Happy 57th Star Trek Anniversary, everyone! And just as I did exactly one year ago today, I am announcing the winners of this year’s SHOWRUNNER AWARDS!!
But first, I would like to thank the judges (each a showrunner himself) for once again doing an amazing job, watching five hours and 42 minutes of Star Trek fan films, and getting all of their ballots in before the August 15 deadline. We did have one judge reluctantly bow out due to time commitments—MARK LARGENT is working hard to finish the next (and last? I hope not!) STALLED TREK animated puppet parody THE DUMBSDAY MACHINE by later this year. And he wasn’t certain he’d have the time to watch and judge all 21 entries.
The remaining ten judges (in addition to yours truly) were…
- JOHN ATKIN – YORKTOWN: A TIME TO HEAL
- SAMUEL COCKINGS – TREK SHORTS and TEMPORAL ANOMALY
- GARY DAVIS and RANDY WRENN – DREADNOUGHT DOMINION (and more!)
- JOSHUA IRWIN – THE AVALON UNIVERSE
- PAUL JACQUES – RAINCROSS
- GREG LOCK – AMBUSH
- JEFF NORD – COMMANDERS OF STARFLEET
- IAN RAMSEY – STAR REKT parody music videos
- DAN REYNOLDS – THE FEDERATION FILES and WARP 66 STUDIOS
As we did last year, the scoring worked in the following way. For each of the 22 categories (four of them brand new this year), every judge would vote for his top five choices in descending order (his own fan film(s) could NOT be in the top three slots). In the final tally, each top choice would get 10 points. The second choice would get 7 points. The third would get 5 points, then 3, and finally 1 for the last choice. Then I would add up the total number of points in each category, determining a first place (Admiral Award), second place (Captain Award), and third place (Commander Award) winner.
This year’s voting produced some unexpected results. In some categories, the three winners were far, far ahead of the rest of the pack, having banked many of the top two or three spots from a majority of judges. (Those 10 and 7 scores stack up quickly!) In some other categories, things were a bit closer, with only a few points keeping nominees out of the top-level award tiers. And for Best Fan Film, there was only a ONE POINT difference separating the first and second place winners. Exciting!!!
But here’s what really surprised me. In ten different of categories, we had ties! Of course, we did have a few ties last year, but only a few. And in those cases, I simply gave out two of the same award at that level, one for each nominee with that score. But this year, there were WAY more than just a “few” ties…so much so that I started chuckling each time I tallied the scores in Excel and another tie happened. Heck, we even had our first-ever double tie at two different levels in the same category and our first ever TRIPLE tie! And in the case of Best CGI VFX, SAMUEL COCKINGS actually tied with himself (different fan films, of course). Crazy!!!
Now just to be clear, the judges each worked alone. No one knew anyone else’s choices—not even me until after I voted and then imported all of the ballots into the Excel spreadsheet. And honestly, with eleven judges; multiple scores of 1, 3, 5, 7, or 10; and a dozen or more nominees in each category, I can’t even begin to think of a way to artificially generate that many tie scores!
So I think this was just one of those times that the Universe decided to have a good laugh. One of the things about random outcomes is that they are, after all, random. And having lots of ties is itself a random outcome. Now, if the same thing happens again next year, then I might want to reevaluate our scoring method. But for now, many ties just means more happy winners—and I love it when people are happy.
Another thing that makes me happy is number of different fan films that received at least one award. Sure, there were a few “Goliaths” who took home large numbers of awards in various categories. But mixed in also were a few “Davids” that managed to grab an accolade here and there. All in all, 15 of our 21 entries won at least one award. I’ll include a breakdown of which films won how many total awards at the bottom of the blog.
You can access all of the current fan film submissions from this blog page.
And with that, my friends, let’s get to the results of the 2023 Showrunner Awards for Star Trek Fan Films released between January 2018 and December 2022. Links to the winning fan films in each category are provided under that category’s winners. Have a watch and see if you agree with our judges’ choices…
Click here to watch AMBUSH
Click here to watch DOOMSDAY
Click here to watch YORKTOWN: A TIME TO HEAL
Click here to watch THE NEEDS OF THE ONE
Click here to watch RESISTANCE
Click here to watch THE NEEDS OF THE ONE
Click here to watch YORKTOWN: A TIME TO HEAL
Click here to watch FARRAGUT FORWARD: PROLOGUE
Click here to watch AMBUSH
Click here to watch YORKTOWN: A TIME TO HEAL
BEST PROPS IN A FAN FILM
Click here to watch COMMANDERS OF STARFLEET
Click here to watch THE FEDERATION FILES: “GALAXY HOPPER”
Click here to watch THE NEEDS OF THE ONE
BEST SET DESIGN
Click here to watch RESISTANCE
Click here to watch FARRAGUT FORWARD: PROLOGUE
Click here to watch OUTBREAK
Click here to watch AMBUSH
Click here to watch YORKTOWN: A TIME TO HEAL
Click here to watch OUTBREAK
Click here to watch RESISTANCE
Click here to watch THE ICARUS INCIDENT
Click here to watch YORKTOWN: A TIME TO HEAL
Click here to watch THE NEEDS OF THE ONE
BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS (non-CGI)
Click here to watch AMBUSH
Click here to watch COMMANDERS OF STARFLEET
Click here to watch THE FEDERATION FILES: “GALAXY HOPPER”
Click here to watch THE ROMULAN WAR, PART 1
Click here to watch AMBUSH
Click here to watch THE BATTLE OF VELSAK 2
Click here to watch DOOMSDAY
Click here to watch DOOMSDAY
Click here to watch OUTBREAK
Click here to watch FARRAGUT FORWARD: PROLOGUE
Click here to watch I WANTED JANEWAY
Click here to watch AMBUSH
Click here to watch FARRAGUT FORWARD: PROLOGUE
Click here to watch RESISTANCE
Click here to watch AMBUSH
Click here to watch OUTBREAK
Click here to watch DOOMSDAY
Click here to watch AMBUSH
Click here to watch OUTBREAK
Click here to watch DOOMSDAY
Click here to watch AMBUSH
Click here to watch OUTBREAK
Click here to watch RESISTANCE
Click here to watch THE NEEDS OF THE ONE
Click here to watch DOOMSDAY
Click here to watch AMBUSH
Click here to watch COMMANDERS OF STARFLEET
Click here to watch ULTIMATE SURVIVAL
BEST ACTRESS
Click here to watch RESISTANCE
Click here to watch COMMANDERS OF STARFLEET
Click here to watch OUTBREAK
Click here to watch FARRAGUT FORWARD: PROLOGUE
Click here to watch THE BATTLE OF VELSAK 2
Click here to watch AMBUSH
Click here to watch COMMANDERS OF STARFLEET
Click here to watch OUTBREAK
BEST STAR TREK “EASTER EGG“
10:20 – At the 10 minute and 20 second mark, Maddox and Gibson come across a Romulan console displaying numerous images. One image is the schematic for the Romulan cloaking device. Gibson, as ordered, downloads everything from the console. The idea being is that this is how the Federation learns of the device and sets up the events of the TOS episode “The Enterprise Incident.”
8:00 – “Reverse the Polarity of the Neutron flow.” The entire science dialogue thoughout the film was built to lead up to this Doctor Who famous in joke.
11:30 – Introduction to Matt Decker and inclusion of “The Doomsday Machine” boarding party.
13:13 – We flash back to the events of Wolf 359, and our characters appear on TNG style ships.
14:50 – The ending line “Listed as missing…” references to Star Trek: TMP regarding Decker and Ilya, followed by “It’s not a lie” … “an omission” referencing Star Trek II, and “Nobody’s perfect” referencing Star Trek IV.
Click here to watch AMBUSH
Click here to watch CHAOS AT THE NEUTRAL ZONE
Click here to watch DOOMSDAY
Click here to watch RESISTANCE
Click here to watch ULTIMATE SURVIVAL
FUNNIEST FAN FILM
Click here to watch I WANTED JANEWAY
Click here to watch THE NEEDS OF THE ONE
Click here to watch MOM (DREADNOUGHT DOMINION)
Click here to watch BORG HUNTERS
Click here to watch THE FEDERATION FILES: “GALAXY HOPPER”
Click here to watch I WANTED JANEWAY
Click here to watch ULTIMATE SURVIVAL
Click here to watch AMBUSH
Click here to watch RESISTANCE
Click here to watch DOOMSDAY
And there you have it! So what’s the final tally of winners? Well, assuming I haven’t miscounted, here’s which fan films won awards in descending order…
AMBUSH – 13 awards
RESISTANCE – 11 awards
DOOMSDAY – 9 awards
OUTBREAK – 8 awards
THE NEEDS OF THE ONE – 6 awards
COMMANDERS OF STARFLEET – 5 awards
FARRAGUT FORWARD: PROLOGUE – 5 awards
YORKTOWN: A TIME TO HEAL – 5 awards
THE FEDERATION FILES: “GALAXY HOPPER” – 3 awards
I WANTED JANEWAY – 3 awards
ULTIMATE SURVIVAL – 3 awards
THE BATTLE OF VELSAK 2 – 2 awards
BORG HUNTERS – 1 award
CHAOS AT THE NEUTRAL ZONE – 1 award
MOM (DREADNOUGHT DOMINION) – 1 award
THE ICARUS INCIDENT – 1 award
THE ROMULAN WAR, PART 1 – 1 award
What’s interesting, although not surprising, is that the top three vote-getters were also the top three winners for Best Fan Film in that same order. That kinda makes sense, though, as those were definitely three of the strongest all-around fan films in the bunch. But I have to say, in conclusion, that ALL of the entries in this year’s Showrrunner Awards were excellent, well-produced, entertaining, and fun to watch.
I seldom if ever see anyone still posting the ridiculously outdated comment that “the guidelines completely killed off fan films” or “Star Trek fan films are dead.” They most obviously are very much still alive…and thriving! And I, for one, am extremely glad to see it. The plethora of Star Trek fan films getting made and released keeps me busy with a hobby that I really love and people I truly enjoy knowing, working with, and talking to about their efforts.
So long live Star Trek fan films! I’ll certainly be sticking around, and apparently, so will they! And thus, until next year’s Showrunner Awards, a big congratulations and “WELL DONE!!!” to everyone who completed or even worked on a fan film project…regardless of whether or not you won an award (and remember: there’s always next year). May you all live long and prosper!
Loved all of these films. Congrats to all
What a worthy list of winners. Congratulations to everyone who entered a film and of course all the winners. This is what make fan films such a wonderful genre, people putting their heart and love into something that in the grand scheme of things, not many people see(except for those who enjoy fan films). Good job as always to Jonathan Lane and all the judges. I am sure picking winners, while remembering to not “only vote for yourself” must be difficult. This is always a welcome post.
Judges each voted for their top five selections in each category in descending order. Their own fan film was not allowed to be in any of the top three slots.
My friends and I got to visit the Ambush Shuttle craft set. It was amazing, all the lights and screens. All the little details. Soo very cool! Greg was so kind to take time out of his day and show us round. It’s still a very fond memory. If I had the space, I would have taken the set off of their hands to save it from being destroyed……and to play in hahahahaha
Ah, the dream of owning a Star Trek set…and the dream of having the space to store and display it! 🙂