Ok, this is where I’m going to be a geeky screenwriter for a second, because the rise of Mr. Roberto Orci and Mr. Alex Kurtzman is basically the dream of a certain phylum of writer that dreams of working on big, important projects.

Kurtzman and Orci started working as a writing duo right out of high school and managed to both get on board  Hercules and Xena: Warrior Princess, where they worked their chops until they got picked up on Alias, where they collided with JJ Abrams.

Flash forward to now, and these two get thier pick of fun properties: The Island, The Legend of Zorro, Mission: Impossible III, Transformers, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, Star Trek and now…

From Variety:

As Paramount Pictures readies the May 8 release of its “Star Trek” franchise relaunch, the studio is moving forward with a sequel, and has hired Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof to pen the screenplay.
J.J. Abrams, who directed and produced the latest chapter, is onboard to produce the follow-up alongside his Bad Robot partner Bryan Burk. No decision has been made yet on whether Abrams will return behind the camera for the sequel.

Orci, Kurtzman and Lindelof also are receiving producing credit on the sequel.

Story is still in the embryonic stage, but the trio are aiming to deliver their script to the Melrose studio by Christmas for what would likely be a summer 2011 release.

“There’s obviously a lot of hubris involved in signing on to write a sequel of a movie that hasn’t even come out yet,” said Lindelof, co-creator with Abrams of ABC’s “Lost” who produced the upcoming “Trek” but did not contribute to Orci and Kurtzman’s screenplay. “But we’re so excited about the first one that we wanted to proceed.”

Say what you will about the various shortcoming of each Orci/Kurtzman script I’ve mentioned, but having the power to convince people to give you a shot at these big, career-making-or-breaking movies is an exciting prospect for a writer.