ALEC PETERS has just announced that his new studio in Lawrenceville, GA now has a corporate sponsor that has purchased naming rights. So allow me to introduce… OWC STUDIOS!!!
For anyone who listened to Axanar Podcast #41 last December, you’re already aware that OWC Digital (OWC stands for Other World Computing) is Axanar‘s second largest single contributor (behind Alec Peters himself), having donated well over $20,000 in computer hardware and software for director/editor Robert Meyer Burnett to store all the digital footage and edit it. Their equipment was already used to edit Prelude to Axanar and the Vulcan scene.
To give you an idea of how large high-quality digital video files can be, most of us can go to Best Buy and purchase a consumer hard drive with up to four terabytes (a terabyte is 1,000 gigabytes). Axanar was given a drive with 64 terabytes…and it’s already half-full!
And when you’re dealing with files that are so large, it’s not enough to simply have a big hard drive; you need software to make sure it can access and edit those files quickly and smoothly without crashing or taking seven hours to open a file. Those are the kinds of solutions that OWC Digital provides for Hollywood production companies and others in related industries.
OWC Digital is a privately-held company with offices in Woodstock, IL (just northwest of Chicago) and Austin, TX. According to figures I was able to find on the Internet, in 2011, they had sales revenue of $88.3 million with 137 employees. The company was on the Inc. magazine 5000 “Fastest-Growing Privately Owned Companies” and “Computer and Electronics Top 100” lists from 2007 through 2013.
The founder and CEO of the company is Larry O’Connor, who is a big fan of the Axanar project. Back in 1988, at age 14, Larry started up LRO Enterprises selling computer memory chips via America Online. In 1994, the company had grown to fill 6,500 square feet of office space and was renamed Other World Computing (OWC). By 2008, OWC had grown to fill a 37,000 square foot space and, a year later, had installed a wind turbine that generated twice the electricity that OWC needed to run their facility…making OWC the first technology manufacturer/ distributor in the U.S. to become totally on-site wind powered. Pretty cool, huh?
So now OWC has partnered up with Alec Peters and his new production company Rocketworx to sponsor a studio just outside of Atlanta dedicated to producing fan film and independent sci-fi projects. This is the press release that I just received announcing the deal…
New, Georgia-based Film Production Company
Announces Sponsorship with OWC
(Lawrenceville, GA) – The Rocketworx, a Georgia-based, independent film production company, announced its recent sponsorship agreement with OWC, a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company based in Austin, TX. Rocketworx founder and CEO, Alec Peters, created and produced the Star Trek fan film PRELUDE TO AXANAR, which has won 47 film festival awards around the world.
“We want to build on the success of PRELUDE TO AXANAR and produce other great science fiction content.” explains Rocketworx’s Peters. “Opening a studio in the Atlanta market opens up many new possibilities for us – one of which is the expansion of our long-standing relationship with OWC.”
Peters and Robert Meyer Burnett, the editor of PRELUDE TO AXANAR, joined OWC at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show in Las Vegas in April to show how OWC’s drives and technology were used in creating both the short film and scenes from the yet-unfinished feature. “OWC has been with us since the very beginning,” said Peters. “And this new agreement with them will help us take our capabilities and the stories we tell to the next level.”
As part of the agreement, The Rocketworx’s 6,000 square foot facility in Lawrenceville will be known as OWC Studios. “We’re excited to be a part of the team at The Rocketworx, making great things happen,” said OWC’s Founder and CEO, Larry O’Connor. “When you see what these guys and gals did with our equipment on AXANAR, and what they’ve produced so far, it’s easy to see why we want to remain an integral part of this company.”
Following the opening of OWC Studios in Lawrenceville, Peters will get back to work finalizing production details around the remainder of his Star Trek fan film project AXANAR. “We’re still committed to making the two, 15-minute installments of the story of Axanar and finishing telling the story of Garth of Izar and The Four Years War.” Peters explained. “We also have several other productions and co-productions in the development pipeline and OWC will be involved in all of them.”
ABOUT ROCKETWORX
Rocketworx, Inc. (a/k/a The Rocketworx) is an independent film production company based in Lawrenceville, GA. Focused on producing genre content in a variety of mediums, the company produces a variety of independent and fan-related projects, often working with the next generation of independent, amateur and student filmmakers interested in science fiction, horror and fantasy genres. For more information, visit: www.therocketworx.com
ABOUT OWC
Having served the Apple community worldwide since 1988, OWC has become the reliable manufacturer and upgrade provider of choice for Apple and PC enthusiasts with its extensive catalog of accessories, storage and memory upgrades for nearly every Mac made in the last decade. Recognized for award-winning customer service, OWC provides extensive U.S.-based technical support for Mac and PC users around the world and comprehensive step-by-step installation and support videos. For more information visit: www.owcdigital.com
(c) Copyright 2017 – The Rocketworx, Inc. – All rights reserved.
Other World Computing and OWC are trademarks of OWC. Apple and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the US and other countries. Other marks may be the trademark or registered trademark property of their respective owners.
Quite simply, I say … awesome!
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!
This is awesome news and will provide a place for many student and fan-based film projects to thrive. Best of luck RocketWorx!
Awww Shoot! Now you’ve gone an done it again! You just made ALL the Axahaters MAD again )-; What will they do ???
Apparently by trying to minimize the news by calling OWC just a “hard drive manufacturer” (that’s like calling Star Trek “a space show”) and suggesting that OWC has been a sponsor all along. They were a donor, and they donated hardware and software, but this is a very different kind of deal.
Nice! Out from under the huge rent on the old place. At least partially subsidized in the new one. Things are lookin’ good!
Alec Peters says they are committed to finishing the 2 “15-minute” Star Trek fan films. In the next breath, he says that he has several other productions and co-productions in the development pipeline. So which films are going to get the priority of getting made first? The Star Trek fan-film that he raised over $1.4 million to make from fan-donated money? Or these new “for profit” film productions? When will the fans actually get what they paid for?
In Hollywood (and Atlanta), producers, writers, directors, and even actors have multiple projects in development at the same time. If any of these people had to wait to completely finish one project before starting to develop another, then folks like Steven Speilberg would only do one project every 3-4 years.
As Alec said in recent comments, he’s about to start focusing his attention on the Axanar script. Once the script is done, other things have to happen, like casting and scheduling. In the meantime, he might be starting development talks with other fan filmmakers. I know two who are calling him this week (one called him this morning). And it’s even possible that one of those projects might be filming in Georgia while Axanar is shooting in California. Or not. And then editing and scoring happens, and Alec might be overseeing that while simultaneously working with the Georgia Film Commission to get some local students into the studio to film their projects.
It is possible to walk and chew gum at the same time. I just finished an audio interview with the creator of the new Trek fan film “Survivors.” I’ll be editing that interview over the next few weeks while I still write new blog entries. It’s called multi-tasking.
“Big Smoke” your concern is wonderful. But if you bothered to read our donor update you would have seen that we specifically stated that we were getting back to writing the scripts for Axanar as soon as we got back from Atlanta.
And while you, and your hater friends, throw around “$1.4 million” remember, that number includes us making Prelude to Axanar, arguably the best Star Trek fan film ever, The Vulcan Scene, 15 minutes of unreleased VFX, two years in a studio in LA, a full array of sets that are mostly built, pre-production including casting, writing, props, costumes, set decoration and equipment. It also includes us fighting a lawsuit by TWO major studios for over a year, which any other fan film would have folded to in a heartbeat. Our fight allows us to make the two 15 minute segments we know you didn’t donate to see. So when you bitch about $1.4 million being spent, you show your ignorance about how movies are made and what we did during the 18 months which we were working FULL TIME on making Axanar.
So enough of your whining about what we have done and what we are doing. We have it well in hand.
Boy, Alec, I wish I was that good at multi tasking!!!!! Then again I was born roughly 20 yrs earlier than you. So I never really learned how. I’m lucky if I can keep two objects in the air at the same time, let alone as many as you have. Congrats, by the way, on the sponsorship. :>)
Alec, I’m not a hater. I don’t bash Axanar when I post on this site. I’m asking a simple question. If you need to label me a “hater” for asking a question, then that speak volumes about you.
Technically, Alec didn’t call YOU a hater, Big Smoke. He called your friends haters. Just wanted to point that out.
With all due respect, Mr. Peters has no idea who my friends are, so saying that my friends are “haters” is a bit presumptuous. Most of my friends actually support (or supported) Axanar. When I ask a question, I’m asking for myself, and not just for others. It was a legitimate question, and he used the “hater” tag as deflection rather than giving a mature response. Safe to say I won’t be donating to any more films produced by Alec Peters.
That’s okay, Big. I’ll donate extra in your name. 🙂
Alec, I don’t know if you’ll ever see this, but maybe you could reach out to David Weber and come up with some Honor Harrington collaboration, HH is another awesome scifi universe to explore, and I think you could make something awesome with that =)
I think he’s been pretty clear that rewriting the script is top priority now that the move is done.
Most awesome. I hope more sponsors come on board.
It’s astounding how the team has triumphed over so many and varied adversities! As far as I am concerned, following the progress of Alec Peters and the Axanar team has been almost as compelling as watching TOS on original broadcast, as I did in the 60s. My donation has been amply rewarded and I am thrilled to bits thinking about what might come next!
What a great sponsorship! I hope that other filmmakers will take note of this and the success of Prelude to Axanar when considering a shooting venue. So glad to play a tiny part of the success for Prelude and the other installments of the story. Ad Astra!
Yep — for those of us who helped out on Lawrenceville this past weekend, we got an inkling of what was coming down. No specifics but enough to know it was good news! Good times ahead!
Glad to see Axanar (OK RocketWorx) with a Sponsor.
I built Aircraft Data Recorders that could be configured with 120TB of data(more with current drives),
the challenge is moving the data around.
Yep. OWC has larger drives, as well. But what they’ve mastered is rapid and reliable file management. You don’t generate $88 million in a year by making crap. 🙂
I checked the facebook page and wondered what happened to the big announcement. Then, at a whim, I checked here and voila, I found it!
You might want to change your headline. According to Alec Rocketworx Films got the sponsor, not Axanar.
Yeah, I’ve changed it to “Axanar sets”–which is true–as they come with the studio and were originally built for Axanar (even if they will now be used for other projects). But yes, the contract is with RocketWorx, not Axanar Productions…and the blog entry itself says “RocketWorx” and does not imply any contract with Axanar Productions. I was careful not to say or even imply that in the blog text itself.
For the time being, I need to leave “AXANAR” in the headline for search result purposes. RocketWorx is not yet a common enough search term, and fans aren’t yet familiar with the new production company name. In a few months, it’ll be easier to include “ROCKETWORX” as a part of relevant headlines…but for now, we’re still in transition.
Jonathan, where exactly is Alec posting these updates? I don’t see the update on the Axanar website, nor I did get an email update via the Indiegogo campaign. I don’t see it as a Kickstarter update either, though I’m not a backer so maybe there was a direct email that I wouldn’t have gotten. Maybe it’s on the Facebook group, but I don’t check Facebook. If so, then that’s totally my fault.
Anyway, I just feel a bit left out because I tend to see things here before (and sometimes, long before) I ever get anything directly from Alec.
I don’t think the press release has reached the Axanar website yet, Elliott, but Alec has been pretty busy getting a lot of things done down in Georgia (turning on the power at the new facility, filing for a local business license, finding a place to live, etc.). The press release was actually sent out to the media yesterday by Mike Bawden, not Alec. In a live video post from earlier today posted to the Axanar Fan Group on Facebook, Alec talked about the new sponsorship deal and said he was going to try to get out a podcast discussing it very soon.
There is one common misconception that I’ve seen cropping up elsewhere, though. Carlos Pedraza and a few others are pushing an incorrect narrative that OWC was already a sponsor. They weren’t. They were a donor of equipment and supporter of the project. They were no more a sponsor than I or any other crowd-funding donor. This current sponsorship deal–which is with Alec’s just-launched production company RockerWorx, is an entirely new thing. There was a contract with line items agreed to by both parties. The deal has been in negotiation for at least the past few weeks, and the contract was only just signed. So to say that OWC was a corporate sponsor of Axanar all along is incorrect on a number of counts. 1) They were never a corporate sponsor of Axanar Productions, and 2) they aren’t a corporate sponsor of Axanar Productions now. They are a corporate sponsor of RocketWorx and of the newly-named OWC Studios.
Elliott,
If you’re interested in receiving Donor Updates from Axanar Productions (and, I assume The Rocketworx), send me an email and I’ll add you to our email distribution list. My email address is: [email protected]
M.
I already get email updates as a donor, but I want to say Mike, it is nice to see you reaching out to Elliot, to include him in future updates