ALEC PETERS discusses AXANAR’S FINANCIALS and his REVIEW COMMITTEE! (Interview)

206 thoughts on “ALEC PETERS discusses AXANAR’S FINANCIALS and his REVIEW COMMITTEE! (Interview)”

1. Dear Alec: have you given any thought to who will replace Tony Todd?

   (to make it financial: what’s your budget for casting his part…?)

   thanks! =)

   1. He only had a bit part in the full Axanar movie since the focus wasn’t going to be on him. Alec already said he wouldn’t replace him with another actor, he simply would cut his small part out.

      1. Yep.

2. OMG!!! LMAO!!! The lies just keep coming and coming. Alec, Please look up the definition of…,

   in·de·pend·ent
   ˌindəˈpendənt/Submit
   adjective
   1.
   free from outside control; not depending on another’s authority.
   “the study is totally independent of central government”
   synonyms: freethinking, free, individualistic; More
   2.
   not depending on another for livelihood or subsistence.
   “I wanted to remain independent in old age”
   synonyms: self-sufficient, self-supporting, self-reliant, standing on one’s own two feet
   “her grown-up, independent children”….

   Your SO called “INDEPENDENT review board is under YOUR CONTROL which means it IS NOT INDEPENDENT at all because it consists of people that work for YOU…

   That is NOT INDEPENDENT!!!

   1. Alec’s reply (for some reason, he e-mailed it to me):

      “Independent” means they are not employees. And since we have no employees, these people are independent. A review committed for any Fortune 500 company has PAID board members do this work. And you have an “Axanar Team Member” because he knows what went on and provides critical insight.

      1. Clearly ‘someone’ was not paying attention at all… **facepalms** Jonathan, Alec, I feel bad for you guys…

      2. That is an interesting take on independence. But let’s say I accept your interpretation. I would still suggest that the committee is not unbiased, since they were all a) hand-picked by the person responsible for the financials and b) have an interest in the production (as fans, donors, put work into the film, or are otherwise friends of Axanar). in other words, Alec is stacking the deck.

         This is just the kind of monkey business that makes me regret being a donor.

      3. They are part of your so called Team Axanar Alec, they are night as well be your employees. They are your personal friends who have NO experience as a CPA and nor experience in accounting. The only outcome from this is a blatant attempt to “Cook the Books” to hide what is already in the hand of the plaintiffs that proves you used donor money for personal enrichment at the expense of the Donors and from CBS copyrights. Having your personal friends, donor or backers audits your books is still not INDEPENDENT!

         I do not believe your excuses about business expenses, the donors should NOT be responsible for your personal expenditures that had nothing to do with filming or production. Now all your doing is trying to absolve yourself of the fact you personally gained financially off the Donors and off of CBS copyrights.

         1. “I chose Cedric Yau, one of our Associate Producer level donors, because he has heavy real-world financial experience. Cedric has been a producer on Broadway and works as a financial analyst supporting major hedge funds in New York. He understands finances on both a macro and micro level.”

            The others understand financials based on experience in having to make sure they have funding for their own projects.

      4. In this sense I believe “independent” has no connection with Axanar period, that is the whole point of getting someone who has no connection to Axanar do this so there can be no well they’re your friends and of course they’ll do what you want. If that have no dog in the fight, they won’t care one way or the other who the audit comes out as long as it is correct and above board.

         1. But good luck finding someone that you DON’T know to do you this huge favor who is also qualified and willing to put in the time for FREE! I’d have enough trouble just finding FRIENDS to do it!!!

            1. We found at least two qualified auditors. Look down thread. Now what is Alec’s excuse?

            2. And I found a unicorn! 🙂

   2. Rand;
      If you don’t like the way that Alec did it; offer to pay for one you like yourself.
      I’m a donor and I like his method. He’s spending my money wisely.
      And change your name. I wouldn’t want anyone to confuse a verga like you with the real Rand.

      1. What’s a “verga”? If it’s an insult, please don’t.

         1. If noone answered your question yet, i think he didn’t want to say rooster ; ). At least it’s that if he used spanish.

            1. Kinda flippin’ the bird at him. I get it.

               So I’ve got this racy rooster joke I heard many, many years ago. This farmer loses his last rooster, an old bird whose heart just gives out one day. The farmer is going to be ruined. He’s got a ton of hens but no rooster to fertilize the eggs. He takes the last of his savings from the cookie jar and from under the mattress and goes into town to buy another rooster. He hasn’t got much, and when he gets to the breeder, he shares his tale of woe, hoping for a little sympathy and a more affordable price for a replacement rooster.

               “I think I’ve got just what you need,” says the breeder. “He’s right in your price range. Wait here.” A few minutes later, the breeder comes back with the ugliest rooster that the farmer has ever seen–thin, scrawny, disheveled, with half of his feathers missing, crossed eyes, and a twisted beak.

               “That’s it???” the farmer is flummoxed. “That’s all my money will get me?”

               “Hey, don’t worry,” the breeder says. “He might not be much to look at, but this rooster is super-horny. He’ll screw every hen you’ve got and then go back for more. There’s just no satisfying this one. You want to breed more chickens, this rooster is all you need!”

               The farmer has no choice. He takes the repugnant bird home, releases it into the yard, and watches in amazement as this single rooster mounts hen after hen after hen after hen. He goes all afternoon and into the evening. The next day, he’s at it again. And the next! And he doesn’t stop with just the hens!! The rooster goes on to mount the geese, the ducks, the sheep, the dogs, the cats, the cow, the horses…you name it!

               The farmer is now worried sick! He’s never seen a rooster go on non-stop like this. He lost his last rooster to a sudden heart attack, and he’s now terrified that history will repeat itself…and this time he’ll have NO money left at all. “Stop!” he yells at the rooster. “STOP!!! You’re gonna wear yourself out! You’re gonna have a heart attack! STOP!!!!!”

               The rooster doesn’t listen. He jumps from animal to animal, running here and there across the barnyard for hours at a time, stopping only long enough to do his thing and move on to the next one.

               This goes on from the next week until the farmer wakes up one morning to the sight he’d been dreading. The rooster has keeled over. He’s flat on his back, eyes closed, not moving at all. Up in the sky above him, the buzzards are already circling. The other animals have moved away from the poor bird, not wanting to be near this tragedy.

               The farmer runs over as fast as he can, screaming, “SEE??? I told you this would happen!!! I said if you didn’t stop, you’d have a heart attack and drop dead!!! Now you’ve done it! You’ve killed yourself!!! What am I going to do now??? YOU STUPID ROOSTER!!!! WHAT…AM…I…GOING…TO….DO….NOW?!?!?!?!”

               Suddenly, the rooster leans up to the farmer, points at the sky, and whispers, “Shhhhh. You’ll scare away the buzzards.”

      2. DB, I would like it done right and properly and not by anyone associated with Alec or Axanar productions. If Alec can have it done free by someone that doesn’t know about the lawsuit can be 1000% UNBIASED and fair and not have Alec looking over their shoulder and he can accept the final outcome to be given to the donors with FULL DISCLOSURE than I would be happy with that.

         As it stands now I do not trust that will happen nor do I trust Alec’s associates to be honest and unbiased as I do not trust Alec either.

         As for me paying for it ….. YEAH Right, however I am sure many of us at CPVSA could crowdfund for a professional audit so it gets done right, problem is Alec would never ever let it happen. I would even recommend letting Carlos Pedrazza do it…… ( I hear screams of horror )

         Now db if you are going to insult me have the courtesy to at least do it in English. Your are not the only one who donated. I donated also.

         1. “however I am sure many of us at CPVSA could crowdfund for a professional audit so it gets done right, problem is Alec would never ever let it happen”

            Actually, I think that’s a fantastic idea, Rand. Start setting it up, and I’m certain I can talk Alec into it. Seriously, I dare you. I double-dog dare you. (And what is a double-dog, anyway? I suppose it makes sense if it’s a hot dog. Mmmmm, hot dog….)

            1. I think it’s something like double-secret probation……

         2. See now your just showing your own biase, your not going to be happy with anything coming out of this forum so why don’t you just leave. I mean you can’t ask for an unbiased audit and then say you’d be happy if the most negatively biased person around did the audit, that’s just swinging to the opposite extreme.

   3. That is incorrect. Both internal and external audits are paid by the company being audited. Internal auditors are employees. Both are independent and follow professional standards. How do I know this? I was an internal auditor for 7 years at a top 5 bank and still hold an audit certification.

      1. Hey, Harvey, is Alec correct in his estimation on the potential cost of an external audit being in the tens of thousands of dollars?

         1. Jonathan, I can answer that since I have daily experience in the world of compliance and governance and am part of the team that reviews the contracts (financial and IT) for hiring outside companies such as KPMG and Delloite. The contracts are negotiated and it’s relative to the scope of the audit, what each party is responsible for, how the audit is conducted, do the auditors need to come on-site (travel expenses), etc.. Tens of thousand easily. That cost doesn’t include labor and materials spent by the company requiring the audit has to spend for it’s employees
            participation.
            Dang, that Rand is a manical nutter.

            1. I misspelled maniacal. :/

            2. D’oh! That’ll teach me not to read ahead in the comments! Sorry, BW.

               Still on notice for the insult, though.

            3. I think you mean “maniacal nutter,” but that is still an insult. PLEASE, people, stop with the insults so I can stop with the warnings!

               “Tens of thousand easily. That cost doesn’t include labor and materials spent by the company requiring the audit has to spend for it’s employees.”

               Thanks for that info, BW. Hopefully, the detractors will believe you about the cost, but somehow I doubt they will. They tend to rely on home-made facts instead of getting them from anywhere else.

            4. Hey, now. I didn’t call him a name, just observing how passionately erratic he comes off in his comments. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      2. That’s not entirely correct, there are many audits which are performed from outside contractors which are not employees of the company for which the audit is being performed .. There are major companies which do have internal auditors on the payroll, however in legal questionable bookkeeping situations, they are usually required or ordered to have the books reviewed by a totally independent firm ..

         1. Sorry tony but your off base, 1.) he had already mentioned that their are both internal and external audits. 2.) companies do internal audits of legally questionable things all the time. For those companies it isn’t until their is a court order that an external team comes in, however that’s neither here nor their. This audit isn’t even about the pending lawsuit, nor is it about anything legally questionable, it’s about keeping the fan base happy while the lawsuit stonewalls production. As I’ve pointed out to other detractors, this whole smear campaign against Alecs financials is just a distraction from CBSP’s camp. Because, If Alec was intending to defraud donators then he wouldn’t be in a lawsuit for trying to make the film. All that’s going on here is CBSP trying to save face with the audience while removing Alecs supporters, and frankly unless your of sub average intellect or just have your own ax to grind I don’t see how you would fall for it. I mean do you demand the financials from Apple when your not happy with your i-whatevers and demand Steve Jobs account for why he claimed a latte on his tax return. It’s ridiculous and completely unprecedented, how about we dissect Leslie Moonves financials since he is just as responsible for the delay in the production of this movie, it would be just as ridiculous. So you donated money to a kickstarter that didn’t deliver, get in line they actually have a warning in their terms of use that “cannot guarantee creators’ work” and trust me this isn’t the first one to fail. But unlike many other projects this isn’t the creators fault nor anyone else on the production team. It seems to me that Alec had every intention of finishing the movie, otherwise we wouldn’t be here in this lawsuit right (logic shes a tricky one). So if you believe your money was wasted, instead of bellyaching about sushi, maybe you should send a kindly worded letter to CBSP about the lawsuit and how it has personally effected you. Because if you donated you can’t complain about Alecs use of CBSPs intellectual property, because you, by your donations knowingly supported and encouraged such actions (man theirs that logic again). If you donated you did so knowing it was not affiliated with CBSPs but was in fact the antithesis thereof. Any of you so called donators, who after the fact are complaining about Alec, only show your limited intellect as you are either pointing out that YOU 1) didn’t fully understand what you were donating to and the possible risks involved in such a donation, or 2) don’t understand what is going on with the lawsuit, what it’s about, who is involved, etc. Because otherwise logic would have brought you to the immediate conclusion that CBSP just verga blocked your movie.

            1. “If Alec was intending to defraud donators then he wouldn’t be in a lawsuit for trying to make the film”

               THAT!!!…was the equation!

            2. Way to go, Ruk!

            3. While I enjoyed the Ruk reference, that equation does not compute. I was a cop for twenty five years. Criminals are stupid. Criminals lie, and keep lieing, even after they are caught and proven to be liars. That is what they do.
               I imagine most donators realized the IP risk, but the point is many fan films have been made (actually made!). All of the others film makers obeyed the rule (don’t make money from your project). Alec took their money (after publically admitting he knew the rule), violated the rule and totally mismanaged/wasted/misused those funds. Now Alec appears to be back peddling and retro actively correcting his “mistakes”
               By the way, CBS/P are not preventing Alec from making the movie. If he had the money (and he has said he does not) and someone with talent it could still be made.
               All of Alec’s fans should quit patting each other on the back and insist on true accountability for your own sakes.

            4. “All of Alec’s fans should quit patting each other on the back and insist on true accountability for your own sakes.”

               Kinda makes you wonder why we’re not…don’t it? I mean, according to your “facts,” we should be as incensed as you are, Daniel. And yet, we’re still 100% behind Alec (the “criminal”). Is there even the remotest possibility that all of us are the ones who are right and it’s you who are wrong? Even a .00001% possibility?

   4. Is it just me or does Rand (much like a similarly named yeoman) really have nothing to add to the episodes he appears in?

      1. That does NOT count as an insult…only a rather brilliant observation! (My blog, my rules. That’s my summary judgment.) 😉

3. Happy birthday, Jonathan. From this alta kaker, 50 was fine. 60 was interesting as a marker that retirement was closing in. 70 was a bit rough. We’ll see about 80 in 9 years. So celebrate.

   1. When Mozart was my age, he’d already been dead for 25 years! So there is that. Of course, my guitar playing is pretty pathetic, and I read music like a cow reads Hebrew. So Mozart may have accomplished a bit more than I…at least musically. Then again, Mozart never had a Star Trek blog site!. 🙂

4. Why don’t you get a similar interview with Pedraza going where we can ask him why he’s being such a dick?

   1. Remember the “no direct insults rule,” Bob. Even though there’s worse things to call Carlos, you still get a warning.

   2. Carlos Pedzarra is all class (and never calls people names). I doubt he’s harassing anyone. If you’re part of a news story, people, many people, are going to contact you and ask for statements.

      I think it’s much more likely that friends of Axanar are fine with taking a look at the financials to help a fan film, but don’t want to actually responsible to “the public” about it. I mean, if there is something wrong in there they didn’t catch, they’re going to be immortalized on blogs and articles as people who turned a blind eye to things This is going to be what people find when they google your name.

      It’s a huge responsibility I would never take. I don’t know what would be in it for anyone, but the risks of missing something.

   3. It’s now pronounced verga we already made that decision early in the thread try to keep up.

      1. So Sofia Vergara…should I even ask? 😉

5. Jonathan,you realize that by saying early in the blog, that Pedrza will pester you next. Get ready to screen your calls!!!!!!!

   1. LOL!!!!!!

   2. I already screen calls because we get a lot of telemarketers. But Carlos contacts me from time to time via e-mail. If he wants to ask me a question, he knows he can send an e-mail and I’ll answer him…if I can. I’m not at liberty to discuss the specifics of the financials with anyone besides Alec himself. I promised.

      1. Good!!! I have a phone that has caller ID built in. Plus I have the telephone company package including it. So, if I hear a number or name I don’t recognize, I don’t bother to pick up the phone. LOL!!!!!

6. Happy Birthday (IN advance). Welcome to the half century club! The ONLY entrance requirement is living!

   Enjoy your day!

   (These typos……)

7. I would ask what makes Axanar any different from the original Star Trek using ideology and artistic references to Forbidden Planet? Or Alien doing the same from Planet of the Vampires? Star Wars from the Star Trek episode ‘The Corbomite Maneuver’?

   we see to have become accustomed to some ‘entitlement’ that so called ‘Rights Holders’ assume as if it were an honorable or good thing. And yet they are allowed to re-imagine or re-define story and artwork ever 5 to 10 years and ‘widen’ their claim to story coverage interpretation .. where does it end? Do the courts ever side with defendents who are tasked with ‘proving’ Originality and Original Intent.. or is it automatically evil to re-tell stories from the Bible now?

   1. I’m worried about the same thing after following this lawsuit Willis, it seems to me that with our new system of laws that property rights both intellectual and physical are as eternal as the system that supports them. So unless its already in the public domain or doesn’t interest a major company enough to be purchased it will likely be private property until Armageddon (copyright Touchstone Pictures). Take this case for example, each work will eventually fall into the public domain, based on current laws, 70 years after the death of the author. However all CBSP has to do to keep the franchise is continue to make new episodes and they retain copyright over the Startrek universe, or at least that would follow their claim. That’s the exact case that is going over the Andy Griffith eps. that became public domain, because even though they are now public domain they contain elements that are still copywritten. And this is a new change from the old copyright standard of 56 years, copyrights have expanded over the last few decades to a ridiculous rate. If I wrote a book I would happy with 56 years of royalties, to extend the protection of those works beyond my death only serves to make others money off of my work long after I’m cold in the ground, that’s simply unnatural. But we seem to live in an unnatural world these days, were corporations are human and real flesh and blood humans have fewer and fewer right day after day. Anyways, I digress good luck Willis your gonna need it.

   2. What makes Star Trek different from Forbidden Plant?
      – The fact they (Gene Roddenberry and Desilu) DIDN’T directly copy designs, uniforms from; or try to say it was set in the Universe of the film ‘Forbidden Planet’.
      ^^^
      That’s the big difference back in 1964. If Alec had come up with his own universe and and character and not specifically state it was a “wholly independent Star Trek film” and raised money from the public, he wouldn’t be in the situation he is (but he probably would not have raised 1.5 million either.)

      1. If Woody had gone straight to the police, this would never have happened. 🙂

8. happy birthday Johnathan. as a member of the 50 club, welcome aboard, you can now expect AARP letters in the mail. so their is that.

   my question for Alec is not directly related to financials, but it is a simple one. “As a fellow native New Yorker(Syosset as opposed to Cold Spring Harbor), what do you miss most about New York?

   1. I already got my first AARP letter. I’m planning to sign up. My cousin just did and saved a boatload on a cruise he just took over Christmas with his family.

      As a native New Yorker myself (upper east side), I can very quickly answer answer your question: decent pizza, decent bagels, and authentic Canton-style Chinese food. Oh, and pushcart hot dogs and cherry Italian ices in Central Park in the summertime. Things I don’t miss: the smell of the subway just as I begin walking down under the sidewalk, not being able to make a right on red, having to tilt my head to see the sky, New Yorker rudeness, and ridiculous prices for everything. Oh, and New Jersey. 😉

9. Jonathan

   Verga is spanish for cock.

   1. Señor Hicks never taught us that in high school Spanish class! I can, however, properly conjugate the verb poder. ¡Si, yo puedo! 🙂

      1. You know exactly what he meant Jonathan and he sure as hell was not calling me a rooster.

         1. See my answer to the previous comment when I talked about my high school Spanish teacher, Rand. Yes, I know what he was calling you. He was warned.

            1. But not necessarily incorrect. I know, I’ll warn myself.

            2. I wasn’t gonna warn you on that one, Brian. It was too oblique. Name calling is more what I’m looking to discourage.

            3. If people want to call others horrible things and can’t do it here, I seem to recall seeing a certain Facebook page where civility operates at about the same level as it does in a Mad Max film.

            4. Oh, Mad Max is only R-rated. Some of the stuff on CBS/PvAxanar is downright NC-17! 🙂

10. That said, I would recommend inclusion of a professional auditor. I would be happy to do it for expenses (travel, hotel, transportation, food), or provide names of other auditors that would do it for cost. I’m more of an IT auditor, but am happy to help out.

    1. Assuming it takes two weeks (not sure, but let’s assume), and your flight is $700 round trip, hotel is $150/night for 14 nights ($2100), rental car is $150/week, and food is $20/day…that’s still $3,500 in donor dollars for an audit intended solely to make the detractors have to find something else to complain about (or simply accuse you, Harvey, of also being an Axanar lackey and helping to cook the books, too).

       Y’see, eventually you just have to say “screw the detractors” and just move on with your life. They’re always going to find something wrong and something to complain about. Heck, they complain about the white text on the black background of this blog! (And no, I’m not changing it.) Gabe Koerner has been IMing me for weeks trying to torpedo this financial report and review before it even leaves space dock. When minds are so made up, it’s not worth $3,500 or really any money to give them the time of day. Alec prepared this report for the donors. Assuming the case is either won or settles in a way that lets him crowd-fund again to restart the production, Alec wants the donors to know that their money has been properly spent. The detractors have already tried to sabotage that to the point of libel and slander, but there are still many, many Axanar supporters out there who simply want to see a summary of the financials and the review committee reports. They don’t require a full audit, as it’s a waste of donor dollars…even for a price as low as $3,500. That money could go toward better costumes or make-up, a new computer or three for editing and rendering, or just materials for sets.

       But that’s just me. I don’t speak for Alec on this one. Maybe it’s worth $3,500 to him for the “free” audit. Alec?

       1. I will pay for this man’s costs, or the costs for an associate he recommends. What are your objections now?

          1. Well, once again, I have no idea if you have the ability to actually pay. But it’s not my call to make. If Harvey wants to trust you to pay him, that’s his risk to take.

             In the meantime, it’s Alec’s call if he wants to move forward on this. I’m just a blogger. 🙂

             1. Alec has proceeded to call me “a liar who can’t be trusted”, that I’m “clearly trying to fuck us over” and to “have fun with your hater friends”…

                Still waiting to hear back as to why he won’t submit to a free, impartial independent audit. It begs the question: WHAT IS HE TRYING TO HIDE??

             2. Even when quoting, please at least write “f*ck.” My son can read, and he sometimes looks over my shoulder while I’m typing (usually waiting to ask me a question). I’d rather not explain certain words to him at the age of six. I hope you understand.

          2. “I will pay for this man’s costs”

             Until you can prove otherwise, this is a pie-crust promise. Easily made, easily broken. (name the movie?)

             1. Did someone say pie?

                Well, aside from Julie Andrews?

    2. There you have it, Jonathan (and Alec). No “Deloitte and Touche”, no “$30,000 in escrow”, just an impartial professional willing to do an audit at cost. What’s your objection now?

       1. I’m still wondering why a auditing professional would forgo his fees to do an extensive audit. What does he/she get out of it? Besides answering to Jo Moine and the haters? Doesn’t sound impartial to me.

          If you are serious about your first offer to pay for an “impartial” audit I challenge you to get a written estimate from an independent audit firm, and show the means to pay for that fee.

          1. That would sure shut ME up! 🙂

11. I was wondering, Alec has said that the group will be made up of industry pros and donors.

    Are there any donors apart of this committee?

    1. Yes. Read the blog again.

       1. Sorry, I should of explained it better.

          What I meant was no donor that did a donation from Kickstarter or Indegogo.

12. What an analogy to a cow reading Hebrew. I loved it but I suspect you’re not quite as bad as that.

    1. When I play guitar, it sounds like moo-sic! 🙂

       And three of my guitar teachers over the years were, indeed, practicing Jews: Mark Lieberman in elementary school; my camp counselor at the 92nd Street YMHA, Moshe (Mache, we used to call him–he was teaching me “Cats in the Cradle” when Harry Chapin was killed in a car accident in 1981); and Phil Shapiro in college back at Cornell. I only ever had one guitar teacher who wasn’t Jewish: Larry (can’t for the life of me remember his last name), but I think he was Greek or Eastern European. I suppose he could have been Jewish.

       What were we talking about again? 😉

13. First of all Happy Birthday to you My question to Alec Peters is when I was at the Pensacola Paracon last year I had a chance to speak with Larry Nemecek who played the role of Dr. McCoy in episodes 1 and 2 of Star Trek Continues . He claims that Alec and these are his words not mine started spouting off all sort of nonsense to other people { long story short } . He also claims that if CBS hadn’t sued Axanar people would’ve been asking why didn’t CBS do something ? His words not mine .

    What’s Alec response to this comment ?

    1. Okay, I need to clarify two things:

       1) I an NOT taking questions for Alec right now. That will happen next week when the Axanar financials are released.

       2) The questions I will be collecting then are intended to be about the financials. If I open the door to questions about everything, I’ll end up with a 47-part interview! (And yes, I chose the number 47 because…Star Trek blog!)

14. Australia hailing.Pure and simple.No other comments about anything else but 1 think.Happy Birthday young Fella.Welcome to the 50 club.All the best.Have a great day.:)

    1. Thanks. I’m enjoying the last few days of my 40s like I’m enjoying the last few days before I have to drop the word “elect” after “president.” 🙂

       Today, it’s rock wall climbing with Jayden. Tomorrow, the Griffith Observatory. And Monday…tobogganing! That’s a rare treat in southern California!

       1. Better enjoy that while you can they become teenagers soon enough!!

          OK Back on topic.

          I read over at Axamonitor that Carlos is characterizing, his harassment as less than advertised.

          I’d just like to point out that, If you touch someone with even 1 finger and it’s unwanted. It’s considered assault. So perhaps he should consider taking his unwanted journalism elsewhere. Or at least confining it to the dark recesses of his own blog where it belongs.

          1. I feel harassed every time he calls me a “surrogate.” But do you see me bitching like a little girl? (Well, aside from this comment.) 😉

             And, oh crap! Now I’ve just committed libel against bitchy little girls…oh, and spies, too! (Okay, pop quiz: what awesome TV series was I just referencing?)

             1. “Burn Notice”?

             2. BINGO! That show rocked!

             3. Battlestar Remake – Or as I like to call it GINO

             4. Nope, “Burn Notice” was correct, Mickey.

          2. Mickey,

             You mean battery, not assault.

             And just like you, Carlos is well within his rights to call anyone he desires (unless there is a restraining order in place).

             Venture back to your dark recess.

             1. Whatever man, Both things are the same category. The difference is degree. They are lumped together.

                Some people may have forgotten. But I remember when Alec tried to bring several of the fan film groups together, And Pedraza started leaking that information. It was a primary reason why, almost everyone threw Alec under the bus, and we now have the guidelines we have.

                It’s pretty obvious that he seeks to do the same thing now with the financial information.

                Everything that comes out of his blog is slanted to be negative against Axanar, and particularly agaist Alec Peters, in a way that puts the Hatfields and the Mccoys to shame.

             2. That’s not true, according to my sexual harassment lecture that I have sit through with every new employer, Harassment is any unwanted advance, words, action, interactions, etc. So when someone says that he keeps calling that does fall into the realm of harassment, which can be a crime “The crime of harassment (which can include stalking, hate crimes, and cyberbullying) occurs when one person acts in a way designed to annoy, provoke, threaten, or otherwise cause another person emotional distress. State laws and some federal laws identify multiple ways in which harassment can be committed.” So your on notice now all of you, so just be excellent to eachother.

15. I am curious what are the actual issues here.

    Aren’t the Axanar financials (two versions) already part of the lawsuit, and hence a matter of public record? As such, shouldn’t anyone who has issues (either way, for or against) can see it?

    Secondly, are there any disputes on the following points:
    a) Axanar raise $1M+ from donation?
    b) Alec spent $150k of his own money?
    c) Costs incurred include paying for professional actors/actresses, meals, transportation and so on?

    (Does that mean that the production has already spent $150k + whatever raised in KS?)

    Additional comments:

    When Alec uses terms like “P&L”, it sounds very much like a commercial venture to me. It is not unheard of for someone to spend their own money to create a prototype or a trailer to try to bootstrap new business. In fact, the prime example is Richard Hatch who spent his own money to make a Battlestar Galactica trailer, hoping to get Universal to do a continuation (without success). Hatch certainly lost money, but the whole thing is clearly commercial, abate has little success.

    Regarding the issue of who is on the audit committee. I do understand that a formal, professional audit is expensive. But if Alec is interested in the appearance of impartiality, why don’t he ask someone OUTSIDE of the production, with credibility, to find committee members? He does not have to be the one who chooses the volunteers. In fact, I am sure Jonathan here, or any bloggers watching this, will be happy to find some CPA friends who are willing to donate their time to get this going.

    1. “Aren’t the Axanar financials (two versions) already part of the lawsuit, and hence a matter of public record? As such, shouldn’t anyone who has issues (either way, for or against) can see it?”

       Nope. Both versions of the financial statement are currently under a confidentiality order.

       “(Does that mean that the production has already spent $150k + whatever raised in KS?)”

       Pretty much, yes.

       “But if Alec is interested in the appearance of impartiality, why don’t he ask someone OUTSIDE of the production, with credibility, to find committee members? He does not have to be the one who chooses the volunteers. In fact, I am sure Jonathan here, or any bloggers watching this, will be happy to find some CPA friends who are willing to donate their time to get this going.”

       I have no friends who are CPAs. I have two friends who are accountants (well, one of them is my accountant; so more of a friendly business acquaintance). Neither of them works for free. Neither is a Trekkie or an Axanerd. The kind of work you’re talking about isn’t a single afternoon with a calculator and a pencil to chew on. Alec quite literally has thousands of receipts–from purchases of lumber and paint to rent and insurance payments to production and fulfillment costs for perks for tens of thousands of donors (along with payment processing fees for each of those individual micro-transactions) to payroll to supplies to travel to phone and utilities to furniture to VFX to costumes and props to…oh, man I could do this all frickin’ night! Anyway, each one of those transactions has to be individually checked over a verified during an audit. That is weeks and weeks of full-time work…possibly months.

       You find a friend who is a CPA billing $50-100/hour willing to put that income aside for a few weeks to do you a favor!

       1. We found at least one certified auditor who said he is willing to do it at cost – and I said I was willing to cover those costs. Now what is Alec’s objection?

          1. Actually, I don’t know if Alec is even aware of the offer. I can check with him, but he doesn’t always return my calls.

             That said, Alec doesn’t know either of you. If I were he, I wouldn’t be letting some stranger into Industry Studios for 2 to 4 weeks without seeing quite a lot of background information on his/her credentials and qualifications, interviewing former clients of his/hers, and having a thorough discussion to verify that this person would be providing an unbiased audit. After all, if the detractors can accuse Alec’s accountants of cooking the books, wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume a hater-funded reviewer would likewise be motivated to present a skewed final report?

             And of course, Jo, we still have no information about you and your financial resources. Would you care to share with the class?

             1. Just Google me. Alec has known me and done business with me for almost ten years. Who the hell are you?

                And he is aware of the offer.

                Also, I am asking for (and willing to pay for) an independent auditor. A guy popped up on this page and said he would do it pro bono. I don’t know him. I’m assuming he is an Axanar supporter.

                BTW, sorry Alec doesn’t return your calls. We’ve been talking almost every day this week. Again, who the hell are you?

             2. Google me. 🙂

                http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Jonathan_Lane

                And if Alec is aware of the offer, then why the heck are you talking to ME??? That’s like having a business meeting with the CEO of the company and then stopping to argue with the elevator maintenance man on the way out!

                “Way out” is right! 🙂

16. Hahaha!
    You just don’t get it Alec.
    If you were making a legitimate independent film certainly these guys could speak to the way you’ve done your books. They would know if you’ve set them up properly, if the expenses and deductions are appropriate and justifiable, etc. They still could NOT determine if they’re legal or if they’ll stop you getting in trouble with the IRS. They’re not accountants.

    The problem for you is that you need to convince a jury and your donors and the IRS that you’re making a fan film and that you personally have not had any financial gain. This “independent review” certainly won’t do that.

    You also seem to be really obsessed with “the haters” and what they think. This review definitely won’t satisfy them either. You claim to have put a bunch of money into the production but no one has seen any proof. You claim to be doing far more than any other fan film regarding transparency but that is a blatant misrepresentation. First off, you haven’t released anything publicly ever (the 2015 report was just to donors before it was leaked). Continues on the other hand have made public their financials and tax returns AND submitted them to the IRS for their 501 (c)(3) accreditation. That makes THEM the most transparent fan production ever.

    It’s very simple Alec. You seem to want people to think you’ve done nothing wrong but everything you do makes it look the opposite. If you truly want to be transparent, RELEASE ALL OF THE FINANCIALS! Release both sets of books you supplied to the court, your notes, donor income, convention income, etc. EVERYTHING. If you truly want people to see your transparency then just do it. Anything else just makes it look like you’re hiding which makes you look guilty.

    1. You seem to be confuse, it’s understandable many here are. The books are not under any scrutiny except from people like you, the IRS isn’t involved except in your imagination, and the jury is not judging Alec’s financial practices either, this is a copyright case not a financial case. The audit is only to appease people like you which from my respective is futile and a waste of time, but it’s not my life so whatevs.

       1. “Whatevs”? Really? You’ve saved yourself typing ONE FRICKIN’ LETTER, dude! Kids these days! 😉

       2. Ummmmm, actually the jury IS considering Alec’s financial practices, why else did he submit two sets of books and the judge ruled Axanar is commercial enterprise? The money is a key part of the case.

          The other reason I am so concerned with them is because Alec loves to say Axanar is “THE MOST TRANSPARENT FAN FILM EVER”. What he is doing is not transparency, it’s obsfucation.

17. I am guessing that if the detractors did want a INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTING FIRM to do an audit for public consumption and wanted to fund the effort themselves (without Alex or Axanar fan funds), it might be acceptable to Alex, the courts, and possibly even detractors (but somehow I doubt the latter).

    Personally I don’t see it as needed, but that is just me.

    I am looking forward to this being over and Axanar being produced and distributed!

    PS, happy birthday Alex!

    1. Alec’s birthday was in September, I think. Mine is next week, Jack. But I’ll accept the “Happy Birthday” on Alec’s behalf. 🙂

       The thing about hiring an independent accounting firm is that such a firm has to be paid by someone. If it’s paid for by Alec, then the detractors will accuse the firm of helping him to cover up his transgressions because he’s their client If it’s paid for by the detractors, then it’s likely they will be accused of instructing the firm to turn up any piece of dirt they can, and if they can’t, to find something anyway.

       So a Mexican stand-off, perhaps, just with calculators pointed at each other instead of guns. 🙂

       1. Jonathan – my birthday is next week as well, the 18th. I’m a bit past 50 though. Thanks for keeping us up to date. From my life as a government contractor at a nuclear site, I can attest that there are multiple levels of independence that may be invoked depending on the review being conducted. Alec appears to have settled at a level that looks very similar to what I have seen as an independent readiness assessment, performed when preparing to start up either a new process or one that had been shutdown for a while. “Independent” in this context means that the reviewers had no direct input to the startup preparations. It did not mean that they were independent from the contractor. As an engineering manager I performed independent reviews, as defined in our procedures, of engineering work performed by the organizations directly responsible for the startup. So I am completely comfortable with the amount of separation that this team (at least the two names listed) has from the actual activities of Axanar.

          1. Well, I’m comfortable, too. But as I said, we don’t really matter. 🙂

             The team is assembled and the review nearly completed. And nothing you, I, nor any of the detractors is going to change that.

18. Mr. peters you’ve stated many time all the Pledge/Donor money has been spent. My point? If that’s the case, why would it take any donor funds to do a proper audit? If ‘transparency’ is what you really aspire to an independent professional audit would in fact be the way to go, wouldn’t it?

    1. Is it just me, or does that comment not make any sense?

19. I would personally pay the entire cost of an external, professional auditor – one with no ties to Axanar or the “haters”. It is the only way to finally put this issue to bed for good.

    I don’t believe people involved in this case can conduct a wholly impartial audit.

    Now there are no more excuses, Alec.

    1. Okay, so let me just confirm, Jo. You are willing to deposit $30,000 into an escrow account to cover the potential cost of an independent auditor like Deloitte Touche to be paid directly to them up front (you would, of course, be refunded any overages, but a contract would be drawn up between you and the firm to verify your responsibility for the difference if the $30,000 is an underpayment).

       As soon as the money is confirmed in escrow, I am certain Alec would be happy to speak with you further.

       (Personally, I think there’s a lot of better ways to spend $30,000…cancer research, UNICEF, eve funding for Pacific 201! But hey, it’s your money, Jo.

       1. Nobody puts “$30,000 into escrow up front”. I love how Alec is trying to make an independent audit of Axanar seem as complicated as Enron. It’s not. My offer stands.

          1. Then let me ask how you intend to make good on this “offer,” Jo. Will you hire Deloitte yourself? Will you be their client? I’m not sure how you expect to pay for this audit.

             1. Why do you think this is complicated? Why do you question if I can/will pay for it? The offer stands. There are no more obstacles to an impartial audit of Axanar’s books. I will pay for it, or better yet, find a firm who will do it pro bono. As long as they are truly impartial and not subject to manipulation from either “side”. Keep putting up objections – your bias is showing.

             2. Look, Jo, in my former role as a business analyst, my job was to plan out logistics for my clients. Lots of times in business, people make suggestions that simply aren’t actionable in a reliable or well-planned way. Sometimes you can figure out ways around that, other times you can’t. But my job was to list the speed bumps BEFORE the company implemented strategies and went careening off the road.

                So here’s where I see the problems in your “offer,” Jo…

                1) It’s simply your word. I have no verifiable proof that you actually have the funds available to finance a full, professional, and reliable audit of a business endeavor with more than one million dollars both in revenue and accounts payable. Hence, my recommend of an escrow account. Once $30,000 is deposited, your ability and willingness to pay for the audit becomes verified. Otherwise, to use a technical business term, you could simply just be “talking out of your ass.” If so, and a firm is retained with only your promise that “I will pay for it,” then that firm needs to be retained up front with a deposit and guarantee to pay for their services upon completion. If you don’t put up that money in advance, then who does? Alec Peters? And then he does what exactly when the audit is done? Sends you an invoice and hope you pay him back? Get real, Jo! You could be living in a trailer park with $8500 in credit card debt and no job. You either take this offer seriously and put the money into escrow, or you let the adults do their work while you play outside in the yard.

                2) “or better yet, find a firm who will do it pro bono.” And there’s the smell that makes my bullshat detector go off. Why would any reliable and trustworthy firm with financial auditing capabilities possibly examine Axanar Productions three years of finances pro bono? I mean really! Or are you just going to ask your Uncle Larry who works as an accountant and owes you a favor? How about you first bring Alec the offer from this magnanimous pro bono accounting firm you’ve imagined is out there somewhere, and we’ll proceed forward when that firm’s credentials can be properly examined, verified, and considered.

                Look, Jo, anyone can make the offer you just did. It’s as easy as typing it in. I can offer to pay for your daughter’s wedding and buy her a house. Should you believe me? Do you even have a daughter? The point is that you can make all the offers you want…until you back them up with anything we can verify, then you’re just some stranger on the street offering write me a check and buy my car.

             3. It’s a little over a million dollars! Why does Alec need Deloitte? Oh, that’s right. He doesn’t. People have offered to pay for this. You can stop deflecting for Alec and let him speak for himself on this issue OR you can close comments.

                There is no doubt in any of the “haters”‘ minds that Alec intended to produce a fan film. But something along the line happened and sight was lost. Things grew out of control at a rapid pace and many people who have the “hater” label are actual donors who just wanted to know what happened to their money. (Admittedly, I’m not a donor. But I don’t like see people being silenced for questions. THAT’s why I’m a “hater.” Not that it should matter.)

                Some people are fine with Alec’s answers. That’s cool. Some aren’t. Don’t they deserve answers to their questions?

             4. “Some people are fine with Alec’s answers. That’s cool. Some aren’t. Don’t they deserve answers to their questions?”

                Actually, that is a good question. Do they deserve answers to their questions? What have they done to deserve those answers? It’s a very good question, indeed.

                As for closing comments, why should I do that? This is a public forum with no censorship other than for potty words and insults. If I close comments, then I become exactly what you and many people are complaining about. Lots of folks complain about me for lots of things. But censoring is NOT one of them, Ryan.

             5. Jonathan as a donor I much rather money be spent for a truly independent audit than some of the questionable items it was spend for according to court documents. I don’t want to hear, it was money Alec donated, honestly is any reasonable person going to believe that? When it would have been far more logical to pay his expenses, then donate what you have left over to keep the studio going. Alec is an experienced businessman, surely he knew better than to commingle funds and muddy the waters with what would only make his actions look questionable at best.

                The question now becomes why are you so terrified of a truly independent audit?

             6. “The question now becomes why are you so terrified of a truly independent audit?”

                I’m not terrified of anything, Brenda…except birds flapping their wings right next to my eyes. That’s my kryptonite. Indiana Jones had snakes; I’ve got birds. To each his own.

                As for Alec commingling funds, I can’t speak to that. However, back when I had a small business, I never had a separate credit card for the company. I charged what I needed to and then did expenses later, with the company reimbursing me when appropriate. In Alec’s case–and I’m only guessing here–he did something similar. And all of those receipts were bundled together into one set of Quicken books. Axanar Productions likely paid the credit card bills for everything (including set materials, supplies, postage, etc…plus things like car maintenance and business meals), and the intention was to sort everything out later.

                With Alec putting in $150,000 of his own money, there was never a question of him having his hand in the cookie jar (or else he would have put in zero dollars…right?…right?). It was simply a matter of finding the time to sort out which expenses were business and which were personal. The personal ones came out of Alec’s own pocket, but with a single credit card (I’m not sure if that was the case–I’m just conjecturing), those charges and receipts would need to be sorted later. And of course, they eventually were. It just took a while. But just because it took so long to clean up the mess of mish-mash doesn’t mean Alec was embezzling. It just means he was doing the same thing I used to do and other small business owners do…consolidating everything onto a single credit card (or a few cards) that was/were used for both personal and business together.

                Now, you might be asking, “Why didn’t Alec get a dedicated credit card to use only for business?” Why didn’t I? I can answer the latter question. Because I couldn’t. Back in the days when I owned my own small business and it was just starting up, the best I could find was a corporate card with a $7,500 credit limit. My business was brand new and hadn’t build up a credit record yet. But my personal credit card (at the time) had a $34,000 credit limit. So I used my personal card.

                Anyway, just remember that I’m not speaking for Alec or even speaking with him all that often. Occasionally, he calls to say “Hi” or leaves me a message, “Hey, I just tweeted out your blog.” But please don’t think I’m spending time relaying the questions and comments on this blog to him each night for three hours! If Alec is bothering to read these comments, he’s welcome to respond himself. The only reason I respond is to answer questions that I personally can and to, when possible, correct misinformation. Oh, and anytime I can pun or slip in a genre movie or television reference, I do that, too! 🙂

             7. Jo Monie, so you seem to believe you know how much an audit costs, I dare you to get a written estimate from Deloitte Touche. Tell the generalities and amount to be audited ($ 1 million +). They will gladly give you an estimate free of charge.

                Then you can see how much you can afford. How do I know it’s around $30,000? My wife worked them in capacity of senior account/auditor for private and governmental agencies for six years.

             8. How about those people who are making these “offers” that we can’t refuse, actually go do something. If you think it’s so easy go find that firm that you think will do it for free, or go hire a company that’s willing to do it then come back here and say hey I’ve found a company willing to do it and have come to an agreement with them, then you can talk to Alec. Otherwise it’s just talk, wasting my time trying to get through the comments. Put your money were your mouth is as they say, cause I’m tired of your mouth.

             9. Yeah, what he said! (Hey, Anchorage, are you a he or a she?) 🙂

             10. We now have at least two professional auditors who will do the audit pro bono, and I have agreed to cover their costs. Alec is aware of my ability to pay.

                 I’m not sure why you are trying to put up so many roadblocks to this independent audit.

             11. Remember, Jo, I can’t put up road blocks OR bridges. I’m just a blogger. I don’t work for Alec; I don’t speak for Alec. I’m just a guy who used to get paid to be a business analyst back before my son was born, so I tend to figure out where the holes are in any idea…and your idea is full of them, Jo. Nothing personal, it just is.

                 And the biggest hole? You’re trying to convince ME! I’m nobody. You want to do this, contact Alec. Apparently, you’re already in touch with him. And if he’s turning you down, then I’m certain there’s a good reason (like the fact that it sounds like you’re hell-bent on bringing him down…which doesn’t suggest it would be in his best interests to accept your offer). But seriously, even if I agreed with you and wanted to accept your offer, that’s not my call to make. The most I’ve ever done to work closely with Alec Peters is to stuff patches into envelopes, help man some convention booths, assemble his IKEA desk, and carry about a thousand pounds of carpet rolls up to the second floor of Ares Studios.

             12. Remember, Jonathan, you’re talking to people who believe Alec has intimate knowledge of the condition of your prostate. They take the “surrogate” moniker Pedraza hung on you as gospel.

             13. I wish! (Well, not about the prostate.) If I were a surrogate, I could just rely on Alec to provide me with quotes all the time. Instead, I just wing it. Also, I would guess that, as a surrogate, Alec would give me a LOT more juicy information instead of telling me, “Well, I’m not allowed to talk about that…” all the frickin’ time! I WISH I were a surrogate! It probably pays more (well, anything would pay more than this gig…even finding loose change in the sofa!).

             14. Jeeze everyone! Jo Moine is offering “at cost” auditors who will be “completely” independent!!….though they are friends….of people that want to bring Alec and Axanar down, but are willing to pass up on actual paid work because they are just being nice……because Jo Moine doesn’t trust actual paid outside accountants and CPA’s, who are actually “independent”and won’t tell haters want to hear…..

                 Seems legit….

                 Why the ROADBLOCKS!!!

             15. Much sarcasm in you, I sense…

                 🙂

          2. Sense you do…. sarcasm I have…. when cake I do not….

20. You might also want to have Alec ask Milton why he called Carlos back twice and emailed him just a few hours ago if was really feeling harassed. This is just another attempt at deflection.

    1. I can’t speak for Alec, but I was just e-mailed by Carlos with a bit of a thinly-veiled threat:

       Harassment, Jonathan? Really?

       That’s a bit of dirty pool, accusing someone of a crime on your blog with absolutely no evidence, not mention that it’s defamatory.

       Every word you published of Alec Peters’ accusation I harassed Milton, Cedric or Kevin is provably false — I have phone records, emails, texts and Facebook messages to demonstrate exactly that. I urge you to retract it. Printing such things can have legal consequences.

       The “printing such things can have legal consequences” is, of course, implying that someone might sue me for something. And since Carlos is the one being defamed by Alec’s comment, my guess is that Carlos was saying he would be the one to do it.

       Now, do I consider this “harassment” of me by Carlos? Hardly. (Remember that my wife is a partner at one of the major law firms in L.A. Carlos’ “threat” has all the teeth of a hummingbird). But there are others who might think differently and might have responded in another way had they received the same e-mail. That’s the thing about harassment. Like fair use, it’s kind of vague and case-by-case…and it can, sometimes, bump up against First Amendment rights. But I don’t want to make a federal case out of it (too many of those on this blog site already!). 🙂

       So who’s to say whether Milton felt harassed. Only Milton. I feel harassed by telemarketers. I often call back the number on caller ID just to get the message “If you want to be placed on our Do-Not-Call list, press 9.” (That said, I’ve recently been told that’s like responding to a spam e-mail by clicking “unsubscribe”–it just tells them they’ve hit a “real” e-mail/phone number.)

       Anyway, there’s any number of reasons that Milton would have tried to contact Carlos. Maybe it was as simple as trying to tell him, “Look, I’m not on the damn committee! Stop trying to call me!” Either way, I’m making no conclusive statements one way or the other regarding Carlos’ conduct because I don’t know the details. Alec, however, did make comments. I quoted them. If Carlos wants to sue me for quoting someone else, well, good luck with everything.

       By the way, I did respond to Carlos with the following offer: “…if you would like to write me a statement of your own, please submit it, and I will include it word-for-word on Fan Film Factor with no other commentary from me other than a brief introduction of who you are and what triggered this statement from you.” I think that’s fair. I’ve never seen Carlos offer that courtesy to me or Alec. Personally, I don’t need it–I’ve got more readers. (Yeah, I know…low blow. I didn’t like the belligerent tone of his e-mail. So sue me. Heh…get it?) 😉

21. I have a feeling certain people are going to treat the financials and the committee repirt like 9/11 “truthers” treat the 9/11 Commission report…..

    1. Hey, there’s still birthers out there who think Obama is a Muslim! Man, I’m gonna miss those days…

    2. If all we see are a set of massaged books that have been “approved” by unqualified people you’re damn right we’re not going to believe one line item of them. Alec has lied and changed his story so often his word is worthless. If we ever get to see the unredacted versions of both sets of financials he submitted to the court then it might be a different story.

       1. Then thank goodness you guys don’t really matter in the long run! 😉

          1. Curly’s response shows I hit it on the head rather squarely. Witness testimony that they heard something that sounded like an “explosion” trumps forensic analysis and leads to Truthers concocting wild theories of a controlled demolition. So here, Curly Boy is setting himself up to believe that an apparently flawed and incomplete statement is actually the “truth”, and that an effort to provide a complete accounting will be a “whitewash”.

             1. Incorrect the testimony was irrelevant to the case at hand. Why have testimony that doesn’t directly deal with the case?

                Other fan films are not being sued, just Axanar. So there is no need to draw them in.

                Or is that too complicated to understand?

                Two of the three witnesses are not qualified to be considered expert witnesses.

             2. I was never presented as an expert witness, Admiral. I was to be (and still might be) a fact witness. There’s a significant difference.

             3. Um, non-sequitor much?

          2. Booyah!

             1. Good on ya mate.

          3. (quote)Jonathan Lane says:
             January 15, 2017 at 12:03 am
             Then thank goodness you guys don’t really matter in the long run! (quote)

             Actually Jonathan, We do matter. I am still listed as a donor even if my name is on the wrong list. I still have receipt proving I did donated to the (“deleted list”) Retro-Active Donor packages. I am sure others have as well.

             Just because Sandy got a refund and never asked for it does not mean his criticism of Alec and Axanar is not warranted and not backed up with facts. Alec could be looking at a class action lawsuit from donors after the copyright lawsuit concludes. That is still being looked into, so YES we do matter IN THE LONG RUN. CBS is going to win this. Your comment just shows how desperate Alec is.

             1. Rand, none of us matters. Not even me! We’re just spectators. Alec and his attorneys matter. CBS/P and their attorneys matter. The judge(s) matter. The rest of us…we’re just like fans watching a football game. And we’re not even sitting in the stands at the game; we’re at home in front of the TV, yelling at the screen.

                Look, I’ve spoken with lawyers about the whole class-action crap, and it’s just that: crap. You first have to have the donors as a group declared a “class,” and that’s unlikely to happen because there are not enough of them with confirmed grievances. Also, those grievances are unsupported by law. Money was donated, not invested. And thus, Alec had no fiduciary responsibility to spend the money in any particular way. And the fact is that he did, indeed, spend that money in the way he promised (as you will hopefully see in a week), and all he has to do is present those financials during a hearing to dismiss, they judge will look at them, and…done. The judge isn’t going to ask for a full audit. If the certification from a CPA is good enough for the IRS and for the government to grant 501c(3) status, then there is no reason for the judge to waste the court’s time with a challenge.

                But I’ll make you a deal, Rand. If you can find me an actual, verifiable attorney willing to take on a class action against Axanar Productions (not Alec, you did not donate to him) on a fully contingency basis, I will interview that person right here on Fan Film Factor for everyone to read the validity of your claim. Heck, it’s a great way to find aggrieved donors (which you’ll eventually have to do anyway) to join the class action, so if I were you, Rand, I’d take me up on that offer.

                So run, Rand, run! Find your class action lawyer! The clock is ticking!!!

             2. Jeez, Rand, are you STILL on about a list that never existed? I told you before, and I’m telling.you again, your name has always been listed in the Kickstarter Donors list. There never WAS a separate list for Retro Donor Package donors!

             3. STOP! Your facts are destroying the justification for Rand’s righteous indignation!

       2. So Sandy, you are saying that paid accountants/CPA’s who are processionally regulated, will risk their profession to lie for a fan film? “Massage” it as you say? Obviously, you have no conception of what professionals do. My wife was a CPA, where do you get your information that Accountants.CPA’s are crooked?

          Perhaps since you believe they are all crooked, you expect to “approve” the qualified professionals expecting them to twist the books for your own agenda?

          Sandy, you do you really not understand the difference between the accountant financials and CPA Tax prep against a review board who have nothing to do with actually accounting?

          Sorry, you, Carlos, Hinman, do not get to make the rules, nor decide how the books are presented, or what happens in court. Bloggers with low readership, and haters manipulated by your agenda from STC and STNV have no power, except over a FB hater group. Who you claim do not hate at all…yet all one has to do is look at C/PvsA to see the haters manic obsession.

          1. All that comment needed was the addition of a comic book sound effect like POW, ZAP, or BIFF! (Wait. Who the heck is Biff, and what does he have to do with Batman knocking out the Penguin?)

             1. Biff….the guy who had a run in with manure in Back to the Future…. 😉

             2. Time to make like a tree and get the hell out of here…

          2. No Chuckie, I believe it’s garbage in/garbage out. The accountant/CPA will only see what data Alec gives them. There would need to be accounting of all of Alec’s personal bank accounts and credit cards along with anything from Axanar and crowdfunding campaigns and direct donations. It ALL needs to be accounted for. I’m sure Alec can fudge the data so an accountant can sign off on the studio books but it doesn’t take into account all of the spending. The first Kickstarter funds were paid to Propworx (oh wait, you’re not a donor so wouldn’t know that).

             1. Sandy, I love how you haters think you think you get any credibility by calling me Chucky….just makes my point that you rather insult than lose any points in your fantasies.

                Speaking of fantasies, you prove once again you have no idea what professional accountants do. Accountants require ALL information is provided so they can produce legitimate accounting report they are comfortable with. They will not risk their profession, signing their name on an accounting report otherwise.

                So continue this smokescreen against any intelligent reality . You and Carlos Pedraza (STNV’s surrogate) must really be losing ground, aside from readership, to make up all this crap.

             2. Look, dudes–no one is a surrogate. No me, not Pedraza. Surrogates identify themselves as such. He’s as independent as I am.

22. My big question iis what would you have done differently, if anything, if you had a do over?

    1. Me or Alec? If Alec, then resubmit your question when I open the blog to them late next week (after I post the financials). I think that’s a great question, and one that I’m very curious to hear the answer to from Alec.

       And if you’re asking me, I would have bought as much Apple and Microsoft stock in 1991 as I could have…and then used the dividends to buy Amazon and Google ten years later. And I definitely wouldn’t have dated Cindy…or Carol. Oh, and I wouldn’t have gone snowmobiling back in 1997. Oh, who am I kidding? Snowmobiling is SO AWESOME!!!

       1. Alec please. I’m just wondering if he would’ve proceeded along the same course of had professional accounting from the beginning if he had a do over opportunity?

          1. We can ask that question next week, but I’m guessing that Alec would probably do things differently working in hindsight if only to save himself (and me!) countless hours of typing!!!

       2. That sounds like a good plan, I’ve had similar notions when asked questions like that myself… though unfortunately I was 7 in 91 (a tad shy of the age to buy stock) so it would never have worked!

23. Man, this thread is filled with Axahaters who can’t stand the truth. It’s a psychological issue. Delusional behavior. Wanting to believe an untruth or fiction made up in their own minds, and rehashed over and over again in their echo chambers. Wow! They are just like the SJW online.

    You, Jonathan, really smacked the bees nest this time. But, as always, you acquit yourself as a perfect gentleman. But, I got say, it’s awfully hard not to respond with a smack down.

    1. “But, I got say, it’s awfully hard not to respond with a smack down.”

       Yeah, it’s very “Day of the Dove”ish around here. 🙂

24. Jonathan,

    I don’t understand how you, or anyone is accepting this “independent review” nonsense. It is clearly not independent, nor done by people with expertise in accounting. The whole idea of using these people is similar to your friend, Mickey, that missused the law term “assault”. Someone without expertise in that field never would have caught his error and thought what he said was correct.

    Additionally, if both sets of financials are under a confidentiality order how is this independent review able to see them? How were you?
    The only reason the order is in place is because Team Axanar wants it. And don’t they have to release all that information since they hope to become a non profit one day?

    You guys should take Jo Moin up on his or her offer.

    1. I signed a non-disclosure agreement, Daniel, as did the people on the review committee. Alec can release the financials in any way he wants to, despite the court order, because they are HIS financials. The plaintiffs can’t, but he can.

       As for releasing all of their information publicly in order to become a non-profit, the government doesn’t require detail down to the receipt level. The government requires financial summary statements like the ones Star Trek Continues released and Alec will release next week. And in both cases, they are certified by a CPA. Full audits are not required.

       It kind of makes me wonder why, if the United States government is satisfied with Alec Peters’ financials, then why aren’t the detractors?

       1. Exactly!!! And his is the most transparent of the fan films, the only one that released full financials. Please, it is time to sit at the grown up table.
          Please urge Alec Peters to take advantage of the help offered to him. No, silly me. The truth isn’t good for that guy. When the IRS is involved it will really get interesting.

          1. Why does everyone just assume the worst? Will you be disappointed if there’s no trouble with the IRS? Will you guys write angry letters to them or accuse the IRS of being Axanerds? I just don’t get it. I really don’t. It’s like the possibility (probability, actually) that there’s no monkey business doesn’t even enter your minds.

             Look, if I had embezzled funds and was sued, forcing me to shut down the production, I would have just settled with CBS/P, walked away, and apologized to the donors. “Sorry, can’t do the movie. All the money is spent though. Maybe next time.” And I’d smirk at having gotten those new tires and eaten all that sushi and whatever else and then be able to blame the whole disaster on the evil Hollywood studios who sued me. That would have been the easiest way to “get away with it”…don’t you think?

             On the other hand, if I had embezzled money, the last thing I’d do would be to fight tooth and nail in court for over a year, risking the possibility that my financial transgressions would become public! That would just be stupid with a capital “D”!

             So when people are so convinced that Alec Peters committed some kind of fraud, I have to ask them back: then why didn’t he just settle immediately and then walk away Scott free? As I said, I really just don’t get it.

25. So two people have either offered to do or pay for a proper independent audit of Alec’s and Axanar’s financials but you’ve blown them both off. What are the two of you afraid of?

    No one believes this BS of independence. If Alec wants anyone to believe him (and he certainly does with how much time and attention he spends on stalking and harassing the “haters”) he needs to be properly transparent. Release the books or have a proper audit done. Make it public!

    Anything else is just more deflection and obfuscation.

    1. You mean, “No one over at C/P”……

    2. Offers are worthless, even in the real estate market you have to anti up if you want anyone to take your “offer” seriously. And you know I didn’t expect to be commenting this much on this section, I figured who cares about financials. But apparently every gossip monger in town, but I hate gossip so come back to me when you got more than empty words.

       1. I was supposed to take Jayden to the Griffith Observatory today, but he has a slight fever and cough. So I’m just sitting here approving comments all day long…

          (Actually, I’m just procrastinating from doing cardio.) 🙂

          1. Hope he’s feeling better by now, fevers (even slight ones) in kids tend to worry!

             Did you ever get round to the cardio? I need to start doing more myself and constantly find reasons not to myself!

             1. “Did you ever get round to the cardio?”

                I plead the fifth. 🙂

                Jayden is doing better today. No fever, much less coughing. Thanks for asking.

       2. Offers are worthless? What kind of ridiculous statement is that?

          Someone makes an offer and then someone chooses to persue it or not. The offers are there to pay for an audit of all Axanar and Alec’s and Propworx commingled financials. He said he didn’t want to spend the money and people are offering to cover that in the interest of his much claimed transparency. People are trying to remove all obstacles to this happening so we can get to the crux of the matter: either there is a full and complete accounting or he refuses because he’s hiding something.

          1. I think what Anchorage means is that there aren’t any specifics to the offer explaining how exactly it would happen. Anyone can offer anything, but you’ll notice that anytime I or others ask Jo about specifics as to her financial ability to make good on her offer, she deflects. “Google me,” I think was her most recent response. That wasn’t helpful for a number of reasons…most obvious is that there is more than one person with that name out there.

             And then we don’t have any specifics on the person offering to do the audit. I’m not saying that Harvey is not capable of doing one, but he hasn’t provided any references or a client list or any way for people to verify his credentials. We also have no guarantee that either Harvey or Jo would be willing for the audit to be conducted fully independently by a firm that wasn’t already familiar with the project. After all, those who know about Axanar tend to polarize pretty solidly on one side or the other. If the detractors don’t trust a review that is done by people who support the production, then why wouldn’t the same doubt be cast upon people with a predilection against Alec Peters?

             So what we have right now is an offer with no specifics, made by a detractor with an agenda using an unconfirmed professional (actually, we don’t even know for sure he’s a professional…beyond taking his word) with no verified credentials having been offered yet. So right now, even if one doesn’t call the offer “worthless,” per se, it’s certainly not anything that is actionable in its current form, and I am not surprised it’s not being taken seriously by those with a vested interest in this project already in the five-figure range.

    3. So Sandy, I guess I have to repeat myself, since you continue your circular argument that if your premise is true, your conclusion must be true.

       Accountants/CPA’s who are processionally regulated, will NOT risk their profession to lie for a fan film, or anyone else. Your assessment that “your” choice of accountants will somehow benefit your agenda because you believe they will lie for you, is pure fantasy.

       If you don’t believe the accountants/CPA Alec hired will give an independent accounting of the books, I dare you to take it up with them. I would love for you to see what happens when you accuse an accounting professional of fraud. I hope you have some money socked away.

       Again, Sandy, you really don’t understand the difference between the accountant financials and CPA Tax prep against a review board who have nothing to do with actually accounting?

       I have to admire you, and your tiny group of haters persistence (no…not really). You’ve all gotten every prediction of what Alec did or didn’t do, or what will happen to him, wrong….every time!…..Carlos and Hinman could have actually had growing blogs, instead of continuously shrinking ones, if they had been right…..once. But wrong predictions, and a obvious agenda eventually catch up to you.

       1. No Chuckie, I don’t believe that Alec turned over all the relevant documentation to anyone. He has clearly commingled his funds between his personal ones, Propworx, and Axanar Productions. Unless he turns over all bank account info, credit card statements, both Axanar PayPal accounts, and anything else then the analysis is useless. It’s not a circular argument. It’s very simple, if you input an incomplete set of data you get incomplete results.

    4. I don’t think you are actually reading any of the answers…

26. The sad thing is how empty the lives of the haters will be when this is all over, no matter what the outcome.

    1. Oh, I don’t know. If Alec loses and loses big, and Axanar never gets made, and Industry Studios is forced to close down…I think they’ll get a lot of mileage out of that. I can annual “I toldja so” parties being hosted globally on the anniversary of the verdict. They’ll serve lots of pie.

       And hey, if Alec wins, we’ll do the same, but we’ll serve sushi. 🙂

       1. I think they’ll get more millage out of Alec winning, because then they’ll never stop. They can hound him and scrutinize everything he does until they finally move out of their parents basement and get a life.

          1. Well, it all depends on if and how Alec wins. A verdict of non-willful infringement is still infringement, and the studios can request and potentially receive a permanent injunction against Axanar ever getting made. If that happens, then the detractors will probably just declare victory and eat their pie.

             On the other hand, if Alec gets to make Axanar in some form or other without having to pay a license fee or a penalty or anything…well, that’ll stick in their craw. They’ll never accept it. I’d expect to see negative comments posted on every Axanar crowd-funding page. As soon as anything is posted to YouTube, negative comments will abound there, too. As far as the detractors are concerned, anything Alec produces and releases from this point on will suck…even if it’s decent. Positive comments will not be permitted on the the detractor groups on Facebook. Those people will be shouted down and mocked by the not-so-silent majority. Oh, and Memes…expect LOTS of Alec memes.

             Axamonitor will go right on with Carlos sifting through the trash bins at Industry Studios and ordering DNA tests on any used Kleenex clumps he finds. Hinman will, as always, remain Hinman and write only negative things about Alec and Axanar and explain to others the proper way to be a journalist. Rand and Sandy (Randy?) will pop over onto the comments section on Fan Film Factor each time I post an Axanar update to remind everyone what a wanker Alec Peters is and how he must have swindled his way out of a guilty verdict.

             And all the while, the detractors will still be having their annual gatherings where they will plot ways to publicly criticize and ridicule the next Axanar project…and eat pie. But if Alec actually gets to make more Axanar, then pie they will be eating will be of the humble flavor.
             
             [Drops mic. Bows. Then walks off stage.]

       2. And hot chocolate with tiny marshmallows.

       3. Of course donors would be the ones paying for that sushi!

          1. Hey, if Alec wins this, sushi is on ME!!! (Well, first round, anyway. That fish is EXPENSIVE!)

    2. Oh, yes my life will be sooo empty…

       Yet us so called “Haters” don’t spread lies or screen shot every post made on the C/P vs A page..

       Maybe if Alec and the Axanar supporters were HONEST they would have public pages so everyone can see how they really are..

       1. Well, you guys do kinda obsessively screen shot comments from Fan Film Factor…not that I mind! It’s very flattering! 🙂

       2. Then again if Haters where HONEST with THEMSELVES, and hadn’t spent THOUSANDS of hours hating on Alec/Axanar per agenda created for them by Carlos and Hinman….they might have produced their own Trek movie…..or started a successful business going into it’s second year….or build a six story building out of Leggos….you know…anything more productive rather than wasting their time for the last 13 months…. 😉

27. Kevin Rubio:
    Axanar Productions Director of Photography, paid by Alec Peters to preform the job of directing cameras. Making sure the shots are right and actors in their proper places. Camera angle are correct…. ect ect ect….

    THIS IS AN EMPLOYEE!!!!!

    Cedric Yu:
    Private Axanar Backer who donated $10.000.00 dollars, that is unaccounted for on any of Axanar’s past financial statements, Big Axanar Backer who has a stake in the production.

    THIS IS AN Axanar ASSCOCIATE.

    NOT INDEPENDANT!!!

    1. Um, Kevin Rubio wasn’t the DP on Prelude, Milton Santiago was.

       And your criticism of Cedric makes no sense whatsoever.

       1. Thanks for fielding that grounder, Dave.

       2. Dave, Did I even say Kevin was the DP on Prelude? NO!
          I describe what I believe is his job title and what I think a DP does which therefore make him Alec’s EMPLOYEE .

          Cedric… no it just doesn’t make any sense to YOU. Cedric is one of Axanar’s biggest backers with a $10.000 dollar investment or donation. Making him an private associate to Axanar Productions. Not so private anymore.

          What parts of that do you not understand????

          1. Rand, you list him as “Axanar Productions Director Of Photography”. The ONLY person who has done that job for Axanar Productions (which, to date, has produced Prelude and the Vulcan Scene) is Milton Santiago. Ergo, Kevin Rubio is not an employee as you say he is.

             And I still fail to see how a donor that has put in a significantly large sum of money into Axanar is somehow makes him more willing to potentially “cover up” any of the postulated financial mis-dealings. If anything, he’d seem to be MORE interested in making sure everything was above-board.

             1. He’s got you with that second point, Rand. If someone had stolen MY $10,000, I’d sure as heck NOT help him cover it up!

          2. I think you hit the nail on the head Rand when you used the words “what I believe”. Seems to me that’s what all your rants and tantrums come down to.

             1. Well, we all believe something. I believe this case has a good chance of settling in the next 13 days, and if it goes to court, I believe in Alec and Axanar eventually winning. Rand believes differently.

                One of us has illusion, the other reality. May you find your way as pleasant…

28. I can’t wait to see the final results! It’ll be interesting to see how people try to spin this too.

29. Jonathan,
    Quit defending this guy. Quit making nonsensical justifications. How hard would it be to hire an unbiased third party to review Alec’s financials? People are willing to do it for free and/or pay to have it done. Poor Alec would not have to spend a dime! What are you people so afraid of ? There is nothing complex here.
    Or, since Alec is so confident, release the financials already prepared! If he can let you see them, Mr. Transparency can let us all see them. Nothing to hide, right?

    1. Again, why are you all talking to ME? I blog, therefore, I am. My responsibility and authority pretty much stops there, kids. 🙂

       And why don’t you all wait until you see the financials first? It’s like everyone saying that Star Trek: Discovery is going to suck. It might…or maybe it might be decent. Why don’t we wait and find out first before we trash it?

30. Can’t argue with this Christiian Trellis CPA INDEPENDENT
    [IMG]http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n316/MerlinzMajik/AxanarBankrupted_zpsm4y4x4vh.jpg~original[/IMG]

    Or this showing Alec’s so called “Business Expenses” donors were NOT responsible for paid for out of of Donor money on Alec, Diana and RMB.

    [IMG]http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n316/MerlinzMajik/15936930_10153950052660666_9037042882418223729_o_zps6vbpx5ph.jpg~original[/IMG]

    Now SPIN THIS!!!!!

    1. I don’t need to. It’s already been debunked in multiple places both on this blog and elsewhere. All Axanar funds have been spent, and Alec has put in an additional $150,000 of his own money. A fair portion of that money went to his own expenses, other funds have been put in more recently to cover rent. The allegations in the filings claiming personal gain by Alec are only that: allegations (made by the same people who oh-so-desperately need the judge and jury to think that Alec Peters profited personally). Don’t confuse facts with suppositions or allegations. The verga comment from a few days ago was an allegation, not a fact.

31. As a donor I’d like to know…if the folks behind “Axanar” are so transparent and honest, and that they are *truly* not trying to control the conversation… just simply answer these three questions:

    1- Why do you delete every person that asks an uncomfortable question of you from your twitter, your Facebook & the donor site? You delete donors to silence them. Even major ones. That’s a fact. Your sites are all vigilantly controlled to suppress opinions you don’t agree with. That’s a fact.

    2- When a donor, with whom you’ve done significant business with for at least the last 10 years offers to pay for a truly independent audit, why do you call that person a liar? If you have nothing to be afraid of and everything is cool in the books, then this can redeem you to fans and even to *cough* haters.

    3- How the heck can you legitimately spend over 1.4+ million dollars of fan money and not produce a fan film…if it’s *really* just a fan-film?

    1. Those are all questions for Alec, Sam…and I haven’t requested those officially yet.

       Can I ask YOU a question, though?

       If Alec Peters actually did embezzle money, wouldn’t his safest play have been to just capitulate to Paramount/CBS back in January of last year and take their first offer of settlement? After all, that would have immediately killed Axanar and any of the “evidence,” and Alec could have walked away with all that ill-gotten loot and tires and sushi and then just blame the failure of Axanar on the studios and their bullying. And Alec would be immune from any kind of class-action by donors because he listed the fact that Star Trek was owned by CBS as a risk in all the crowdfunding campaigns. So every donor had clear notice of the risk before contributing.

       So Alec could have gotten away Scott free if he’d only tucked his tail between his legs! The perfect scam!!! And fans would never have suspected anything because no one would ever have to see Alec’s financials. Axanar Productions just closes up shop. So long, and thanks for all the fish! (Man, that last sentence gets funnier that more I sit with it.)

       So I ask you, Sam, if Alec Peters had indeed embezzled donor funds, why in the name of Kirok would he be so STUPID as to actually find lawyers, convince them to represent him pro bono, fight this thing in court, and ultimately have to turn over his financials (totally inevitable in a lawsuit)? I mean, isn’t that just the DUMBEST move ever for someone who allegedly stole from his donors?

       Feel free to take as many paragraphs composing your response as you need. And if you use the phrase “Maybe I’m just wrong, Jonathan” in your answer, you get extra credit. 🙂

       1. Who said anything about embezzlement? I didn’t accuse anyone of that. Why is that on your mind? The donors just want to know where the 1.4 million went…that’s a lot of money raised on the “Star Trek” brand name. This *independent* audit done by friends of Axanar is clearly nothing of the sort. The court documents reveal things that are very concerning to donors and Alec hasn’t helped himself with this less-than-legit review of his financials. Question it? You get removed from twitter, FB & the donor page. That makes donors mad, as it should. Why not do a truly unbiased audit?

          1. Why not wait until you see the financials first?

32. Jonathan,

    I find your blogging brave in this mashup of positive and negative feedback. It seems to me that far too many people come here to vent their concerns and misdirect that towards you – for that I apologize. Ever since I had the chance to view Prelude to Axanar – I knew that I wanted to see more. CBS and Paramount’s decision to add restrictions has caused me to rethink my opinion towards them. Alec and Axanar Productions have been struggling to fight off various lawsuits – and I believe that to be honorable and dignified. Alec even went to the extent of bringing together a group of individuals who would work together to rectify and verify financial records. That isn’t something that he HAD to do. It’s something he chose to do. And, quite frankly, I don’t understand why so many of the people commenting on here have a problem with that. They think that he should utilize a more external means of auditing. From what I’ve seen, Alec is doing his best to save the donors money. He’s doing the best that he can. As for the offers to pay for an external audit – I don’t know what to think of those. Are those offers actually realistic? I completely agree with you, Jonathan. If an offer like that is made, simply the “Gentleman’s word” cannot suffice. I am a strong believer in placing all of your cards on the table. If you have something to give, make sure to back it up. I hope for the sake of all the donors as well as the team at Axanar that their struggle is a success. Star Trek is something that cannot be wholly contained by CBS and Paramount. It has such a huge foundation that it would take centuries to expand if done solely by them. Fan fiction is an integral part of this franchise – and if I were actually a somebody, I would speak to CBS and Paramount and explain to them that Star Trek is not just a Television Series and Reboot – it is a way of thinking and way of life. They need to understand that what they have created (Well, technically it was Desilu…but we’ll stick with CBS and Paramount…) has grown far beyond the limitations they may have initially envisioned.

    To end my rambling, I would like to wish you, Jonathan, a very happy birthday. Coming from someone who has just reached 18, I want you to know that 50 is seen in my eyes as a year further in the continuum of wisdom. 😀

    And, as always, Live Long and Prosper.

    1. “It seems to me that far too many people come here to vent their concerns and misdirect that towards you – for that I apologize.”

       No one needs to apologize, Dakota. It’s my own damn fault for opening up my tavern in the middle of the front lines of a war zone. 🙂

       Actually, I could probably blame Alec. This frickin’ blog was HIS idea!!! Last January, I’d had two fan producers tell me they didn’t want to do an interview for Fan Film Friday because it would appear on the Axanar website. So Alec said, “You need your own blog. You need to be independent of us…of me. You do such great work, and you bring an valuable awareness to fan films. That should go on without anything holding you back.” I then responded that I knew nothing about setting up a blog site. So Alec volunteered Mike Bawden to help me, and the rest is history. I used a lot of the original Fan Film Friday blogs to “seed” Fan Film Factor, and then just kept adding more.

       And covering Axanar, well, that seemed like a given. It’s arguably THE biggest Star Trek fan film. How could I simply ignore it? But there was also such misinformation out there about it, and I felt a duty to the truth (the FIRST duty of any Starfleet officer!). So I editorialized. That got me called “biassed,” which is not entirely untrue. I do have a horse in this race. But I also tend to call things as I see them. I said I thought Axanar had a snowball’s chance in hell of winning on fair use in summary judgment. Alec was kinda furious when I said that, but it was my call to make. Turns out, unfortunately, that I was right.

       Anyway, I guess it was my turn to ramble, Dakota. I appreciate your words of encouragement and your birthday wishes. Man, when I was 18, we were still two and a half years away from meeting Jean-Luc Picard and his crew! Enjoy the future, my friend.

33. Jonathan,
    In an earlier post on this thread you stated in essence that you do not close comments because this is a public forum without censorship, yet you did close comments on another one of your threads (new motions filed to limit evidence in the Axanar lawsuit!). I first thought it was an oversight. We were discussing “hidden agendas” and you posted a qoute from the Axanar kickstarter and proclaimed that the studio build was the public plan from the start. I wanted to point out that my understanding is that the Kickstarter was altered to say that after many people had already donated. You promised to address all the points I had made, but then refused to address a point I had made several times about Alec Peters admitting in 2014 and 2015 (before the lawsuit) that he had been I touch with the studios and that he knew the only rule they had was that he could not make any money off the project. Yet he has admitted paying himself and even attempted to justify his paying himself. Now Alec is attempting to claim/manipulate facts to make it look like he did not get paid, but donated $150,000 of his own (somehow reversing the money he took before?).
    His stories are constantly changing. According to your kick starter info the studio was the plan from the start. Back in February Alec denied there was a studio. Alec claimed he had a non profit, turns out he didn’t. Last year his script was amazing according to everyone who read it and was “locked”. Now the script was allegedly being changed. I could go on and on. Do you understand why people want a really independent audit of all the financials?

    1. I don’t close threads on Fan Film Factor for one very simple reason: I don’t know how.

       Early on, Mike Bawden used to do it after a certain number of weeks. It’s just standard practice, he told me. But then, before the summer even began, Mike turned over full control entirely to me. My apprenticeship was over.

       I don’t shut down threads, Daniel. Even if I could figure out how, I still wouldn’t.

       “Do you understand why people want a really independent audit of all the financials?”

       I kinda do and I kinda don’t. I can understand the way that hysteria over something misunderstood can mushroom when additional misinformation is disseminated in a closed echo chamber. But what I can’t understand is how everyone is already discounting a financial statement that they haven’t even seen yet. Why not just wait and look it over first? You can always crucify it later, right?

       I looked it over. It’s reasonable. The expenses all add up to pay for a studio that I’ve seen and even volunteered in. If Alec did have his hand in the cookie jar, then he only got a few crumbs because there are a LOT of very justifiable and reasonable expenses. (Technically, those crumbs cost him $150,000…expensive crumbs indeed!)

       But why not wait until you all see the financials, too, before lighting the torches and sharpening the pitchforks?

34. First off; great teaser in the intro.

    Second; loved the rooster joke Jonathan!

    And final; why are people so interested in Axanar’s books? I get that as a donor, people are somewhat invested in the project but there have been plenty of other fan-films and crowdfunded projects who failed to deliver or blew up and or just simply took the money and ran and none of them ever gave any insight into their finances. At least Axanar was going to get made and presumably look awesome. Do I really care where my money went specifically? The only thing I can think of, is that the bar on the required money got raised multiple times and people might have found that odd and feared that that would keep happening but in all fairness; isn’t that somewhat logical? A large project like this runs into things/problems and they said they could boost the quality with more money.

    People who donated money just wanted to see this movie made. I couldn’t care less if Alec were to have given himself a small salary (I actually think he kind of earns it but that’s besides the point) as long as in the end Axanar got made and it would look as good as it was supposed to be.

    1. “I couldn’t care less…”

       Abyssinian, my friend, I must sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart for saying “I couldn’t care less…” Almost nothing bothers me more (not even the detractors!) than when people say “I could care less…” I know it’s becoming common to say it that way, but the changeover has happened only in the last decade or so. The correct verbiage is, in fact, “couldn’t.” If you say, “I could care less,” then that means there are care settings LOWER than your current care level. It is very possible to care less, so you actually care MORE than the bare minimum if you say it that way. So thanks for keeping “couldn’t care less” alive at least a little longer!

       And don’t even get me started on sending cargo by ship and shipments by car…or driving on parkways and parking on driveways!

       1. Nice Gallagher reference there!

          The other one that bothers me is how the phrase “on-track” somehow became “untracked”……

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