Mark Cotta Vaz

Mark Cotta Vaz is a freelance writer who has published extensively on popular culture, and in particular on behind-the-scenes aspects of motion pictures, the various aspects of visual effects (VFX) of these productions a specific focus of his writings. Some of his writings did cover in full or in part several Star Trek films.

A native and resident of San Fransisco, Vaz' fascination with motion pictures has led to an ever increasing body of work chronicling the use of VFX in effects-laden movie productions, as well as the companies that produced them. To date he has authored numerous articles as well as (co-)authored close to three dozen books on the subject. His growing renown has led to his appointment on the board of the Cartoon Art Museum in San Fransisco in 1992, for whom he organized several exhibits. Following his tenure there he served, from the mid-1990s until the early 2000s, on the editorial staff of the VFX magazine Cinefex, first as senior writer and subsequently as senior contributor. It was during those years that the movie productions of the Star Wars franchise enjoyed his particular attention, resulting in a host of articles for that magazine, as well as several book titles.

Though he did cover the subject Star Trek on occasion in some of his earlier works, that had always been part of a larger piece of work, and it was not until 2009 that his first specialized Star Trek reference book, Star Trek - The Art of the Film, was published. On the occasion of the release of this book, Vaz was interviewed a short time later for the Star Trek Magazine.

Star Trek interview

 * "Art for Art's Sake",, December 2009/January 2010, interviewed by Paul Simpson.