Jonathan Lane

PROJECT: POTEMKIN releases its latest episode!

Potemkin - Cover 2

The third episode of Project: Potemkin‘s fourth (and final) season–the 5-minute “Inquiry”–was recently posted online just weeks after their previous episode… continuing a run of rapid-fire new releases.

This latest episode reveals why Captain Grigory (played by actor Jeffrey Green) was called away from the USS Potemkin by Starfleet Command. The episode features Jeffrey Green’s real-life wife, fellow actor Deborah Liss-Green, in a major guest starring role.

Watch “Inquiry” now!

Read PART 1 of our interview with Project: Potemkin creator RANDY LANDERS.

Read PART 2 of our interview with Project: Potemkin creator RANDY LANDERS.

STAR TREK: INTREPID temporarily suspends production on new episodes!

One of the longest-running Star Trek fan series still in production, Star Trek: Intrepid released its first episode just over nine years ago in late May of 2007. Based in the town of Dundee, Scotland, Intrepid has produced seven original, live-action episodes plus two additional projects in conjunction with its American “sister series” Star Trek: Hidden Frontier.

On Thursday, Intrepid show-runner Nick Cook announced on their series Facebook page that his series would suspend production on any new episodes not already filmed and in post-production. The reason Nick gave was the uncertain environment for Star Trek fan films at the moment due to the CBS/Paramount lawsuit and forthcoming new guidelines.

In comments after the post, Nick clarified the point: “This may not be permanent. We’ll see.” His primary concern at the moment is that “[G]uidelines are coming. We have no idea what those will entail or if we’ll be able to continue under them. Until we have those answers, I cannot in good conscience ask people to work on things that we’ll never be able to finish. Once we have some answers we’ll be able to make that determination. But I ask that people respect that stance and not try and read anything more into it.”

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BLADE OF HONOR (interview), part 1

Initially, Ryan T. Husk was going to sit in on that fascinating conversation that I recently had with Alec Peters and Mike Bawden about the Realities of Crowd-funding. But ironically (or perhaps appropriately) Ryan couldn’t participate because he was busy launching a Kickstarter campaign for a brand new, original sci-fi fan series call Blade of Honor.

Even though Ryan’s new project wasn’t technically a Star Trek fan film, it features a number of Star Trek actors both from the various television series as well as several Star Trek fan film veterans. So even though I usually limit myself to mainly Star Trek fan films, I was intrigued enough by Blade of Honor that I figured I’d make an exception.

What I didn’t expect was to get some of the most amazing insights from Ryan…so much so that I was almost tempted to turn this interview into parts 5 and 6 of “The Realities of Crowd-Funding” 4-parter! Instead, just sit back and enjoy one of the most thoughtful fan filmmaker interviews I’ve done so far…

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Trek short film CHANCE ENCOUNTER hits its Kickstarter goal!

The planned Star Trek short film, CHANCE ENCOUNTER, launched a Kickstarter 30 days ago with a humble goal of just £1,700 (about $2,500). Fan Film Factor is happy to announce that the production hit its goal and exceeded it slightly by about £187 (or $235)…meaning they get to keep the money they’ve raised through their Kickstarter campaign. Show-runner Gary O’Brien has thanked all of his backers and reports that his team is ready to get underway with this production.

STAR TREK CONTINUES releases its SIXTH full-length episode “Come Not Between the Dragons”!

The much- anticipated latest release from Star Trek Continues is now available for viewing to the general public. Released early to donors, the 42-minute episode is another tour de force example of why Star Trek Continues continues to lead the way in the Trek fan film arena.

It’s best to watch this episode with no spoilers or preconceptions. Just know that it features some amazing visual effects, impressive stunt work by many in the cast, and liberal use of STC‘s brand new Engineering set. It’s another MUST SEE offering from the folks in Georgia, full of action, suspense, and even a bit of social relevance.

You can watch “Come Not Between the Dragons” by clicking here.

And you can read a 3-part history of Star Trek Continues starting here.

The Realities of Crowd-Funding, part 4

Last time: we continued our in-depth discussion of crowd-funding with Alec Peters (Axanar executive producer) and Mike Bawden (Axanar director of public relations), two veterans of Trek fan films who, together, have raised nearly $2 million through multiple Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns for various projects.

Alec and Mike possess a wealth of knowledge about running successful crowd-funding campaigns. And whether you’re planning to do a campaign of your own someday or simply thinking of donating to one, we now conclude this compelling conversation on the realities of crowd-funding…

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CURT DANHAUSER finally releases the last part of “PTOLEMY WEPT”!

There are few fans in the world (if any) who are more expert in and dedicated to the animated Star Trek series than Curt Danhauser. For more than two decades, his website has been an amazing treasure trove of resources and background information for fans of that beloved 1970s series from Filmation.

Back in 2008, Curt went where no fan had gone before and released a brand new, 7-minute animated Star Trek episode short that he produced himself entitled “The Element of Surprise.” Later that year, Curt released the first part of another, longer-length (28 minutes) animated episode, “And Let the Heavens Fall,” which he finished up early in 2009.

And then in 2011, Curt embarked on his most ambitious project yet, “Ptolemy Wept,” which would end up being 66 minutes long and take more than five years to finish! You can watch the full episode (all nine parts) on this web page.

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Highlights of the STAR TREK BEYOND event at PARAMOUNT

It was an incredible night! I’ve been to my fair share of special STAR TREK events in my life, but this one had to be one of the best I’ve ever experienced. There was just something magical about being in the same sound stage that TOS filmed in 50 years ago while also celebrating that rich five-decade history with people who all loved this franchise so dearly.

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Why AXANAR just filed a RESPONSE and COUNTERCLAIM to the CBS/Paramount LAWSUIT…

Just when we thought it was winding down…

Three days after J.J. Abrams announced that the copyright infringement lawsuit against AXANAR and Alec Peters was “going away,” the Axanar attorneys at Winston & Strawn filed a legal Response to the most recent amended complaint and ALSO filed a Counterclaim for Declaratory Relief.

Now why would they go and do a provocative thing like that just when the studios were about to start playing nice???

I decided to ask Axanar‘s lead attorney in the case, Erin R. Ranahan. It turns out there was a filing deadline on Monday that, if missed, could have severely and negatively impacted Axanar‘s ability to successfully navigate this lawsuit. Ms. Ranahan explained the situation…

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FAN REVIEW of (the first 15 minutes of) STAR TREK BEYOND

(Okay, I admit that Star Trek Beyond is not technically a fan film. But I’m willing to make an exception if you are.)

There we were last Friday night, several hundred people all crammed into a room where, 50 years ago, the original Star Trek series was filmed. We were all standing shoulder to shoulder, staring at a large projection screen on which the new trailer of Star Trek Beyond was about to be shown. A short introduction from Simon Pegg was played first, and we saw the new trailer.

After the train wreck that was the first trailer released back in December, this new one was so infinitely better that I could hardly believe it was the same movie. And while I still wasn’t completely convinced yet that the new film wouldn’t suck, I was now cautiously optimistic.

And then we all got a surprise.

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