Don’t look now, but my last published Fan Film Factor blog was on January 9th! And for a guy who prides himself on posting at least one or two new blogs a week, that’s almost an eternity of radio silence! Indeed, it had gotten so noticeable that one fan filmmaker actually IM’d me recently to ask if I’d survived the recent Los Angeles wildfires. (I was tempted to respond, “No, I died in a smoldering inferno last month. I’m writing to you from the Great Beyond…and they have Star Trek reruns!”)
So what did happen?
Well, as I mentioned in my final blog of 2024, I had been spending quite a bit of time finishing the writing of a new book on day trading. (Don’t laugh! I’ve gotten quite good at it, folks. And something has to pay for my next fan film!) But the book came out in late January, so that doesn’t explain my lack of blogger productivity for much of January and all of February.
I could, of course, blame the wildfires that devastates L.A. and left a number of our friends effectively homeless. But fortunately for myself and the Lane family, homes on the west side of Los Angeles were spared from the fiery maelstrom. I did volunteer at an organization called Project Angel Food (mostly chopping vegetables), but that didn’t take away too much blogging time.
No, the two reasons for my lack of new fan film blogs these past two months were twofold: the DIRECTORS CHOICE AWARDS and robots.
Usually, I simply report on the annual Directors Choice fan film awards. But this year, due to my entering of my own fan film, AN ABSENT FRIEND, into the competition, I am also a judge. And as it turns out, there were FIFTY-FIVE different entries this time out!!!! Some of them I’ve already seen, as they are Star Trek fan films. But others are superhero, Alien, Nightmare on Elm Street, Harry Potter, Ghostbusters, The Last of Us, Power Rangers, Narnia, and a host of other sci-fi/fantasy/horror genres. And many of them are truly excellent and worth watching (for example, this one and this one). But while some of them are fairly short, others have run times of thirty minutes to over an hour…and there’s quite a few of those! So I’ve been spending a LOT of time just watching dozens and dozens of different fan films so I can cast an informed ballot before the March voting deadline.
As for the robots…
My son Jayden has been on a robotics team since fourth grade (when he was still building remotely at home during the lockdown). He’s in eighth grade now, and he just switched from the VEX Robotics leagues to the FIRST Robotics Competition (kinda like moving from Boeing to NASA). His new team is a part of the high school that Jayden will be attending next year—he’s still in junior high right now—and he’s actually one of the only eighth graders on the team. Obviously, we’re very proud of him.
As a parent, I always like to see if I can pitch in and volunteer to help out when it comes to Jayden’s schookl and extracurricular activities. But building or even designing robots is completely beyond me! (Not only that, but it’s the kids who do the designing and construction, not the adults. And they don’t really need a fan film blogger anyway.)
However, I do have a background in advertising/marketing/graphic design, and I’ve become a decent videographer and editor. So I volunteered to film the 50-or-so team members actually building their robot…and then expand the video to also include interview segments with the team members themselves (they are SO impressive!). So far, I’ve used the footage that I shot to create two videos for the team. The first is a “thank you” video for the sponsors who help fund the team…
The second video is a recruitment video aimed at junior high schoolers thinking about joining the robotics team during the following year(s)…
Filming and editing those videos took up a good portion of my January and February, but it was extremely rewarding for me personally. Not only did I have an opportunity to do something wonderfully creative, but I felt like I was really helping these awesome kids (young adults, actually!) and getting to know them. Their first competition of the season is this Saturday, and I will be waking up both myself and Jayden at 5:30 am to make sure we get to Port Hueneme, CA before the tournament begins. Let’s go, Bagel Bytes!!! (Their vey first sponsor back in 2001 was Noah’s Bagels.)
And finally, I will admit to having needed a little bit of a break from constant blogging about fan films. Don’t get me wrong! I adore this sub-sub-genre, and I truly enjoy getting to know the people who make these labors-of-love possible. But I needed some time away to recharge, and these past two months have been a welcome respite.
That said, I haven’t been completely slacking off! I’ve recorded two zoom call interviews, one with GLEN L. WOLFE of THE FEDERATION FILES discussing “SLIPSTREAM” and the other with cast and crew members of NATURE’S HUNGER diving into their two-hour fan film “BOMBER GIRL.” Both of those videos will become blogs within the next couple of weeks. Oh, and I also participated in this fun fan film podcast for STAR TREK: THE UNDISCOVERED PODCAST, joining fellow fan filmmakers SKIP MORRIS and RAY TESI in a lively discussion with the podcasters. Feel free to check it out.
Anyway, that’s what’s been happening with me. I’ve had my break, and now I’m ready to get back to work!