Jonathan’s going to the big STAR TREK BEYOND event at PARAMOUNT STUDIOS!

Star Trek BeyondI’m in, baby!

I’ll be going to the big Star Trek Beyond fan event on Friday at Paramount Studios where director Justin Lin will be screening the brand new trailer…followed by a Q&A session.  And just wait’ll you read how I managed it!

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The Realities of Crowd-Funding, part 2

Cover 1Last time: we looked at some of the factors that might have affected the recent Indiegogo campaign from Star Trek Continues (which just wrapped up last week).

Now it’s time to continue our discussion of crowd-funding with two crowd-funding experts: ALEC PETERS, show-runner of Axanar, and MIKE BAWDEN, director of public relations for Axanar, who has also worked on the Kickstarter for Space Command, an early campaign that raised $242,000. Mike has been involved in over a dozen crowd-funding campaigns, and the two men together have helped to raise nearly two million dollars of donations from fans for various projects, including $1.3 million for Axanar.

If you’re thinking of doing a crowd-funding campaign of any kind, then get out your pen and start taking notes! The following discussion is a crowd-funding “how to” guide that you’re not likely to get anywhere else…

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

Blade of Honor

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

Tim Russ - 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!

Axanar logo

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…

PARAMOUNT/CBS v. AXANAR lawsuit trial date set!

Axanar logo

Mark your calendars!  The judge in the lawsuit between Paramount/CBS and Axanar has now set a trial date of January 31, 2017.  This is about three and a half months earlier than the litigating parties had mutually recommended to the court.

Judge R. Gary Klausner now has all of the paperwork submitted by the plaintiffs, the defense, and even an amicus brief filed by the Language Creation Society disputing the claim by the plaintiffs that the Klingon language can be copyrighted.  It’s quite an attention-grabbing case!

The judge could rule in the coming weeks on any or all of several motions filed on behalf of Axanar, including the removal of Paramount as a plaintiff, dismissing the part of the lawsuit dealing with the Axanar movie (of which, only one 3-minute scene has actually been completed while the rest of the film remains in stalled pre-production), and even the possibility of dismissing the entire case.

Even if the case continues onward, a LOT can happen between now and next January, including a settlement between the two parties.  If not, then we’ll see everyone in court in less than nine months.

STARBASE STUDIOS (interview with Richard Wells and Scott Johnson), Part 2

Last time: we learned the fate of the Starship Exeter bridge set was not oblivion.  After decaying in a Texas barn for years, it was moved to Oklahoma City in 2010 by John Hughes to be used for a new production called Starship Ajax.  John advertised for volunteers on Craigslist, and two guys from the concert industry became leaders of the project in their own right: Richard Wells and Scott Johnson

Shortly thereafter, John Hughes decided to concentrate primarily on his fan film, leaving Richard and Scott to complete the bridge restoration and set up Starbase Studios, a place where fan filmmakers could shoot their Star Trek stories for free on an actual TOS bridge recreation set.

But not all went swimmingly.  As we continue our interview with Richard and Scott, we learn what happened after when the hand of nature once again threatened this beautiful bridge replica…

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CHANCE ENCOUNTER – A Star Trek short film begins crowd-funding campaign (ENDS JUNE 1, 2016)

Chance EncounterNot all fan Trek Kickstarters are trying to raise tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars!  For two British filmmakers with eight independent short films already under their belts, £1,700 (about $2,500) will do quite nicely, thank you.

Director Gary O’Brien and writer Paul Laight aren’t trying to make the next great Star Trek fan film epic.  Instead, they have a simple, character-driven story requiring only five actors (who will be paid professionals, not yet cast) and the construction of a single partial shuttlepod set. The rest of the script will be filmed outdoors in a natural setting.

To help these folks out with a quid, a fiver, a tenner, or just a few good ol’ American bucks, visit the website below:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1512203744/chance-encounter-a-star-trek-short-film/

 

STAR TREK: RENEGADES announces its series finale!

Crowd-sourcing-16Star Trek: Renegades is the most expensive Star Trek fan film produced so far.  With a price-tag of $375K, their 90-minute pilot movie has generated 1.5 million YouTube views in just 9 months.  The movie even had a red carpet premiere in Los Angeles last August with paparazzi and verteran Star Trek actors in the cast, including Walter Koenig, Tim Russ, and Robert Picardo.

Renegades held another Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign at the end of last year, looking to produce the first two single-hour episodes of their ongoing series.  This 2-parter would feature Walter Koenig reprising his role of Pavel Chekov for one final time.  Raising $378K, there was enough to film part 1, and fans assumed more crowd-funding campaigns would follow as the series continued.

But Renegades has just announced that the upcoming 2-parter will mark the culmination of their impressive fan series efforts.

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STARBASE STUDIOS (interview with Richard Wells and Scott Johnson), Part 1

CoverIf you read my recent blog about Starship Exeter’s second episode, you’ll recall that when we last left the magnificent Exeter bridge set, it was rotting, unused and forgotten, in a barn in central Texas.  What happened next is the amazing and heartwarming story of Starbase Studios.

Continue reading “STARBASE STUDIOS (interview with Richard Wells and Scott Johnson), Part 1”