Bruce Horak, the first legally blind actor to play a character in the Star Trek universe, has signed on to Boldly Going, an unscripted series in development at Stratford, Ont.-based Ballinran Entertainment.

Ballinran will produce the series in association with indie arts streamer Stageview.TV. The prodco is currently shopping the series to broadcast and distribution partners across North America, with president Craig Thompson and Vernon Freedlander serving as executive producers.

The series follows Calgary-born Horak, who plays Chief Engineer Hemmer on Paramount+ series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, on a global quest to meet accomplished individuals from arts, politics, business and science who have overcome adversity or disability to achieve success.

Each episode will see Horak, who is legally blind after losing 90% of his vision as a child, to paint a portrait of the featured individuals based their conversations and interactions.

“I’m addicted to learning how people create when ultimately the odds are stacked up against them,” said Horak in a statement. “Seventy-five percent of disabled people are unemployed or underemployed and I’m in the only 1% of those that actually makes a living as a creative artist, so the bar is set fairly high.”

“Those of us who are fully sighted and navigate the world with ease each day take a lot of things for granted,” added Thompson. “It’s our hope, as we travel along with Bruce on his journey in this series, that the viewing audience, will be able to experience some very valuable and enlightening insights into how others who have disabilities are successfully navigating the world… that there’s not just one singular way, there’s many ways to lead a fulfilling creative thriving life.”

Image courtesy of Ballinran Entertainment