The new Star Trek series starring Sir Patrick Stewart returning to his Next Generation role of Jean Luc-Picard continues to take shape, with a few new details on the upcoming production coming to light.

Shooting reportedly starts April 14

The latest issue of Production Weekly – a reliable industry newsletter – has some more details for the upcoming Picard show’s production. According to the report, the Picard show will begin shooting on April 14th with production going for five and a half months, with a planned wrap on October 1st. While this is a shorter production run than the first two seasons of Star Trek: Discovery – which ran about eight months – the Picard series is expected to have fewer episodes, with the first season being described as a 10-hour movie.

Santa Clarita will be home to Picard show

In December it was reported that unlike Star Trek: Discovery and Short Treks, the new Picard show would not be shot at Pinewood Studios in Toronto, Canada, with CBS securing $15.6 million in tax credits to shoot in California. According to the new report, the production will be based at Santa Clarita Studios. SCS is an independent studio production facility based in Santa Clarita, California, around 35 miles north of Paramount Studios in Hollywood, where most previous Star Trek TV series and films were produced.

The selection of SCS may explain Patrick Stewart’s curious comment last month that the show would be shooting in “the middle of California.” While the era of peak TV has made studio space in the Hollywood area sparse, the choice of Santa Clarita Studios may have been by Sir Patrick himself, who is also an executive producer on the series. Stewart is familiar with SCS, having shot his two-season Starz comedy Blunt Talk there in 2015 and 2016.

SCS has 16 stages and has been in operation since 1987. CBS has used SCS in the past, including shooting five seasons of CSI: Crime Scene Investigations there. Santa Clarita Valley is a popular destination for film production, touting nearly half of all permitted location activity in Los Angeles County. The video below gives an overview of Santa Clarita Studios.

Picard show may be called “Star Trek: Destiny”

The title of the new Picard show has yet to be officially announced. However, the Production Weekly report lists the title of the series as “‘Star Trek: Destiny’ (aka ‘Star Trek: Picard’)” with the working title listed as “Drawing Room.” “Picard” has been a shorthand used by people involved in the show to talk about it, although Star Trek: Discovery star Sonequa Martin-Green recently indicated the show could actually use “Picard” as a title.

It’s important to note that CBS has not confirmed Star Trek: Destiny as a title, although it is one of a number of titles that CBS has trademarked over the last year. CBS has also trademarked other titles including Star Trek: Revolution as well as a number of others more obviously tied to other shows that have been or still are in development, such as Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. So for now, take “Destiny” as a possibility, but with a grain of space salt.

Casting has started

On Friday it was reported that CBS had tapped director Hannelle Culpepper to helm the first two episodes for the Picard series. As of yet, the only confirmed member of the cast for the show is Sir Patrick Stewart himself, returning to play Jean-Luc Picard. But with cameras set to start rolling in six weeks, that should be changing soon. Replying to a question about if casting had begun on Twitter, Culpepper confirmed it has already started.

It’s started. — Hanelle Culpepper (@Hillview798) March 2, 2019

There has been a rumor report regarding some possible character descriptions for the show, but we have not been able to confirm these as of this time. Official announcements of casting are likely to begin this month, which can start to shed some light on the other characters for the series.

Keep up with all the news on the Picard show and other upcoming Star Trek TV shows here at TrekMovie.com.