Roberto Orci Roberto Gaston Orci is a producer and screenwriter from Mexico City who , along with writing and production partner Alex Kurtzman , wrote the script for , the eleventh film in the " Trek " franchise . They also served as executive producers on the film . Orci and Kurtzman also produced and ( along with Damon Lindelof ) wrote the screenplay for the sequel , . After J . J . Abrams chose to direct the seventh " Star Wars " film instead of a third " Star Trek " , Orci was rumored ( but never officially confirmed ) as his replacement on , and was officially out of the running for the director position by December 2014 . He also contributed to the " " video game and serves as creative consultant on the " " comic series . Early life . Orci was born to a Cuban mother and Mexican father . He moved to the United States when he was ten years old . According to him , " " My uncle and my father and my aunt and my mother were one of the agencies that were hired to do the initial [ Immigration and Naturalization Service ] reform back in the ' 80s — they advertised on behalf of the government at that time . " " " Star Trek " . Orci considers himself a Trekkie , having grown up with a Trekkie uncle ( whom the character of Richard Robau is named after ) . Orci has collected a lot of " Trek " memorabilia over the years and owns many " Trek " novels , with his favorites being " Prime Directive " and " Spock ' s World " . Although he enjoys all of the " Star Trek " series , his favorite ( and the one through which he really started getting into " Trek " ) is , which he called " " the best television show from [ his ] lifetime " " . Orci cites and as among his favorite episodes , and Spock as his favorite character , elaborating that he identified with the character as an immigrant who essentially comes to work in the United States . " " He ' s a legal alien who came from another planet and teamed up with an American , the way that I ' ve teamed up with my friend Alex Kurtzman . " " He co - wrote " Star Trek " with Spock as being essential to the story , without considering a back - up means to reboot the series . He also named the Gorn , Tribble s and Romulan s as his three favorite aliens from . Orci ' s involvement with " Star Trek " began in 2005 when he received a phone call from a Paramount Pictures executive asking if he had any ideas for " Star Trek " . In Orci and Kurtzman were nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Writing for " Star Trek " . In May 2011 , Orci announced that he and Kurtzman had proposed a new " Star Trek " animated series to CBS . Career . Orci and Kurtzman began as writers on " Hercules : The Legendary Journeys " , which led to their becoming writers and co - executive producers on " Xena : Warrior Princess " . Before " Star Trek " , both Orci and Kurtzman worked with " Star Trek " producer and director J . J . Abrams on the television series " Alias " and the 2006 action film " Mission : Impossible III " . Orci and Kurtzman also wrote the screenplays for 2005 ' s " The Legend of Zorro " ( featuring Mary Crosby , with editing by Stuart Baird and music by James Horner ) and the films " The Island " ( 2005 , which featured Ethan Phillips , Glenn Morshower , and Randy Oglesby ) and " Transformers " ( 2007 , featuring Andy Milder , Glenn Morshower , W . Morgan Sheppard , Michael Shamus Wiles , and the voice of Robert Foxworth ) , and its sequel , " Transformers : Revenge of the Fallen " ( 2009 , featuring the voice of Tony Todd and Robert Foxworth ) , which led to a Razzie Award in the category Worst Screenplay in 2010 . They did the final re - write of the screenplay for the film adaptation of the DC Comics graphic novel " Watchmen " , which stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan , Stephen McHattie , and Matt Frewer . They also developed the science fiction / horror series " Fringe " ( 2008 - 2013 ) with J . J . Abrams , which they executive produced with Abrams and Bryan Burk . " Fringe " earned Orci two Writers Guild of America Award nominations in 2009 in the categories Long Form Original and New Series and a Hugo Award nomination in the category Best Dramatic Presentation - Short Form in 2013 . In 2007 , The " Hollywood Reporter " named Orci the 35th most powerful Latino in Hollywood in their Latino Power 50 , " a guide to those [ Latino ] writers , producers , directors , actors and executives who , through their ideas , perspectives and experiences , are changing show business as we know it . " In addition to writing , Orci and Kurtzman currently produce films through their production company , Kurtzman / Orci ( or K / O ) . Some of the films being produced by K / O include 2008 ' s , " Eagle Eye " , and the 2009 romantic comedy , " The Proposal " . In 2010 , Orci and Kurtzman began executive producing the Emmy Award - winning animated series " Transformers Prime " . The show features the voices of numerous " Star Trek " veterans , such as Jeffrey Combs , James Horan , Tania Gunadi , Frank Welker , Tony Todd , Clancy Brown , Nolan North , and Dwayne Johnson . It was canceled after three seasons in 2013 . Orci is a conspiracy theorist . Damon Lindelof said " " It ' s impossible to know Bob Orci and not get involved in those conversations . He believes very passionately in a lot of that stuff and has done a tremendous amount of research . I think you can start it as a casual interlude but it can become intense rather quickly . Personally speaking , I ' ve known Bob feels that way for a long time . I ' m not sure it influenced any of the storytelling in [ " Star Trek Into Darkness " ] . " " Orci teamed up with Kurtzman and Lindelof and wrote the screenplay for the 2011 science fiction thriller " Cowboys & Aliens " , with Clancy Brown and Keith Carradine , production design by Scott Chambliss , and set decoration by Karen Manthey . The three also produced the film . The following year he produced and wrote with Kurtzman the drama " People Like Us " which starred Chris Pine and was directed by Kurtzman . Further collaborations as writer and producer with Kurtzman include the television movie " Exit Strategy " ( 2014 , art direction by Lauren E . Polizzi ) , the comic sequel " The Amazing Spider - Man 2 " ( 2014 ) , the television series " Hawaii Five - 0 " ( 2010 - 2014 , starring Daniel Dae Kim ) , the action series " Matador " ( 2014 ) , the action series " Scorpion " ( 2014 ) , and the fantasy series " Sleepy Hollow " ( 2013 - 2014 , with John Cho , music by Brian Tyler and costume design by Sanja Milkovic Hays ) . Most recent projects include the television drama " Identity " ( 2014 ) and the announced television drama " Secret Cabinet " , the sequel " Now You See Me 2 " ( 2016 ) , and adaptations of " Van Helsing " and " The Mummy " .