Hollywood trade papers today reported the surprising news that current Fox Entertainment President Gail Berman will soon leave the broadcasting network to become the top creative executive at Paramount Pictures.

According to the Daily Variety, new Paramount head Brad Grey himself pursued Berman to take the job with the studio, a role that will presumably also make her the new point woman for any decisions concerning the Star Trek franchise. She has no relation to Rick Berman, Trek's executive producer.

The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Berman's decision to join Paramount was surprising, as she'd also been in negotiations to extend her contract with Fox. Berman is the longest-serving entertainment head of any of the networks, and is currently enjoying great success with shows such as American Idol. Under her watch, Fox has also developed shows such as 24 and The O.C..

As Berman will now be one of the main decision-makers on Star Trek's future, fans may be pleased to learn she already has some creative background with another science-fiction television series. As one of her first jobs in television, she was president of Sandollar Television, in which role she helped Joss Whedon develop Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She was credited as executive producer on both Buffy and its spin-off show, Angel.

The original Hollywood Reporter article on this can be found by following this link.

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