The wait is over, and I think it’s fair to say that it was very much worth it!
In some ways, the “wait began back in 2016 when the long-running fan series STARSHIP FARRAGUT wrapped filming on its series finale, “HOMECOMING,” and announced a sequel fan production set during the TOS movie-era to be titled FARRAGUT FORWARD. But five years would pass before fans heard anything more about this proposed project.
In 2021, showrunner and series star JOHN BROUGHTON invited his friend JOHNNY K. of KAOTICA STUDIOS to direct the Farragut Forward fan film. Johnny had already directed a growing number of independent short films and agreed to join the team. The next step was crowd-funding the project, as John Broughton wanted this to be a top-quality production with elaborate movie-era sets and impeccably-reproduced costumes.
Of course, few things are as effective when crowd-funding than showing potential donors what you’re capable of creating. So John and Johnny proceeded to create a 3-minute PROLOGUE teaser-trailer that really blew away fans…
The following weeks and months were filled with numerous behind-the-scenes photos and videos, each more exciting and enticing than the last. You can view three of those videos at the bottom of this blog.
The strategy worked amazingly well, as a 60-day Indiegogo exceeded its $30K goal by more than $3K! This allowed the campaign to attain InDemand status and continue to raise funds, ultimately wrapping up last month with a final total in excess of $45!!!
The money was put to good use, as the costumes and sets that were created nailed the look and feel of movie-era TOS Star Trek beyond what any fan film had ever been able to achieve before. A cast and crew of nearly (perhaps more than—I lost count tallying all the names in the credits!) a hundred people worked diligently to produce what can only be called a masterpiece. Farragut Forward debuted on October 1, and in just eight days has already gotten more than 65K views on YouTube. And now you can view it, too, below…
I had initially hoped to interview John Broughton and Johnny K. along with PAUL R. SIEBER, who plays the evil villain Prescott from the Mirror Universe. Unfortunately, a few hours before our scheduled Zoom call, something unexpected came up for John Broughton, and he wasn’t able to make it. But John has offered to do a one-on-one interview with me in the near future.
In the meantime, Johnny K. and Paul Sieber were still able to do the video interview, providing some eye-opening insights and fun stories about the planning and work that went into the making of this 3-year project. I thoroughly enjoyed talking to both of them, taking a look back at Farragut Forward…