Steve Oster
Supervising Producer on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
March 25, 1999

Marc Wade:
Welcome to STAR TREK: CONTINUUM. We're glad you've joined us today for our chat with Steve Oster, Supervising Producer on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." Steve will be answering your questions about the production of a television series.

Welcome, Steve! Thanks for joining us.

Steve Oster:
Thank you for having me.

Sam Atkinson asks:
Before the DS9 episodes ends (i.e. not films), will you be killing any more of the cast or crew off?

Steve Oster:
There are several members of the production crew I'd love to kill off... however, cast members you'll have to wait and watch and see.

MaryAnn asks:
I am huge fan of DS9; what is your fave thing about the show?

Steve Oster:
The people. It's a great group to work with. Many of us have been together for 7 years... through good times and bad times... sometimes 14 hours a day, making a television show.

The Caretaker asks:
Hi! I just started watching DS9 this season, and I love it. Anyway, I've heard rumors that DS9 might be carried into a 8th or 9th season. Is this possible?

Steve Oster:
Not at this time. The plan is not to continue on with the series beyond season 7.

Carlos Torres asks:
How some1 can have an audition to any of the ongoing series of Star Trek??? with who I need to talk???

Steve Oster:
First you need to be a member of SAG... then an agent would need to submit your resume to our casting department....

Jeff asks:
Although there isn't much time left in the season, can we expect a romance to begin blooming between Dax and Bashir?

Steve Oster:
I won't give away where the romances are going to bloom... but there are certainly many seeds being sown for a lot of romance leading to the end of the season.

Emma asks:
Hi Steve, I've heard rumours that Odo is going to meet his maker by the end of the season (I hope not), do you have any light to shed on the subject?, thanks:-)

Steve Oster:
Odo has always been drawn to explore where he came from. And certainly that has been a continuing motivation for his character and I would expect that he would continue on that exploration through the end of the season. To clarify I am not part of the writing staff but take whatever the writing staff has written and oversee getting it from the page to what you see on television.

CATH T asks:
WILL ALEXANDER SIDDIG BE DIRECTING AN EPISODE IN THIS FINAL SEASON?

Steve Oster:
Probably not, as it's difficult to find time for our actors to prepare and direct an episode as well as continue to appear in the series.

mark asks:
When will the last episode of DS9 be broadcast?

Steve Oster:
The week of May 31st. It will be a 2 hour wrap-up to the series and we will be starting production on it on Monday, and I can assure you there will be a lot of great surprises and twists.

some guy by the lake asks:
What exactly does a supervising producer do?

Steve Oster:
The secret is, I'm not sure, but thus far I've gotten away with it for several years. Actually, I oversee getting the material from the page to the screen. So once the writers finish with the script, I watch over it through production and through the final mix.

NFLD Canada asks:
Are there plans to begin a new series to replace DS9? If so how about a little insight. Thanks

Steve Oster:
At this time there are not firm plans for another series though certainly there's a lot of talk about it.

Jason Meyers asks:
Are the last ten episodes one giant story arc or are you still doing stand alone episodes? We want in depth continuations.

Steve Oster:
The last 6 episodes particularly track the same storylines, however because the shows sometimes air out of order, when they rerun it's important that each episode also stands on its own.

Jason Meyers asks:
How long have you been producing for Star Trek?

Steve Oster:
Seven years. I started in post production and moved to my current position four years ago.

Jason Meyers asks:
Do you feel a lot of pressure being the first Star Trek series that is planning to wrap up a giant story arc? TNG was mostly stand alone episodes. You are telling a long interesting story. How does it make you feel?

Steve Oster:
Yes certainly there's a lot of desire on our part to make sure the end of the 7 year series is one that serves the Star Trek franchise well. We think we've been telling a very interesting story and look forward to making the last two hours the most intriguing of all.

Kristin asks:
What is your favorite thing to do in your spare time...and... are you friends with any of the cast of ST:Voyager?

Steve Oster:
Unfortunately, because of our dueling production schedules I don't get a lot of opportunities to interact with the Voyager cast. My favorite thing to do in my spare time is to take my dogs for a nice long hike in the Columbia River Gorge near my home in Portland, Oregon.

Yrruc asks:
Sir, I have one question that has bothered me ever since the beginning of ST:TNG...with all the food replicators onboard the starships, what do they do with the used glasses and utensils? If you could answer this for me, I would appreciate it.

Steve Oster:
We sell them at Star Trek conventions and make a handy profit.

Scott Evans asks:
How long does it take to produce a battle scene with the Defiant like in Way of the Warrior? Thanks.

Steve Oster:
Depending on the length of the scene, it can take 3-4 days to film the interior of the bridge, and another 4 to 6 weeks for our special effects crew to create the space battle.

Michael303 asks:
What are the current plans to do with the sets? We'll they tear them? Any plans for movie or miniseries?

Steve Oster:
Some of them will go on display in museums and the traveling Star Trek exhibits. Others are being inherited by Voyager. Some will be stored for potential use on upcoming features.

Hawkeye asks:
Will the remaining episodes be more oriented towards the entire cast's involvement, rather than a single character going off alone? I hope not because I want to see more Ezri episodes! :)

Steve Oster:
Yes, the upcoming episodes will involve all of our characters to varying extents. Ezri is certainly included in that group. We have a lot of reoccuring guest characters in addition to our 9 principle characters. So there are a lot of storylines to catch everyone up on before the season ends.

Captain Seth Picard asks:
Do you ever wish that you could be around when humans actually find other life?

Steve Oster:
Yes, absolutely. One of the things which I appreciate about the Star Trek universe is the fact that most other lifeforms are approached in a peaceful manner rather than preassuming they are a threat. And I would hope that we will be able to take that same approach.

Martin asks:
Do you feel that at the close of season seven, that D.S.9. has finally run it's course as a story-telling medium.

Steve Oster:
No I don't think it's possible to ever run out of new situations to put our characters in, be that in their relationships with one another or in the new situations that they find themselves in.

Vulcan5 asks:
Why is Star Trek: DS9 ending?

Steve Oster:
After 7 years many of those of us who are attached to the show, feel that we want to move on to some other projects. Seven years is a long time to do one show, by the time it's done we will have done 176 episodes.

Syl and Ben Frier asks:
Were you a Trek fan before becoming involved in making Trek?

Steve Oster:
The secret is, I'd only seen a couple episodes before I became involved with the show. In fact, at my first production meeting, I was lost every time someone would talk about "Cardassian Architecture" or "Three Ferengi Extras". As I had no idea what either of those things were.

Portland Pride asks:
I just love the stunt work that you do on DS9. Do you use the same stunt guy for every episode and if so, how can I get his autograph?

Steve Oster:
Yes, Dennis Madalone is our stunt coordinator. He has been with the show since the beginning and if you write to him c/o Paramount Pictures, 5555 Melrose, LA CA 90038, I'm sure he would be delighted to give you his autograph.

Greenbean asks:
Do you have to schedule all of the actors for their work on the show?

Steve Oster:
Yes I do. It's an interesting jigsaw puzzle to figure out how to compress the actors' work so that they're not having to come in every day. Also some of them are involved in projects outside of Star Trek, so we try to accomodate that also.

Gary asks:
What is the turnaround time for actors? Do you have to deal with this all the time?

Steve Oster:
The usual turnaround time is 12 hours. however, with this show, because many of our characters have two to three hours of make-up and hair time before they come onto the set, we often times can only give them 9 hours. If they're heavy in a particular episode, it makes for a very tired actor at the end of the eight days of shooting.

Guy Vardaman:
["Turnaround time" refers to the time betwen filming from one day to the next]

Geary, Ind. asks:
Do you have to budget the shows? What type of budget does the show have?

Steve Oster:
Yes, I do. Our coordinating producer oversees preparing the line items for the budget, and then I deal with the overall cost of each episode. While I can't tell you the exact amount each episode costs. I will say it's an awful lot of latinum.

Because the show takes place in the future, it's difficult to go out and buy props, set dressing or wardrobe, and thus, everything has to be manufactured. This makes just about everything fairly expensive to do. Our joke is, you can't sneeze on Star Trek without incurring at least $500.00

Mulder asks:
Are you involved in casting the show?

Steve Oster:
Yes I am. I sit with our casting director, the director, the writer and Ira Behr in each of our casting sessions.

TealGreen asks:
How did you get to your current position? Were you ever an Assistant Director?

Steve Oster:
I started as a production assistant and then worked as an assistant director for a short time. I started in post production for Star Trek because I wanted to take a break from production and then four years ago moved onto the production side.

SKYFIRE asks:
Mr. Oster, do you feel that DS9 and Voyager are in competition for ratings?

Steve Oster:
In some cities they aren't programmed on the same station and thus in those locations they do compete with each other. However, I think for the most part there's plenty of room in the television world for both.

Jill asks:
Where can I get a CD or tape of James Darren?

Steve Oster:
Tower Records is always a good bet.

Timothius asks:
How did the cast and production crew react after the shooting of the final episode?

Steve Oster:
We actually won't start shooting the final episode until next Monday and we will shoot through the 22nd of April. I would expect it will be a mix of some relief, some sadness and some joy.

Steven Smith asks:
You joined the show late, didn't you? What was it like to come into the legacy of Trek in this way?

Steve Oster:
Although I started with the pilot episode of DS9, the Original Series and five years of TNG had preceded it and thus I felt a little lost in a strange new universe. I used to sneak episodes home at night and try to catch up on all the various species and storylines.

Murphy Green asks:
There seem to be several Supervising Producers on your show. Do you each take responsibility for an episode, or do you work on them all together?

Steve Oster:
No we work on them all together. Many of the producers you see listed on the show are writers.

Goldie asks:
What are your personal interests or hobbies? Do you like Science Fiction?

Steve Oster:
Yes, science fiction interests me greatly. I've always been a fan of the Star Wars series, though I wouldn't call myself a pure science fiction fan. One of the things I enjoy about it is seeing mythological stories translated into the future.

Carl asks:
Can you give us a little tease as to what the end of the series has in store for us?

Steve Oster:
An action-packed two hours. Be sure and tune in.

Ronnie asks:
DO you work with the writers of the show or the production staff? (Or on set?)

Steve Oster:
Yes. All of the above.

Cooter asks:
Nothing bad is going to happen to the Defiant, is there?

Steve Oster:
Nothing bad ever happens to the Defiant. Sometimes we have to do some minor repair.

Laurie asks:
Are you friends with other people on the production? What about the actors?

Steve Oster:
Yes, as we spend 14 hours a day, five days a week with each other, it's always better to be friends.

Dave Davis asks:
You seem to have such a wonderful support staff on DS9. With people like Bobby della Santina as UPM, Terri Potts as your post-production producer and all the wonderful writer/producers,...you must never want to leave the show!

Steve Oster:
Yes, I am so blessed to have such support through the production process. I know at the wrap party the thought of not having that will bring a tear to my eye.

Lykotion asks:
Has DS9 finished filming yet? If yes, aren't there are about nine episodes still left to air?

Steve Oster:
No we won't finish production until April 22nd. However, it always takes five to nine weeks from the time we finish shooting until the time an episode is ready to go on the air.

Captain MM Huber asks:
Hi Steve, So what did Rick Want?

Steve Oster:
We were discussing some production issues relevant to the 2-hour which starts shooting on Monday.

Marc Wade:
Thank you very much, Steve, for taking the time to chat with us today.

Steve Oster:
My pleasure, thanks for having me.

Marc Wade:
We're all looking forward to the exciting conclusion of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." To find out when "ST:DS9" is on the air in your area, check "Viewing Stations" in "Earth Support" of STAR TREK: CONTINUUM.