It’s interesting to watch the various reactions of the current Star Trek fan series to the new CBS/Paramount guidelines. In the case of Star Trek: Renegades, they dropped the name “Star Trek” from their title, took off the comm badges, and named Walter Koenig’s character “The Admiral.” Of course, we all know who they mean…don’t we? But with no “obvious” Star Trek content, the fan guidelines no longer apply to Renegades: The Series.
On the other side of the United States, Alabama-based Potemkin Pictures has taken a different approach. For the last half-decade or so, the vast majority of Potemkin Pictures’ fan films have actually followed most of the guidelines (before they even came out!): short-duration episodes, no crowd-funding, no perks, original music, home-made costumes, and store-bought props. Their only real “violation”–now that the new guidelines are in place–is “no additional seasons, episodes, parts, sequels or remakes.”
Potemkin Pictures currently has four ongoing series: Project: Potemkin, Battlecruiser Kupok, Starship Deimos, and Starship Tristan. The latter three only just started their first seasons while Project: Potemkin is completing their fourth and final season. All four, however, have regular releases that count as “episodes” of a series, which now seems to be a fan film no-no.
With episodes already written, filmed, and in post production, what is a fan series to do? Show-runner Randy Landers has decided to try an intriguing work-around: rename the series which each new episode.
So please welcome “The Chronicles of Lanclos”–a new one-shot fan film–to the world Star Trek fan productions! The opening credits introduction animation is identical to Starship Tristan, as is the music. Only the name of the series is different.
Whether or not a continuing series with new show titles for each “episode” will be considered kosher by the studios remains to be seen. But we’re all swimming in uncharted waters at the moment, and it’s sailors like Randy Landers who are charting the courses of exploration, hoping to avoid danger for the rest of us.
Randy, I wish you smooth sailing and fair winds, and I hope you don’t run into any rocks. Good luck, my friend!
Read the Fan Film Factor 2-part interview with Randy Landers from last year discussing Project: Potemkin.