Mark A . Altman Mark A . Altman is a writer / producer , author , and comic book writer having written a number of issues for Malibu Comics , including the entire " " and " " series as well as " " . He also contributed a story for DC Comics . Altman is also the co - author of several unlicensed reference book s about the " Star Trek " saga , all of them with Edward Gross and much of which stemming from his writings for " Cinefantastique " - magazine . Their latest collaboration , " " , is the first of a two - volume set , each devoted to 25 years of the franchise , and was released in . While working for " Cinefantastique " from 1989 through 1993 , he contributed numerous " Star Trek " articles for their themed issues . During his time with the magazine , Altman visited the and " " sets many times during filming . In 2003 , he acquired publishing rights for the magazine , after it folded upon the death of its founder and chief editor , and relaunched it with Mark Gottwald under the new title " CFQ " in 2003 . Returning to its original formula of being a critical review magazine , they sold the magazine after several years to publisher Joe Sena . In addition to his works as a journalist and authoring " Star Trek " comics , he is also a movie producer and was one of the writers and producers of the award - winning 1999 comedy " Free Enterprise " , which was directed and co - written by Robert Meyer Burnett . Altman had met Burnett at San Diego Comic - Con , and through their mutual interest as " Star Trek " fans inspired the story line in which two less than successful film producers , approaching mid - life crisis and clinging to their geeky sci - fi obsessions , suddenly meet their idol William Shatner . Shatner agreed to the role when the two rewrote his character in the comedy as an over - the - hill , womanizing alcoholic , allowing Shatner in turn to poke fun at himself . The film won numerous awards , including a Writers Guild of America Award for Altman as " Best New Writer " . While Altman is a life - long " Star Trek " fan , he became concerned that the franchise was beginning to overstretch itself and lose its uniqueness , commenting in 1999 , despite his great affection for the two series , " " When " Deep Space Nine " and " Next Generation " were on the air simultaneously , that was the beginning of what some would say was the overkill – beating it into submission , exploiting the crown jewel . " " With the launch of , Altman continued to express his concerns , telling " TV Guide " that it should be given " " a rest and re - launch in a few years when fervor has built again . " " With " Star Trek " having been off the air for over a decade , Altman thinks that 2017 is " " absolutely the right time to bring back " Star Trek " to the small screen " " and is enthusiastic about the new show . Since " Free Enterprise " , Altman has continued to branch out into the motion picture industry , predominantly working as a writer and producer from 1998 onward , working on documentaries , television movies , and television series such as " Castle " ( 2009 ) , " Necessary Roughness " ( 2011 ) , " Femme Fatales " ( 2012 ) , and " Agent X " ( 2015 ) . He is currently the Co - Executive Producer of " The Librarians " ( 2015 - ) . One of his very first motion picture projects was " Free Enterprise " , followed - up by the 1999 " Making - of " documentary , " Where No Fan Has Gone Before : The Making of " Free Enterprise " " . He later produced James Gunn ' s superhero spoof , " The Specials " as well as " DOA : Dead Or Alive " for Dimension Films . In addition to this , he was asked to contribute to the 2012 TNG Season 2 Blu - ray release when he featured in the " Making It So : Continuing Star Trek : TNG " special , and then again in 2013 ' s " " in the " Regeneration : Engaging the Borg " special .