CARLOS PEDRAZA wants MONEY from ALEC PETERS??? (editorial)

There’s chutzpah and then there’s CARLOS PEDRAZA chutzpah.  I’m talking cajones-the-size-of-monster-truck-tires chutzpah!!

It all began this past Sunday night at 5:54pm Eastern Time when a Paypal order came into SphinxCon for a ticket with an Axacon add-on for one Carlos Pedraza.  This immediately led to a discussion between SphinxCon‘s organizer, DAVID WEINER, and Axacon‘s organizer, ALEC PETERS.

About three and a half hours later, Carlos received the following e-mail from Alec…

Carlos:

We note you attempted to buy a ticket to Axacon.  Your ticket is being refunded.  You are on notice that you, or any current or former member of the Axamonitor Facebook group that attempts to enter the Axacon facility, will be asked to leave.  As Axacon is meant to celebrate and support the Axanar project, those who have shown repeated animosity, negativity, and antagonism toward Axanar Productions, its team members, myself, and guests of the convention are not welcome to attend.

A former Georgia Sheriff’s Deputy is in charge of security and local law enforcement will be notified before the event that we have had an issue with stalkers and will be prepared to respond if you or any of your fellow stalkers attempt to attend.  The hotel will also be notified in advance.

It is very clear that, like your blog, your only intention is to make trouble.

Alec Peters

Had things ended there, I wouldn’t have bothered writing this blog.  After all, I haven’t blogged about Carlos Pedraza for several months (go ahead and check), and I was enjoying focusing exclusively on fan films.  But things didn’t end there…

First, though, let me state that there’s nothing illegal about Alec and David’s decision.  Both SphinxCon and Axacon are private events, and the organizers can refuse entry to anyone they choose, or require people to leave for whatever reason—with or without a refund.

But this isn’t a question of CAN they block people from attending; it’s a question of SHOULD they.

After considering this question, I find that I agree with Alec and David.  Now, before all the detractors shout, “Well, of course you do, you sycophantic shill…!” let me remind those folks that I’ve very publicly disagreed with Alec’s decision to arbitrarily ban detractors from the Axanar Facebook groups.  I always felt that was a wrong decision, and on Fan Film Forum, we implemented a series of escalating warnings and mutings that give most of our members up to five chances before they’re totally banned from the group.  Right or wrong, that’s the way I’ve chosen to do it.  Alec went a different way.

So why is banning Carlos from Axacon different than banning a detractor from a Facebook group?

Unlike Alec, I don’t believe Carlos was intending to make trouble at the convention itself.  I’m certain Carlos was planning to be an absolute gentleman (lest he risk being escorted out unceremoniously by security).  But after the convention, all bets would be off…as Carlos’ poison pen (or keyboard) is way mightier than any small sword he might want to whip out and wave around at the con itself.

Carlos has a tendency to report a rather, shall we say, skewed version of the “truth” (or just lie outright).  For example, who could forget Axamonitor’s all-over-the-place reporting of the total funds that had been raised from Axanar donors prior to the lawsuit…which Carlos listed initially as $1.1 million and slowly crept its way up—$1.2 million, $1.3 million, $1.7 million—to nearly $2 million?  Then, of course, there was the infamous “big reveal” of the new location for the Georgia studio…which turned out to be completely wrong because Carlos rushed to publish without attempting to verify the information.

More recently, Carlos bent the truth into a pretzel when he reported the following…

“Some” turned out to be one (lifted from a single comment in a private group conversion of Atlanta volunteers on Facebook, where Carlos had installed a mole to secretly relay him confidential information).  And no one in the closed group ever used the word “exorbitantly.”  I know, I was there.  When I asked Carlos what his source was for that “quote,” he sent me the following screen cap (the highlighting was his)…

So one person commenting, “That is…not a good deal” magically transformed through Carlos’ poison keyboard into “…some have complained are exorbitantly priced.”  Responsible reporting there, Carlos!

Shortly thereafter, Carlos’ poison keyboard was at it again, this time with even more outlandishness…

I’ve heard of scope creep, but this is ridiculous!  One person grew into “some” and has now reached the size of “many” before our very eyes!  You can literally watch as the truth is replaced by the lie.   (How long, I wonder, until Carlos simply says “everybody”?)

Then we also suddenly have Carlos stating, matter-of-factly and with no footnote to even try to back it up, the reason for the Axacon ticket price reduction as “sluggish sales.”  Considering that Alec did an interview here on Fan Film Factor barely three weeks ago saying that 1) he assumed that the convention would lose money, 2) he wasn’t expecting many people, and 3) the reason for the convention wasn’t to pack in attendees but to generate video content that could later be shared with fans and supporters, I’m not sure how Carlos could have written the words “hoping to counter sluggish sales” with a straight face.

As for Alec “pleading with fans to volunteer”—now it’s my turn to not have a straight face!  Wanna see what it looks like when Alec Peters “pleads” with volunteers…?

Yep, sounds pretty desperate to me!  Alec quickly got half a dozen volunteers, by the way.  But Carlos’ magical poison keyboard calls that “pleading.”  Uh, huh.

So with the well-established reputation of Carlos to make everything related to Axanar sound like a five-alarm fire, one can safely assume that he would treat Axacon in the same way…doing his best to present the event in as negative a light as his poison keyboard can manage.

But as Alec himself said in his e-mail to Carlos: “Axacon is meant to celebrate and support the Axanar project.”  It’s not intended for detractors, or self-proclaimed “journalists” with an Ax to grind, to exploit on their blogs and Facebook pages with skewed “reports,” cleverly-edited sound bytes, and attempts to discredit anything they can twist from a positive into an ominous negative narrative.

In short, there’s nothing really to gain from letting Carlos attend…and lots to lose.  Why invite the fox to party in the hen house?

So what about the chutzpah?  I promised you CHUTZPAH!

Well, that came about three hours after Alec sent his e-mail to Carlos when Carlos responded…

Hello,

I’m sorry to hear that you’ve decided against my attending Axacon, and I urge you to reconsider. I had no intention of causing any trouble while there.

Note the “while there” part.  Carlos didn’t say he wouldn’t cause trouble afterwards.  Okay, back to the e-mail…

I’ll end up reporting what happened there regardless.

Hmmmm…  So even if Carlos doesn’t attend, he will still report on what happened there?  Interesting.  Interesting.

You can avoid being seen as too cowardly to allow a critic to simply observe your event. I pose no threat to you.

The “I pose no threat to you…” is also interesting, considering the amount of effort Carlos has repeatedly put into trying to discredit Alec Peters and paint him as shady, secretive, incompetent, and nefarious.  I can only imagine how much time Carlos spent creating this graphic.  And heaven forbid you know or work with Alec, ’cause Carlos will shine his “journalist” spotlight on your business, too, as he did with this blog totally unrelated to anything Axanar.  “I pose no threat to you…”—not for lack of trying, old chap!

I planned to be respectful of the event while there, and only purchased a ticket for sessions taking place at the conference hotel; I understand trying to attend any of the events at OWC Studios would likely have been awkward for everyone since it is your place of business. I had also purchased the combo ticket because I wanted to participate in the Honor Harrington con, as well — just as an attendee, not as a reporter. I’m sorry I won’t have that opportunity.

And the chutzpah?  Wait for it.  Wait for it…

Thank you for the refund on my registration fee, but if you stand by your decision, then I’d like to ask to also be reimbursed for the substantial cancellation fees imposed by the airlines for the non-refundable $413.50 fare I paid for the roundtrip to Atlanta. I’m happy to send you a copy of the receipt showing the cost of cancellation. Fortunately, it’s still early enough to cancel the hotel reservation.

I hope you’ll rethink your decision.

Regards,

Carlos Pedraza
Editor, AxaMonitor

Yep, Carlos wants Alec to REIMBURSE him not just for the convention ticket (which is fine) but ALSO for the “substantial” cancelation/change fees for the plane ticket (likely about$150).  Yep, folks, balls the size of monster truck tires…

What I find most amusing about Carlos’ request is that the U.S. Department of Transportation requires all air carriers flying to or from American airports to allow customers to cancel an airline reservation for at least 24 hours after the reservation is made with NO PENALTY (assuming the reservation is made at least one week in advance, which Carlos had done).

Carlos received his SphinxCon/Axacon refund notice only 3 hours after buying his ticket…well within the 24 hours he was allotted by U.S. law to cancel his airline reservation.  Of course, perhaps Carlos had booked his flight days or weeks in advance.  But that doesn’t seem to make sense…to plan a flight to Atlanta without knowing whether tickets were still available for the convention.  I think I’d have bought the convention ticket first—or at least at about the same time—rather than booking my flight days before buying the convention ticket.  Just seems weird to me.

Anyway, Carlos is, predictably, already beginning the narrative of playing the victim, decrying the lack of fairness in losing his deposit, and implying that Alec must have something to hide by not letting Carlos attend.  The following text message was sent by Carlos to a mutual friend of his and Alec’s, asking for help in getting Alec to reconsider…

So as you can see, the narrative is already taking shape.  I suspect Carlos will be trying to milk the “non-refundable $413” for all it’s worth…which is really $150 for a change/cancellation…and really should have been $0 in the first 24 hours.  Then again, we already know that Carlos likes it better when the dollar figures he reports go up-up-up and not down.

And yeah, it won’t be surprising to see Carlos’ magical poison keyboard also spin the whole “what are they hiding?” conspiracy theory into the stratosphere.  The answer, of course, is absolutely nothing.  Every panel is being recorded and will eventually be shared, but on Axanar‘s terms and timetable, not Carlos’.  He doesn’t get to make that call…not this time.

I checked with Alec and David, and no, Carlos will NOT be receiving any compensation to cover the cost of changing or canceling his plane ticket…just as I won’t be receiving any compensation from Carlos for all of the countless hours I’ve spent correcting his parade of manipulative and misleading misinformation presented regularly on the Axamonitor blog site and elsewhere.

But hey, Carlos, all is not completely lost!  You can still enjoy a trip to Atlanta for the weekend.  It’s a lovely city with lots to see.  In fact, here’s a suggestion: Fat Matt’s Rib Shack on Piedmont.  Best baked beans you’ve ever had and some of the tastiest BBQ this ol’ U.S. of A has to offer.  Bring your magic poison laptop, and you can enjoy an awesome meal while you make up things to “report” about Axacon.

(Yep, Jonathan can do chutzpah, too.)

79 thoughts on “CARLOS PEDRAZA wants MONEY from ALEC PETERS??? (editorial)”

  1. Jonathan, this guy is not worth notice. Following the Kavanaugh hearings, his efforts are beyond amateur. Alec needs to publicly say he is not responsible for irresponsible planning on the part of others and call it a day. This guy needs responses, to generate more ways to goad Alec. Write him off as a example of a poor DNA mix….

  2. As a good friend of mine once said: `Alec Peters could walk on water and save a kid from drowning, Carlos would report it as “Alec Peters cannot swim”`.

    This situation is no different and that text message sent post refund really says it all. It shows that Carlos had no intention of reporting the event matter of factly.

    3. Well in that case it could be true and Alec Peters may not be able to swim, we would not have any evidence of this though as why would you demonstrate your ability or inability to swim when walking on water is far more impressive?

        1. Sorry I was having a moment… I meant if Alec could walk on water all that scenario would prove is he can do that, wouldn’t have any implication to if he can or can not swim.

          Please ignore the crazy person!

  3. The coca-cola plant tour and CNN tour are awesome as well. Carlos is great at “coaching” his answers, so they seem benign, but then striking back later like a cancer lying in wait.

  5. He should visit the Aquarium. It is world renown. The behind the scenes tour is worth the money. Also the Martin Luther King tours are great.

  7. I’m looking forward to Axacon! Tell Alex I’ll cover Carlos ticket IF, when the airline gives him a refund, he donates it to charity.

    1. What you said doesn’t make any sense, Sandy. How did you get “afraid” from anything I just wrote?

      Oh, wait, did you buy the same magic keyboard that Carlos has? 🙂

    2. Sandy:

      Too bad Carlos isn’t a journalist. You want to send a REAL journalist, who will be fair and impartial? I will give them the keys to the kingdom.

      Let’s agree on a REAL journalist, not some blogger with an agenda, and we will roll out the red carpet. But that means you will have to accept the findings and shut down your hate agenda when that journalist says what EVERY professional has said so far…that we have done everything above board.

      Sure, we made mistakes, I am the first to admit that. But no one is hiding anything.

      But you won’t do that will you Sandy? Because you want to continue your campaign of lies.

      I DARE you to accept my offer. Let’s find one of the award winning journalists from the Atlanta Journal Constitution shall we? You agree to pay, I open up EVERYTHING.

      Alec

    3. What journalist?
      Carlos is a blogger, yes…that doesn’t make him a journalist. Unless that’s preceded by the descriptive term “hack”…

  9. I seriously considered telling Carlos to come to Atlanta and sit down and go through the detailed finances with me. I would even pay for my accountant from highly respected accounting firm Frazier and Deter to be there. But you know, it won’t change Carlos’ mind, and he would still twist it to serve his agenda. Facts don’t matter to him. He will lie, manipulate and twist anything as he has done for almost three years.

    Part of me says accountants, lawyers, industry professionals and donors who have seen the detailed finances have absolutely no problem with them so why should Carlos? He just feels jilted I haven’t shared them with him (On the advice of Axanar PR Director Mike Bawden who feels Carlos will twist them no matter what).

    But the facts say otherwise. Carlos has never said a single positive thing about me or Axanar. He lies about our finances constantly (see Joanthan’s notes above and the article he wrote about these lies). EVERY SINGLE article is an attack on me and Axanar and Carlos has gone from blogger with an agenda to full blown stalker, stalking myself, my girlfriend and my friends with articles on my friend’s coffee shop or just about anything I do. Not only is there zero chance Carlos will ever say anything positive about me or Axanar, but there is also zero chance Carlos would ever admit he is wrong. When Frazier and Deter finishes Axanar’s taxes for 2014-2016 and comes out with their assessment of our finances, Carlos will make excuses just as he did when our previous accountants or Financial Review Committee did. Only facts that fit in Carlos world view will be acknowledged by him.

    Just about anyone in the Axanar world, especially donors, are more than welcome to Axacon, which is meant to be a celebration of Axanar and our fans. And frankly, I would probably sit down with anyone to review our finances in detail and share everything if I was asked. But not Carlos. He and his minions have made up their minds and only the facts that support their world view will be accepted. (Sounds like our country eh?)

    Alec

    1. hey, why not schedule a panel to show the full Axanar financials to everyone except the detractors? You could project them onto the big screen in the panel room! 🙂

        1. Alec and I discussed this further off-line. We’re considering making the full books (those thick binders) available for any attendee to look over for themselves when they come for the studio tour. More details as they get worked out!

    2. > But you know, it won’t change Carlos’ mind,

      I’m not sure. In my experience, just meeting with someone in person makes a HUGE change to how that person interacts with that person online. I mean he will still think you’re shady, but you (and jonathan) will be humanized instead of being just some profile icon facebook.

      Personally, I would have let him in… pseudo-reporting from afar vs seeing things in person I think would make a huge difference.

      I’m somewhat critical of axanar, but I’m a lot less when I see a video like the set tour, where you can see the people behind it.

      1. Evidence to the contrary: I’ve known Gabe Koerner for years. I had lunch with him as recently as about a year and a half ago in Sherman Oaks. It hasn’t changed or mellowed his inappropriate and belligerent online behavior toward me one bit.

        Carlos is actually a very nice and charming individual in person (or so I’ve been told my mutual acquaintances who worked with him on Hidden Frontier). And honestly, so is Alec. He’s been incredibly gracious to me and my son, and people who see him and speak to him at conventions usually have only the highest praise for Alec’s warmth and friendliness. The problem happens when there’s a keyboard in front of them. So I doubt seeing each other in person would make Carlos any less likely to write negatively about Alec or Alec any less likely to kvetch about Carlos obsessively stalking him.

      2. I’m pretty sure they’ve met before.

        While Pedraza denies it, I get the feeling that all this comes from a many years old dislike and grudge Pedraza had with Peters going back to the New Voyages days, which both worked on. Both were “names” in the fan film circle. Now, whether or not that means Pedraza simply found Peters arrogant and full of hubris (which isn’t necessarily in accurate if his online personality is anything to go by) in general or over his plans for Axanar, or instead had a falling out with him over a fan film issue in the days before Axanar, what seems clear to me is that back in the early days of Axanar, or even before it, something has caused Pedraza to have a grudge to the point of obsessive irrationality. I just don’t think someone carries on and on like this unless they somehow feel personally aggrieved. It’s interesting that even this article points out they have mutual friends.

        I think this is a case of res ipsa loquitur with Carlos. The whole charade of being a journalist and shining a light on a supposed con man is clearly a cover. I mean the guy wrote an article for the Associated Press in the 90s or something and that’s where he gets his so called credentials from. But anyone can see that his pattern of behaviour and the years it has been going on is that of someone who is carrying a grudge. A huge chip on their shoulder. It’s personal with him, and if he wasn’t trying to delude his followers and the world that it’s all just about holding Peters to account, we might actually find out from him why this is all so personal for him.

        1. The solution to the mystery of why Carlos does what he does (and why I do what I do and why the detractors do what they do) comes down to one very simple thing:

          NO ONE WANTS TO BE WRONG ON THIS.

          As soon as Carlos lets up, even a little, on the gas, it becomes an admission of sorts that, no, this isn’t all that important after all or (worse yet), maybe Alec isn’t a crook and Axanar will get made after all.

          And hey, like I said, I’m in this to be right, too. Once Axanar gets made, I win the argument. If Axanar never gets made, Carlos wins (at least in his mind). The reason is that, in order to sell the idea of Alec Peters being a crook and/or incompetent, he needs to have taken the money and run off. He hasn’t. He’s still around, and still promising to make Axanar. If he does, then the argument that he was only ever in it for the money or that he’s too incompetent to pull off a major fan film without Christian Gossett and Rob Burnett doing all the heavy lifting…that argument vanishes into a puff of reality.

          So Carlos keeps on keeping on, trying to squeeze every last drop of “Look, I’m right!” out of Alec Peters until the day he no longer can and has to fade into the sunset of obscurity and failure to be correct. Or, if Axanar never gets made, Carlos just goes on forever, never having to admit he’s wrong.

          That’s my take, at least. Your matter/anti-matter efficiency may vary.

          1. I hear you, but Carlos seemed to have an obsessive attitude right from the beginning. I get the impression that it predates the litigation. He wasn’t just sitting around thinking “this Peters guy seems a bit dodgy – I shall bring justice to the world!”. Nah, there’s definitely something else too it more than just not wanting to see wrong (albeit, I agree that is probably also a factor now).

            And yes, I think eventually, once the Axanar shorts are done and dusted he’ll fade away. I mean, unless Peters was sued again or was investigated for a crime, he really has nothing to grab hold once the shorts are done.

      3. >I’m not sure. In my experience, just meeting with someone in person makes a HUGE change

        Normally I’d agree, but to conspiracy theorists (which this guy sadly qualifies as), absence of evidence is instead evidence of a deeper conspiracy/controversy. They can never let anything go because the less they find, the deeper it must be hidden. It’s quite sad really.

    3. Alec this is my personal thought but you need to file a restraining order on him before he goes too far . I mean granted he always gone too far with stalking you and your girlfriend so I think we’ve already crossed that line . But If I were you I would put my foot down and at the least take him to court .

      If this a regular scfi series by regular I mean like Discovery { Go on boo and hiss me } but still I don’t need to tell you how much trouble he would be in .

      1. Carlos hasn’t done anything that a court would ever consider justifying a restraining order. There has never been any threat of physical harm or violence from him. Please, folks, no need to escalate this from Carlos having chutzpah and being an obsessed blogger with a need impugn to classifying Carlos as a physical danger to anyone.

  10. ROFLMMFAO!!!!!!!
    How does he manage to walk with those big, bright, shiny, brassy ones. LOL!!!
    Must be like having a pair of bowling balls dangling. LOL!

  11. Hi Jonathan,
    I love reading your blogs and the updates to Axanar and other fan films.
    I am a loyal supporter of Axanar and Alec Peters, though I never usually comment and stay in the shadows, I wish i could meet Alec and shake his hand and say he keeps the dream of true Star Trek alive and I believe in him. But it will not come to pass, but I will still remain loyal.
    I just don’t seem to understand these detractors though they remind me of that Star Trek episode “Let that be your last battlefield” where they think they have been scorned in some imagined way and they are in the process of destroying their world. I feel like they have never actually watched a single Star Trek episode as they never learned any of the messages that was taught.
    Anyways keep up the great reporting Jonathan Lane “Live Long and Prosper”

    1. Thank you Nathan. Whereabouts do you live? Maybe Alec might be traveling near you at some point and can shake your hand after all. It’s happened before to Trey McElwain. Alec made a special detour while driving the sets cross country to have dinner with Trey and his wife in Texas.

  12. Oy. My Mom used to say all the time “Never get into a pissing contest with a skunk.”

    Seeing as how there was no contract, written or oral, for Axanar to reimburse Carlos for the airfare, he chose to buy that on his own. He’s SOL, IMHO.

    1. Legally, yes. Understand that Carlos isn’t planning to sue Alec for $413.50. He’d just like Alec to consider his request for reimbursement. Alec did so, and the answer was–well, I can translate it to a simple “no.”

  13. OMGoodness glad the con is on and the Pedroza is handled, have massive fun Alec and crew !!!

  14. Dave Weiner was a subscriber to the Axamonitor Facebook Group. So, according to Alec, Dave is banned from SphinxCon also, right? Because there have been over a thousand subscribers to Axamonitor over time and still well north of 800 currently. Your direct quote from Alec says they’re all banned. (It’s like one of those Downfall parodies, isn’t it? Ban them all?)
    .
    And, I don’t believe you mentioned nor disclosed your own participation in Axacon and SphinxCon. You should have disclosed your connection. Are *you* receiving any compensation? Comped rooms? Convention-arranged flights? If you’re going to be “fair”.

    1. I never claimed to be fair or biassed, David. I’m a blogger, not a journalist–same as Carlos. It doesn’t change the veracity of anything I said in the article, though. Screen caps are screen caps. We watched the truth become a lie before our very eyes. I don’t have to be fair or biassed to hit command-shift-3. 🙂

    4. Detractor tactic No. 4 – Deflection – `When you can’t form a cogent argument, deflect the spot light onto something else`

      Sturm is following this one to the letter. His efforts are so transparent.

    5. >So, according to Alec, Dave is banned from SphinxCon also, right?

      LoL dude, I’ll hand it to you, you really mastered arguing on a four-year old’s level! Congrats!

        1. Oh so this is the one time we aren’t supposed to believe Alec Peters/ take him at his word?? He said all members and former members are banned. If that isn’t what he meant he should have said what he meant.

          1. Yeah, whatever. You’re clinging to this one bit of pedantic sophistry like it’s some kind of lifeline to save you from having to deal with the fact that Carlos twists the truth, outright lies, and I actually showed the many screen caps to prove it. Deflect all you want to, Wolfie. The smart kids know exactly what you’re doing and aren’t falling for it.

  15. I’m a bit of two minds about this.

    I assume that at least one attendee is a mole who will feed Carlos enough stuff for him to mount a soapbox. So I’m not sure that anything would really change in the end by not having him there.

    On the other hand, knowing Carlos is in attendance with perhaps a name badge, some attendees might get understandably upset and disrupt sessions to mount an attack. So that argues in favor of keeping him out.

    So, in the absence of being able to see the future, I’ll be undecided on this question.

    1. Will Carlos send in a mole? Perhaps. But why make it too easy for him? His one known mole in the area is also banned. Maybe he’ll have another, maybe he won’t. Anyone caught trying to record any of the panels without permission will be escorted out of the convention, though.

      1. Carlos will undoubtedly have a “mole” at the con. There is at least 2 known Pedraza sycophants in the Atlanta area who have turned up at panels in the last year. So, he will get video and selected quotations fed to him.

        But I agree, why make it easy.

    2. That is the sort of attitude that says girls have to control how they dress because boys can’t control themselves. If someone were to attack Carlos because of his mere presence that is not on Carlos. That is on the person who lacks the self-control to not physically attack someone over a so far non-existent fan film (Prelude is a separate entity). You would be one of those cops that asked the woman what she was wearing when she reported a rape.

  16. This is just pathetic !
    I am -if not some, many or everybody- fed up with those sterile attempts against Alec and Axanar. What will the History keep of Carlos’ behavior ? Probably only the bad side I suppose. Life is short and he is losing precious time… Such a waste.
    If it wasn’t capable of bringing Alec more trouble, I would suggest to officially credit Carlos as ‘Detractors unit leader’ or ‘conspiracy productor’ or even “mole manager”. Awards guaranteed !
    😉

  17. The real real disappointment I feel is that the meeting of two great journalistic minds will never occur now over a cup of coffee…Jonathan Lane and Carlos Pedraza…much like the Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr !!!

  19. As I’ve said before on here, I have no particular love of Peters and how he has behaved in the past. But Jesus Christ on a bloody bike, are these people STILL obsessing over him? It’s been, what, two years now since the litigation concluded?

    What is Peters going to achieve now that they’re so bothered by? Forty minutes of fan film? It’s not as if he has a stellar reputation after the law suit. It’s not going to be making millions off the back of two 12 minute shorts. If Peters starts behaving questionable thereafter or someone turns it all into a business then maybe there will be something to talk about. But since the litigation ended Peters has been mostly quiet and I figure, though his whale sized pride wouldn’t likely let him admit it, the whole experience will the litigation was humbling. They’re trying to search around to create a drama out of anything. I understand that more and more people have gotten bored with or have left the anti-Axanar cabal, and that some of them, like me, feel this obsession has gotten to the point of absurdity now.

    As for a refund on the airfare, if the terms and conditions were presented to him at the time of buying a ticket and they including the right to deny entry, then he hasn’t got any argument if he suffers any consequential losses.

    1. Sorry you aren’t a fan Harry. But I also appreciate that you correctly note the absurdity of the haters almost two years after the settlement.

      However, here are a few points of order.

      1) Its 30 minutes of fan film we can produce based on the settlement, not 40.

      2) My reputation after the lawsuit is quite good thank you. Sure the haters keep spewing their bullshit, but I have no problem working with people in the film industry and am well regarded for standing up to the studios. It is always a conversation point, and since 99.999% of the industry doesn’t buy into the bullshit the haters spew, and in fact no one knows who they are, the lawsuit is viewed in the terms that are true, that Axanar was sued because it was too good, exactly what CBS said in the lawsuit.

      3) Humbling? Hardly. Educational? Yes. I stood up against TWO major studios and got a draw. Something, let’s face it, no one else in fandom would have done. That is part being a lawyer, part being a New Yorker, part being a stubborn Greek. As my favorite Captain Sisko said “Fortune favors the bold.” It was, in fact, the greatest challenge of my life. One that would have destroyed most, and I came out with a draw. Yeah, was an education indeed and I am a a better man for it.

      4) I haven’t been that quiet. If you follow our website, we have been working away on getting these next two episodes done.

      None the less, I thank you for your comment. We hope you enjoy what we are doing when you see it!

      1. I have never met you, but what I have seen of you in videos and your online comments makes me feel that you are a conceited person who is intolerant of criticism, can be unnecessarily antagonistic and can be lacking in humility. Even your reply comes across that way to a certain degree. Perhaps you are not like that in person, but that is what you project I feel. I also believe that if you were honest, you knew you were hoping to perhaps build an industry career off the back of Axanar, and I do think there are ethical questions over whether or not using fan money was a way to do it.

        HOWEVER, I do not believe that you necessarily set out to maliciously exploit anyone, to cause damage to the fan film community or to in any way divide or upset Star Trek fans. I have little doubt that you thought you could combine your love of Star Trek with a way of getting in to filmmaking and that you were perhaps just a little naive about how that could be done and how far you could take the Axanar project. I do not buy for one minute this image that his been created of you by Pedreza of a nefarious con man deviously plotting to steal fan money, and for that reason I do accept that this constant harassment is justified, and frankly I don’t think it would harm you to invest a few hundred bucks in an hour or two’s consultation with a civil harassment lawyer. It has gone too far now…and please, you and Jonathan need to stop responding to it because in doing so you’re just inviting these losers to keep going. It’s a bit like internet trolling. An internet troll, whether he’s got a valid point or not, is primarily after attention and a reaction. These people need to be viewed in that context. If Pedraza and his cronies are completely ignored online then one would think they’ll eventually get bored.

        Good luck with your convention.

        1. “If Pedraza and his cronies are completely ignored online then one would think they’ll eventually get bored.”

          Nope. I tried that. They just trolled more loudly and more often and started adding “Slow Lane” to their memes. Essentially, we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t. That’s why I spend 99% of my time on fan films and only 1% on the detractors. I can’t reduce it to zero simply because sometimes I feel that the truth needs to be shared every so often just so the fence-sitters don’t start believing the stuff that Carlos writes. I’m not writing these blogs for the Axanar supporters (they’re already on board) or the detractors (they’re too far gone). I write for those who have come late to the party, don’t know much about Alec and Axanar, and would otherwise read Carlos’ endless flood of dubious hit pieces and believe the worst. Ultimately, he does himself in by being so prolific. When I post a blog about Carlos lying, it’s only twice a year or so, and so it has more impact.

          Or lat least, that’s the theory. 🙂

  20. A few months, The Quartering’s Jeremy Hambly was assaulted outside GenCon. Then about a month later a Gunman opened fire at a Microsoft Gaming event.
    AP and Co. Are well within their rights to do everything in their power ensure the safety and security of themselves and the people attending the event.

    If Carlos isn’t welcome, he’s not welcome. Something I’ve never forgotten and Carlos might do well to remember. “If you waste your money, you can always make more.
    But If you waste your time you are never getting that back.”

      1. I’m not getting that Philosophical..

        Jonathan, Don’t gloss over my point here. When we talked about the GenCon Situation you said “that’s not fan films,” and didn’t what to make mention of it. Now here we are a few months later. and Carlos is wanting to show up!?!

        The question is now that he’s been told no… who’s gonna show up in his place, slip under the radar. and cause a scene or worse.

        1. Honestly, I doubt anyone will be causing a scene. The detractors tend to be very brave from the safety of a keyboard and computer screen. There will be security, though. As I said to my mother after 9-11: “You can certainly spend the rest of your life hiding under the bed. But then they only thing you’ll ever see is the bottom of your mattress.”

  21. I have been a Trekker for my whole life. I can’t watch the series, since they are hidden behind CBS ‘s pay firewall.
    I look forward to the day I can watch the two fifteen minute films Alec’s going to be putting out. They will join Prelude on my weekly playlist on YouTube.
    You know what I will enjoy almost as much? Seeing the death knell of Carlos. He will have no purpose in life after thirty wonderful minutes of Trek is available to all.

      1. I wish Mr. Pedraza a long life.

        I can just see the share price of QuikQuote Quills plummet when Carlos, the blogger, doesn’t have Axanar to write about….

        Recently I did go on the dark side of the internet, Axamonitor, looked at the headlines of assorted posts. Without Axanar he’s going to not have any thing to blog about.

          1. I will take this moment to once again tell Carlos that if he wanted to use his powers for good, he’d go after Midnight’s Edge….

  23. Jonathan,

    I have one point of disagreement with your post. Carlos does NOT have a large set of cajones. They are very, very tiny.

    Bully behavior is based in insecurity and cowardice. Bullies must attack and harass others to make themselves feel important and powerful. Based on the severe, never-ending extent of his bullying, harassing behavior toward Alec and everyone associated with him, Carlos’ insecurity and cowardice is truly extreme. While his actions deserve contempt, Carlos himself deserves pity. To be this obsessed, he has nothing much else going on in his life, and to be this much of a bully, he has teeny weeny cajones.

    But that is also what makes him dangerous and damaging. His very sense of self-worth is tied up in his stalker-style obsession with Alec, and because of that, he will never, ever stop. This is why ignoring him didn’t work … How dare you try to rob him of his sense of self-worth by denying him the attention his obsession provides?! He will amp up his abusive behavior to get the attention he craves. Nothing will change unless he becomes obsessed with another target.

    Carlos is a bully and a stalker. He will never stop.

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