Author: Jonathan Lane

Did CBS doom STAR TREK: DISCOVERY by putting it on ALL ACCESS? (editorial, part 2)

In yesterday’s blog, while many Star Trek fans are debating uniforms, starships, bridge lighting, hairless Klingons, and adopted human sisters, I decided to look at a much more fundamental question regarding the new Star Trek: Discovery television series.  Was it a good or bad business decision by CBS to make the new show available (at least in the U.S) exclusively via subscription to their ALL ACCESS streaming service?

We already looked at CBS’s decision to target the series to a younger audience, based on a statement made be CBS President and CEO Les Moonves back in May.  This means that the older, more loyal Star Trek fans, “yesterday’s fan-base” as I call them, aren’t the primary target…which is kinda why Discovery isn’t sweating the details in hewing to established Star Trek canon.

Instead, CBS is focusing their attention and hopes on younger viewers who are more likely to subscribe to a brand new streaming video on demand (SVOD) service than the older fans.

Ah, but therein lies the rub!

These younger viewers don’t have an existing, decades-long relationship with Star Trek.  They weren’t watching TOS when it first aired in the 1960s or grew up with it in the 1970s.  They didn’t even watch TNG in the 1980s and 1990s as kids.  All those folks are already pushing 40 (or 50 or 60 or 70!)  CBS is targeting viewers in their 30s or even 20s.  By the time these younger viewers were old enough to watch Star Trek, the ratings for the show had already plummeted and few people were watching at all.

In other words, the vast majority of these young viewers aren’t really Star Trek “fans.”  To them, Discovery is more like a new science fiction show based on an old series that their parents or grandparents used to watch…except this version has cool sets, dazzling VFX, action, adventure, and a TV-MA rating.  And there’s nothing inherently wrong with that.  I don’t fault CBS for choosing to make the new series young and hip.

But they made another choice to put the new series exclusively on the ALL ACCESS subscription service here in the U.S.  And today, I want to look at some of the consequences of that decision—not from the perspective of an angry fan (which I’m not; I actually want the new series to succeed), but as a business analyst.

Continue reading “Did CBS doom STAR TREK: DISCOVERY by putting it on ALL ACCESS? (editorial, part 2)”

Did CBS doom STAR TREK: DISCOVERY by putting it on ALL ACCESS? (editorial, part 1)

(NOTE FROM JONATHAN – I’ve decided to take a two-part break from fan films to answer the question I keep getting asked: “What do you think about the new Star Trek series that’s coming out?”)

Many Trek fans are hotly debating whether or not it was the right move to “modernize” the production design of the new STAR TREK: DISCOVERY series and put a TV-MA rating on it.  I’ve read passionate posts going back and forth arguing about the new uniform styles not matching those worn by Captain Pike in “The Cage” back in 1965; how the “hairless” Klingons don’t look like the ones we’ve seen on TNG, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise; and why after 50 years we’re only just now finding out that Spock had an adopted human sister!

In my opinion, none of that is the problem.  That’s not where I think CBS has steered the wrong courae, and that’s not what I’ll be discussing in this blog.  I’m actually planning to check out Discovery at some point down the line.  But am I the exception or the rule?

I honestly think I’m going to be the exception, and that CBS made an unwise decision to offer their new series solely through their ALL ACCESS subscription service (at least here in the U.S.).

It’s not that Trek and sci-fi fans aren’t ready for CBS ALL ACCESS—it’s that ALL ACCESS might not quite be ready for the fans!

Let’s discuss…

Continue reading “Did CBS doom STAR TREK: DISCOVERY by putting it on ALL ACCESS? (editorial, part 1)”

BATTLECRUISER KUPOK production crew releases its fourth fan film: “The Soul of Honor”!

A bright and happy Q’Plah to everyone in fan film land!  The BATTLECRUISER KUPOK production crew from POTEMKIN PICTURES has just released the fourth fan film to feature the warrior crew from that honorable warship (pronounced “kuh-POOK”).

This time, there’s a wedding happening, and you’re invited.  But don’t start drinking the bloodwine just yet.  This wedding has some surprises in store.

Potemkin Pictures has multiple production teams all producing fan films featuring the crews of different starships, and “Team Kupok” is the only one to focus on a Klingon crew.  You can watch all the various fan films that Potemkin Pictures has released over the past seven years on their website.

And now, you are cordially invited to view their latest offering, “The Soul of Honor”…

STAR TREK CONTINUES will premiere their final two episodes in NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES!

And then there were two…only two more episodes of the cutting-edge and widely-celebrated fan series STAR TREK CONTINUES.  The final duo of episodes will be a two-parter entitled “To Boldly Go” and will bring a long-awaited conclusion to Captain Kirk’s 5-year mission on board the U.S.S. Enterprise…something fans never got to see when the original series was canceled in 1969 after only three seasons.  The story of Star Trek picked up again a few years later (Trek time) with the first motion picture, but fans never got to see how the 5-year mission actually ended.

Now they will…thanks to the folks at Star Trek Continues.

STC has a long-standing tradition of premiering their new episodes at conventions before releasing them onto YouTube.  Their most recent offering, “What Ships Are For,” was shown to cheering fans at Florida Supercon in Ft. Lauderdale the weekend of July 27-30 and then uploaded to the Internet shortly thereafter.

The initial plan was to debut “To Boldly Go (Part One)” at the Salt Lake City Comic Con the weekend of September 21-23…and then to bring their marvelous series to a triumphant conclusion with a screening at the New York City Comicon the weekend of October 5-8.

However, those plans were made before it was announced that Star Trek: Discovery would premiere that same weekend as the Salt Lake City con on September 24.  Not wanting to step on the toes of CBS with an unnecessary Trek distraction, STC decided to move the Part One premiere to New York and then debut Part Two a month later (or so) at a convention to be determined.

Now that finale date and location have been announced, and it’s a biggie:  STAN LEE’s L.A. COMIC CON!  It’s not quite San Diego’s Comic Con (thank Zod!!!), but it’s a major event here in Los Angeles and one I’ve attended for the last few years with my son.  Naturally, we will both be going this year, and on Sunday just before the convention ends, stars VIC “Kirk” MIGNOGNA, TODD “Spock” HABERKORN, CHUCK “McCoy” HUBER, and GRANT “Sulu” Imahara will be on hand to screen the series finale for convention attendees!

Currently, plans are set to release “To Boldly Go (Part One)” onto the Internet on October 18 and “To Boldly Go (Part Two)” on November 13.  If those dates change, I’ll be sure to let you know.

SMALL ACCESS is now FAN FILM FORUM!

Well, that didn’t take long!  Yesterday, I began asking members of SMALL ACCESS, who had voted to rename and re-brand our Facebook Group, whether our new name should focus on Fan Films or Star Trek: Discovery.  After all, they had both brought people to our group, but only one name could be on the sign over the front door.  (And no, I didn’t feel that “Fan Film Discovery” was a workable name…sorry, Reece.)

I’d expected to leave the poll up for a few days, but after less than 24 hours, the vote was 102-to-3 in favor of focusing on Fan Films.  I doubt another day or four would have made much of a difference.  Many comments mentioned that there was already a Discovery group, and the show would either succeed or fail without another Facebook group either supporting or resisting it.  Fan Films, however, deserved a wider following and more support.  So “Fan Film…Something” it would be!

A number of names were suggested in the comments.  Some, like “All Things Trek,” were already taken.  Others had potential, like “Fan Film Focus,” “SciFi Fan Film,” “Fan Film Trek,” “Fan Film Federation,” and “Fan Film Fans.”  A few gave me a chuckle: “Fundamentally Fantastic Fan Film Factor Forum for Freedom,” “Fan Film Funyuns,” and “Frankly Fans are Furious.”

But in the end, it was moderator Dave Heagney, Jr.’s suggestion of FAN FILM FORUM that just kinda grabbed me and wouldn’t let go.  It was clean, simple, and you know how much I love things that abbreviate down to “FFF.”

In fact, FAN FILM FORUM allowed me to do a visual tie-in to Fan Film Factor since I had many of the logo elements already set up in Photoshop…so creating a Facebook cover image for the group was relatively simple:

The visual tie-in between the Facebook group and this blog site makes sense.  Aside from the fact that the same guy (yours truly) runs them both, there’s also the fact the Fan Film Factor is currently the #1 blog site focusing on Star Trek fan films.  (This site gets more web traffic than the other two.)  So why not have a tie-in, right?

So let’s welcome FAN FILM FORUM to the world of Facebook groups.  If you never joined Small Access but you love Fan Films, then I invite you to click here and become of a part of the fun at Fan Film Forum.

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.