Michael Matessino Michael " Mike " A . Matessino usually credited as Mike Matessino , was the restoration supervisor involved in the making of the DVD of . It was Matessino , together with partner David C . Fein , who originally approached director Robert Wise to create a revised version of the film on video , while they were working for Wise ' s production company , Robert Wise Productions , on the 1994 commemorative documentary " The Sound of Music : From Fact to Phenomenon " . ( " The New York Times " , 10 February , 2002 , p . 26 ) It took an additional three years of persistence before Wise agreed , and green - lighted the project . ( ) Matessino , after he initially viewed the movie in 1979 , felt it didn ' t represent the quality expected of an inaugural " Star Trek " film , as evidenced in a letter he wrote as a youth to " " magazine , " " . . . I expected the movie to be spectacular , even though I was hoping that it wouldn ' t be better than " Star Wars " . It stunk ! I saw the movie again the following week thinking I would like it better . I didn ' t like it better . It was even worse . I was never a real Trekkie . " " ( " Starlog " , issue 33 , April 1980 , p . 8 ) . His youthful feelings notwithstanding , his work on the Director ' s Edition won him and his colleagues a Video Premiere Award . Matessino was featured in the " Redirecting The Future " documentary included on the ST : TMP Director ' s Edition DVD , in which he and his co - workers discussed the facets of work they contributed to the project . In addition , both Matessino and his colleagues were featured in an after - the - fact , separately produced audio commentary , released in 2007 as a podcast on which , at the time , at the site . During his association with La - La Land Records , Matessino became reacquainted with the film when he served as producer on the 2012 soundtrack project , earning him an IFMCA Award . He had previously worked on the earlier released 2010 . Career outside " Star Trek " . Mike Matessino is a New York City area native and graduate of New York University ' s Tisch School of the Arts , where he majored in Film . A " film historian and preservationist , with particular emphasis on the restoration of film music " , according to his website , he had from early childhood developed a passion for motion pictures and their soundtracks . Matessino first met fellow film buff and future business partner David Fein while both were residing in the New York City area . When Matessino moved to California , he and Fein ( who relocated to the west coast a few years earlier ) reaffirmed their mutual passions for the cinema . They founded their own production company in 1991 , Sharpline Arts , located in Glendale , California . The company ' s purpose was to produce special features for inclusion on home media formats , which encompassed LaserDisc , then DVD at a later stage . Daren Dochterman served in the early years as executive director for the company . Sharpline Arts ' first project was the 1991 LaserDisc " Aliens – Special Wide - Screen Collector ' s Edition " . This release was very well received at the time in movie collector circles , as it was a portent for things to come . Not only were several in - depth making - of documentaries included , but the footage was also cleaned up , deleted scenes were inserted , and the soundtrack was remastered ; the last item being Matessino ' s forte . Projects that followed in the same vein include " Alien – Special Wide - Screen Collector ' s Edition " ( 1992 ) , " The Abyss : Special Edition " ( 1993 ) , " Independence Day : Special Edition " ( 1995 ) , " The Thing : Special Edition " ( 1998 ) and others . Released first on LaserDisc , all special features were later one - on - one transferred to their DVD and Bluray successors . The project for which Sharpline Arts received the most recognition was the 1999 " The " ALIEN " Legacy " DVD collection . The company has attained somewhat of a legendary status in movie collector circles , as it has set the standard for how special editions should be produced . In addition to producing the documentaries , Sharpline Arts also restored music scores for studios on a commission basis . These include those of the " Star Wars " franchise , " Poltergeist " , " Superman " , and " The Omen " . Matessino , as the resident soundtrack expert , was mainly responsible for these projects . As sub - contractors , the company ( more specifically its two founders ) worked in the 1990 ' s for Robert Wise Productions on the special editions of " The Sound of Music " ( 1994 ) , " The Sand Pebbles " and of course the Director ' s Edition of " Star Trek : The Motion Picture " . While not bankrupt , Sharpline Arts has been dormant since 2003 ; the retrospective documentary " DVD Discoveries " ( in which the two founders look back on their productions while operating their company ) , is its last recorded production . After his work on " ST : TMP " , Matessino expanded his career as sound editor and mixer . From 2001 - 2005 , he primarily concentrated his talents at Varèse Sarabande , putting his skills to good use on numerous music scores and soundtracks . In 2005 he began a collaboration with La - La Land Records as sound editor and mixer , as well as adding producer to his growing list of credits . He acquired an outstanding professional reputation as a soundtrack engineer , which eventually resulted in his participation on the two " Star Trek " expanded soundtrack projects . As of 2015 , Mike Matessino continues his passion for film score and soundtrack restoration , adding to his prolific discography on a regular basis . " Star Trek " awards . For his work on the " Star Trek " franchise , Mike Matessino received the following awards : DVD Exclusive Award . Matessino won the following DVD Exclusive Award ( at the time called Video Premiere Award ) as restoration supervisor in the category Best New , Enhanced or Reconstructed Movie Scenes IFMCA Award . Matessino won the following International Film Music Critics Association Award as producer and liner notes in the category Best Archival Release of an Existing Score