Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Encyclopedia
Robert Hewitt Wolfe is an American
television producer
and screenwriter
. He is mostly known for his work as a writer on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
and for developing and producing the series Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda. , he lives in Los Angeles
with his wife, Celeste, and dog, Tonka.
, the son of a career army officer
and a surgical nurse. As an army family, the Wolfes moved frequently before finally settling in San Francisco in the mid-seventies. During his childhood, Wolfe tried three times to write a novel
(at the ages of ten, thirteen and twenty), but never finished. In college
he discovered that television
and film
screenwriting
suited him better.
Wolfe graduated UCLA, receiving a bachelor's degree
in Film and Television and a MFA
in Screenwriting
. His first screenplay, Paper Dragons, placed second in the prestigious Goldwyn awards
. The prize money allowed Wolfe to buy his first computer. At this point he decided to try to make himself a career in show business
.
to the series Star Trek: The Next Generation
. His writing of the screenplay for the episode secured him a place in the creative staff of the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
, that made its debut in the following year.
Wolfe worked on DS9 for five years, under the supervision of showrunners Michael Piller
and Ira Steven Behr
. During this time, he wrote or co-wrote over thirty episodes. These include action-packed episodes with high story-arc importance (The Way of the Warrior
, Call to Arms
), dramatic character studies (The Wire
, Hard Time
) and even comedic farces (Family Business
, Little Green Men
).
s. One of these, Futuresport
, was produced as an ABC
TV movie starring Dean Cain
and Wesley Snipes
. He has also written several (unproduced) features, including Splicers for 20th Century Fox
and Zero Gee for John Woo
and Terrance Chang's Lion Rock Productions.
In 1999, working from notes by Gene Roddenberry
, Wolfe developed the syndicated series Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda. The series premiered in the fall of 2000 as the number one original hour in syndication
, a position it held for most of its five-year run. Wolfe served as head writer and executive producer on Andromeda for its first two seasons, during which the series was nominated for two Saturn Award
for Best Syndicated Series and for a BC Film Commission Leo Award for Best Dramatic Series. Wolfe resigned as head writer of Andromeda in the fall of 2001, when he allegedly refused to reduce the show's complex plots and ensemble cast to a focus on the heroics of the main character.
Subsequently Wolfe wrote freelance scripts for both The Dead Zone
and UPN's revival of The Twilight Zone
. In 2004, he served as a consulting producer and writer on the first and fourth seasons of The 4400
on USA Network
, helping launch the successful series.
Wolfe was an executive producer on the Sci Fi Channel
series The Dresden Files
, along with David Simkins, Nicolas Cage
and others. It is a production of Lions Gate Television and Saturn Films
. It premiered on January 21, 2007 on the Sci-Fi Channel. Wolfe and Hans Beimler wrote the screenplay for the pilot and developed the series, which is based on the books
by Jim Butcher
.
He is developing a currently untitled series from Universal Cable Productions, set on the Starship Defender.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
. He is mostly known for his work as a writer on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
and for developing and producing the series Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda. , he lives in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
with his wife, Celeste, and dog, Tonka.
Background
Wolfe was born in 1964 in Waterbury, ConnecticutWaterbury, Connecticut
Waterbury is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, on the Naugatuck River, 33 miles southwest of Hartford and 77 miles northeast of New York City...
, the son of a career army officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
and a surgical nurse. As an army family, the Wolfes moved frequently before finally settling in San Francisco in the mid-seventies. During his childhood, Wolfe tried three times to write a novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
(at the ages of ten, thirteen and twenty), but never finished. In college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
he discovered that television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
screenwriting
Screenwriting
Screenwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is a freelance profession....
suited him better.
Wolfe graduated UCLA, receiving a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in Film and Television and a MFA
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
in Screenwriting
Screenwriting
Screenwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is a freelance profession....
. His first screenplay, Paper Dragons, placed second in the prestigious Goldwyn awards
Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards
The Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards are bestowed annually by the Samuel Goldwyn Foundation, which is funded by a trust established by the Goldwyn family. Started in 1955, the awards are a competitive writing prize open to all University of California students...
. The prize money allowed Wolfe to buy his first computer. At this point he decided to try to make himself a career in show business
Show business
Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz, is a vernacular term for all aspects of entertainment. The word applies to all aspects of the entertainment industry from the business side to the creative element ....
.
Star Trek work
Wolfe's career didn't seem to be rising for five years, until he sold the story for A Fistful of DatasA Fistful of Datas (TNG episode)
"A Fistful of Datas" is an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which premiered in the United States on November 9, 1992. It is the eighth episode in the sixth season...
to the series Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
. His writing of the screenplay for the episode secured him a place in the creative staff of the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
, that made its debut in the following year.
Wolfe worked on DS9 for five years, under the supervision of showrunners Michael Piller
Michael Piller
Michael Piller was an American television scriptwriter and producer, who was most famous for his contributions to the Star Trek franchise.-Early life and career:Piller was born in Port Chester, New York...
and Ira Steven Behr
Ira Steven Behr
Ira Steven Behr born 23 October 1953, in New York City, New York, USA is an American television producer and screenwriter, most known for his work on Star Trek, especially Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, on which he served as showrunner and executive producer...
. During this time, he wrote or co-wrote over thirty episodes. These include action-packed episodes with high story-arc importance (The Way of the Warrior
The Way of the Warrior (DS9 episode)
"The Way of the Warrior" is a feature-length episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It is the season premiere of the fourth season and marks the arrival of Worf as a permanent crew member aboard Deep Space Nine...
, Call to Arms
Call to Arms (DS9 episode)
"Call to Arms" is the title of the twenty-sixth and final episode of the fifth season of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It has an average fan rating of 4.8/5 on the official Star Trek website as of September, 2009.-Plot:...
), dramatic character studies (The Wire
The Wire (DS9 episode)
"The Wire" is an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 22nd episode of the second season. This was the first time viewers received a look at Garak's past and it sowed the seeds for several later plotlines involving Enabran Tain. It maintains a fan rating of 4.2 out of 5 on the official Star...
, Hard Time
Hard Time (DS9 episode)
"Hard Time" is an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the nineteenth episode of the fourth season. The episode has an average rating of 4.8/5 on the official Star Trek website .-Plot:...
) and even comedic farces (Family Business
Family Business (DS9 episode)
"Family Business" is an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 23rd episode of the third season. It marks the first appearances of three recurring characters: Quark's mother Ishka, Captain Kasidy Yates, and Liquidator Brunt, F.C.A...
, Little Green Men
Little Green Men (DS9 episode)
"Little Green Men" is an episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the seventh episode of the fourth season. It is rated 4.3/5 on the official Star Trek Website.-Plot:...
).
Andromeda and other later work
In the period that followed his departure from Deep Space Nine, Wolfe made several attempts at writing television pilotTelevision pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
s. One of these, Futuresport
Futuresport
Futuresport is a made-for-TV movie directed by Ernest Dickerson, starring Dean Cain, Vanessa Williams, and Wesley Snipes. It originally aired on ABC in October 1998, and released on DVD in March 1999....
, was produced as an ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
TV movie starring Dean Cain
Dean Cain
Dean Cain is an American actor. He is most widely known for his role as Clark Kent/Superman in the popular American television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.-Early life:...
and Wesley Snipes
Wesley Snipes
Wesley Trent Snipes is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist, who has starred in numerous action films, thrillers, and dramatic feature films. Snipes is known for playing the Marvel Comics character Blade in the Blade film trilogy, among various other high profile roles...
. He has also written several (unproduced) features, including Splicers for 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
and Zero Gee for John Woo
John Woo
John Woo Yu-Sen SBS is a Hong Kong-based film director and producer. Recognized for his stylised films of highly choreographed action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and use of slow-motion, Woo has directed several notable Hong Kong action films, among them, A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Hard...
and Terrance Chang's Lion Rock Productions.
In 1999, working from notes by Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
, Wolfe developed the syndicated series Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda. The series premiered in the fall of 2000 as the number one original hour in syndication
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
, a position it held for most of its five-year run. Wolfe served as head writer and executive producer on Andromeda for its first two seasons, during which the series was nominated for two Saturn Award
Saturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
for Best Syndicated Series and for a BC Film Commission Leo Award for Best Dramatic Series. Wolfe resigned as head writer of Andromeda in the fall of 2001, when he allegedly refused to reduce the show's complex plots and ensemble cast to a focus on the heroics of the main character.
Subsequently Wolfe wrote freelance scripts for both The Dead Zone
The Dead Zone (TV series)
The Dead Zone, aka Stephen King's Dead Zone is an American-Canadian science fiction/suspense series starring Anthony Michael Hall as Johnny Smith, who discovers he has developed psychic abilities after a coma...
and UPN's revival of The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
. In 2004, he served as a consulting producer and writer on the first and fourth seasons of The 4400
The 4400
The 4400 is a science fiction TV series produced by CBS Paramount Network Television in association with Sky Television, Renegade 83, and American Zoetrope for USA Network. The show was created and written by Scott Peters and René Echevarria, and it stars Joel Gretsch and Jacqueline McKenzie...
on USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
, helping launch the successful series.
Wolfe was an executive producer on the Sci Fi Channel
Sci Fi Channel (United States)
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
series The Dresden Files
The Dresden Files (TV series)
The Dresden Files is an American television series based on the books by Jim Butcher. It premiered January 21, 2007 on the Sci Fi Channel in the United States and on Space in Canada. It was picked up by Sky One in the UK and began airing on February 14, 2007.The series ran for a single season of...
, along with David Simkins, Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
and others. It is a production of Lions Gate Television and Saturn Films
Saturn Films
-Productions:*Shadow of the Vampire *The Family Man *Gone in 60 Seconds *Sonny *Windtalkers *Adaptation *The Life of David Gale...
. It premiered on January 21, 2007 on the Sci-Fi Channel. Wolfe and Hans Beimler wrote the screenplay for the pilot and developed the series, which is based on the books
The Dresden Files
The Dresden Files is a series of contemporary fantasy/mystery novels written by Jim Butcher.He provides a first person narrative of each story from the point of view of the main character, private investigator and wizard Harry Dresden, as he recounts investigations into supernatural disturbances in...
by Jim Butcher
Jim Butcher
Jim Butcher is a New York Times Best Selling author most known for his contemporary fantasy book series The Dresden Files. He also wrote the Codex Alera series. Butcher grew up as the only son of his parents, and has two older sisters. He currently lives in Independence with his wife, Shannon K...
.
He is developing a currently untitled series from Universal Cable Productions, set on the Starship Defender.