Eugene Wesley "Rod" Roddenberry Jr. (born February 5, 1974) is an American television producer and the chief executive officer of Roddenberry Entertainment. He is the son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett and is an executive producer on Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Khan and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.
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Early life
Roddenberry was born in Los Angeles the son of actress Majel Barrett and writer and producer Gene Roddenberry, creator of the American science fiction series Star Trek. Rod went to the John Thomas Dye School in Bel Air and Harvard-Westlake School in North Hollywood and attended Hampshire College in the early 1990s.
Rod Roddenberry was not familiar with Star Trek, having never even watched the show. In 1991, when he was 17 years old, his father died, after which he began to examine Star Trek and discover "what made the series special" to its fans. Rod struggled initially with his father's near-legendary stature among Star Trek fans, saying, "A son cannot identify with a mythical figure; my father was put up on this pedestal throughout my life." However, as he heard many moving stories about his father's flaws and follies, he observed, "That allowed me, as a son, not just to connect with him, but actually love him."
Career
In 2001, Rod Roddenberry became chief executive officer of Roddenberry Entertainment, which builds upon his father's work, and develops multimedia science fiction properties including comics, television and film projects.