Some of you might be aware that last night I was planning to launch my GoFundMe crowd-funding campaign for my Axanar Universe fan film INTERLUDE. We had it all planned: ALEC PETERS would host me and my directors, VICTORIA FOX and JOSHUA IRWIN, on his Axanar Confidential YouTube Livecast. The start time was supposed to be 9:00 pm Eastern. I posted all over Facebook and to a number of mailing lists.
And then the dog happened…
To be honest, I’d been a feeling little uneasy about the livecast the entire day. Alec was traveling back to Georgia all the way from Oklahoma (where he had been for the weekend)—a 13-hour drive! Could he make it back in time for the livecast?
As the day went on, I checked in with Alec periodically. By lunchtime, he and his girlfriend CRYSSTAL HUBBARD were in Memphis…half-way there. Later in the afternoon, while passing through Birmingham, Alabama, Alec’s GPS showed an arrival time of 8:30 pm. Cutting it close, to be sure…but we should still make it. Whew!
But then Alec texted me that he had to cancel the livecast. The reason: an emergency dog rescue…
For those who don’t know, Alec regularly rescues dogs…dozens and dozens of them. As much as Star Trek and World War II and Hollywood collectible auctions, dogs are Alec’s “thing.” He loves them and when he finds strays or unwanted litters, he’ll do everything he can to help and protect the animals…including driving hundreds of miles or more to deliver them to loving homes.
So when a dog ran out directly in front of their car on Route 20 and stopped in the meridian of the highway, Alec and Crysstal stopped, too. It was near sunset, and the sky would be dark soon. On an unlighted interstate in rural Alabama, a dog crossing the road wouldn’t be visible in the headlights of a fast-moving car or truck until it would be too late to stop or for the animal to get out of the way.
They couldn’t just drive on and leave this poor animal trapped between four lanes of speeding traffic. Alec and Crysstal pulled their car onto the shoulder and immediately called the local animal control hotline. Unfortunately, it was past 6pm, and the office had already closed for the evening. They then called highway assistance 511, but stray dogs aren’t a priority. A highway construction crew didn’t show up for another hour.
In the meantime, Alec and Crysstal didn’t feel like they could just drive away and abandon this dog to fate. If they could just coax him into their car, they could at least drive the animal to the local police station and drop him off. The dog was wearing a bandana around his neck, so he wasn’t just a stray. But he was pretty skittish, and while the dog accepted some of the food Alec and Crysstal were offering, he was still vary of the strangers and didn’t get close enough to enter the car. Obviously, they didn’t want to just try to grab him, as it could potentially spook the animal and result in him bolting across the freeway with cars speeding by.
To explain why the livecast was being canceled, Alec posted the following video while they were waiting for help to arrive…
By the time high assistance-511 showed up, it was over an hour later. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, the dog did run off back into the trees, but at least he wasn’t hurt doing so.
However, Alec and Crysstal were still in Alabama, and much too far away from home to make it before things got way too late on the east coast for an effective livecast. So Alec canceled Axanar Confidential for Monday night.
Victoria, Josh, and I were, of course, frustrated and disappointed. And sadly, they won’t be able to join the rescheduled livecast happening tonight (Tuesday June 11) at 9:00 pm Eastern Time. Alec apologized, but to be honest, I can’t fault him for wanting to save that dog’s life. My crowd-funding campaign can be delayed for a day. Save the dog, I say.
The rescheduled livecast and kick-off of my campaign will be accessible tonight at 9pm Eastern the following link:
We’ll be premiering the first 20-second VFX segment with sound FX and music…and it looks FANtastic. Not to be missed, folks!
By the way, believe it or not, that dog wasn’t the only Murphy’s Law moment to hit Interlude over the past several weeks. I’ve had to deal with costume conundrums, budget blunders, set cancellations, scheduling conflicts, trapped woodpeckers, and acts of God…all doing their best to make sure the pre-production of Interlude does NOT go smoothly! And yes, I’ll be blogging about those unforeseen slings and arrows next week because I blog about everything!
Oh well, it made for a good gag in your blog title if nothing else! Good luck for the launch.
I was thinking of doing, “Why did the dog cross the road?” “To f-ck up my livecast!” But I decided on the title I ended up using instead. đ
“So when a dog ran out directly in front of their car on Route 20 (…)”
OK, as a Son of the South, let me stop you right there, Yankee. đ We call them by the proper name at all times down here, Interstate(s). The only person I ever knew who called it a “Route” regularly was my New Jersey ex-wife.
I hope this has cleared things up for you. đ
I live in L.A. now…and I certainly wasn’t gonna call it a freeway!
Just be thankful I didn’t call it “The 20.” We do that out here: “The 405,” “The 5,” “The 101.” It took me years to train myself to do that, and now I can’t stop. đ
You do realize you are opening yourself up to action by CBS since you are a violation of the no pros guideline? You have worked for several Star Trek licensees and so you are playing dangerously by making a fan film. I am sure I well just get another condescending response, but for some reason I feel the need to try and help you out.
Sorry, RC, but Sandy beat you to it. But still, it’s a really REALLY good “gotcha.” Props to you! (Not Alec’s props, though. Those get auctioned.) đ
Oh please, that is so absurd that it isn’t even funny.
Thanks for coming out.
So Jonny, Iâve got a question. Someone on the AxaMonitor Facebook page mentioned it and I thought Iâd put it to you.
In the Fan Film Guidelines, number 5 states:
âThe fan production must be a real âfanâ production, i.e., creators, actors and all other participants must be amateurs, cannot be compensated for their services, and cannot be currently or previously employed on any Star Trek series, films, production of DVDs or with any of CBS or Paramount Picturesâlicensees.â
Now according to public sources youâve worked previously for the studios directly and for licensees. Are you concerned about violating this guideline?
An interesting conundrum, Sandster! I could very well be the only person on my own production not allowed to work on my fan film!!! đ
That said, if CBS decided to use that technicality as my one “violation” of the guidelines, I suspect the bad press of such a pedantic and draconian move wouldn’t sit well while All Access is trying to shore up goodwill prior to the launch of Picard. I guess we’ll just have to see.
But since I obviously can’t NOT be involved with Interlude (it’d be like Santa Claus not being involved with Christmas!), we’ll just have to assume I’ll be following all of the guidelines with the lone exception of letting myself work on my own fan film. Such a scandal!
Nice “gotcha,” though. It sure took you guys long enough! The rest of your attempts, you gotta admit, were pretty lame. Land’s End…really? đ
Not a âgotchaâ Jonny, just an honest question. Itâs be shame if you took another page from Alecâs book and answered all questions in this condescending way. Itâd put off your potential donors really fast…
No, Sandy, not an “honest question.” You never asked Vic Mignogna that question when he featured John de Lancie on STC. So why ask me?
Pretty much everyone knows that the detractors’ goal is to ruin this experience for me because I’ve dared to remain friends with Alec Peters and stick up for him publicly. Just own that. You’re not really fooling anyone when you and RC and the others pretend that you’re just “trying to help” by sharing advice and “concerns.” In fact, I don’t recall ever asking any of you detractors for your “help” or “friendly advice”…other than suggestions on how to best spread the word on social media and elsewhere about the crowd-funding campaign.
Look, Sandy, in all seriousness here, it’s difficult enough to make a fan film without a barrage of input and probing “gotcha” questions (hi, Matthew) and all of the other obstacles you guys keep throwing in my direction week after exhausting week. Like any other show-runner such as Randy Landers or Vance Major or Gary O’Brien or Gary Davis or Nick Cook or Leo Tierney or Larry Fleming or Mark Naccarato or David Whitney or Aaron Vanderkley or Matthew Blackburn or any of the other fine folks I’ve come to know and respect, I have a certain group of trusted advisers I am relying on to help and guide me through this process. I didn’t invite you or your fellow detractors to be part of that trusted inner circle…a quite justifiable decision, all things considered.
So unless you’re planning to put all of the other Star Trek fan filmmakers who are out there under the same scrutiny as you do me, I’d respectfully request that you treat me as you have treated them. Just sit back and let me make my fan film for all of you to enjoy. Who knows? You might actually like it…no matter what aspect ratio it’s shot in! đ
Aren’t you working only if you get paid? Otherwise I believe you are volunteering/donating your time
Volunteering can be hard work! That said, you are a professional (as in having a profession) if you get paid. If you don’t get paid, you are an amateur.
Your point is spot on Jonathan. Sandy and the haters never cared when Vic constantly violated the guidelines. Just shows what hypocrites they are.
Pretty much, yep.
If my memory serves correctly, the guidelines came out AFTER the majority of STCâs episodes were released. I believe only two were released after the guidelines and they were already filmed. STC also decided to cut their planned episodes down from 13 to 11 BECAUSE of the guidelines.
Incorrect, Sandy…a total rewrite of history. Here’s a quote from Part 6 of the History of Star Trek Continues Blog:
An Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign in early 2016 gave the STAR TREK CONTINUES team just under $200,000 to produce more episodes of their fan series. But a new set of fan film guidelines released by CBS and Paramount threatened to stop the production in its tracks by limiting episode length to 15-minutes, blocking ongoing series, and forbidding the use of paid professionals and Star Trek alumni on any fan production. STCâs episodes had been regularly violating several of these new guidelines, and while the new rules were not retroactive, they would apply to anything produced by STC going forward.
But the STC team decided to forge ahead anyway, arguing that the guidelines were only that-âguidelinesâ-and not some kind of new âlaw.â They only said that fan productions that followed these guidelines would not be sued by the studios, NOT that those who didnât follow the guidelines would be sued.
So STC announced their intention to produce four new full-length episodes with professional actors and crew, release all four in 2017, and then shut down their fan series for good. The hope was that their amicable relationship with CBS would convince the studios to allow them to finish up, shut down, and go out on the high note. It wasnât the most optimum solution, of course. STC had initially wanted to produce 13 episodes, and now they would only go to 11. However, considering the harsh constraints of the new guidelines on fan films, being able to produce four full-length episodesâassuming the studios would let them do so without a cease and desist letter or a lawsuitâseemed to be more of a victory than a defeat.
Fair enough, Iâm obviously not as clued up on them as I though. Probably because there was no lawsuit to follow…. It still happened over two years ago though. By announcing their plans they gave CBS a chance to respond and they clearly didnât. Iâm sure people asked them at the time if they were worried, just like I asked you now. Itâs really daft to even bring them up.
Was it daft because in one example he took the hot air out of your sails? Or was it daft because as you said you weren’t “as clued up” as you thought and you proved it publicly?
When I’m wrong it’s significant. When Sandy is wrong, it’s negligible. đ
No Brian, I have no issue with being shown Iâm wrong about something. I think itâs daft to bring up STC because it was two years ago and Iâm sure people expressed concerns to them that they were going against the guidelines. Thatâs why Jonny mentioned them. I personally never asked Vic about de Lancie being on their show because I only started following them after that episode was shot.
If youâre unconcerned Jonny thatâs fine. Itâs your risk to take.
“If youâre unconcerned Jonny thatâs fine. Itâs your risk to take.”
Thank you, Sandy. Then it’s time for you to move along home.
Why is it I don’t believe one word of what Sandy wrote?
That’s usually a good place to start.