Akiva Goldsman Akiva Goldsman is an American screenwriter , producer , and director who made a cameo appearance as a Vulcan council member in ' s . In the sequel , , he appeared as a Starfleet admiral . He won an Academy Award for writing the screenplay of the 2001 film , " A Beautiful Mind " . Goldsman was once rumored to be writing a " Star Trek " film in 2000 , but this was revealed to be false . Goldsman is friends with " Star Trek " producer and director J . J . Abrams . In 2001 , Goldsman made a cameo in an episode of Abrams ' first series , " Felicity " . More recently , Goldsman wrote or co - wrote three episodes of Abrams ' newest series , " Fringe " , which was co - created by " Star Trek " writers and executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci . Goldsman ' s work for " Fringe " was his first foray into episodic television . He also made his directorial debut on the first episode he wrote , entitled " Bad Dreams " . He joined the creative team of after executive producer Bryan Fuller stepped down as showrunner . Writing and directing career . One of Goldsman ' s first screenwriting project was the 1994 film adaptation of John Grisham ' s novel , " The Client " . That film ' s director , , later called upon Goldsman to adapt another Grisham novel , this time " A Time to Kill " . guest star Ashley Judd was ultimately cast in the latter film . Goldsman also wrote the screenplays for the two " Batman " films directed by Schumacher , " Batman Forever " ( 1995 ) and " Batman & Robin " ( 1997 ) . Both of these films ended up featuring " Star Trek " alumni ; Rene Auberjonois and Ed Begley , Jr . appeared in " Batman Forever " , while John Glover was seen in " Batman & Robin " . More recently , Goldsman has collaborated primarily with director . He wrote the screenplay for Howard ' s " A Beautiful Mind " , which earned Goldsman not only an Academy Award , but a Golden Globe and a Writers Guild of America Award , as well . Christopher Plummer had a major supporting role in " A Beautiful Mind " . Goldsman next worked with Howard on the 2005 Depression - era drama " Cinderella Man " , which featured Bruce McGill . Their collaboration continued with the 2006 blockbuster adaptation of Dan Brown ' s " The Da Vinci Code " and its 2009 sequel , " Angels & Demons " . In addition , Goldsman has written two hit films starring : 2004 ' s " I , Robot " ( which also featured James Cromwell and Bruce Greenwood ) and 2007 ' s " I Am Legend " ( co - starring Salli Elise Richardson ) . Goldsman recently made " Winter ' s Tale " , his first feature film as director . Previously he helmed four episodes of " Fringe " and one episode of " King " . Along with Fuller , Goldsman wrote the teleplay for . Producing career . The first movie Goldsman produced was the 1998 science fiction adventure " Lost in Space " , which he also wrote . He then produced the 1999 action thriller " Deep Blue Sea " , which featured Ronny Cox . Since then , Goldsman has produced such films as " Starsky & Hutch " ( co - starring Fred Williamson , Rachael Harris , and featuring a cameo by David Soul ) , " Mindhunters " ( starring Clifton Collins , Jr . and Christian Slater ) , " Constantine " ( featuring Larry Cedar ) , and " Mr . & Mrs . Smith " ( featuring Jennifer Morrison ) . More recently , he produced the Will Smith blockbusters " I Am Legend " ( the screenplay for which he wrote ) and " Hancock " . Goldsman has worked on several other films including " Jonah Hex " , based on the DC Comics character of the same name . He also producing " The Losers " , which is also based on a DC Comics book . This latter film starred Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Zoë Saldana .