Biography
Michael Piller (30 May 1948 – 1 November 2005) was an American television writer and producer. He began his career in journalism, working for CBS News and earning Emmy awards for news production in North Carolina and Chicago, before moving to Los Angeles in the late 1970s to work as a censor at CBS.
Piller started writing for series including Simon & Simon, Cagney & Lacey and Miami Vice in the early 1980s. He joined Star Trek: The Next Generation as a writer in 1989, later becoming showrunner and executive producer. With Rick Berman he co-created Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), serving as executive producer and writing its pilot episode 'Emissary', and co-created Star Trek: Voyager (1995). He co-wrote the screenplay for the film Star Trek: Insurrection (1998). Later projects included co-creating The Dead Zone (2002) with his son Shawn Piller and developing Wildfire (2005).
Piller died of cancer at his home in Los Angeles.
