Lately, it seems like I’m covering a LOT of crowd-funding campaigns raising money for a variety of Star Trek fan films. That’s because it’s been a really pretty busy few months…with more campaigns to come!
Fortunately for our wallets, though, four campaigns have just successfully reached their funding goals (or come very close!), clearing the way for the newcomers. So let’s take a brief look at the fan productions that scored recent wins…
THE TEARS OF J’KAH
Two week ago, I reported on how BENNY HALL raised $49,183 (of his $50K goal) for his second Trek fan film THE TEARS OF J’KAH…from just 13 donors! This post-guidelines crowd-funding record was accomplished with the help of some very generous friends and contacts who each made donations of $5K and even $10K.
AXANAR – shoot #3
Last Thursday morning, ALEC PETERS launched a “tiny” (his word) fundraiser on Ares Digital trying to generate $3,400 to cover expenses for the third AXANAR shoot at Ares Studios in Larenceville, GA on March 15. By Sunday evening, he’d taken in more than $5,000!
The surplus will go into the upcoming fundraiser for the “big” fourth shoot. That on is scheduled to happen in Los Angeles and will include GARY GRAHAM playing Vulcan Ambassador Soval plus a bunch of other aliens, each of whom will require a top-level make-up artist. Combined with the cost of studio rental, travel, lodging, etc., this is expected to be around a $30,000 expenditure (although a final budget is still being worked out).
The Axanar fundraiser for Shoot #4 will launch on Ares Digital right after shoot #3 wraps on March 15…with the long-awaited debut of the FULLL TRAILER! You can watch it debut live by clicking here.
STARSHIP INTREPID – “ECHOES”
For the first time in its decade-and-a-half history, those INTREPID folks from Scotland have sought some financial assistance from fans and supporters. NICK COOK set the goal at a humble $2,500 (or thereabouts, since they get their money in pounds, not dollars) with a 60-day deadline. Earlier this week, with less than two weeks left and with the help of 72 backers, they hit their goal.
CONSTAR CONTINUES
With an even more humble goal of $1,175, VANCE MAJOR launched his latest GoFundMe campaign back in December. It’s taken a little while, but this past Monday morning, he also reached (and slightly surpassed) his goal…with the help of 24 backers (including me).
My congratulations to all of the projects I’ve just mentioned, and my thanks to those of my readers who chose to donate in order to help make these fan film dreams into realities.
So what’s left that still needs crowd-funding help (besides Axanar)? Glad you asked!
SQUADRON
SQUADRON, the 24th century Dominion War era fan film from the Czech Republic, has gotten 19% of the way to their $15,000 goal. But after an explosive launch, donations have slowed considerably. They still have seven weeks left, and I really believe in these guys and want to help them in every way I can. So I’ll be giving their campaign some more coverage over the next couple of months.
In the meantime, if you have a little something to spare, here’s the link to their Indiegogo campaign…
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/squadron-a-star-trek-fan-production
SPACE COMMAND – “FORGIVENESS”
SPACE COMMAND got its start waaaaay back in 2012 with a Kickstarter that brought in $221K from nearly three thousand backers. Since then, they’ve raised over a million dollars…and they’re still running successful crowd-funders!
More than a fan film, Space Command is a professional quality independent sci-fi saga written and directed by TNG and DS9 writer MARC SCOTT ZICREE. But it’s also been completely funded by fans and stars such notables as ROBERT PICARDO (Star Trek: Voyager), DOUG JONES (Star Trek: Discovery’s Saru), BRUCE BOXLEITNER (Babylon 5), MIRA FURLAN (Babylon 5), BILL MUMY (Babylon 5 and Lost In Space), JAMES HONG (Big Trouble in Little China), and FARAN TAHIR (Star Trek 2009 and Iron Man).
The first hour of their two-hour pilot episode “Redemption” has been completed and released. You can watch the final version here. Post production is nearly completed on the second hour. In the meantime, funding was already achieved to film the first half of the second 2-hour episode “Forgiveness” in a Kickstarter campaign last summer, and that footage is now in post production.
So now it’s time to fund production on the rest of the second episode. The latest Kickstarter went live earlier this week and has already taken in more than $41K of their $48K goal from 506 backers(!!!), which will fund the first half of the final hour of “Forgiveness.” A stretch goal will allow the full episode to be completed. To help out with this one, click on the link below…
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spacecommand/space-command-forgiveness-part-two
DREADNOUGHT DOMINION
This last GoFundMe campaign doesn’t get much attention because it was launched more than 8 months ago and is ongoing rather that having a specific deadline. But GARY DAVIS, RANDY WRENN, and the folks at DREADNOUGHT DOMINION put their all into their fan productions. They also put in their own money—often to the tune of thousands of dollars. So they welcome any financial help they can get.
Their current campaign has a goal of $3,000. And even though they’re still only halfway there, every dollar donated is appreciated and goes a long way…
I just watched that 1’st episode of Space Command. WOW! 🙂 That certainly deserves to be on TV! Some nice surprizes with some recognizable faces, too! 🙂 One I never expected to see, in the trailers that follow the episode. 🙂 I am also VERY pleased that they kept it 100% “PG” so it will be suitable for families to watch! NICELY DONE!! 🙂
yep, the final version of episode 1 (that’s just PART one of episode 1, by the way!) came out especially well…especially considering the budget was well under one million dollars.
It definitely LOOKS like a million bucks! Would LOVE to see that as a series on TV! 🙂