Fan Film Features – Fan Film Factor

Four bridge sets, three shooting days, two centuries, and two fan films… (Blog Feature #2: AVALON – GHOST CRYSTAL)

Yesterday in Part 1, we covered the first two days of a three-day shoot on the bridge set of what director JOSHUA IRWIN has dubbed FARRAGUT STUDIO 3 (as Studios 1 and 2 were located in southeastern Georgia…with Studio 2 ultimately becoming NEUTRAL ZONE STUDIOS many years later).

What made this particular three-day shoot so significant is that it was one of the few times in the history of Star Trek fan films that the same sets were used during the same weekend to film scenes for two unrelated fan SERIES. While multiple fan FILMS has been shot in the same studio or location in a single weekend, those are typically associated with a single fan series, using the same actors playing the same characters for separate episodes.

But this weekend featured two separate casts utilizing mostly the same production crew and and set, but with significant changes to flip a series of 23rd century TOS movie-era starship bridges on Friday and Saturday for the upcoming FARRAGUT 2024 into a TNG season 2 era starship bridge for GHOST CRYSTAL, the first of three new AVALON UNIVERSE fan films set in the 24th and 25th centuries.

Josh Irwin is directing both fan films and is the showrunner for Avalon. JOHN BROUGHTON is the showrunner and star of Farragut 2024. And together, the two men ran not just one smooth ship but four over a three-day weekend. The first three ships were the USS Farragut, USS Constitution, and USS Decatur. But Sunday was reserved for a trip to the Avalon Universe and the bridge of the USS Excalibur NCC-1705-B.

The Avalon Universe fan series has been going strong since late 2018, having released more than a dozen fan films ranging in length from short to full-length two-parters. You can view them all here. Each of these takes place in the 23rd century, and that series of fan films will conclude later on this year with THE ONCE AND FUTURE CAPTAIN.

Ghost Crystal feature a number of both set-based and outdoor on-location scenes that will be filmed in Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. But Josh saw an opportunity to utilize the Farragut Films bridge to create a 24th-style starship. This required some customizing, of course, and included a fourth command chair (in addition to the three constructed for the three Farragut 2024 starships), this one built by RODNEY GARRETT, who was still sanding it down and putting the finishing touches on the set piece outside on Saturday in 90+ degree heat. But the extra effort was worth it, as the chair came out looking awesome…

Less than FOUR WEEKS LEFT to submit your ULTRA-SHORT fan film to this year’s TREKS IN 90 SECS contest!

We now have five official entries, so it’s a horse race, folks! But I would like a few more ponies at the starting gate if possible.

Just a quick reminder that submissions for this year’s TREKS IN 90 SECS contest are due on or before July 31, 2025 if you want your ultra-short fan film in the running. That’s less than four weeks away!

And if you didn’t place in the top three Treks in 90 Secs films last year, FEEL FREE TO SUBMIT YOUR ULTRA-SHORT AGAIN.

As a reminder, here are the very simple rules:

The fan film doesn’t need to be “exactly” 90 seconds. It can be less or even a little more. But if you run over two minutes, it’s not gettin’ entered.
The fan film needs to be Star Trek related in some way.
The fan film must be a complete “story” (however you want to define that term). It can be funny, dramatic, sad, exciting, all dialogue, no dialogue, whatever you’d like. But what it can’t be is a segment from an existing fan film. It needs to be 100% new.
A maximum of three fan film submissions per entrant.
Deadline to enter is midnight Pacific Time, July 31, 2025.

To submit your entry, post it to YouTube and send me the link either via e-mail at jonathan (at) fanfilmfactor (dot) com or message me on Facebook with the link.

The three top winners get to brag, so send me those links!

Four bridge sets, three shooting days, two centuries, and two fan films… (Blog Feature #1: FARRAGUT 2024)

During the second-to-last weekend of June, the town of Frederick, Maryland was the site of a complex and challenging shoot of not just one Star Trek fan film but TWO! The location was a facility that has been dubbed by some FARRAGUT STUDIO 3, and the fan films were FARRAGUT 2024 (a 23rd century TOS movie-era fan film and sequel to last year’s FARRAGUT FORWARD) and GHOST CRYSTAL (the first of three new AVALON UNIVERSE episodes episodes set in the 24th and, eventually, 25th centuries).

But before I continue, let me briefly mention that both productions have active crowd-funding campaigns that, while having met their original goals, are still in stretch goal mode…

To donate click to Farragut 2024, click here.

To donate to Avalon Universe, click here.

And now, let’s talk about this amazing fan film shoot!

Many of you may have seen photos posted online by various members of the cast and crews of both productions. But what you probably don’t know is everything that went into making this 3-day shoot happen and what went on behind-the-scenes to make it all come together.

Let’s start with the two men behind these projects: Farragut showrunner JOHN BROUGHTON and Avalon showrunner JOSHUA IRWIN. Josh serves as director for both of these fan films, and John, in addition to starring in Farragut as Captain (Admiral?) Jack Carter, also specializes in meticulous costume-making and set construction…and he will be moving forward to direct the upcoming FARRAGUT FINALE.

Some fan films require minimal preparation and planning. Farragut 2024 is NOT one of those. Other productions require moderate preparation and planning. Farragut ain’t one of those either! Nope, Team Farragut has been meeting weekly for more than a year and half, with the various department heads gathering virtually via Microsoft Teams to discuss every aspect of this project: make-up, CGI, costumes, sets, direction, line production…everyone was expected to attend these weekly meetings, hosted by John (who runs a pretty tight ship both in the 23rd century and also in the 21st!).

You might be thinking that having weekly meetings for over a year for a Star Trek fan film is overdoing it a bit, but the fact remains that most of these folks have known each other as friends and colleagues for years or even decades, and many of them come from community theater backgrounds where regular production meetings are pretty standard.

Fast forward to this past April, and Farragut had an outdoor location shoot planned. Unfortunately, the weather made other plans, and rain was forecast throughout Washington, DC and the surrounding areas. But that was okay. A studio shoot had already been planned two months later for the weekend of June 20-22 (Friday-Sunday), so the team could simply tack on a short Thursday afternoon shoot and film the two outdoor scenes within walking distance of the studio, as neither scene required recognizable scenery—unlike their previous location scenes, which were shot in and around famous DC landmarks.

But once again, fate and the weather weren’t cooperating…

“WELCOME ABOARD” to the USS CASANDRA, the newest fan series from The Netherlands! (interview with THOMAS ARGANTE)

The people of the Netherlands in Europe have a saying, “They say God created the earth but the Dutch built Holland!” This in because, about 500 years ago, water covered a quarter of what is currently known as The Netherlands (“Holland” is an outdated term because North and South Holland are only two of their twelve provinces and contain only about a third of the population). What kept the water out and allowed the 26% of the country that is below sea level to exist as land was Dutch ingenuity—dikes, dams, storm surge barriers, and lots and lots of pumps. And water constantly threatens to overwhelm the country from both sides: the fresh water rivers that flow from Germany as well as the sea water from the North sea. That fact that the Netherlands continues to survive and even thrive is a testament to the “can do” attitude and commitment of its citizens.

All of this is to say that the Netherlands now has a SECOND Star Trek fan film series! The first fan series, the a 24th century era DARK ARMADA which ran from 2005-2016, is starting up again, being renamed BATAVIA but still under the stewardship of ROBIN HIERT. And one would think, with the relatively small size of the country (about half the size of the U.S. state of West Virginia and ranking 31st in area among all European counties), that one Star Trek fan series would be enough. But not so fast, says THOMAS ARGANTE!

Thomas has just started up USS CASANDRA, a TOS-era fan series that will feature physical/practical sets and a decent-sized cast. Casandra just debuted in April with its pilot episode “Welcome Aboard.” Take a look…

Welcome aboard, indeed! I’d like to be among the first to welcome the cast and crew of USS Casandra to the Star Trek fan film community—although you are about to learn that Thomas Argante has already been with us for quite a while. Let’s start our interview…

Only a month and a half remains to submit your ULTRA-SHORT fan film to this year’s TREKS IN 90 SECS contest!

Just a quick update and reminder that submissions for this year’s TREKS IN 90 SECS contest are due on or before July 31, 2025 if you want your ultra-short fan film in the running. That’s just a month and a half away!

Right now, we have three submissions and a fourth on the way…which is certainly a good start. And just to encourage some more submissions, if you didn’t place in the top three Treks in 90 Secs films last year, FEEL FREE TO SUBMIT YOUR ULTRA-SHORT AGAIN.

As a reminder, here are the very simple rules:

The fan film doesn’t need to be “exactly” 90 seconds. It can be less or even a little more. But if you run over two minutes, it’s not gettin’ entered.
The fan film needs to be Star Trek related in some way.
The fan film must be a complete “story” (however you want to define that term). It can be funny, dramatic, sad, exciting, all dialogue, no dialogue, whatever you’d like. But what it can’t be is a segment from an existing fan film. It needs to be 100% new.
A maximum of three fan film submissions per entrant.
Deadline to enter is midnight Pacific Time, July 31, 2025.

To submit your entry, post it to YouTube and send me the link either via e-mail at jonathan (at) fanfilmfactor (dot) com or message me on Facebook with the link.

The three top winners get to brag, so send me those links!

The 2025 SHOWRUNNER AWARDS now have their final 24 entries!

Submissions for the 2025 Star Trek Fan Film SHOWRUNNER AWARDS are now complete. The window of eligibility to enter this year was any Trek fan film released between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2024—although the majority of our submissions were released last year. This was our first time limiting submissions to only a three-year window instead of our previous 5-year window. We seldom if ever got submissions from that far in the past, so three years feels like a better number…still allowing a “second chance” and even a third one.

This year, we have 24 entries combining for a total of just under 9 hours of viewing for our 12 showrunner judges. For comparison, last year we had 27 entries with a combined runtime of just under 9 hours, so things seem to be holding fairly steady in the number of Star Trek fan films and relative length of those entered into our show.

As we’ve done for the previous two years, the winners will be announced on Star Trek‘s anniversary of September 8, 2025. There are 22 categories this year, with three winners in each category: Admiral, Captain, and Commander level. I salute all of our 24 entrants for 2025, and I wish each of them the best of luck. (Honestly, I wish they ALL could win!)

I realize that I say this every year, but once again, we have some really amazing Star Trek fan films this time—of all different runtimes—that cover the gamut from comedic to dramatic to suspenseful to thoughtful to parody/farce and even a music video! Some are episodes of ongoing fan or fanthology series, others are stand-alone releases. There are fan films shot on sets, on location, on green screens, some with heavy VFX, some light on VFX, a few with elaborate make-up and costuming, cool props, and several really standout acting performances and even original music. We truly have some of the best of the best that the world of Star Trek fan films has to offer this year!

So I strongly encourage you to watch as many of these marvelous productions as you can. Here are all of our entries for 2025 alphabetically by title (with the fan series indicated where applicable)…

TREKS IN 90 SECS returns for a second year!

Last summer, we held a fun little challenge for Star Trek fan filmmakers called TREKS IN 90 SECS. With the guidelines limiting the run-time of a Trek fan film to no more than 15 minutes (30 minutes if you make it two parts), it was suggested to me that we take that limit WAY DOWN to just a minute and a half! Could a Star Trek fan film tell a decent story in just 90 seconds???

A number of fan filmmakers eagerly and proudly picked up the gauntlet and did exactly that! They created ultra-short fan film vignettes and posted them to YouTube, and fans voted for their favorites here on Fan Film Factor. These were last year’s results.

The contest was popular enough that we’re bringing it back for a second year! Fan filmmakers have until July 31, 2025 to post an ultra-short Star Trek fan film onto YouTube and either email the link to news (at) fanfilmfactor (dot) com or, if you’ve already friended me (or want to) on Facebook, IM me the link there. (If I don’t confirm receiving the link, you ain’t entered. So please double check with me that I’ve received it.)

I will then post all entries to a fresh blog page during the first week of August and let folks vote for their favorite video. Readers will be able to vote for up to three videos. Polls will be open until August 25, and then I will announce the top three winners the following week. After that, they can brag.

These are the official rules:

The fan film doesn’t need to be “exactly” 90 seconds. It can be less or even a little more. But if you run over two minutes, it’s not gettin’ entered.
The fan film needs to be Star Trek related in some way.
The fan film must be a complete “story” (however you want to define that term). It can be funny, dramatic, sad, exciting, all dialogue, no dialogue, whatever you’d like. But what it can’t be is a segment from an existing fan film. It needs to be 100% new.
A maximum of three fan film submissions per entrant.
Deadline to enter is midnight Pacific Time, July 31, 2025.

And there ya go! Good luck, everyone. Let’s have FUN!

WARBIRD VALDORE continues the 3-part fan film CROSSOVER from DOMINION MEDIA with “SMOKE AND MIRRORS” (interview with GARY DAVIS)

Crossovers are quite challenging to pull off! Indeed, in the long history of Star Trek, despite multiple opportunities when more than one series was running concurrently (e.g. DS9 and YOYAGER, DISCOVERY / PICARD / LOWER DECKS / STRANGE NEW WORLDS / PRODIGY), there was never a true crossover where a storyline that began in one series concluded in a different series.

Oh, there were certainly cameos, as when DS9‘s Dr. Bashir appeared in TNG‘s “Birthright, Part 1” or when Mariner and Boimler traveled back in time to Pike’s era in SNW‘s “Those Old Scientists.” But storylines themselves never crossed over to start with one series and end in another.

This hasn’t been the case with other network franchises like Chicago Med/Fire/PD, Law & Order, and of course, Stargate SG-1/Atlantis/Universe, which all featured crossover events.

Obviously, crossovers are challenging to make. Often, different writing teams on separate series have to come together, and schedules have to be carefully adjusted to allow for certain actors and sets to be used for shows in which they don’t usually appear. Production resources often need to be shared, and script continuity coordinators have to be extra vigilant. It can can messy pretty fast if not handled right.

So what about Star Trek fan films?

Like the various studio-produced Star Trek, the vast majority of “crossovers” between different fan series have gone no farther than special guest cameo appearances of certain characters in fan series that weren’t their own. Individuals like VANCE MAJOR’s Erick Minard, GEORGE KAYAIAN’s Captain Allen, NICK COOK’s Captain Hunter, or JOSE CEPEDA’s Captain Ramsey have certainly made the rounds. But seldom if ever has a plot line that began in one fan series ended in another.

Until now, that is.

Last summer, the folks at DOMINION MEDIA released the first of a 3-part trilogy crossing over into a trio of different fan series. Admittedly, all three are made under the Dominion Media umbrella, but they are shot in two entirely different locations 900 miles apart. The first part of the trilogy debuted as part of the fan series PROJECT: RUNABOUT, filmed mainly in the basement of co-showrunner GARY DAVIS, whose home in Ohio features a full TOS-era Starfleet runabout set. “IT’S ALL DONE WITH MIRRORS” was the third installment of that fan series, which began during the COVID lockdown in 2021.

The second installment premiered on March 12 of this year as the second full-length episode of WARBIRD VALDORE. Their first full-length episode, “THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE FEDERATION” debuted during the summer of 2023 and focused entirely on missions of the commander and crew of a Romulan warship. “SMOKE AND MIRRORS” then continued the trilogy storyline begun during Project: Runabout. Take a look…

FARRAGUT releases BLOOPER REEL as their INDIEGOGO moves fast forward toward FARRAGUT 2024! (interview with JOHN BROUGHTON and JOSH IRWIN)

I love bloopers. And it’s not just because they’re (usually) funny. No, what a blooper reel often shows is the side of filmmaking that fans don’t often see: how much fun the people making the project actually have on set!

In the case of FARRAGUT FILMS and their recent FARRAGUT FORWARD hit fan film (currently topping 150K views on YouTube), their just-released blooper reels shows what a wonderful group of people they are, including director JOHNNY K. who assembled and posted the reel a couple of weeks ago…

The blooper reel release comes during a two-month Iniegogo campaign attempting to raise the remaining $15K needed to finance their next project, FARRAGUT 2024. The previous campaign feel short of its goal, in part because of the Christmas season (launching crowd-funders during the last two months of the calendar year often runs into holiday headwinds as people put their money into gifts and travel). But this current campaign is nearly a quarter of the way to its goal with just under three weeks left.

Back during the TOS movie-era (which is when the new Farragut releases take place), there was a generally-accepted paradigm that the even-numbered Star Trek feature films were the best ones. As such, Farragut Forward felt much like Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, offering a villain from Captain Jack Carter’s past obsessed with having his revenge. In a similar vein, their next project, FARRAGUT 2024, features a time-travel story back to modern-day Earth with a noticeable comedic undertone—although this time it’s the 21st century and the city is Washington, DC (where John Broughton lives) and not San Francisco of the 20th century.

Their crowd-funding video features a good amount of completed footage to give fans a flavor of the feel and production quality of this project, and it is definitely worth taking a look at…

And of course, donations are always welcome at this URL:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/farragut-2024-take-2

I had a chance to chat with both John and his director for Farragut 2024, JOSHUA IRWIN, whose AVALON UNIVERSE Star Trek fan films are among the best out there….

Meet this year’s JUDGES for the 2025 Star Trek Fan Film SHOWRUNNER AWARDS…

The submission window for the 2025 Star Trek Fan Film SHOWRUNNER AWARDS is now open and will remain so until midnight Pacific Time on May 31, 2025. Any Star Trek fan film released publicly between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2024 is eligible for entry regardless of the person or team producing it. Note that this time we are trimming our eligibility window from our previous 5 years down to just 3 years. Few if any entries were typically submitted from fan films over 3-years old, so the reduction seemed like a reasonable decision.

The online entry form is located here…

https://www.cognitoforms.com/JonathanLane1/_2025StarTrekFanFilmSHOWRUNNERAWARDS

As usual, our judging panel remains at twelve, made up of people who have, themselves, served as showrunners on one or more fan films or series. This provides each judge a unique and personal perspective on what goes into making a fan production in our nearly two-dozen categories. In other words, our judges are knowledgeable and experienced in filmmaking which, I truly believe, brings a high level of expertise to our competition—along with our sister contest, the DIRECTORS CHOICE AWARDS, which just wrapped up earlier this month.

And it is for this reason that, each year, I publish a blog spotlighting our judging panel and what they have accomplished in the world of Star Trek fan films specifically. Ten of our twelve judges are returning from last year, so their write-ups (see below) will probably look familiar to you. The two judges who decided to leave the panel this year both departed on good terms. GREG LOCK, who began working on STAR TREK: AMBUSH back in 2014 and finally released it in 2022, felt that he should have a more recent fan film project under his belt before returning as a showrunner judge. The other judge to leave us is more of a “swap.” GLEN L. WOLFE and DAN REYNOLDS are the co-owners of WARP 66 STUDIOS in northern Arkansas and the co-showrunners of THE FEDERATION FILES fanthology series. Each year, one of the two of them “tags out” to give the other a turn. So in 2025, Dan will be taking over Glen’s spot, who in turn took over Dan’s spot in last year’s competition.

Our one brand new judge this year brings an international perspective, joining SAMUEL COCKINGS as one of two non-U.S.-based judges. I am referring to German wunderkind BENJAMIN SCHULZ of the fan series LORELEY. More on Benjamin (and everybody else) below…