Robert C. Cooper is a Canadian writer and producer best known for his work in the Stargate franchise. He was formerly an executive producer of Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe. He also co-created both Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe with Brad Wright. Cooper has written and produced many episodes of Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe as well as directed a number of episodes.
Career
Cooper started his writing career with a series of films, the first of which was Blown Away. He joined the crew of Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal as a story editor until he was promoted to a writer in 1996 where he worked until moving to Stargate SG-1 in 1997 as an executive story editor.
Whilst working on Stargate SG-1, Cooper is credited with writing 52 episodes.
Cooper made his directorial debut with "Crusade" a ninth season episode of Stargate SG-1. In the 10th season premiere episode "Flesh and Blood", Cooper's daughter Emma played the 4 year old Adria. Later in the tenth season of Stargate SG-1, in early scenes of the episode "Talion", his older daughter Megan Elizabeth Cooper played a jaffa girl. Cooper also directed "Unending" the final episode of Stargate SG-1. Following the conclusion of SG-1, Cooper wrote and directed the direct-to-DVD movie Stargate: The Ark of Truth.
After Stargate Atlantis was cancelled, Cooper and Brad Wright went on to create another spin-off, Stargate Universe which premiered on October 2, 2009. In June 2010, it was revealed that Cooper was "stepping back to ... a consulting role" for the end of Stargate Universe season 2, before leaving entirely.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
! rowspan="2" scope="col"| Title
! rowspan="2" scope="col"| Year
! colspan="3" scope="col"| Credited as
! rowspan="2" scope="col" class="unsortable"| Notes
|-
! Director
! Producer
! Writer
|-
! scope=row| Blown Away
| 1992
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! scope=row| The Dark
| 1993
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! scope=row| No Contest
| 1994
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! scope=row| The Club
| 1994
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! scope=row| The Impossible Elephant
| 2001
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! scope=row| Stargate: The Ark of Truth
| 2008
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! scope=row| Stargate: Continuum
| 2008
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|}
Television
The numbers in directing and writing credits refer to the number of episodes.
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
! rowspan="2" scope="col"| Title
! rowspan="2" scope="col"| Year
! colspan="4" scope="col"| Credited as
! rowspan="2" scope="col"| Network
! rowspan="2" scope="col" class="unsortable"| Notes
|-
! Creator
! Director
! Writer
! Executive<br />producer
|-
! scope=row| Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal
| 1996–97
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| (3)
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|-
! scope=row| Flash Forward
| 1997
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| (1)
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|-
! scope=row| Stargate SG-1
| 1997–2007
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| (2)
| (58)
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| Showtime<br />Syfy
| co-producer (1998–99: 12 episodes), supervising producer (1999–2000: 11 episodes), producer (1999: 11 episodes), co-executive producer (2000–01: 22 episodes), executive producer (2001–07: 126 episodes)
|-
! scope=row| Best Actress
| 2000
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| E!
| Television film
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! scope=row| Stargate Atlantis
| 2004–09
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| (3)
| (10)
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| Syfy
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|-
! scope=row| Stargate Universe
| 2009–11
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| (2)
| (9)
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| Syfy
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! scope=row| Dark Matter
| 2015–16
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| (2)
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| CTV Sci-Fi Channel
| consulting producer (12 episodes)
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! scope=row| Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
| 2016–17
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| (2)
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| BBC America
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! scope=row| Unspeakable
| 2019
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| (2)
| (4)
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| CBC Television
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|}
Awards
Out of fifteen nominations, Cooper has received four awards.
- 2009 – Leo Awards, Best Direction in a Dramatic Series: Stargate Atlantis: "Vegas"
- 2009 – Leo Awards, Best Dramatic Series: Stargate Atlantis (Shared)
- 2009 – Leo Awards, Outstanding Achievement Award – Individual (Shared with Brad Wright)
- 2006 – The Constellation Awards, Best Overall 2006 Science Fiction Film or Television Script: Stargate SG-1: "200" (Shared with Brad Wright)