The submission window for the 2025 Star Trek Fan Film SHOWRUNNER AWARDS is now open and will remain so until midnight Pacific Time on May 31, 2025. Any Star Trek fan film released publicly between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2024 is eligible for entry regardless of the person or team producing it. Note that this time we are trimming our eligibility window from our previous 5 years down to just 3 years. Few if any entries were typically submitted from fan films over 3-years old, so the reduction seemed like a reasonable decision.
The online entry form is located here…
https://www.cognitoforms.com/JonathanLane1/_2025StarTrekFanFilmSHOWRUNNERAWARDS
As usual, our judging panel remains at twelve, made up of people who have, themselves, served as showrunners on one or more fan films or series. This provides each judge a unique and personal perspective on what goes into making a fan production in our nearly two-dozen categories. In other words, our judges are knowledgeable and experienced in filmmaking which, I truly believe, brings a high level of expertise to our competition—along with our sister contest, the DIRECTORS CHOICE AWARDS, which just wrapped up earlier this month.
And it is for this reason that, each year, I publish a blog spotlighting our judging panel and what they have accomplished in the world of Star Trek fan films specifically. Ten of our twelve judges are returning from last year, so their write-ups (see below) will probably look familiar to you. The two judges who decided to leave the panel this year both departed on good terms. GREG LOCK, who began working on STAR TREK: AMBUSH back in 2014 and finally released it in 2022, felt that he should have a more recent fan film project under his belt before returning as a showrunner judge. The other judge to leave us is more of a “swap.” GLEN L. WOLFE and DAN REYNOLDS are the co-owners of WARP 66 STUDIOS in northern Arkansas and the co-showrunners of THE FEDERATION FILES fanthology series. Each year, one of the two of them “tags out” to give the other a turn. So in 2025, Dan will be taking over Glen’s spot, who in turn took over Dan’s spot in last year’s competition.
Our one brand new judge this year brings an international perspective, joining SAMUEL COCKINGS as one of two non-U.S.-based judges. I am referring to German wunderkind BENJAMIN SCHULZ of the fan series LORELEY. More on Benjamin (and everybody else) below…
JOSE CEPEDA – NATURE’S HUNGER
Returning for a second year, JOSE CEPEDA lives near Atlanta, GA and is the showrunner of the wild ‘n’ whacky NATURE’S HUNGER fan series, which has been going non-stop since 2010 with dozens of releases…the more recent ones shot in Jose’s basement, which is filled with amazing TOS set recreations. Jose has also made cameo appearances as his character of Captain Ramses of the U.S.S. Crusader in a whole slew of different fan series. This year, Jose’s two-hour mega-project BOMBER GIRL will be in consideration as a Showrunner Awards entry. And while Jose can’t vote for his own submission in any of the top three-of-five ranked spots on his ballot, I anticipate this unique fan production will nevertheless be a tough competitor.
SAMUEL COCKINGS – TREK SHORTS and TEMPORAL ANOMALY
A returning judge for a fourth year, SAM COCKINGS from the U.K. is a force of fan film nature. To list all the projects that Sam has created CGI animations for (both his own and for others) would take up far too many electrons for a single blog! Focusing simply on Sam’s own projects, he wrote and directed (and did almost everything else for but act in) the 52-minute TEMPORAL ANOMALY, which premiered in 2019. More recently, Sam’s fanthology series TREK SHORTS (which he also occasionally acts in) is approaching THIRTY total releases over the past four years! And all of them feature Sam’s signature jaw-dropping CGI visual effects. Some of those films will likely be in contention this year. And in addition to all of the above, Sam is also the co-host of the TREKYARDS podcast. Sam is one busy Brit!
LEE GARTRELL – THE ROMULAN WARS
One of the many Arkansas-based fan filmmakers out there, LEE GARTRELL was the showrunner on the long-running fan series THE ROMULAN WARS (with an “s” at the end, not the singular 2-part fan film). And even though Lee’s series aired a ‘finale” back in 2017, reports of TRW‘s demise may have been exaggerated slightly, as Lee is currently in production of a new release in the series. Lee has also helped provide 3D ship renderings for a variety of other fan series, including STARSHIP ANTYLLUS, CONSTAR, STAR TREK: EAGLE, STAR TREK: RELIANT, and PROJECT: POTEMKIN. This will be Lee’s second year as a judge on our panel.
JOSHUA IRWIN – THE AVALON UNIVERSE
Back for a fourth year and based in northwest Arkansas, judge JOSHUA IRWIN actually went to film school and has worked in the entertainment industry for decades…which is why his AVALON UNIVERSE fan films look so polished and professional. With more than a dozen Avalon Universe fan films completed and released in less than five years, Josh also has the footage for a final release already “in the can” that will wrap up the expansive Avalon saga…at least in the 23rd century. In addition, Josh has helped out MANY other fan filmmakers with their projects (directing, editing, cinematography, etc.), including myself on INTERLUDE, VANCE MAJOR on CONSTAR, and most recently RAY TESI on numerous TALES FROM THE NEUTRAL ZONE. This year, one of Josh’s favorite projects to date, LA MORTE DE LA GUERRE will likely be a very strong competitor in our competition.
JONATHAN LANE – INTERLUDE and AN ABSENT FRIEND
Based in Los Angeles, California, JONATHAN LANE (that’s me) began blogging about Star Trek fan films in 2015 on the AXANAR website and started FAN FILM FACTOR at the beginning of 2016. But it would be three more years before I decided to write and produce a fan film of my own. INTERLUDE was actually a fan film of a fan film, a sequel to PRELUDE TO AXANAR. But my real goal was always to learn more about the process of creating a fan film and to blog about it. With a cast and crew of more than 55 people, Interlude debuted in 2021 and inspired dozens of behind-the-scenes blogs covering everything from crowd-funding to pre-production, production, and post-production. My second Star Trek fan film, the Filmation animation-style AN ABSENT FRIEND, was released last year and used A.I. to recreate the voices of beloved late actors LEONARD NIMOY and DeFOREST KELLEY in their iconic roles of Spock and McCoy. That fan film will compete this year.
MARK LARGENT – STALLED TREK
Based in Dallas, Texas, returning judge MARK LARGENT is the brilliant and incredibly talented mind behind behind the STALLED TREK series of 3D animated puppet parodies that began with “AMUTT TIME” back in 2012. Four years later, Mark and I collaborated to create a Stalled Trek parody of the Axanar lawsuit titled PRELUDE TO AX’D-WE-ARE. In late 2019, Mark released a Stalled Trek short titled “ALL AHEAD FULL.” Most recently, Mark released his hilarious and award-winning crowd-funded puppet parody, “THE CITY ON THE EDGE OF FORECLOSURE.” And if you haven’t had enough of those parody puppets, Mark recently completed his latest masterpiece, “THE DUMBSDAY MACHINE,” which has not yet been released onto YouTube but has been shared with crowd-funding donors. Having seen it myself, I can assure you that it’s absolutely worth the wait…which hopefully won’t be too much longer. Right, Mark?
VANCE MAJOR – CONSTAR
Returning to our judging panel, Kansas-based VANCE MAJOR revolutionized the world of Star Trek fan films by boldly making grassroots-quality productions with little more than a script, a cell phone camera, and (maybe) a uniform…or a hoodie. Sometimes Vance would luck out and shoot on a TOS set in Oklahoma, Arkansas, or Georgia. But more often than not, it was just a room in his house or a park in his town—with the story being the most important element. Vance produced and/or was involved in nearly 150 CONSTAR fan films telling the story of his character Erick Minard, and he has cameoed in countless other fan films and series. Vance has been an inspiration to innumerable fan filmmakers for his “just do it and let the critics be damned” attitude toward creating his projects.
BRIAN W. PETERSON – THE LOST STARSHIP
Returning for a second year as a showrunner judge, Kansas-based BRIAN W. PETERSON made his debut in 2023 with the excellent THE LOST STARSHIP, which he wrote, produced, and appeared in as an extra. That project was so successful that it won an ultra-impressive THIRTEEN different awards in last year’s Showrunner Awards competition (second only to Josh Irwin’s CRISIS ON INFINITE EXCALIBURS win 18 wins at various tiers). Released under the banner of the fanthology series TALES FROM THE NEUTRAL ZONE, The Lost Starship film was produced as a collaboration between NEUTRAL ZONE STUDIOS and AVALON UNIVERSE. Brian is also a published author with five novels under his belt (two of them sci-fi). Brian is planning to write and produce more fan films going forward, which is good news for fans!
IAN RAMSEY – STAR REKT PARODY MUSIC VIDEOS
Returning for a third year to judge the Showrunner Awards, Los Angeles-based IAN RAMSEY burst onto the fan film scene in 2022 with STAR REKT, a series of parody Star Trek music videos starring…himself. Can you still be considered a showrunner if the only team member you’re supervising is yourself? Why not! And honestly, these are not easy videos to make…especially considering that Ian writes his own lyrics, sings them, creates costumes, handles makeup and props, acts, directs, occasionally dances, does lighting and sound-mixing, and edits. Even if he’s only supervising himself, that still a LOT to supervise! So, yeah, he’s definitely a showrunner.
DAN REYNOLDS – THE FEDERATION FILES and WARP 66 STUDIOS
Swapping out with his counterpart GLEN WOLFE, returning judge DAN REYNOLDS lives in northern Arkansas and is the co-owner of WARP 66 STUDIOS, a collection of TOS-era starship sets that have been used for numerous Star Trek fan films. Along with his showrunning partner Glen, Dan has helped create a dozen episodes of their fanthology series, THE FEDERATION FILES. Dan has also spent decades running a local broadcast television studio and is no stranger to both sides of the camera, as well as the editing console.
BENJAMIN SCHULZ – LORELEY
If you’re one of those Trekkers who doesn’t watch fan films that require subtitle translations, then you’re really missing out when it comes to the LORELEY fan series. They debuted their first full-length fan film in early 2022, and their latest release, Loreley – A STAR TREK Fan Production “Prelude to Part III – Kobayashi Maru” from last year, just took the BEST IN FEST Award, along with BEST FOREIGN FILM Award, at this year’s Director’s Choice Awards. Multiple Lorely releases are eligible for the 2025 Showrunner Awards, and one has already been entered. Their costumes, lighting, camera work, make-up, green screen compositing, and visual effects are simply spectacular and certainly worth checking out. Benjamin, along with his filmmaking partner HEIKO THIES, oversees most of this well-oiled operation, and Benjamin’s addition to our judging panel is most heartily welcome.
RANDY WRENN – DREADNOUGHT DOMINION (and more!)
While his production partner GARY DAVIS is busy helping to get NEUTRAL ZONE STUDIOS back up an running in Gary’s home state of Ohio, North Carolina-based RANDY WRENN is retuning for a fourth year as a judge. Both men have been the co-showrunners, writers, directors, and stars of DREADNOUGHT DOMINION for a decade…although they are now both stepping behind the camera for the foreseeable future. They have also spun off the new fan series PROJECT: RUNABOUT and WARBIRD VALDORE, the latter being the first (that I know of) fan series to be produced entirely from the point of view of the crew of a Romulan vessel and crew. I fully expect entries from all three series in this year’s Showrunner Awards.
And that’s our twelve judges, all looking forward to viewing some really FANtastic Star Trek fan films! Once again, here’s the link to the submission page…
https://www.cognitoforms.com/JonathanLane1/_2025StarTrekFanFilmSHOWRUNNERAWARDS