Jackets are petty awesome. Wanna make your superhero look more snazzy and cutting-edge? Ditch the tights and cape and give them a cool jacket. And in Star Trek? Jackets dated back to the first pilot, “The Cage,” continued into The Motion Picture, and probably reached their pinnacle with those snazzy maroon bomber jackets worn by Admiral Morrow in the Starfleet Lounge, Scotty on board the Excelsior, and Kirk when he comes about the Enterprise in Star Trek V. And of course, there were those cool landing party jackets of the late 23rd century, as well. Picard had a dashing jacket of his own starting in season five of Next Gen. And you could argue that monster maroons, along with the Deep Space Nice and Voyager duty uniforms include jackets as part of their jumpsuits.
Yeah, jackets rock.
But honestly, nothing even comes close to those 25th century jackets from STAR TREK: PICARD season three! And with a number of clothing manufacturers making replicas available at reasonable prices (remember, clothing designs cannot be trademarked or copyrighted), many fans—including yours truly—have purchased one. Indeed, here is a photo of myself and fan filmmaker DAVID CHENG at the recent premiere of the Star Trek: Voyager documentary at Paramount Studios with both of us wearing our Picard jackets…
Speaking of David Cheng, he recently released one of the first fan films to be firmly set in the Picard season three timeframe. Another recent fan film, CONSTAR: THE MOTION PICTURE, also featured scenes with VANCE MAJOR wearing his Picard jacket. (Side note: a couple of TREK SHORTS fan films have featured 25th century Starfleet uniforms, but no Picard season three jackets as yet.)
Anyway, David recently released what I believe is the first Star Trek fan film to feature the snazzy season three jacket, the latest offering from his STAR TREK FAN PRODUCTIONS INTERNATIONAL fanthology series (you can watch all of their completed films on their YouTube channel). SPARE THE FUTURE, SAVE THE PAST introduces two new main characters (one of them played by David himself) who, it would seem, will be returning for future adventures. Take a look…
I had the chance to shoot a few questions David’s way about this new release. Here’s what he has to say…
JONATHAN – This film is quite a departure from most of your previous films, which tended to focus on legacy characters from the TOS movie era along with Chakotay and Harry Kim. How did this film come about?
DAVID – With the exception of a GARRETT WANG mini-documentary and a TREKS IN 90 SECS short, the last film we released, BORG HUNTERS, was in 2022. There were two other film projects that we were trying to work on, but scheduling issues kept delaying progress on them. Feeling restless, I decided to create a brand new story with entirely new characters played by different actors (except for myself).
JONATHAN – What can you tell us about these new characters and how you developed them?
DAVID – The film is set in the Picard TV series era and features Captain Jacob Lui and his first officer, Commander Varma, who are on the U.S.S. Sternbach, one of the ships alluded to in Picard season 3. Unlike other Starfleet Captains, Lui is gruff, a bit of a maverick, and a loose cannon who doesn’t always adhere to standard protocols. In coming up with his character, I was influenced by Captain Shaw of the Picard TV series and Clint Eastwood’s movie persona. In contrast, Varma is a straightforward, bright, by the book officer who is fiercely loyal to Lui and tries to keep him out of trouble.
Sicarius is the villain in the story who travels from the past for an unknown reason to kill Lui, while Section 31 Agent Lui pursues him from the past in order to stop him.
JONATHAN – This film is actually the first time you feature a major character who is female, Commander Varma. How did that come about?
DAVID – The stories from past films did not lend themselves to female characters in major roles. In this film, because I was creating new characters from scratch, I intentionally wanted a female commander to play off of Captain Lui. I was fortunate that LEANA AHMED, a fellow Trek fan whom I knew from local events, was willing to play Commander Varma. It was also a plus that she was an ethnic minority that we do not often see in fan films. I thought she did a great job!
JONATHAN – I agree. It was very refreshing to see not only a woman but one from a south Asian ethnicity in a Star Trek fan film. So what distinguishes Spare the Future, Save the Past from your previous films.
DAVID – I intentionally inserted more humor, specifically in the interactions between Captain Lui and Commander Varma. We also have some martial arts choreography which you do not see very often in fan films.
JONATHAN – That was indeed quite ambitious! So how long did it take you to shoot the entire film and complete it for release?
DAVID – We spent one day shooting the film, and I did about forty-five minutes of pick-up shots on another day. I am very respectful of the actors’ and director’s schedules, and we work hard to complete the shoot in a timely fashion. Principal photography took place in the fall of 2023. I did not get around to doing the pickup shots and editing the film until late Spring of 2024. We finally had an in-person premiere at the end of August 2024.
JONATHAN – Once again, MARK LUM served as both your Director and Director of Photography. Is he now your go-to guy?
DAVID – He is available and is cheap..ha ha. Seriously, Mark and I have worked well together on past films, and he is growing as a director with each film. He comes up with great ideas and has a good eye for things, so it made sense to ask him to help out again.
JONATHAN – The credits list your VFX as being done by LUCKY RED SHIRT PRODUCTIONS. Is there a name behind that company?
DAVID – WAYNE HARDING, who has done VFX ships in our past films, did the U.S.S. Sternbach scenes. VVINCENT GLASER III, who did special effects for Borg Hunters, did the phaser effects and also did the rotoscoping for the film.
JONATHAN – Were there any special challenges you faced in making this film?
DAVID – All the filming took place outside in areas open to the public, so we had to work around people who were walking in and out. Sometimes people ended up in the backgrounds of our shots, so Vincent had to mask them out of the clips in post-production. Also, we happened to pick a day in which an outdoor ukulele festival was occurring in a courtyard next to where we shot most of the film. So, there was a lot of ambient noise that was captured which I had to clean up in post-production. We had to do a lot of work to clean up the shots and the audio in order to make the film presentable.
JONATHAN – Damn ukuleles! The natural enemy of the fan filmmaker! Okay, with eight completed fan films under your belt, what keeps you going and wanting to make more?
DAVID – For one thing, there are many good stories to tell. Filmmaking is a collaborative process, and I enjoy working with everyone involved. It is a great excuse for me to get together with established friends and new friends to make projects that are hopefully fun and satisfying for everyone.
JONATHAN – Following up on that sentiment, David, what advice–both philosophical and practical–would you give to a fan like yourself with few resources who wanted to start making their own Star Trek fan films?
DAVID – I would say to start with what you have. Come up with a good, short story that you would enjoy watching if someone else made it. Use a cell phone if that is the only device you have to shoot it. Get others involved who have the interest and skills to help you produce the film, such as acting, directing, editing, and music supervision. There’s an old Sesame Street song that The Carpenters duo used to sing called, “Sing A Song.” Some of the lyrics are, “Don’t worry if it’s not good enough for anyone else to hear; just sing, sing a song.” See this as a journey of learning and growth in which you seek to improve and get better and better. Most of all, have fun!
JONATHAN – And finally, what’s next for these characters and their storyline? Will you be focusing exclusively on Captain Lui and Commander Varma going forward or continue jumping around in your stories?
DAVID – I am working on a script as a follow up on the film, entitled, “Spare the Past, Save the Future,” which will explain why Sicarius travels into the future to try to kill Captain Lui. I anticipate that it will be a fun adventure with Captain Lui and Commander Varma, with lots of humor and, of course, more martial arts fighting. I am hoping we will be able to shoot the film next year.
We are finishing up another TOS-era film involving Admiral Nogura and the usual gang that we started in 2019 but was delayed by COVID and other things which will be our next release in 2025. We also have been filming the next Borg Hunters film, entitled, “Borg Hunters: The House of Kor,” which I hope to have completed for release later in 2025. It will be a busy 2025!
JONATHAN – Indeed! Looking forward to it, David!