Born in Mexico City, Roberto Orci is definitely beginning to make a name for himself in the nerdish world of film and television. A writer and producer on Alias and the pen behind Mission: Impossible III and Transformers, Orci has found himself very popular.

So popular in fact that he’s scored the writing duties for J.J. Abrams‘ Star Trek film, due for release in 2009, and Transformers 2. In addition, Orci has got himself behind one of the most exciting new television shows I’ve had the pleasure of seeing a trailer of in a good few years: Fringe.

But first, Orci recently spoke to IGN about his work on his next two feature film projects; Transformers 2 and Star Trek XI.

Orci spoke candidly about what opportunities have now been opened up thanks to the success of the first Transformers. Because of tight budget restrictions, the face time we were given with the Transformers themselves was minimal. Each second of Transformers time cost well into a million dollars or so, according to Orci, and so it isn’t surprising in hindsight that the story focused so heavily on the human characters.

However, now, says Orci, “…we have a little more freedom this time to actually learn about the Transformers, see them, hear them. It’s a better balance between the humans and the Transformers.”

Two of those Transformers that we will hopefully be finally getting to see, according to Orci, are fan-favorite Soundwave, with his minion Ravage. I had to go check this myself, because I got a bit confused, but Soundwave actually didn’t appear in the first movie. The music-related spy Decepticon was in fact Frenzy, who while originally being Soundwave in the drafts, had to be renamed.

For Orci, being involved with Transformers was big enough, but as he says, if he fails on Star Trek, “…I have family members who will disown us.” For me, as a big Star Trek fan, the respect and admiration that Orci has for what has come before him in the Star Trek universe is heartening. It bodes well for a movie that doesn’t stink.

The story will start out looking at the “…origin story of how this original crew of Kirk and Spock and Bones and everybody…” This is literally a story untold in the Star Trek canonical universe, and should be really interesting to see. And though Orci doesn’t go into more detail in the interview, rumors that this movie will serve as a reboot for the entire Star Trek universe through a time travelling and altering storyline bodes well for future movies and series.

Now I mentioned earlier that Orci is also involved in writing a new TV show for Fox, called Fringe. There isn’t much I can say that won’t just take away from the trailer below, but believe me, this X-Files-ish show is definitely going to be high on my list of priorities when it comes out.

Starring John Noble, Joshua Jackson, and Mark Valley , and written in conjunction with J.J. Abrams and Alex Kurtzman, Fringe is definitely one to look out for!

Trailer