'Trek' script beams frosh to Hollywood

Most freshman English compositions are returned with red slashes warning about those annoying rules that govern grammar. College freshman Colin Larkin probably doesn't have that problem. He's got an agent. Indeed, while most University students hope for a generous A- on their latest Henry James papers, Larkin has galavanted to Hollywood to sell scripts to Star Trek: The Next Generation. He hasn't sold any yet, but he's on the right trek. "In the beginning of high school, I loved to write situations of people doing things," Larkin said. "While this is sort of a really fun thing to do and all, it [television] is the most difficult medium to break into." Larkin's odyssey to sell his Star Trek episodes spanned two years and hundreds of miles. While still a high school student, he simply mailed five episodes to Paramount Studios. As could be expected, they weren't picked up. But after securing an agent, Larkin persisted in his quest to break into the lucrative television market – where one Star Trek script garners $22,000 and a lifetime of syndication royalties. He got a return call. "They liked it enough for me to come out and pitch story ideas to them," Larkin said. Very few writers get follow-up calls, he said. "The best thing is that they'll ask you back," Larkin said. "It took them a year." So there he stood, trying to convince Hollywood producers with children his own age that, yes, his episodes were worth the money. "Even if they really can't find a problem with the script, they're paid to make one up," Larkin said. In the end, his scripts were rejected, leaving Larkin disillusioned about the allure and promise of Hollywood. "Everything in The Player is true, and its not an exaggeration what you saw," he said. "They're ruthless." "I have to be a little cynical," he continued. "I think that I once believed that if I do it properly I'll be fine, and I'm going to keep doing it. But I know the realities of it." Though Larkin labels himself a "writer" and not a "Trekkie," he admits he has attended a few Star Trek conventions – those oft-satirized breeding grounds of Leonard Nimoy lunchboxes and William Shatner commemorative platters. "They're very, very bizarre," Larkin said. "Some of the people are cool. But, for a lot of them, this is the only place in society where they can belong anywhere." Writing an hour-long episode requires an extensive command of the characters, and in his Next Generation script, it seemed that he had more than working knowledge of its characters and plot lines. "I work my ass off, and I'm proud of what I've done," Larkin said. "It's not the result of inspired writing talent. It's hard work." Still, for those who struggle with the intricacies of the English language, pitching story ideas to the brains of Hollywood doesn't sound so bad.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.