Editing Richard A. Colla

{{Crew Data
| image= Richard A. Colla.jpg
| role=Director
| series=TOS
| born_month= 04
| born_day= 18
| born_year= 1936
| death_month= 12
| death_day= 24
| death_year= 2021
| nationality=
| site=
| imdb=0171619 
| sortkey= Colla, Richard A.
}}

'''Richard A. Colla''' was the solely-credited director of the [[Battlestar Galactica (TOS)|Original Series]] pilot "[[Saga of a Star World]]."

== Early Career ==

Colla began his career performing in high school theater, even though his family encouraged him to become a doctor&mdash;and, when asked, would tell others that he was going to be a doctor. Following high school, he became a student at [[w:Marquette University|Marquette University]] in acting, along with actor [[w:John Walsh|John Walsh]] for four years, plus another "couple of years" getting his Master's degree. He then enrolled in [[w:Yale University|Yale University]] to obtain his doctorate, believing that he would be a theater instructor but was discouraged by the political nature of education.<ref name="galtv">{{cite_web|url=http://www.galactica.tv/battlestar-galactica-1978-interviews/richard-colla-galactica.tv-interview.html|title=Richard Colla GALACTICA.TV interview|date=29 April 2008|accessdate=2 June 2019|last=Egnor|first=Mike|format=|language=}}</ref>

Colla first met producer [[Leslie Stevens]] in [[w:New York|New York]] when performing as an actor in Stevens's play ''Bullfight'' in the 1950s, which he "really loved as an actor."<ref name="galtv"/>

Colla relocated to [[w:California|California]], acting in ''[[w:Days of our Lives|Days of our Lives]]'' after being introduced to that series' executive producer by actor [[w:Mac Carey|Mac Carey]], even though he had designs on directing.<ref name="galtv"/> 

Colla then shifted from acting to directing, and directed a variety of short films to use as "Calling cards" in order to acquire his first directing gig (and his [[w:Directors Guild of America|Directors Guild of America]] card<ref>Per ''Galactica''.TV interview, "You have to get three directors to sign your application. So I went to find [[Leslie Stevens|Leslie [Stevens]]] because I asked him to sign my application [because] I really appreciated his work. So I knew him, and at the time I don't think I even knew that [[Glen Larson|Glen [Larson]]] was involved in the project."</ref>) in [[w:Don Siegel|Don Siegel]]'s 1966 half-hour series ''[[w:The Legend of Jesse James|The Legend of Jesse James]]'' for [[w:Twentieth Century Fox|Twentieth Century Fox]].<ref name="galtv"/> 

Colla became a contract director for [[w:Universal Studios|Universal Studios]] under [[George Santoro]], and was offered work on ''[[w:McCloud|McCloud]]'', where he met future "[[Saga of a Star World]]" cinematographer [[Ben Coleman]].<ref name="galtv"/>

In 1974, he directed [[w:Gene Roddenberry|Gene Roddenberry]] and [[w:Gene L. Coon|Gene L. Coon]]'s "[[w:The Questor Tapes|The Questor Tapes]]," which also starred [[Lew Ayres]] (President [[Adar (TOS)|Adar]]). This later association would help secure Colla's directorial involvement in 1987 for ''[[w:Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''.<ref name="galtv"/>

== ''Battlestar Galactica'' ==

In 1977, Colla was recruited by [[George Santoro]] to direct the pilot.<ref name="galtv"/> 

Upon being informed by Santoro that [[Glen Larson]] sold the movie-of-the-week, "[[Saga of a Star World]]," to [[ABC]] for $1.8 million United States Dollars (adjusted for inflation in 2018 dollars: $7,590,534.65 USD<ref> {{cite_web|url=http://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1977?amount=1800000|title=CPI Inflation Calculator|date=|accessdate=8 June 2019|last=|first=|format=|language=}}</ref>) Colla arranged multiple discussions with various department heads to gather an actual budget. Upon these discussions and with copies of the various department budgets in hand, Colla had discovered (much to Santoro's chagrin) that "Saga" was undersold and would need to be shot for $9 million (adjusted for inflation in 2018 dollars: $37,952,673.27 USD<ref> {{cite_web|url=http://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1977?amount=9000000|title=CPI Inflation Calculator|date=|accessdate=8 June 2019|last=|first=|format=|language=}}</ref>). As a result of this fact, the studio would need to release "Saga" as a theatrical feature in order to recoup the cost differences.<ref name="galtv"/> 

Upon further reading the script, he believed it to be a "comic book" insofar as both the story and characterizations were concerned. Despite assurances from [[Leslie Stevens]] that these areas of opportunity would be addressed, Colla felt that the deficiencies were never addressed.<ref>{{cite book/sswa|48}}</ref>

Due to creative differences with Glen Larson and believing him to be an "ungrateful bastard," Colla was asked to leave four days prior to the scheduled completion of shooting shooting "Saga of a Star World." He obliged.<ref name="galtv"/> 

It should be noted that, due to re-shoots and re-writes by Larson, this ballooned so that Colla had ended up leaving at the half-way point as the remaining scenes (along with re-shoots) were directed by [[Alan J. Levi]]. Colla never had the chance to discuss anything with Levi.<ref name="galtv"/>

== Post-''Galactica'' ==

Colla directed numerous features and television entries following his dismissal from "[[Saga of a Star World]]," which not only acts has a theatrical credit but also a television credit. 

Additional credits post-"Saga" included ''[[w:CHIPs|CHIPs]]'', ''[[w:Miami Vice|Miami Vice]]'', ''[[w:Murder, She Wrote|Murder, She Wrote]]'', ''[[w:MacGyver|MacGyver]]'' and the ''[[MemoryAlpha:Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' episode "[[MemoryAlpha:The Last Outpost|The Last Outpost]]," which first introduced the [[MemoryAlpha:Ferengi|Ferengi]].

As of 2007, he owned Cottages Among the Flowers in Ojai, California, to which he has dedicated a fair amount of resources in renovating and expanding the historic structures there.<ref>{{cite_web|url=https://www.ojaivalleynews.com/?view=article&id=462:456&catid=864|title=Ojai Valley News: Ojai landmark to get face-lift|date=19 July 2013|accessdate=8 June 2019|last=Braverman|first=Nao|format=|language=}}</ref><ref>{{cite_web|url=http://ojaivalleynews.blogspot.com/2007/11/planners-agree-to-state-housing-terms.html|title=Planners Agree To State Housing Terms
|date=29 November 2007|accessdate=8 June 2019|last=Braverman|first=Nao|format=|language=}}</ref>

In 2008, Colla noted that, in addition to the major restoration project, he had "a couple of television pilots that are being written. I'm doing a small movie, an independent movie that we're putting together in New Mexico. Another script that's being written for a theatrical picture."<ref name="galtv"/>

Colla was awarded the ASA Caucus Legend Award in 2018, recognizing his contributions to film and television.<ref>{{cite_web|url=http://www.caucus.org/events/americanspirit0618.html|title=AMERICAN SPIRIT AWARD 2018: A Resounding Success! 12th Annual American Spirit Awards|date=|accessdate=08 June 2019|last=|first=|format=|language=}}</ref>

==Notes==

* Colla is married to actress [[w:Denise Alexander|Denise Alexander]]. 
* Colla's has one daughter, [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0171610/ Elizabeth Colla].

==External links==
{{ext-ma|article=Richard A. Colla}}
*[http://www.galactica.tv/battlestar-galactica-1978---interviews/richard-colla-galactica.tv-interview.html Richard Colla interview at Galactica.TV]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Crew]]
[[Category:Crew (TOS)]]
[[Category:Directors]]
[[Category:Directors (TOS)]]
[[Category:Former Star Trek Cast and Crew]]

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