Back in 2004, Star Trek fans’ collective jaws dropped when they got their first look at Star Trek: New Voyages, an original fan film series shot on sets meticulously recreated from the original TOS bridge, transporter room, and captain’s quarters. Show-runner and lead actor James Cawley reportedly funded the construction of these sets with $100,000-150,000 of his own money.
Other set recreations would follow: sickbay, the briefing room, expansive corridors, and many more. Eventually, the New Voyages (also known as Phase 2) sets located in Ticonderoga, New York had replicated nearly the entire layout of the original TOS shooting sets at Desilu Studios on the Paramount lot fifty years ago.
Along the way, Star Trek: New Voyages/Phase 2 produced and released nearly a dozen original fan films, each dazzling fans. But then the new fan film guidelines were released by CBS and Paramount, potentially signalling an end to this venerable TOS fan series. Fan wondered if they would even see these amazing sets again.
Well, wonder no more! Although the fate of Star Trek: New Voyages as a fan series is still unknown, an announcement was just made on the Star Trek.com website that the TOS sets in upstate New York would now be open to viewing by the general public…on officially licensed set tours! Yes, officially licensed!!!
Here’s how the announce starts…
So get your cameras and uniforms ready! Opening on July 30, prices will be VERY reasonable (not counting travel to upstate New York and lodging there):
- Adult: $22.50
- Senior: $20.00
- Child: $11.00
Of course, the HUGE question that remains unanswered at the present time is: will this move potentially lead to the first-ever licensing of a fan film??? Now that there is an official agreement between CBS Consumer Products and a fan film producer–even if it is not to license the fan series itself–does this open the door to something more? It’s an intriguing possibility! Imagine New Voyages or Star Trek Continues or even Axanar paying $100,000 (or thereabouts) to have some of the fan film guidelines “relaxed”…like more than a 15-minute limit, a higher crowd-funding cap, and allowing professionals to work on a fan film.
Right now, of course, all of this is just a pipe-dream…and no further comments on the subject are coming from either CBS or James Cawley. But fans can dream, right?
Do you think they hope to extort licensing fees out of fan productions?
Speaking only for myself as a businessman (well, small businesses)…I absolutely would! It’s a sound revenue model. License certain fan films that can afford to pay a $50K or $100K fee and “relax” the guidelines for them (allow for series, longer time limits, the use of professionals, higher crowd-funding caps, etc.). Allow other unlicensed fan films if they follow the guidelines. In this way, CBS cuts down on the fan films it has to oversee but still generates revenue from them…much like they do from licensees currently. Yes, a lot of people would like to manufacture Star Trek T-shirts. But only a few are licensed, and they pay for the right. Is it “fair” to only offer licenses to those who can afford to pay the fees? Business isn’t always fair. It’s just the way it works in a free-market economy. But yes, I would totally license fan films if I were CBS.