April 2020 – Page 2 – Fan Film Factor

A lot was happening in the world of AXANAR just three short weeks ago. After raising $50K to cover 2/3 of the cost of the first two shoots at Ares Studios (ALEC PETERS covered the rest personally), an additional $5K was raised in a new private crowdfunding campaign in February. That allowed a third one-day shoot to happen on March 15, just as fears of the pandemic were beginning to take hold in many states.

This led Alec to announce via Axanar Confidential that the fourth shoot, a major two-day green screen excursion to Los Angeles to film nearly half a dozen aliens in full prosthetics and makeup, would be delayed and no longer happen in April as planned. And the premiere of Axanar itself would likely no longer occur at San Diego Comic Con, as it was possible that the huge gathering of hundreds of thousands of dedicated fans might itself be canceled.

This didn’t stop Axanar completely, however. The first full trailer was released online the night of March 15, and you can see it here if you haven’t already…

This followed the release a few weeks earlier of some rough cut footage of actor JAMIE RENELL doing some background ad-lib for his on-screen interview as USS Ares Chief Engineer Alexei Leonov…

https://youtu.be/YO4Po2yyTqU

And of course, on March 15 Axanar also launched its third private fundraiser on Ares Digital, this one with a goal of $30K to cover the major “alien shoot” in L.A. Some people asked if this was an appropriate time to raise money for a Star Trek fan film with people being furloughed and losing their jobs and the economy in a tailspin. Alec answered that question in a blog on the Axanar.com website. At the time, the campaign had already taken in about 25% of its goal in less than a week. In the two weeks since then, donations have slowed considerably, although they’re still trickling in steadily…

If you’re interested in donating (and are able to), you can do so by clicking here:

https://aresdigital.axanar.com

The global coronavirus pandemic has shut down most, if not all, television and movie production nationwide. Many TV news anchors are broadcasting from their homes and basements, self-quarantining because they want to keep themselves and others safe. And while a number of fan films that have already been shot are still being worked on in post production—where folks can work individually at home (including my own fan film INTERLUDE)—projects that were either in, or soon to be entering, production have had to put their plans on hold for the time being.

All but one, it seems.

Publicly launched back in 2012, SPACE COMMAND has already raised over a million dollars from crowd-funding and from selling shares in the production. The brainchild of TNG and DS9 episode writer MARC SCOTT SICREE, Space Command will ultimately span twelve 1-hour episodes for its first season, featuring such notable sci-fi actors as DOUG JONES (from Discovery); ROBERT PICARDO (from Voyager) ; MIRA FURLAN, BRUCE BOXLEITNER, and BILL MUMY (from Babylon 5); FARAN TAHIR (the captain of the USS Kelvin from Star Trek 2009); JAMES HONG (from Big Trouble in Little China and Kung Fu Panda); and a host of others.

Already, work has been completed on the first full hour episode, which you can watch here. (Mira Furlan, Doug Jones, and Robert Picardo give especially poignant performances…definitely worth checking out!) Post production is being completed on the second half-hour, which will form a single two-part episode titled “Redemption.”

The second two-parter, “Forgiveness,” is currently in production. Part 1 has been fully crowd-funded and filmed, and Part 2 is being crowd-funded right now. In fact, their Kickstarter ends on April 4. Although they’ve crossed their $48K goal, it’s only just barely. So a little “cushion” would certainly help. If you’d like, you can donate to “Forgiveness – Part Two” by clicking here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spacecommand/space-command-forgiveness-part-two

Obviously, actual production won’t be starting on that episode until the COVID coast is clear.

BUT!!!

Marc Zicree just announced that he’s writing a special standalone episode of Space Command called “Ripple Effect”—and it will be filmed now…during the pandemic while everyone is self-quarantining. How is this possible while not being irresponsible? Simple: everyone will be working from home!

Many of the main actors from the series have agreed to film scenes in their own homes with their own equipment. No camera crews or lighting or sound or make-up or wardrobe people…just actors and their cameras. Some might have green screens, others might not. Then their footage will be edited, scored, VFX added, sound-mixed, etc. And everyone will be working completely apart from each other.

Will it work?

Too soon to say, but it certainly sounds intriguing and exciting! And to make it even more so, Mark is planning to make the magic right in front of us, showing fans the project AS it takes shape every step along the way. No crowd-funding necessary, and the finished film will be posted for free.

Here’s Marc to tell us more…

Month: April 2020

The future of AXANAR! (audio interview with ALEC PETERS & PAUL JENKINS)

SPACE COMMAND is filming a special VIRUS-SAFE episode: “Ripple Effect”!