---
name: "Michael Piller"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/michael-piller"
roles: ["Creator","Producer","Writer"]
born: "30 May 1948"
died: "1 November 2005"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 81
updated: "2026-09-16T23:15:14.524219+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Michael Piller

Creator and producer. Born 30 May 1948 in Port Chester, New York, USA. Died 1 November 2005.

## Details

- **Work:** Creator, Producer, Writer
- **Born:** 30 May 1948, Port Chester, New York, USA
- **Died:** 1 November 2005
- **Active:** 1982–1993
- **Works often with:** Gabrielle Beaumont, Alexander Singer, Bill Duke, Chip Chalmers, Georg Stanford Brown, Hannah Louise Shearer

## 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.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, memory-alpha.fandom.com, imdb.com, latimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Miami Vice* (1984), Fi1m 81, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/miami-vice.md)
- *Cagney & Lacey* (1982), Fi1m 81, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/cagney-and-lacey.md)

## Also credited on (not yet reviewed)

- *Star Trek: Deep Space Nine* (1993), Creator, Producer, Story, Teleplay, Writer

## Also known for

- *Star Trek: The Next Generation* (1987), Writer, Teleplay, Story
- *Star Trek: Insurrection* (1998), Screenplay
- *Star Trek: Voyager* (1995), Writer
- *The Dead Zone* (2002), Story, Teleplay
- *Simon & Simon* (1981), Writer
- *Wildfire* (2005), Writer
- *The Dead Zone* (2002), Story, Teleplay

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/michael-piller