For almost ten years now, Star Trek has been in control of one production company: Alex Kurtzman's Secret Hideout. The last ten years have been a profoundly divisive period in Star Trek's history, where streaming growth and profit-chasing have eclipsed the prestige science fiction storytelling the franchise was always known for. 

The Alex Kurtzman Era of Star Trek spawned multiple new entries, the reception to which spanned from dismal to middling. Under Secret Hideout's stewardship, the worst-rated entry to the Star Trek franchise (Star Trek: Section 31) was released. Other shows, such as Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, display a profound lack of imagination (Star Trek should move on from Kirk and Spock and the USS Enterprise), and are carefree with the Star Trek canon many Trekkies hold dear.

Above all else, Secret Hideout's stewardship over the franchise is detrimental to creativity. Alex Kurtzman's production company holds exclusive rights to the production of televised Star Trek content. Hence, the company is also gatekeeping imagination.  Talented writers and producers are unable to pitch their Star Trek stories to Paramount without going through Secret Hideout.

Star Trek must grow its audience, Star Trek must attract new fans. But Secret Hideout's strategy has proven to be flawed and ultimately futile. New Paramount must prioritize individual talent, letting the best science fiction writers in the industry pitch their Star Trek ideas directly to Paramount.

Star Trek must be the champion of episodic science fiction storytelling once more. It must stop chasing trends and prioritize quality over quantity.

In words of late Roger Ebert, "it is time for “Star Trek” to make a mighty leap forward another 1,000 years into the future, to a time when starships do not look like rides in a 1970s amusement arcade, when aliens do not look like humans with funny foreheads, and when wonder, astonishment and literacy are permitted back into the series. Star Trek was kind of terrific once, but now it is a copy of a copy of a copy."

Let's bring Star Trek back home!