Fan Film Factor

It was nearly twelve years ago when ALEC PETERS, MARK EDWARD LEWIS, and a bunch of members of the production team of PRELUDE TO AXANAR sat together inside a the SOL 7 sound studio in Encino, CA while the sound levels of that groundbreaking fan film were mixed together and equalized.

It is now 2026, and the sequel that fans have been waiting a dozen years to see is now mere weeks from release! Oh, I know what some of yoou are thinking: We’ve heard THAT one before! “Thirty days out…yeah, right!” was the frequent taunt from detractors as the release date of the two AXANAR sequels (permitted by the 2017 legal settlement with CBS and Paramount) slipped later and later and later still—years later, in fact!

So what makes this time different? Why am I confident enough to state on this blog that I firmly believe that AXANAR: THE GATHERING STORM (the first of the two sequels) will be released to fans before the seasons change from winter to spring in 2026?

Because I’ve just watched the entire thing!!!

With the exception of a handful of shots of two of the actors that haven’t been composited yet to replace the green screen with a CGI-generated digital background (maybe a total of less than 3% of entire film), it’s done. All of the incredible VFX shots, every sound effect, all of the digital readout display animations, the opening credits, the closing credits, the voice-over narration of John Gil, and most of all, the sumptuous musical score composed by the identical twin LIVESAY brothers, JASON and NOLAN. (These guys have worked on and orchestrated multiple big-name Hollywood film, TV, and video projects—including STAR TREK: PICARD, DISCOVERY, STRANGE NEW WORLDS, THE ORVILLE, DAREDEVIL, X-MEN, and a host of others. And now they’ve given Axanar one of the greatest soundtracks in fan film history, at least in my opinion.)

I’ll be honest with you, when I first saw a rough cut of Axanar: The Gathering Storm last year, I wasn’t nearly as impressed as I’d hoped to be. The acting was certainly quite decent, and those VFX shots that had been completed looked spectacular. But it all felt kinda flat and exposition-heavy. I feared that, once the long-anticipated sequels were finally released, fans (especially the more cynical and negative ones) would complain, “We waited twelve years and donated a million and a half dollars for this????”

Oh, me of little faith!

Now that I’ve had a chance to hear the sound mix—a combination of dialog, music, and sound effects—I can truthfully say I was absolutely bowled over! This fan film now feels so ALIVE! Now, granted, I was seeing this on a big screen with 35,000 watts playing through 11 cinema-quality speakers! It felt very much like watching a movie in a theater. And indeed, Mark Lewis (who co-directed, edited, and is doing the sound design) told me he would be creating three different soundtracks for this fan film.