "Nemesis", in which Data sung "Blue Skies". For "Picard", Russo arranged a new version of the song with similar orchestration to the series' score. Kurtzman suggested that Briones sing the lyrics after performing in the touring production of "Hamilton"; Briones felt this was appropriate since she portrays Data's daughters in the series. Russo described the end of the finale, including "Blue Skies", as a "complicated puzzle". The episode ends with a swashbuckling-themed end credits cue because Russo wanted to end the season with a "rousing feeling". He began recording his score for the series in November 2019, at the Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Bros. Studios in California.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: A soundtrack album featuring selections from Russo's score for the first half of the season was released digitally by Lakeshore Records on February 2, 2020. It also includes two cues from Russo's "Short Treks" score. The new version of "Blue Skies" was released digitally as a single on March 26, followed by a second soundtrack album on April 3. The latter is a complete album comprising all tracks from the first album, selections from the second half of the season, and "Blue Skies". A special edition vinyl release featuring selections from the first season album and pressed on "Borg-errific green vinyl" was released on October 9. All music by Jeff Russo:


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: A teaser and first poster for the season were released in May 2019, on the 25th anniversary of the series finale of "The Next Generation". Both the teaser and poster focused on the Picard vineyard and the season's new backstory. It was promoted in July at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, in a ""Star Trek" Universe" panel alongside other series from the franchise. The panel featured the main cast and executive producers, who introduced the first full trailer for the season. The trailer revealed that Spiner and Ryan would be guest starring in the season, and they joined the panel after the trailer was shown along with Del Arco. Also at San Diego, a special exhibition called "Jean-Luc Picard: The First Duty" was displayed at the Michael J Wolf Fine Arts art gallery, featuring props and costumes from throughout Stewart's "Star Trek" career along with first looks at props and costumes from "Picard". A second trailer for the season debuted at the 2019 New York Comic Con in October, at a panel that also included Culpepper. The premiere date for the season was also revealed at the panel.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: Also in October, CBS and Paramount released a Blu-ray collection titled "Star Trek – Picard Movie and TV Collection", including two two-part episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation"—"" and ""—as well as the four "Star Trek" films starring the cast of "Next Generation": "Star Trek Generations" (1994), "Star Trek: First Contact", "" (1998), and "Star Trek: Nemesis". The collection also includes ten hours of previously released special features as well as an exclusive, original comic book titled "Star Trek: Sky's The Limit" from IDW Publishing. The comic book was written by Thomas F. Zahler with art by Carlos Nieto and coloring by Charlie Kirchoff. Additionally, CBS worked with Wines That Rock and the actual Château Picard in Bordeaux, France (which is not related to the fictional "Star Trek" Château Picard) to release a limited edition wine, the 2016 Château Picard Bordeaux, as marketing for the series. Wines That Rock also released a limited edition 2017 Old Vine Zinfandel wine labelled as a "United Federation of Planets wine" from California winery Dry Creek & Russian River Valleys.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: In January 2020, RockLove Jewelry released a new line of "Picard"-inspired jewelry, including a necklace worn by Dahj and Soji that was designed with prop master Jeff Lombardi. Chabon wanted to be involved in all aspects of the series, including interacting with the fans as the season was released. He spent a lot of time looking at messages on Twitter and Reddit, but was discouraged when he found Twitter to be "kind of a horrible place". His children introduced him to the ability to answer fan questions via a story on Instagram, and he found that to be a fun way to interact with fans and discuss the series, likening it to his time as a younger "Star Trek" fan on the internet.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: The season premiered on January 23, 2020, on CBS All Access in the United States, and ran weekly for 10 episodes until March 26. Like "Discovery" before it, each episode of "Picard" is broadcast in Canada by Bell Media on the same day as the All Access release, on the specialty channels CTV Sci-Fi Channel (English) and Z (French) before streaming on Crave. Amazon Prime Video streams the episodes within 24 hours of their U.S. release in over 200 other countries and territories around the world.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: In the week after the season premiered, the first episode was released for free on YouTube in the U.S. for a limited time. On January 30, the ViacomCBS free streaming service PlutoTV aired a 24-hour marathon of the series' first episode, followed by repeat viewings each night through February 5 as the lead-off title for a programming block. Days before the release of the season finale on March 26, Stewart announced a free month of CBS All Access for viewers in the U.S., ending on April 23. This would allow non-subscribers to watch the entire season for free. The offer came while many in the U.S. were isolated at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: The first three episodes of the season were made available to stream for free on "CBS.com", "StarTrek.com", and PlutoTV for a week beginning June 17, 2020, as part of a CBS All Access event titled #StarTrekUnited. The episodes were among 15 of the "most culturally relevant" "Star Trek" episodes that were chosen to be included as part of the event, which served as a fundraiser for several organisations including Black Strategy Fund, Movement for Black Lives, and Black Lives Matter. For the fundraiser, $1 was donated to one of those organizations by CBS All Access for every fan that tweeted using the hashtag #StarTrekUnitedGives on the day of June 17.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: In September 2020, ViacomCBS announced that CBS All Access would be expanded and rebranded as Paramount+ in March 2021, with the season remaining on Paramount+ along with future seasons of "Picard".


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: The season was released on DVD, Blu-Ray, and Limited Edition Steelbook formats in the U.S. on October 6, 2020. The release includes all 10 episodes, as well as behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and a commentary for the first episode by Kurtzman, Goldsman, Chabon, Beyer, and Culpepper. Also included in the release is "Children of Mars", a short film from the "Star Trek: Short Treks" companion series.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: A week after the season premiere, CBS said that "Picard" had set a new record for the total streams of a CBS All Access original series with 115 percent more total streams than the previous record set by "Star Trek: Discovery". CBS also attributed the premiere, alongside the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards and a busy month of football games, for the month of January 2020 breaking the service's record for the most new subscribers in a month. Previously held by February 2019, the new January 2020 record includes the second-most new subscribers in a single week for the service during the week of "Picard"s premiere. In Canada, 1.1 million viewers watched the series' premiere live or on the same day as its debut, the largest ever audience for an episode on the CTV Sci-Fi Channel. A week later, the first episode's confirmed audience had grown to 1.85 million viewers, with 3 million having watched at least part of the episode, making it the most-watched entertainment specialty broadcast ever in Canada. The episode also received the most first week viewership for any series premiere on Crave.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 87% approval rating with an average rating of 7.6/10 based on 253 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Anchored by the incomparable Patrick Stewart, "Picard" departs from standard Starfleet protocol with a slower, serialized story, but like all great "Star Trek" it tackles timely themes with grace and makes for an exciting push further into the final frontier." The average rating for the season's episodes is 85%. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 76 out of 100 based on reviews from 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: Reviewing the first three episodes, Liz Shannon Miller of "Paste" was happy that the series was not a prequel and instead expanded the franchise. She praised the cast, especially Stewart, but felt some of the big twists would not work as well for new viewers as they did for existing "Star Trek" fans. Writing for "Forbes", Merrill Barr agreed that the series was more accessible to existing fans but felt it was less inaccessible to new fans than "Discovery". He said there were elements of the opening episodes that could have been faster, but was optimistic about the rest of the season. Daniel D'Addario of "Variety" said Stewart was the series' greatest asset, praising his performance while also criticizing the slow pace. Joshua Rivera at "The Verge" felt the first three episodes worked well for both new viewers and old "Star Trek" fans, but criticized the amount of explanation in the episodes which he felt made them meander. He was also concerned that the series was providing too-easy answers to its philosophical questions, but hoped that this could be fixed in later episodes. Ben Travers at IndieWire gave a "B" grade to the first three episodes, praising Stewart but expressing concern at the series' reliance on nostalgia for previous "Star Trek" stories. He compared the series to the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy, feeling that seeing Luke Skywalker again was nostalgic, but deconstructing him in "" (2017) was more satisfying. Travers said "Picard" could do the same thing as long as it moved away from its more nostalgic depiction of the character. Brian Lowry gave a negative review of the episodes for CNN, focusing on the nostalgic elements and slow pace.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: Jennifer Ouellette reviewed the season for Ars Technica after its finale and noted that the slow pace of the opening episodes continued for the rest of the season and may have stemmed from Chabon's background writing novels. She acknowledged that this was one of several fan concerns with the season, which also included the series' darker tone and perceived similarities between its story and designs and those of the video game "Mass Effect 2" (2010). Ouellette personally appreciated the season's focus on characters, and was especially positive about the inclusion of Seven of Nine and her interactions with Raffi. She felt the season would have been stronger if it was a miniseries, believing that Picard's death at the end of the season was undermined by the need to have him return for a second season. She also felt that the evolution of his mission from saving Soji to saving an entire race of synthetic beings elevated the stakes of the series beyond its exploration of characters and themes. Writing about the season for "Rolling Stone", Alan Sepinwall praised Stewart and said he elevated the series which was otherwise "overstuffed" with a story that was too complex for its 10 episodes. Sepinwall specifically noted that the more episodic stories, such as "Stardust City Rag", were appreciated but meant that the overall storyline was not given the time it needed to be explored. He appreciated that the season gave a better ending to Data's story than "Nemesis", and felt the overall season was a good start to the series, but hoped that the second season would have a clearer storyline. Stephen Kelly for "The Guardian" criticized the series' dark tone, violence, and profanity, stating that optimism for the future was more important than Chabon and Kurtzman seemed to believe. He contrasted the series to "", which was able to tell a similarly dark story without losing the hopefulness of the rest of the franchise. In May 2020, Ruth Terry wrote an article for "StarTrek.com" with commentary by communications professor and author Dr. Thomas Parham III, in which they praised the season for acknowledging Picard's role as an ally to marginalized groups while forcing him to face his own privilege. Terry wrote that representation and inclusion were considered more important in 2020 than when the previous "Star Trek" series were made, and "Picard" was able to reflect that by showing the title character lose his able-bodiedness, his relevancy at Starfleet, and some of his relationships, while learning to show more empathy. She felt that reflecting the current time in this way was something that "Star Trek" had always done well and "Picard" continued that.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: Discussing responses to the season, Chabon felt there were some vocal fan criticisms because it did not meet their expectations of Picard and his world. Chabon said he had felt the same after growing up watching the original "Star Trek" series and then experiencing the changes made to the franchise for "The Next Generation", and he felt fans would come to appreciate "Picard" over time as he did with "The Next Generation". Chabon also said there was a section of the series' audience that he called the "toxic fandom, the anti-SJW" group, and he chose to ignore them. On the killing of legacy "Star Trek" characters Icheb and Hugh, Chabon felt the way they died justified the acts: Icheb's death was an important part of Seven of Nine's character arc, and Hugh's death was a meaningful conclusion to his own character arc. Chabon was surprised that some audience members were "upset about a character's death regardless of how that character died ... I just don't understand television in that way." On the series' approach to LGBTQ characters, Chabon acknowledged that some fans were disappointed that the series did not explicitly explore such characters like "Star Trek: Discovery" does, but he intentionally wanted to reveal personal details about the cast in a more naturalistic way. This is why the only time sexuality is addressed explicitly in the season is when it reveals Jurati's state of mind after she kills Maddox. Chabon did feel that the season had, in its more subtle way, shown both Seven of Nine and Raffi to have previously been in same-sex relationships.


title: Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

text: The season is one of 33 television series that received the ReFrame Stamp for the 2019 to 2020 season. The stamp is awarded by the gender equity coalition ReFrame as a "mark of distinction for film and TV projects that ... hire female-identifying people in four out of eight areas of production" to show progress in gender-balanced hiring. In a general statement, ReFrame highlighted Culpepper as the first woman to direct a "Star Trek" premiere.


title: Dave Mirra

text: David Michael Mirra (April 4, 1974 – February 4, 2016) was an American pro BMX Legend who also competed in rallycross racing. He set the record for most medals in BMX Freestyle at the X Games (later tied by Scotty Cranmer) and earned at least one BMX medal at the event in all but one year from the competition's inception in 1995 until 2009. He also competed for several years with the Subaru Rally Team USA as a rallycross driver. Mirra rode for and was fully sponsored by Haro Bikes from the mid-1990s until he started his own bike company. He was a member of the team which won the 2014 Race Across America four-person male (under 50) category. Mirra died by suicide on February 4, 2016. He was inducted into the BMX Hall of Fame on June 11, 2016.


title: Dave Mirra

text: Mirra was born on April 4, 1974, in Chittenango, New York. He graduated from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona).


title: Dave Mirra

text: In the 1990s, Mirra's brother, Tim, moved to Greenville, North Carolina, to attend East Carolina University. Dave moved to Greenville soon after. Fellow professional BMX rider Ryan Nyquist moved in with Tim. Mirra and Nyquist became quick friends and would build and ride ramps together. Greenville is now home to over twenty professional BMX riders. This gave Greenville the nickname "Protown" in the BMX community.


title: Dave Mirra

text: While still living in Chittenango, Mirra joined the Haro Bikes BMX team in 1987, at the age of 13. Video producers Plywood Hoods featured him in their videos in 1988. Mirra gained a sponsorship from Vision Street Wear in 1989. He was also sponsored by GT Bicycles through 1991, and then joined Hoffman Bikes in 1992 before re-signing with Haro in 1994.


title: Dave Mirra

text: Mirra turned professional in 1992. He won at least one medal at the X Games in every year from 1995 through 2009, with the exception of 2006, after being injured during a practice run. In 2005, Mirra won the Best Male Action Sports Athlete ESPY Award. He tied Tony Hawk and Joe Parsons as the fastest to reach 14 X Games medals, and his 24 total medals at the X Games stood as a record until 2013. He shares the record for most gold medals at the Summer X Games, with a total of 14 (tied with Bob Burnquist and Jamie Bestwick). He retired from BMX riding in 2011.


title: Dave Mirra

text: From 2008 through 2013, Mirra competed in rallying and rallycross as a member of Subaru Rally Team USA. He had a career-best fourth-place finish during the 2013 Global RallyCross Championship. Mirra became interested in Ironman competitions, competing in his first triathlon in March 2013. He qualified for the 2014 Ironman 70.3 World Championship.


title: Dave Mirra

text: Mirra's success took him to numerous outlets besides riding his bike, such as hosting two seasons of MTV's "Real World/Road Rules Challenge." He is featured in the "Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX" video game series and more recently appeared in the 2009 video game "". He published a photo-biography titled "Mirra Images", and was once one of "People" magazine's "50 Hottest Bachelors". In the mid-2000s, Mirra signed an endorsement deal with DC Shoes after leaving Adidas. With his friends in 2007, he started his own bike company called MirraCo.


title: Dave Mirra

text: Mirra and his wife, Lauren, had two daughters. Mirra contracted bacterial meningitis in 2010. He recovered before resuming rally racing.


title: Dave Mirra

text: On February 4, 2016, Mirra died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in Greenville, North Carolina, at the age of 41. Authorities responded to a reported suicide and discovered his body inside his black Ford F-150. He had reportedly been visiting friends in the area. Allen M. Thomas, the mayor of Greenville, called Mirra "a great friend and wonderful human being."


title: Dave Mirra

text: Mirra was posthumously diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). In addition to the "countless" concussions he suffered during his career, his skull was fractured when he was hit by a car at 19 years old, and he also competed in boxing as an amateur. He became the first action sports star to be diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease.


title: Dave Mirra

text: Mirra's wife chose to support several charitable causes in her late husband's memory, including CTE research, Road 2 Recovery Foundation, and More Than Sport.


title: Dave Mirra

text: City officials in Greenville, North Carolina, are working on plans to create an action sports park to honor Mirra's legacy. The first phase would include both skate and BMX facilities.


title: Sparta Battalion

text: The Sparta Battalion () is a Russian separatist military unit of the breakaway Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine. It has been fighting against the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Donbas War and the 2022 Russian invasion. Formed in 2014, it was initially led by the Russian-born Arsen Pavlov (callsign "Motorola") until his death in October 2016, and then by Vladimir Zhoga (, callsign "Vokha"), from Sloviansk, until his death in March 2022.


title: Sparta Battalion

text: The battalion took part in the Battle of Ilovaisk and Second Battle of Donetsk Airport and several others. According to "Foreign Policy", the Sparta Battalion has "a reputation for ruthlessness". It has committed war crimes in the Donbas. The battalion flies the black-yellow-white flag of the Russian Empire and, according to the European Eye on Radicalization, the unit "uses a combination of symbols of the Spartan military culture, well-known drivers of the far-right, and from the Tsarist era". German anti-extremist news website "Belltower" described the militia as Russian ultranationalist and irredentist.


title: Sparta Battalion

text: According to Ukrainian and Russian sources, the unit was formed in August 2014 in Donetsk, based on the previously existing anti-tank/MG troop led by Pavlov which earlier reportedly participated in Battle of Ilovaisk along with Igor Strelkov's "volunteer" forces.


title: Sparta Battalion

text: In 2015, it fought in the Second Battle of Donetsk Airport. During this battle, its fighters were filmed capturing Ukrainian soldiers (who were later paraded through Donetsk, where they were attacked by locals), and transporting the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers. Pavlov made Ukrainian POWs carry the bodies of other Ukrainians because, he said, "it's not our job to recover dead bodies, it's our job to make them."


title: Sparta Battalion

text: In September 2016, the group was deployed into Lugansk People's Republic, with the stated aim of preventing an anticipated coup d'état.


title: Sparta Battalion

text: In February 2015, Ukrainian SSU started an investigation into allegations of war crimes committed in January 2015 by the Battalion and its leader Arsen Pavlov, with charges including murder, bullying, torture and forcing people into slave labor.


title: Sparta Battalion

text: In April 2015 Russian deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia Amnesty International, Denis Krivosheev, blamed Pavlov for killing and torturing Ukrainian POWs captured at Donetsk airport. According to Krivosheev, Pavlov said in an interview to the "Kyiv Post" that he killed Ukrainian who was prisoner of war at the time of his detention and who suffered several facial wounds and wasn't able to walk. In an controversial tape which was published on YouTube in April 2015 which features voices of both of the "Kyiv Post"'s journalist and a voice allegedly belonging to Pavlov, with the latter claiming to have killed 15 prisoners when the journalist asked him about Branovitsky, saying “I’ve shot 15 prisoners. I don’t give a shit. No comment. I kill whoever I want.” Amnesty called for thorough investigation of the crime. A surviving Ukrainian POW interviewed by the BBC said he had seen Pavlov shooting Branovitsky. In June it was reported by a Ukraine official that Interpol refused to put Pavlov on their wanted list on the grounds of the "political nature of the Motorola case".


title: Sparta Battalion

text: In 2016, a "Vice News" journalist described being told by Sparta members about Ukrainian corpses still at Donetsk airport, which Sparta members had forced Ukrainian POWs to bury in 2014.


title: Sparta Battalion

text: Members' names were posted on Facebook on 5 April 2015 by Vyacheslav Abroskin, head of Donetsk Oblast's police. At least 40 names were listed. Its membership reportedly includes foreign fighters from Moldova.


title: Sparta Battalion

text: In March 2022, the Battalion's commander Vladimir Zhoga was killed at Volnovakha in the course of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He was posthumously awarded the title of "Hero of the Russian Federation" by Russian president Vladimir Putin.


title: Sparta Battalion

text: German anti-extremist news website "Belltower" described the militia as Russian ultranationalist and irredentist. The battalion flies the black-yellow-white flag of the Russian Empire and, according to the European Eye on Radicalization, the unit "uses a combination of symbols of the Spartan military culture, well-known drivers of the far-right, and from the Tsarist era".


title: Sparta Battalion

text: Its flag includes a letter M. According to a fighter interviewed by "The Independent", this is "because it is dedicated to Motorola, our commander... a DPR hero".


title: Sparta Battalion

text: The Ukrainian newspaper "Segodnya" noted how the stylized red "M" looks identical to the logo of the "Sparta Rangers", a fictional faction of elite soldiers from the "Metro 2033" videogame. Dmitry Glukhovsky, writer and creator of the "Metro" series, condemned the use of the name and symbol in a radio interview.


title: Empress Masako

text: was born on 9 December 1963 at Toranomon Hospital in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo. She is the eldest daughter of Yumiko Egashira (b. 1938) and Hisashi Owada (b. 1932), a senior diplomat and former president of the International Court of Justice. She has two younger sisters, twins named Setsuko and Reiko (b. 1966).


title: Empress Masako

text: Masako went to live in Moscow with her parents when she was two years old, where she attended Detskiy Sad (kindergarten in Russian) No. 1127 daycare. At the age of five, Masako's family moved to New York City, where she attended kindergarten at Public School 81 in Riverdale.


title: Empress Masako

text: In 1971, the Owadas returned to Japan, moving in with Masako's maternal grandparents in Meguro while Hisashi returned to the Foreign Ministry office. She entered Futaba Gakuen, a private Roman Catholic girls' school in Den-en-chōfu, Tokyo. Established by the Congregation of the Holy Infant Jesus in 1872, Masako's mother and maternal grandmother had graduated from this school as well. It was here that Masako learned to play piano and tennis, joined a handicrafts club, and became interested in animals, tending several after school and deciding to become a veterinarian. Masako also studied her fourth and fifth languages, French and German. With a school friend, Masako revived Futaba's softball team, serving as third base and after three years bringing her team to the district championships.


title: Empress Masako

text: In 1979, her second year of senior high school, Masako and her family moved to the United States and settled in the Boston suburb of Belmont, Massachusetts, where her father became a guest professor of international law at Harvard College's Centre for International Affairs. In 1981, she graduated from Belmont High School, where she was president of the National Honor Society and participated in the school's math team and French club. Masako joined the school's softball team and won a Goethe Society award for her German poetry. Masako participated in a production of "M*A*S*H".


title: Empress Masako

text: Masako enrolled at Harvard University/Radcliffe College in 1981. When her father received a posting in Moscow after her high school graduation, it was decided that Masako would stay in Boston to attend school under the guardianship of her father's Harvard friends Oliver and Barbara Oldman. At Harvard-Radcliffe Masako became chair of the school's Japan Society, "became quite close friends with the then Japanese consul in Boston, and volunteered as a kind of self-appointed diplomat and cultural ambassador" in the wake of mounting Japan–United States trade tension. Masako liked to ski and traveled overseas during vacations, staying with a host family in France and studying at the Goethe-Institut. Masako is fluent in English and French, which she learned in 1983 at the University Center for French Studies at Université Grenoble Alpes. Masako worked with Jeffrey Sachs to obtain a B.A. "magna cum laude" in economics in March 1985.


title: Empress Masako

text: After graduation Masako moved back to Japan, where for six months (April to October 1986) she studied law at the University of Tokyo to prepare for the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs's entrance examination. Out of 800 applicants only 28 passed; Masako was one of them, along with two other women.


title: Empress Masako

text: "She was assigned, first, to the oddly named Second International Organizations Division which deals with Japan's relations with international agencies, such as the OECD, a club of 30 rich countries committed to free trade and development. Her assignments included dealing with the OECD's environmental affairs committee ... by all accounts she acquitted herself well—her command of spoken languages, so rare in Japan, was a huge advantage—and was popular with most of her workmates." During her free time, Masako attended cooking classes to, according to interviews with her instructor, "be able to cook proper Japanese dishes when she was entertaining [foreigners]."


title: Empress Masako

text: Two years later, in 1988, Masako was chosen by the Ministry to be sponsored for two years' postgraduate study overseas with full pay, just as her father Hisashi had been years earlier. Masako "desperately wanted to go back to Harvard to do her master's". According to her former Harvard adviser Oliver Oldman, she "tried to re-enroll to work towards ... a Juris Doctor. However, Harvard's bureaucrats would not give her credit for her study-time at the University of Tokyo." Therefore, Masako enrolled in her second choice, studying International Relations under Sir Adam Roberts at Balliol College, Oxford. However, for unclear reasons Masako did not finish her thesis and instead returned to Japan in 1990.


title: Empress Masako

text: Masako first met Prince Naruhito at a tea for Infanta Elena of Spain, in November 1986, during her studies at the University of Tokyo. The prince was immediately captivated by her and arranged for them to meet several times over the next few weeks. Because of this they were pursued relentlessly by the press throughout 1987.


title: Empress Masako

text: However, Masako's name disappeared from the list of possible royal brides due to controversy about her maternal grandfather, Yutaka Egashira, who while working for the Industrial Bank of Japan was assigned to take over management of one of its creditors the Chisso Corporation to prevent it from financial collapse. Chisso, built in the 1930s, dumped the methylmercury used to make acetaldehyde (a chemical in plastic) into the water surrounding Minamata and other towns, causing the infamous Minamata disease and the resulting scandal.


title: Empress Masako

text: Despite this controversy and Masako's travelling to Oxford University's Balliol College for the next two years, Naruhito remained interested in her. Masako refused to marry the prince because it would force her to give up her promising career in diplomacy and severely restrict her independence and freedoms. Masako finally accepted his third proposal on 9 December 1992. It was reported that he argued that serving as Crown Princess of Japan would only be "another form of diplomacy" before she finally accepted this third proposal. The Imperial Household Council formally announced the engagement on 19 January 1993; the engagement ceremony was held on 12 April 1993. Although many were surprised at the news, as it was believed that the prince and Masako had separated, the engagement was met with a surge of renewed media attention directed toward the Imperial family and their new princess.


title: Empress Masako

text: Masako married Crown Prince Naruhito in a traditional wedding ceremony on 9 June 1993. By virtue of the marriage, Masako Owada assumed the formal style "Her Imperial Highness The Crown Princess of Japan". As tradition dictates, upon her entry into the imperial family and like other members, she received a personal emblem (): rosa rugosa (). In addition, she was placed in the Japanese Imperial Order of Precedence (used for the most formal occasions) behind her mother-in-law, Empress Michiko, and her grandmother-in-law, Empress Dowager Nagako. The orchid flower "Dendrobium Masako Kotaishi Hidenka" was named in her honour to celebrate the wedding. She became the third commoner to marry into the imperial family, after her mother-in-law and her sister-in-law, Princess Kiko.


title: Empress Masako

text: Their daughter's birth, which occurred more than eight years after their marriage, sparked lively debate in Japan about whether "The Imperial Household Law of 1947" should be changed from that of agnatic primogeniture to either cognatic or absolute primogeniture, which would allow a woman to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne.


title: Empress Masako

text: A government-appointed panel of experts submitted a report on 25 October 2005, recommending that the Imperial Succession Law be amended to permit absolute primogeniture. On 20 January 2006, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi used part of his annual keynote speech to address the controversy when he pledged to submit a bill to the Diet letting women ascend to the throne in order that the imperial throne be continued in a stable manner. Koizumi did not announce a timing for the legislation to be introduced nor did he provide details about the content, but he did note that it would be in line with the conclusions of the 2005 Government Panel.


title: Empress Masako

text: Plans to change the male-only law of Imperial succession were shelved after it was announced in February 2006 that Masako's brother-in-law and his wife, Prince and Princess Akishino, were expecting their third child. On 6 September 2006, Princess Akishino gave birth to a son, Hisahito, who was third-in-line to the Chrysanthemum Throne under the current law, after his uncle, the Emperor, and his father, Prince Akishino.


title: Empress Masako

text: In 1994, the couple visited Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain. They visited Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan in 1995, and again traveled to Jordan in 1999. In 1999, they also went to Belgium to attend the wedding of Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant. In 2002, they paid a visit to New Zealand and Australia. In 2006, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess went to the Netherlands with their daughter, Princess Aiko, at the invitation of Queen Beatrix for a private visit.


title: Empress Masako

text: On 30 April 2013, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess were present at the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, which was the Crown Princess's first official overseas appearance in eleven years. In October 2014, she was present at a banquet held in honour of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, which was her first appearance in such a ceremony in eleven years. She welcomed the couple during an official ceremony at the palace which was her first appearance in a welcoming ceremony after five years. In July 2015, Princess Masako traveled to Tonga with the Crown Prince in order to attend the Coronation of King Tupou VI. Over 40 members of the Japanese media covered the event, during which the happy-looking Crown Princess was warmly welcomed.


title: Empress Masako

text: Upon the abdication of Emperor Akihito on 30 April 2019, Crown Prince Naruhito became the 126th Emperor of Japan, and Masako became empress consort. The new Emperor and Empress were enthroned ("Sokui Rei Seiden no Gi") at the Tokyo Imperial Palace on 22 October 2019.


title: Empress Masako

text: Masako has periodically been out of the public eye, largely between 2004 and 2014, reportedly due to emotional disorders speculated to be caused by the pressure to produce a male heir and adjusting to life in the Imperial Family. In July 2004, she was diagnosed as suffering from adjustment disorder and was reported to be seeking treatment.


title: Empress Masako

text: On 11 July 2008, Naruhito sought public understanding for his ailing wife. He was on an eight-day trip to Spain without her: "I would like the public to understand that Masako is continuing to make her utmost efforts with the help of those around her. Please continue to watch over her kindly and over the long term." Pressures to produce a male heir, to conform with the ancient traditions and a 1947 Imperial Household Law are perceived to be behind her illness, as well as negative media coverage of her behavior, the stress of royal responsibility and public life, and turf battles among the Imperial Household Agency.


title: Empress Masako

text: In December 2012, at the time of her 49th birthday, Masako issued a statement thanking the Japanese people for their support and saying that she was still receiving treatment for her illness. The Japanese Constitution does not allow the members of the Imperial Family to engage in political activities. Naruhito made controversial comments about discourtesies and pressures placed on his wife by the Imperial Household Agency and his wife's desire to pursue the life of a diplomat.


title: Empress Masako

text: In 2019, Masako accompanied her husband at official events and at his accession ceremonies. During the state visit of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump to Japan in April she and Naruhito conversed with them without interpreters; the imperial couple are both fluent in English. Her doctors however have stated that she has not fully recovered but a strong sense of duty has helped her fulfill her responsibilities. Reports from an unnamed palace source close to the family reported that her daughter Princess Aiko provides Masako with emotional support in her new role as empress.


title: Empress Masako

text: Her father Hisashi is descended from the Owada clan, whose head Shinroku—Masako's 4th-great grandfather—was called to Murakami in 1787 to serve the Naito clan that the Tokugawa shōgun had installed as the city's rulers 67 years earlier. After the fall of the shogunate, the Owadas participated in a salmon-fishing cooperative, the proceeds of which provided schooling for many local children, including Hisashi and his father Takeo.


title: Empress Masako

text: Her mother Yumiko is descended from the Egashira clan which served the Saga clans near Nagasaki on the island of Kyushu. One of the Egashiras, Yasutaro, went on to command a battleship in the Russo-Japanese War. Yumiko's father was a wealthy banker who was at the time of her marriage the managing director of the Industrial Bank of Japan.


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: Zheng Shuang (born Zheng Yihan; 22 August 1991) is a Chinese actress. She rose to fame with her role as Chu Yuxun in "Meteor Shower" (2009–2010), becoming the youngest actress to be nominated for Best Actress at the China TV Golden Eagle Award. In 2016, she starred in the hit romance comedy drama "Love O2O".


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: Zheng was also chosen by "Southern Metropolis Daily" as one of the "Four Dan Actresses of the post-90s Generation" (Chinese: 90后四小花旦), along with Zhou Dongyu, Guan Xiaotong and Yang Zi.


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: On 20 January 2021, Zheng was found guilty of tax evasion (a total of ). Coupled with her surrogacy scandal, she was labelled as "actors with poor conduct" by the Chinese state regulators, therefore being blacklisted and banned from all public appearances with all existing public activities relating to her entertainment career being forced to cancel.


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: In 2009, Zheng Shuang made her debut in "Meteor Shower", Hunan TV's remake of the hit Taiwanese drama "Meteor Garden". The drama was a major hit in China, and shot Zheng to instant fame. She also released a single, "Love Waltz" for the OST. Zheng was nominated for the Best Actress award at the 25th China TV Golden Eagle Award, becoming the youngest actress to be nominated.


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: In 2011, Zheng starred in Gordon Chan's fantasy film, "Mural", which won her the Best New Actress award at the Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild Award. The same year she starred in action comedy film "No Limit", and historical romance drama "War of Desire".


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: In 2012, Zheng portrayed double roles in the historical drama "Secret History of Princess Taiping", playing Princess Taiping and Princess Andingsi. In 2013, she starred in fashion romance drama "The Queen of SOP 2", the sequel to the 2011 hit drama.


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: In 2014, Zheng starred in the hit fantasy action drama "Swords of Legends", where she played a fox spirit. The popularity of the drama led to renewed recognition for Zheng, and she won the Audience's Favorite Actress award at the 13th Huading Awards.


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: In 2015, Zheng starred in her first period drama, "The Cage of Love" penned by Tong Hua. She won the Best Actress award in the Revolutionary-Era drama category for her performance at the 19th Huading Awards. The same year, she starred alongside Jing Boran in "Love Weaves Through a Millennium", a remake of the South Korean time-travel romance drama "Queen In-hyun's Man"; and joined the travel-reality show "Divas Hit the Road". With her high press coverage and successful works, Zheng won the Popular Actress award at the 1st China Television Drama Quality Ceremony.


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: In 2016, Zheng starred in the historical melodrama "Chronicle of Life", based on the novel "Lonely Courtyard in Late Spring" by Fei Wo Si Cun. She then portrayed Ding Yuehua in the historical mystery drama "The Three Heroes and Five Gallants", based on the 19th-century classic novel of the same name.


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: The same year, Zheng co-starred with Yang Yang in romance comedy drama "Love O2O", based on the novel of the same name by Gu Man. The drama was a major hit both domestically and internationally, leading to increased popularity for Zheng.


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: In 2017, Zheng starred alongside Chen Xuedong in "Rush to the Dead Summer", a youth melodrama adapted from Guo Jingming's novel of the same name. The drama was praised for its realistic portrayal of youth and campus life, as well as its beautiful cinematography. She also co-starred in fantasy-adventure film "Wu Kong", her first film in six years.


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: In 2018, Zheng starred alongside Luo Jin in the romance drama "My Story for You". The same year, she participated in the creation of the script for science fiction romance drama "Hi, I'm Saori", which she stars in. "Forbes China" listed Zheng under their 30 Under 30 Asia 2017 list which consisted of 30 influential people under 30 years old who have had a substantial effect in their fields.


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: In 2019, Zheng starred in the female-centric youth drama "Youth Fight" directed by Zhao Baogang. The same year she starred in romance melodrama "River Flows To You" alongside Ma Tianyu, based on Guo Jingming's novel "Cry Me A Sad River". Zheng was set to star in spy drama "Secret Keepers " where she played double roles as an undercover agent and a Japanese spy. "Secret Keepers" was due to be released on 5 September 2020, but it was abruptly halted and postponed indefinitely on 2 September 2020. The postponement was due to a general blacklist by the state regulators on a co-actor, Zhao Lixin which meant that the production team had to edit Zhao out from the drama.


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: In January 2021, it was revealed that Zheng had two children born of surrogacy in the United States and had allegedly first demanded late term abortion at 7 months into the pregnancies and expressed annoyance when informed that it was illegal, then abandoned them after her relationship with their father turned sour. Surrogacy is not allowed in China, but due to legal loopholes, some Chinese citizens would seek to have children via surrogate mothers overseas. News of people resorting to surrogacy would usually face significant backlash in China.


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: Upon the release of the news, many brands started to drop her. Prada subsequently dropped her as their spokesperson due to the "significant recent media coverage" of her "personal life". Some, including London jewellery brand Lola Rose, Chinese cosmetics brand Chioture and hair care brand Aussie, had distanced themselves from her while others had deleted social media posts that had promoted her. Many of her fanclubs had also deleted content of her with fans deserting her.


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: The scandal drew attention of the state regulators, releasing statements through various state media platforms criticising Zheng's use of surrogacy and labelled her as a 'problematic artiste'. Through the state regulators, Zheng has since been blacklisted on 20 January 2021, with all existing entertainment activities relating to her being forced to be cancelled. Various producers when asked anonymously, said that no programmes would want to engage Zheng in the future. Awards won at the 13th and 19th Huading Awards were also rescinded by the awarding committee.


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: On February 20, Meituan Waimai, a Chinese shopping platform, classified "Zheng Shuang" as a sensitive word. If users fill in "Zheng Shuang" as the recipient or picker, they were not able to order food.


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: In April 2021, Zhang Heng revealed his chat history with Zheng Shuang and her mother, showing Zheng received ( million) salary for an unreleased TV series, "A Chinese Ghost Story". It was alleged that Zheng presented a lower taxable amount of to tax authorities, while the rest was charged as fees by a company owned by her mother. China had introduced laws in 2018 to regulate the highest possible salary for an actor by pegging their salary between 40%-70% of a film's production costs. This sparked an investigation into Zheng for possible tax evasion. In order to salvage the TV series, the production team decided to swap Zheng's face throughout the series with Peng Xiaoran's.


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: On 27 August 2021, it was reported that Zheng drew for "A Chinese Ghost Story", and had underdeclared her income from it through a 'yin-yang contract' setup. She was found not declaring between 2020 and 2021, evaded taxes of , and underpaid her taxes by . Zheng was charged with tax evasion by China's State Taxation Administration and ordered to pay ( million) as penalty for alleged tax evasion. Of the amount to be paid, Zheng had paid the evaded taxes and late fees, with the fine outstanding. Zhang was the agent suspected of facilitating the arrangement, and is currently being investigated for his role in the matter. The National Radio and Television Administration also ordered that all programs that Zheng had participated in, including "A Chinese Ghost Story", to be taken off air.


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: In May 2018, Zheng Shuang met producer Zhang Heng when filming a reality show. The pair admitted to be dating in August 2018 and started a company together. The pair exchanged wedding vows in United States on 19 January 2019. However, they announced their breakup in December 2019. On 18 January 2021, Zhang revealed that he had been stranded in the US for over a year to take care of two children. The two children were born to US-based surrogate mothers on 19 December 2019 and 4 January 2020. Both Zhang and Zheng have since confirmed that they were the parents of the children. Zhang alleged that Zheng had abandoned the two children after breaking up and not wanting to sign legal papers which would allow the children to travel to China. Zheng had denied the allegations, and instead alleged Zhang was cheating on her in September 2019 and returned to China.


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: The fertility clinic which Zheng engaged is reportedly owed US$68,000 for the successful surrogacy. The clinic also reportedly confirmed Zheng's request to terminate the pregnancies at the seventh month, which was denied. The clinic further alleged that she wanted to pay them monthly to raise the children in the United States, instead of wanting to bring the children back to China.


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: She and her family also claimed that she did not abandon the children and had in fact been making arrangements since 2019 to fight for custody. On 23 January 2021, Zheng's father revealed in a video recording that the conversation which circulated online was made when Zheng and Zhang just broke up; the family just wanted to find all means to cut Zhang off from Zheng's life, instead of not wanting the children. Zheng's father also mentioned that the couple decided on having children via surrogacy due to poor health conditions resulting from Zheng's work, and he apologized for 'not advising Zheng's decision-making process correctly.'


title: Zheng Shuang (actress, born 1991)

text: In May 2021, the American court awarded full custody of the two children to Zhang on the basis that the children recognized Zhang as the only parent. At the same time, the court ordered Zheng to undergo treatment to stabilize her mental well-being for 6 months, and mandated Zheng to interact with the children 3 times a week to allow them establish a familial connection.


title: Gerrit Cole

text: Gerrit Alan Cole (born September 8, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros. Cole played for the baseball team at Orange Lutheran High School, and was selected by the New York Yankees in the first round of the 2008 MLB Draft. Cole opted not to sign, and instead attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he played college baseball for the UCLA Bruins.


title: Gerrit Cole

text: After his college baseball career, the Pirates made Cole the first overall selection in the 2011 MLB draft. Cole made his MLB debut in 2013, and was named the National League (NL) Rookie of the Month in September 2013. He was named the NL Pitcher of the Month for April 2015, and an MLB All-Star in 2015. The Pirates traded Cole to the Astros in the 2017–18 offseason. On September 18, 2019, Cole became the 18th pitcher in major league history to strike out at least 300 batters in a season. On December 16, 2019, The Yankees signed Cole to a franchise record nine-year, $324 million contract, the largest contract total in Major League history for a pitcher.