Jonathan Lane – Page 104 – Fan Film Factor

SMALL ACCESS to RE-BRAND…but to what?

Last week, I decided to ask the 1,345 members of the SMALL ACCESS Facebook Group whether they thought it was time to throw in the towel, hang in there longer, or transform ourselves with a new identity and focus.

The reason for this survey was because SMALL ACCESS hadn’t grown large enough to significantly impact the potential revenue of CBS All Access, and as such, would most likely not be able to leverage that financial impact into a justification for CBS to consider revising the fan film guidelines.

After a week of voting, the results were pretty clear that the members want to keep the group going but with a new name, focus, and goal. Here were the results:

114 votes -Re-brand with a new name and new focus/purpose.
22 votes – Keep our current name and goal.
13 votes – Close down the group entirely.

We had a pretty good voter turn-out of 149 members, or about 12%. (We’re hardly a national election, but in direct-response advertising, a response rate of 2% is considered quite good, and 10% amazing.) And over 92% of our responding members want the group to continue…so that’s what we’re gonna do.

With more than three-quarters of our responding membership wanting a new name and identity…what now? The answer is: one more poll! But this one is pretty straightforward.

SMALL ACCESS has two things that brought people to the group in the first place: Star Trek fan films and Star Trek: Discovery. Some members wanted to pressure CBS to change the guidelines because they love Star Trek fan films, while other members simply wanted a place to either bitch about or defend Discovery.

So which are we more focused on…fan films or Discovery?? Obviously, we’re Star Trek, and choosing one option doesn’t necessarily exclude the other. Members can post and discuss whatever they’d like!

But we can only have one name up on the sign over the shop: either Fan Film…something (no, not Factor; that’s taken) or Discovery…something.

One we have a decision on that, we’ll start discussing what the goals and focus of the group will be. But first, which one gets “top billing” for our Facebook group: Fan Films or Discovery?

Members can vote here.

STAR TREK CONTINUES releases BLOOPERS for “What Ships Are For”!

It’s a bittersweet time for fans of STAR TREK CONTINUES. After five years and what will soon be eleven episodes, the celebrated fan series is finally coming to an end this November. That’s certainly the bitter part. The sweet part is that we are being treated to four new episodes in a single year. The first two, “Still Treads the Shadow” and “What Ships Are For” have already been released, and the final two-parter, “To Boldly Go” will debut publicly with Part 1 on October 18 and Part 2 on November 13.

What’s also sweet is that STC typically releases blooper reels for most of its episodes. These short glimpses behind the scenes show how much fun the cast and crew had in creating these wonderful productions.

You can see all of their blooper/gag reels—along with all of their episodes and other special features—by clicking here. Scroll down for the bloopers and features.

And here’s their most recent blooper reel release for “What Ships Are For”…

TRISTAN Production Crew releases new episode: “Seeing Red”!

And then there were ten…ten episodes of the don’t-call-it-a-fan-series from “Team Tristan” of POTEMKIN PICTURES. One of now-seven different production crews producing original Star Trek fan films for Potemkin Pictures, the Pelham, Alabama-based Tristan Production Crew presents stories dealing exclusively with the missions of the U.S.S. Tristan, a Constellation-class starship in the late 23rd/early 24th century period of Star Trek.

All of Potemkin Pictures’ productions are ultra low-budget, using actors from the surrounding areas–a combination of drama students at local colleges, community theater folks, and others who just want to be a part of a fun Star Trek fan film project.

Their latest offering, the 8-minute “Seeing Red,” was shot entirely on location (not on pre-constructed sets, although they have a few of those, as well) using what’s available in the local Pelham area. It’s a fun little look into an away mission with two crew members, one of whom is a gung-ho “red shirt.” (You kinda have to forget that, during movie-era Trek, security personnel on starships wore dark hunter green and not red tunics. Obviously, a title like “Seeing Dark Hunter Green” doesn’t work as well as “Seeing Red,” so just go with it.)

This short film is more action-packed than many of Team Tristan’s other releases of late, and it takes a few unexpected plot turns. Not bad for ultra-low budget and (when you subtract opening and closing credits) just five minutes of actual story!

Take a look for yourself…

Too SMALL to fail? The next steps for SMALL ACCESS…

I love the SMALL ACCESS Facebook Group. It’s become a wonderful part of my life, and the people in the group really get along and behave nicely (well, for the most part!), and share both a love of Star Trek and a camaraderie that can really be FANtastic. I love the articles and updates they share with the group (what a great news resource!), and the members usually have some fascinating insights and observations.

In this way, I feel very strongly that the SMALL ACCESS group has succeeded in a big way. We’re nearly 1,350 members strong, and it really is a wonderful Facebook group to belong to. I don’t want to see that end.

But we do have to face a harsh reality. We had a goal to convince CBS to revisit and revise the fan film guidelines by trying to limit subscriptions to their All Access subscription service. We gave it a good try, but after a year, the SMALL ACCESS Facebook group is not going to be a factor in any decision CBS makes regarding the guidelines or Star Trek: Discovery itself.

Had we been 50,000 strong or 100,000 strong, we might have gotten their attention. But if Discovery generates the desired 4 million subscribers, then 1,300 more isn’t going to matter to CBS one way or another. And if Discovery fails to generate those 4 million subscribers, well, then a measly 1,300 more certainly isn’t going to matter to them either.

Therefore, our initial reason for existing unfortunately seems to be a lost cause. It was worth a try, but with the Discovery premiere now just five weeks away and CBS’s marketing push in full swing, SMALL ACCESS is nowhere near their radar.

So what do we do now?

Personally, I’d like for the group to keep going. But I think it needs some re-branding with a new name and a goal that doesn’t involve trying to financially impact CBS All Access (hence my preference for a name-change from SMALL Access).

However, I’ve never been one to rule with an Iron Fist (or any of the Defenders). So over the next week, I’ll be asking the members of Small Access what they’d like to do: re-brand with a new name and goal (which we’ll discuss if this option is chosen), stay the course and keep the old name and goal, or close up shop completely? And the majority will rule out.

Members can vote here.

THE ROMULAN WARS completes its FINAL EPISODE “The Tunnel at the End of the Light”!

On May 13, 2005, Star Trek: Enterprise aired its series finale, “These Are the Voyages”–completely skipping over a half-decade of the much anticipated Romulan War with Earth and the Coalition of Planets.

Many fans were, quite understandably, disappointed. In addition to strengthening the alliances that would form the Federation and shaping the very direction of Starfleet technology from pure exploration into vessels that could also fight and defend, the very nature of the Romulan War promised action and drama that the fifth Star Trek television series (sixth if you count the animated series) had not previously been able to develop.

Two and a half years later, on November 23, 2007, Star Trek fans began to fill in that missing half-decade with a new fan series: STAR TREK: THE ROMULAN WARS. Led by show-runner LEE GARTRELL, this Arkansas-based production didn’t have the financial resources or the professional polish of a Star Trek: New Voyages or Starship Exeter, but what they did have was passion and commitment. They sewed their own costumes, built their own simplified sets, green-screen composited in backgrounds behind their actors, and created their own VFX.

It was a labor of love that didn’t always have the best lighting or sound quality (and you can tell some of the blasts and explosion noises were grabbed from the original Battlestar Galactica), but you can still see how much time and effort went into this fan series which was, at the time, the only fan production that attempted to tackle the 22nd century NX-01 era of Star Trek. (Tommy Kraft’s fan film Star Trek: Horizon was still nearly a decade away.)

Over the course of the next eight years, The Romulan Wars would release nine full-length episodes ranging in length from 22 to 45 minutes (nearly four and a half hours of content!). Their previous offering, a prequel episode entitled “The Atlas,” was released a year before the fan film guidelines were ever announced. At the time, Lee Gartrell was planning for a full run of 16 episodes to finish up the war.

Unfortunately, Guideline #1 prohibits continuing series. So The Romulan Wars is wrapping up with their tenth episode, “The Tunnel at the End of the Light.” Part 1 was released back in May with a running time of 23 minutes (slightly over the 15-minute limit). A few weeks ago, the full final episode was completed and released with a total run time of 37 minutes (I doubt CBS will mind).

Although this is the end of The Romulan Wars, Lee Gartrel is already planning the team’s next project: an original sci-fi series set 790 years in the future. It should premiere next summer.

You can view all the previous episodes of The Romulan Wars here.

And here’s the series finale, “The Tunnel at the End of the Light,” made with heart and soul by more than two dozen dedicated Trek fans…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mbKBTFQukE

Congratulations to ADAM NIMOY and TERRY FARRELL on their ENGAGEMENT!

With word spreading of the happy and surprising news that actor TERRY “Jadzia Dax” FARRELL (of Deep Space Nine) will be marrying ADAM NIMOY, the son of Leonard “Spock” Nimoy, Fan Film Factor just had to include a shout-out of congratulations, as well.

Both of these people do have connections to the Star Trek fan film community. Terry recently appeared in Renegades‘ first full episode, “The Requiem,” while Adam recorded this promo for Axanar in 2015 and then went on to produce For the Love of Spock (honoring the work of his late father) and is working on the upcoming DS9 documentary What We Left Behind, which raised nearly $650,000 from fan donations via Indiegogo back in March.

This will be the second marriage for both people. Adam (61) and Terry (53) both have children from each of their previous marriages.

This is not the first time celebrity Star Trek-crossed lovers have found each other thanks to the show. In 1996, Alexander “Dr. Julian Bashir” Siddig (who had changed his name from Siddig El Fadil) started dating his co-star Nana “Major Kira Nerys” Visitor and got her pregnant (something which was worked into the plot line of Deep Space Nine). Their son, Django El Tahir El Siddig, was born on September 16, 1996, and the couple were married in June of 1997. The marriage lasted for four years before they divorced in 2001. Also, Star Trek: Voyager Executive Producer Brannon Braga and Jeri “Seven of Nine” Ryan also had a relationship while that show was in production. They have since split up.

And of course, perhaps Star Trek‘s most famous celebrity relationship was between its creator, Gene Roddenberry, and the actress who played both “Number One” in the original pilot and Nurse Chapel in the original series, Majel Barrett. The two started dating while Gene’s previous marriage was falling apart, and they got married in 1969 right after the cancellation of Star Trek. They had a son, Eugene Wesley “Rod” Roddenberry, who is now very active in the Trek fan community and runs Roddenberry Entertainment and also founded the Roddenberry Foundation. Gene and Majel remained married for 22 years until Gene’s death in 1991.

Today, however, we wish a lasting and happy future together to Adam Nimoy and Terry Farrell. May they both live long, prosper, and continue their wonderful relationship with Star Trek fans everywhere!

VANCE MAJOR is the “WHERE’S WALDO of Star Trek Fan Films!” (audio interview)

Since he first made his debut as Chief Engineer Minard on the initial episode “Legacy” of the fan series STARSHIP VALIANT back in 2014, VANCE MAJOR has been involved with no less than FIFTEEN different Star Trek fan films and series…in positions both behind and in front of the camera. That’s why I like to call Vance the “Where’s Waldo of Star Trek fan films!”

Here’s a complete list of the films he’s either produced, written, directed, or appeared in (or any combination of the above)…in addition to “Legacy”:

Starship Valiant – “The Ties That Bind”
“Pen Pals” and “Pen Pals 2”
Melburne – “Storm Front, Part 1”
V’Ger for Women
The Hunt
Melbourne – “First Duty”
V’Ger for Men
Dark Glimmer
Resistance
Dreadnought Dominion/Starship Valiant crossovers:
“Chain of Command” and “Command and Conquer”
and he worked for a short time on
Starship Republic – “Serpent of Yesterday”

Vance’s latest release is, I think, one of his best yet: the 7-minute Minard. The episode provides a series of scattered glimpses into the professional and personal life of Vance’s engineering character as Minard advances through Starfleet. There’s laughter, excitement, tears, and tragedy…all in just 7 minutes. It’s worth checking out before you listen to our audio interview with Vance…

I already did a 2-part print interview with Vance back in April, and I invite you to read it, as well. But I’m following that up with a new AUDIO interview that was only completed just a few short weeks ago. In the brief time since we chatted, the prolific Mr. Major has released not just one but TWO more completed Trek fan films that were still in post production when we spoke: Minard and “Command and Conquer.” (This fella is quick!)

Vance is a great guy and really interesting to listen to, but what makes this interview really compelling is that his fan films are so cheaply done…and he doesn’t mind that! Many in the fan film community lament the passing of the high-budget mega-projects like Star Trek Continues, New Voyages, Renegades, and Axanar. Barely two years ago, the future of Trek fan films seemed to hold such promise…

And it still does! That’s what this interview is all about. Sure, we might not see the hundred-thousand and million-dollar Trek fan films any longer, but the genre is far from dead! Guys like Vance Major are keeping the dream alive and prospering, and he’s about to tell you how and why…

UPDATE: A month after this interview was posted, Vance Major set a new record by releasing SEVEN Star Trek fan films in just SEVEN DAYS! All of them continues the Minard saga. Read more about it by clicking here…

Was “NIKKY SYNDER” really ANTHONY SHUH? (follow-up editorial)

Coincidences are a funny thing. Sometimes they’re simply random occurrences of pure chance. On the other hand, the more coincidences you pile on top of each other, the less likely the two events are totally unconnected.

That’s the situation facing us in the disturbing case of the fictitious “NIKKY SYNDER,” a fraudulent Facebook account created back in June of 2016 and used primarily for bashing ALEC PETERS and Axanar. The fake account was updated regularly with photos lifted from the Twitter updates of a woman who was NOT Nikky Synder. In fact, she was a young TV reporter who, at the time, worked for a local news affiliate in Peoria, IL. The 14-month ruse ended this past Tuesday when this young woman was made aware of the fraudulent account using her face and photos and reported it to Facebook.

Before Tuesday, “NIKKY SYNDER” had posted regularly on the SMALL ACCESS Facebook group—having joined on February 7, 2017…a day before the group completed a week-long poll to determine whether ANTHONY SHUH should be expelled for belligerent and insulting behavior. Some suspected that “Nikky” might have been an alias that Anthony Shuh used to stay in the Small Access group.

I made clear in my blog from Tuesday that I was NOT making that accusation:

It’s a horrendous feeling of being violated, made worse by the fact that you can almost never discover the identity of the perpetrator. In this case, we have a suspicion, but even then, we aren’t certain…and I want to state that up front in this blog. We can’t prove anything or even make a firm accusation. Instead, all we have is an interesting series set of coincidences, which I’ll share…along with how the impostor was finally “caught.”

I shared a couple of those coincidences (but not all of them) in my previous blog post. But then Anthony Shuh posted the following comment onto the Fan Film Factor Facebook page, and now I need to spend yet another blog post talking about something other than fan films (don’t worry, things return to normal on Friday with a great audio interview with Vance Major!).

Here’s what Anthony Shuh wrote that prompted this follow-up blog…

Continue reading “Was “NIKKY SYNDER” really ANTHONY SHUH? (follow-up editorial)”

Prolific AXANAR DETRACTOR revealed to be a FAKE IDENTITY!

Who is NIKKY SYNDER and why was she so antagonistic toward ALEC PETERS and AXANAR? The world may never know because, it seems, Nikky Synder never actually existed!

You can see Nikky Synder’s Facebook profile on the left, and she looks normal enough—a reporter, assistant floor director, and EV editor at ABC Channel 7 News in Chicago. Young, attractive, and apparently a big fan of Star Trek and fan films…and a prolific detractor of Axanar and Alec Peters. Over the past six months, Nikky was very active on the SMALL ACCESS Facebook group, quick to jump into any conversation dealing with Axanar or Alec until such threads were stopped or shut down.

But yesterday, it was discovered that Nikky Synder was, in fact, an impostor—a “dualler” as they are called—a fake Facebook account using the photo(s) of someone else. A careless mistake made by the impostor was noticed, and within a few hours, the person whose image had been illegally stolen was tracked down and contacted. Minutes later, she reported the fraudulent account to Facebook, and it was deactivated soon after.

For anyone who thinks this was a “minor prank” and barely worthy of a blog, feel free to stop reading. For me, however, it’s perverted and disgusting because it wasn’t just one photo of this woman being used but rather dozens and dozens! In fact, the fake account has existed for over a year and has been updated almost weekly by the impostor with photos of this woman and her friends taken from her Twitter feed! The impostor even amassed a fair amount of Facebook friends for this fake account using this woman’s image to attract strangers. And then, perhaps worst of all, the impostor spewed out angry and vitriolic rants via Facebook posts about a Star Trek fan film and its producer…and who knows if this woman even ever watched Star Trek???

I’ve known people who have been victims of identity theft. It’s a horrendous feeling of being violated, made worse by the fact that you can almost never discover the identity of the perpetrator. In this case, we have a suspicion, but even then, we aren’t certain…and I want to state that up front in this blog. We can’t prove anything or even make a firm accusation. Instead, all we have is an interesting series set of coincidences, which I’ll share…along with how the impostor was finally “caught.”

Continue reading “Prolific AXANAR DETRACTOR revealed to be a FAKE IDENTITY!”

DREADNOUGHT DOMINION/STARSHIP VALIANT team up again for “COMMAND AND CONQUER”!

Last November, the fan series DREADNOUGHT DOMINION returned from a 16-month hiatus with a new episode that crossed over with sister fan series STARSHIP VALIANT…an episode entitled “Chain of Command.” You can read more about that endeavor here in this Fan Film Factor blog.

Written by Vance Major, Gary Davis, and David R. Wrenn, and directed by Vance and Gary, the scenes for “Chain of Command” were filmed separately in the states of Ohio, North Carolina, and Oklahoma (the former location of Starbase Studios) and then edited together into a 7-minute fan film. It focused on the new CO of the USS Dominion trying to find a first officer.

It’s rare to see the full (or nearly full) casts of two different fan series cross over into a single fan film. What’s even rarer is to see them cross over TWICE!

And it’s interesting that I said “cross over” because the latest film film to feature these two crews crosses viewers over into the Mirror Universe with a retelling of the “Chain of Command” story with the same characters but from the Terran Empire’s ISS Dominon and ISS Valiant.

It’s fun and fascinating…all at the same time! Written by the same team, the directors were now Gary Davis and Kent Edwards. And the locations still included Ohio and North Carolina, but Starbase Studios has now moved to Arkansas, and some scenes were also filmed in Georgia. I’m told the entire production was shot last month (with a few scenes filmed in May) and edited together pretty quickly to come out with such a fast turnaround.

I’m going to provide links to three different fan films here. The first is mirror universe “Command and Conquer.” Below that is the prime universe “Chain of Command” for you to compare it to. And finally, there’s a short vignette written by and starring Vance Major titled Project Defiant: “Dark Glimmer.” Although it came out in late June, it’s a sequel to the newly-released “Command and Conquer.”

And look for a really great audio interview with Vance Major on Fan Film Factor this coming Friday!

And now, the prime universe “Chain of Command”…

Continue reading “DREADNOUGHT DOMINION/STARSHIP VALIANT team up again for “COMMAND AND CONQUER”!”