News – Page 98 – Fan Film Factor

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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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.

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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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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JJ ABRAMS announces and CBS confirms settlement discussions in AXANAR lawsuit

On Friday evening, at a little after 8pm Pacific Time, inside of Stage 31 at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, Star Trek Beyond Producer JJ Abrams shocked the fan film world by announcing that the copyright infringement lawsuit against AXANAR was “going away” and that “fans will be able to work on their projects.”

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PROJECT DISCOVERY cancels their Kickstarter campaign!

Alas, it was not meant to be…

TOMMY KRAFT, who rocketed to fan film fame with his amazing Star Trek: Horizon full-length feature, was called by CBS and told not to proceed with announced plans for a sequel he intended to call Federation Rising. Instead, Tommy and his production partner Ryan Webber decided to create an original project titled PROJECT DISCOVERY, examining mankind’s earliest forays into manned interplanetary spaceflight in the mid-21st century.

Tommy and Ryan launched a Kickstarter campaign in late April with a 2-month time frame and an ambitious goal of $250,000. Although they got off to a strong start, just short of a month into the campaign, pledges had stalled in the $17-18,000 range…barely 7% of the way to the goal while approaching the half-way point.

Yesterday evening, Tommy and Ryan announced the cancellation of their project and its Kickstarter. Here was the message they sent out to donors:

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New fan series BLADE OF HONOR launches a $30,000 Kickstarter campaign!

BLADE OF HONOR is not technically Star Trek, but it is sci-fi and it looks totally awesome!

Also, it’s KINDA Star Trek in that the new fan film series features various Star Trek alumni actors, including Tim “Tuvok” Russ (who seems to be everywhere in the fan film world these days!), Aaron “Nog” Eisenberg, and Cirroc “Jake Sisko” Lofton. Also cast are Richard Hatch from Battlestar Galactica, James Kyson from Heroes, Brandon Stacy from Star Trek: New Voyages/Phase II (and also Zachary Quinto’s “Spock” stand-in), Rivkah Raven Wood also from New Voyages as well as Star Trek: Hidden Frontier, and Ryan T. Husk from Star Trek: Horizon, Star Trek: Renegades, and various other Trek fan films.

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TIM “TUVOK” RUSS joins the cast of PROJECT DISCOVERY

TOMMY KRAFT, the dynamo behind the hugely successful NX-01-era fan film STAR TREK: HORIZON, is currently raising money for his next production, PROJECT: DISCOVERY. Although not specifically a Star Trek fan film, it now has a definite Star Trek tie-in. Tommy just announced that TIM RUSS, the actor who played Security Chief Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager, will be joining the cast as director of the Earth Space Agency for Project Discovery.

The new, ambitious fan film has an equally ambitious Kickstarter goal of $250,000. Right now, with 41 days left to go, the pledged total stands at just over $17,000…respectable, but there is a LONG way to go! If you can, please consider helping with a donation of your own. Remember that, if this Kickstarter campaign does not reach its goal, your credit card will not be charged.

Click here to visit the Project Discovery Kickstarter page.

Judge DENIES the AXANAR motion to dismiss the CBS/PARAMOUNT LAWSUIT!

As I said yesterday, folks, mark your calendars for January 31, 2017. Just as CBS gets ready to launch their new Star Trek TV series, the gavel will fall on the judge’s desk to cal to order CBS and Paramount’s lawsuit against Axanar Productions and Alec Peters. Unless there is a settlement or mediation in the next eight and a half months, the most important case ever for fan films (in many people’s opinions) will be litigated in front of a judge and possibly a jury.

Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled as follows:

Although the Court declines to address whether Plaintiffs’ Claims will prosper at this time, the Court does find Plaintiffs’ claims will live long enough to survive Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. For the foregoing reasons, the Court DENIES Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss.

According to the Axanar website:

Winston & Strawn will now prepare our answer to the amended complaint, which is due in 14 days.

In the meantime, we continue our efforts to settle this matter with CBS and Paramount so we can move forward with telling the story of AXANAR in a way that satisfies both the studios and the over ten thousand fans who financially supported our project.

And the (legal) adventure continues…