Documentary On Nichelle Nichols’ Work With NASA Beams Down February 16

News, Press Releases

Way back in the ’90s, I went to a comic book convention where the key celebrity was Nichelle Nichols. There are very few people that I’d drive two hours to see, but a chance to meet the woman who played Uhura on the original Star Trek got me on the road. Two things from her speech stuck with me after all these decades. First was her singing the never heard lyrics to the Star Trek theme. The bigger thing was her talking about the time she wanted to quit the show when she felt the role was mainly an intergalactic telephone operator. Early in the series, her character mainly alerted Captain Kirk that someone was hailing the USS Enterprise. Who kept her from walking off the set? It was Martin Luther King Jr. He was a fan of the show and let her know how her presence on the bridge gave hope to a lot of kids that they will get to go to space since at that point it was only white men that were astronauts. She stayed. And when the show went off the air, she continued that mission of inspiring people to seek a career in space. Woman in Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek and the Remaking of NASA documents her time recruiting minorities and women to work for the space program. The film comes out digitally on February 16 on various platforms. If you get it through Apple, there’s a package of bonus features. Here’s the press release from Shout! Studios.

Woman in Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek and the Remaking of NASA 
The Remarkable True Story Available EverywhereOn Digital and On Demand February 16, 2021 The inspiring true story of how renowned Star Trek actress Nichelle Nichols pioneered the NASA recruiting program to hire people of color and the first female astronauts for the space agency in the late 1970s and 1980s, Woman in Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek and the Remaking of NASA will come to home theaters on digital and on demand everywhere on February 16, 2021. 

Fans who preorder from Apple will also have access to exclusive bonus features, including an extended “The Story Behind the Story” featurette, deleted scenes, teasers and trailers. Directed by Todd Thompson (The Highwaymen, PRE FAB!), the film chronicles how Nichols transformed her sci-fi television stardom into a real-life science career when, in 1977, she embarked on a campaign to bring diversity to NASA. Nichols formed the company Women In Motion, Inc. and recruited more than 8,000 African American, Asian and Latino women and men for the agency. Nichelle and her program continue to influence the younger generation of astronauts as well, including Mae Jemison, the first female African American astronaut in space. Despite an uphill battle against a bureaucracy that was hesitant to let her get involved, Nichols persevered and is credited by NASA for turning it into one of the most diverse independent agencies in the United States Federal Government. 

In addition to Nichols, Woman In Motion features notable celebrities, activists, scientists and astronauts including Neil deGrasse Tyson, George Takei, Pharrell Williams, Martin Luther King III, Al Sharpton, Vivica A. Fox, Walter Koenig, Rod Roddenberry, Michael Dorn, Guy Bluford, Charles Bolden, Ivor Dawson, Frederik Gregory and Benjamin Crump. 

Bonus Features, exclusive to Apple release:·        
“The Story Behind the Story” featurette·        
Deleted Scene: Everyone Loves Nichelle·        
Deleted Scene: The Art of the Science·        
Deleted Scene: Hailing Frequencies Closed·        
Original Teaser·        
Concourse Teaser·        
Theatrical Trailer
Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.