Robert Blackman

In his two-and-a-half-hour interview, Robert Blackman talks about his early interest in costume design. He details his long and successful stint as costume designer for Star Trek: The Next Generation, where his first order of business was to redesign the Starfleet uniforms. He speaks of the many costume design challenges for that show, including budget constraints, fabrics used, designing for various kinds of life-forms and aliens, and dealing with fans of the original series. Blackman outlines his work on other Star Trek projects including Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise, as well as working on the Star Trek feature films. He concludes by recounting the ways he thinks the industry has changed since he started, sharing future plans, and offering advice to aspiring costume designers. Stephen J. Abramson conducted the interview on December 7, 2009 in North Hollywood, CA.