André Bormanis

Writer (*Into the Fold*, *Nothing Left on Earth Excepting Fishes*, *Identity, Pt. 1*, *Shadow Realms*, *Gently Falling Rain*, *Midnight Blue*, *Domino*)

## External Links

**André Bormanis** is an American supervising producer (co-executive producer in Season 3), science consultant and screenwriter on *The Orville*. Together with executive producer Brannon Braga, the pair wrote the scripts for the episodes *Into the Fold*, *Nothing Left on Earth Excepting Fishes*, *Identity, Pt. 1*, *Shadow Realms*, *Gently Falling Rain*, *Midnight Blue* and *Domino*. Bormanis wrote the forward to the book *Exploring The Orville*.

Bormanis is most famous for his involvement in the long-running *Star Trek* franchise.

## Background

André Bormanis grew up as a fan of science fiction literature and television, especially interested in *Star Trek: The Original Series*.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the University of Arizona in 1981 and a master's degree in science, technology and public policy from George Washington University under a NASA Space Grant Fellowship. Meanwhile, the Star Trek franchise was reborn under several films and *The Next Generation*, which piqued Bormanis's dormant love of science fiction.

Bormanis wrote a spec script for The Next Generation, which was rejected, and found an agent who learned that the show (then in its sixth season) wanted a new science consultant. He got the job in 1993 and worked as the science consultant for *The Next Generation*, *Voyager*, and *Deep Space Nine* and on the films *Star Trek Generations* and *Star Trek: First Contact*. He worked shoulder-to-shoulder with Brannon Braga, who would later be one of the first executive producers on *The Orville*. In 2004, he transitioned to co-producer for *Star Trek: Enterprise*. He wrote a number of episodes for Voyager and Enterprise as well.

Bormanis first worked with Seth MacFarlane on the television mini-series documentary *Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey*, serving as the primary science consultant.

Today, Bormanis serves as a consultant to the San Juan Institute, a non-profit planetary science research laboratory in San Juan Capistrano, California, and the Planetary Society, a non-profit space education organization in Pasadena, California. He is also a pianist and an avid photographer.

## The Orville

André Bormanis was hired in 2016 to work primarily as a science consultant for the show. He explained his agenda in a September 2017 interview:

> *We're doing a show about a starship 400 years in the future and we want to have it grounded in reality. We want to be consistent with what is currently understood about physics, astronomy, and how it might be possible, one day, to build a ship like the Orville and explore the galaxy.*
>
>

Early into production of the show, Bormanis took basic designs of the USS *Orville* and tweaked them for scientific plausibility. His over-arching concern is to keep The Orville a credible program and to ensure no basic principles of physics are broken.

Bormanis added living quarters and a Mess Hall, but perhaps his most interesting contribution to the ship was to turn it into a self-sustaining ecosystem. In order to account for the vast quantities of water, breathable air, and supplies needed to sustain a crew, Bormanis decided that the walls of the ship would be synthetic fiber, the intent being that in the future, the fibers are an artificial means to recycle air, much like plants.

He created a number of key technologies and concepts for the show, including the quantum drive, the quantum accelerator, and Dysonium.

Visual effects supervisor Luke McDonald worked closely with Bormanis to create realistic, beautiful images of space.

## Trivia

* His favorite episode is *Majority Rule*.

## External links

* Interview with The Orville Podcast
* Interview with the Planetary Union Network
* Interview with Walk About the Galaxy

## See also

* *Exploring The Orville*
* *The World of the Orville*, pages 40-41, 53, 62-63, 65, 113, 157

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "The Orville Fan Podcast “THINK”sgiving Episode w/ André Bormanis". Planetary Union Network. Nov. 21, 2017.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "The Science Of THE ORVILLE: The Reality Of Space Travel | Season 1 | THE ORVILLE". *The Orville* Official YouTube. Sept. 25, 2017.
3. ↑ Bond, Jeff. *The World of the Orville*. Titan Books. 2018. Pg. 11.
4. ↑ Mahon, Chris. "Aliens and AI: André Bormanis Explores the Science Behind 'The Orville'". Outer Place. Sept. 20, 2017.
5. ↑ Martin, Kevin H. "VFX for a Better, Brighter Future in Fox’s The Orville". Studio Daily. Feb. 9, 2018.
6. ↑ Oullette, Jennifer. "The Orville blends science fiction and science fact into a winning mix". *Ars Technica*. Dec. 29, 2018.