Fan Film Factor – Page 25 – Exploring the world of Star Trek fan films.

YORKTOWN: A TIME TO HEAL (starring GEORGE TAKEI as Sulu) – the 37-year trek… (Part 3)

In Part 1 and Part 2, we met STAN WOO, who back in 1985 convinced GEORGE TAKEI to star as Sulu and JAMES SHIGETA to appear as Admiral Nogura in Stan’s Star Trek fan film YORKTOWN: A TIME TO HEAL. If you haven’t seen it yet, here is the completed film (released on April 5, 2022)…

Also working on the project was legendary Star Trek production artist ANDREW PROBERT, who designed both the refit U.S.S. Enterprise from ST:TMP and also the Enterprise-D from ST:TNG. Andrew custom-designed a “hybrid” TOS/TMP U.S.S. Yorktown that could appear in the film to help establish the time-frame as during the Enterprise‘s refit. Also appearing in the movie was Leonard Nimoy’s assistant, TERESA VICTOR, along with a few other notable names from fandom and even from professional Star Trek.

Andrew Probert (left) meets with Stan Woo at a Taco Bell near Warner Bros. studios in 1986.

Between April of 1985 and March of 1987, more than a dozen separate film shoots at both outdoor and indoor locations produced about 160 minutes of footage which was now ready to be edited. By that point, Stan estimates that probably north of $10,000 was spent—mainly by his father, JEM ONG WOO, who will be credited as Executive Producer when Yorktown is finally released this Christmas of 2020 (fingers crossed!). “When you include the post production equipment purchased, like the Video Toaster Flyer (NLE), yeah, it was probably around that much,” Stan explains. “I also purchased Super Beta and Super VHS editing systems that didn’t quite pan out, but that was still money spent, as I didn’t need the equipment if not for the film.”

In fact, the editing equipment was purchased after Stan visited Stephen J. Cannell Productions (which produced The Greatest American Hero and The A-Team) and spoke with Post Production Supervisor KEN SWEET. “I was inspired to change our post production workflow after Ken told me that 21 Jump Street was going to be shot on film and cut on video. So we had to scan all of the Super 8 Reversal Film on a Rank Cintel Flying Scanner to ¾-inch Umatic SP.” (I have absolutely no idea what that means, but the short version is they took two large canisters of 400-ft-long film reels and transferred them to a fairly high quality—at the time—Sony video tape format in order to be able to edit the fan film.)

Meanwhile, word had spread about this exciting project through an article in the June 1987 issue of Starlog Magazine (#119)…

But shortly before the article came out, trouble was brewing for young Stan, who was at that time a student at California State University – Los Angeles while trying to complete his dream fan project in his spare time. And the trouble very nearly spelled the end for Yorktown—at least for another 22 years…

YORKTOWN: A TIME TO HEAL (starring GEORGE TAKEI as Sulu) – the 37-year trek… (Part 2)

Last week in Part 1, we began looking back (waaaaaaay back!) to the 1980s and the birth of the long-awaited Star Trek fan film YORKTOWN: A TIME TO HEAL…with GEORGE TAKEI appearing as Sulu. It was released on April 5, and here it is if you haven’t seen it yet…

In our previous blog, we learned how, in 1985, 21-year-old showrunner STAN WOO was able to convince George to appear in a Trekkie fan film thanks to a decade or so of friendly stalking and a well-timed offer of a glass of bungundy.

Filming began in April of 1985 and continued in earnest through that November. During that time, ten different shoots in various outdoor and indoor locations were completed, including on July 14 at the Chilao Flats campground in the Angeles National Forest…just four miles away from Charlton Flats, where portions of Star Trek: First Contact would be filmed a decade later.

For those who weren’t around in the 1980s, there was no such thing yet as digital video. Movies were shot on film reels and/or recorded to video cassette tapes. Oh, and there was also New Coke. Yes, folks, the debut of one of the biggest beverage blunders in modern history was just four days before Yorktown‘s July 14 shoot, and Stan’s dad picked up a case of the new soft drink at a local supermarket. According to Stan, “George Takei may have had his first sip of New Coke on our set…” and supplied me with the photo at the top of this blog entry to prove it!

By the time November 1985 came along, filming had now been completed on nearly every major scene but one. The segment involved three different admirals in an office on Starbase 7—nothing too complicated, right? But it turned out that this one “simple” scene would delay the production more than half a year…

YORKTOWN: A TIME TO HEAL (starring GEORGE TAKEI as Sulu) – the 37-year trek… (Part 1)

If any footage can be considered “the holy grail” of Star Trek fan films, it’s the Super-8 scenes from YORKTOWN: A TIME TO HEAL, shot in 1985 to 1987 and featuring actor GEORGE TAKEI reprising his role as Lt. Cmdr. Sulu during the time between TOS and Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Thirty-seven years in the making, Yorktown was probably the most eagerly awaited, exciting, and mysterious Star Trek fan film of all time! And so many fans have so many questions…

How did a young Trekkie barely out of high school convince George Takei to play Sulu way back when the actor was concurrently making Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home?
How did this same kid get JAMES SHIGETA (who’s been in about a million things you’ve seen, most notably Die Hard, Midway, and Mulan…but also TV shows ranging from The Outer Limits to Mission: Impossible to T.J. Hooker to Babylon 5 to Avatar: The Last Airbender) to agree to play Admiral Nogura?
Did ANDREW PROBERT, the artist who designed the refit USS Enterprise in Star Trek: The Motion Picture as well as the Enterprise-D for Next Generation really design custom starships for this guy’s fan film, too?
Why did it take them so long to finish it?

On April 5, 2022, the completed Yorktown: A Time to Heal, was finally released for fans to watch and enjoy…

There’s no shortage of stories about this project scattered all over the Internet…some less accurate than others. But now it’s time to set the record straight and collect all of these mind-blowing details together in a series of fascinating blogs that will feature direct quotes from original show-runner STAN WOO and current show-runner JOHN ATKIN.

It’s hard to pick one thing about Yorktown: A Time to Heal that’s the most interesting. Obviously, it’s one of the first (if not THE first) Star Trek fan film to feature a member of one of the television casts in their same iconic role…plus other professional actors in major roles. But after a veritable sprint of filming over the first two years, things virtually stopped completely for more than two decades!

Then, once things started up again, fan filmmakers from all over our community got involved to help out. Scenes were filmed BOTH at Starbase Studios in Oklahoma AND on James Cawley’s TOS sets in Ticonderoga, NY (one of the only fan projects other than STAR TREK: NEW VOYAGES to ever do that). People who worked on AXANAR, STAR TREK CONTINUES, NEW VOYAGES, RENEGADES, STARSHIP EXETER, STARSHIP FARRAGUT, STARSHIP ANTYLLUS, STAR TREK: SECRET VOYAGE, STAR TREK: EXCALIBUR, TEMPORAL ANOMALY, STAR TREK: OF GODS AND MEN, STAR TREK: DECEPTION II, THE FEDERATION FILES, and so many other fan productions all pitched in at one point or another to help Yorktown: A Time to Heal move ever closer to completion.

Are you ready to jump down the rabbit hole? I promise, it’ll be worth it…

PICARD just did something that NO Star Trek TIME TRAVEL story has EVER done before! (editorial review)

SPOILERS, SPOILERS EVERYWHERE!

I really LOVE this show…or more specifically, the current season of this show. STAR TREK: PICARD is now halfway done with its second season, and I thought that episode 5, “Fly Me To The Moon” was one of its best offerings yet…although they all have been excellent, in my opinion.

Why was it so good? Several reasons. And if you’re wondering when I’m going to pay off that blog title above, you can either skip down to the bottom of this blog or else just enjoy the journey of getting there. I’m going to enjoy the journey.

MEET THE NEWCOMERS…

The first reason I thought this episode was so strong is because of the main challenge it had to overcome, and which I believe it did very effectively: introduce four completely new characters AND make us care about them…

Supervisor Tallinn – This Laris-look-a-like (technically introduced in the previous episode) was actually the least developed new character of the four, but she’s still intriguing. She is now officially from the same organization as Gary Seven from the TOS episode “Assignment: Earth,” and that was just fun from a fanboy standpoint, as it’s nice to see CBS Studios do a tie-in with TOS continuity that doesn’t mess around with canon and, in fact, actually honors it. Tallinn wasn’t developed much as a character this episode on purpose, methinks, in order to 1) let us get to know and care about the other new characters first, and 2) give Tallinn her own episode or episodes to develop a little bit more later.

Adam Soong – BRENT SPINER returns to play yet another Soong ancestor! This is the 7th character Spiner has played in that “family,” the others being Data, Lore, B-4, Noonian, Arik, and Altan Inigo. My suspicion is that we will discover that this earliest Soong, a geneticist, will inject his daughter Kore with something that will make future Soong offspring all resemble him, but we’ll see. Either way, Brent has given us a new character, similar to other Soongs but different enough to be fresh and intriguing. While Adam is arrogant (a Soong staple!), he also deeply and truly loves his daughter…and we feel that love.

Kore Soong – This explains why ISA BRIONES has been missing for the first half of this season—they’ve been saving her to play Adam Soong’s daughter. And this “girl-in-a-bubble” is so pure and filled with hope and light that she’s almost impossible not to care about and root for.

I just called the Q CONTINUUM…and so can YOU!

Say what you want about STAR TREK: PICARD (and goodness knows, most of you do!), but you have to admit that, this season, having JOHN de LANCIE reprise his iconic role of Q from Next Gen is just outright FUN! His almost annual appearances confounding Picard and crew during TNG‘s seven seasons made for some wonderfully light-hearted and comedic episodes—along with some terrifying ones like “Q Who” when the Enterprise-D is whisked to the Delta Quadrant for the show’s first encounter with the Borg…and some surprisingly touching ones like “Tapestry,” where Picard gets to glimpse the road not traveled and the life not lived.

Q never really worked as a character on Deep Space Nine, and fortunately, that series’ showrunners quickly realized they didn’t need Q on a darker, grittier show like that. If they wanted comedy relief, just toss in a Ferengi episode. As for Voyager, de Lancie’s three appearances on that series were kinda hit and miss and mostly miss…although I loved his brief cameo on LOWER DECKS!

Anyway, back to Picard, and the fifth episode of season 2, “Fly Me to the Moon.” Without providing any major spoilers, there is a scene where the letter “Q” appears with a phone number listed: (323) 634-5667. The area code (323) is for central Los Angeles, specifically Hollywood. Indeed, if you wanted to call Paramount Studios on Melrose Avenue, the number listed begins with (323).

But usually in movies and on television, the next three numbers are 555. This is a “safe” exchange, reserved exclusively for filmmakers and never assigned in any area code to actual phone customers. Otherwise, people watching a show or film might try to dial a number they see on screen and bother somebody with incessant calls. (Heaven help anyone with the number 867-5309…whether or not their name is Jenny!)

So when I saw the number on the still frame at the top of this blog was NOT a 555 number, well, I just had to pause playback and call it. I just had to! And this is what I heard…

Go ahead. Try it yourself. Hopefully, Paramount will leave it up for a while and not simply make it into an April Fool’s prank.

I’ll be writing my regular Picard editorial review later on this week, but I wanted to share this with you folks asap, just in case the phone recording doesn’t stay up for long.

FARRAGUT FORWARD blasts past $30K goal, adds two new STRETCH GOALS!

Earlier this week, the folks at FARRAGUT FORWARD did what seemed almost inconceivable to many just two short months ago: reach and surpass a $30K crowdfunding goal on Indiegogo!

Since the publication of the fan film guidelines in June of 2016, no Star Trek fan film (with one unusual exception) has surpassed $25K in crowd-funding (not counting the DS9 and Voyager documentaries, of course). And indeed, after their first four weeks, Farragut Forward‘s campaign was struggling just to get over $3K…only 10% of the way there. And this despite releasing this really amazing PROLOGUE trailer right before the start of the campaign…

But showrunners JOHN BROUGHTON and JOHNNY K. weren’t worried. Instead, they redoubled their efforts to create content and released behind-the-scenes features, interviews, and videos almost daily (sometimes even more frequently!). And while doing all this online publicity and marketing, they also reached out directly to several people they hoped would become significant backers.

“I wish I’d filmed more of all the work that happens behind the scenes during a funding campaign,” says Johnny K., the director of Farragut Forward‘s premiere fan film and the owner of KAOTICA STUDIOS, the company producing the project. “All the planning, the coordination, the late-night production meetings after full days of work…you never see how much work goes into these things until you live it. These are passion projects, and they’re not easy. I’m so happy we are funded and get to see this project come to fruition.”

Now, with just 3 days left in the campaign, and with donations having reached an amazing $33,541, John and Johnny have added not just one but two exciting stretch goals!

If they manage to hit $37K by this Sunday’s deadline, they will build the full movie-era Klingon Bird-of-Prey bridge set. And beyond that, if they reach $40K by the end of this weekend, they will also build the transporter room and full corridor set!

How did they manage to reach this incredible crowd-funding milestone? As I said, they courted some big donors. Seven backers gave $1,000 contributions while three others gave $5,000 each! But the other $11,500 has come in from more than 125 different backers with donations ranging from less than $10 all the way up to $500. And indeed, as the total began to edge closer to the goal last week, a number of folks doubled down to get FF across the finish line.

“I couldn’t be more excited about what we’re about to do,” adds Johnny K. “Huge thanks to everyone who has supported this project and helped us reach our goal!”

And now, with just a few days left, FF is within $3.5K of being able to construct a full Bird-of-Prey bridge. Can they make it? And how about a transporter room and corridor, too? If you’d like to help them make fan film history, click on the link below…

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/farragut-forward-a-star-trek-fan-production#/

Star Trek fan SOLVES the PICARD / GUINAN / PUNK ROCKER mystery…

Not since Khan recognized Chekov in Star Trek II, have Trekkers been so up-in-arms about an apparent Star Trek inconsistency! Back in 1982, fans demanded to know how Khan Noonien Singh knew who Chekov was because “Space Seed” aired during the first season of TOS and Chekov didn’t join the crew until the second season! It got so bad that WALTER KOENIG created a story that has been told to fans at conventions millions (thousands!) THOUSANDS of times…okay, maybe hundreds of times.

Anyway, that was 1982. It’s now 40(!!!) years later, and fans have a new controversy to passionately argue about—and it goes all the way back to 1893! Yes, I’m talking about the fourth episode of STAR TREK: PICARD‘s second season, “The Watcher.” In my editorial review from last week—where I identified all the easter eggs I could find—I mentioned the little “oopsie” where Guinan of 2024 doesn’t recognize Picard, even though she had a pretty significant interaction with him in San Francisco 131 years earlier in the TNG episode “Time’s Arrow, Part II.” I decided to forgive the little “oopsie” because the rest of the episode was so darned awesome and consistent with tons of Trek canon!

However, on Facebook, many fans chose not to forgive me! In comment after comment—some nice, some not so nice—I was informed about this article in which co-showrunner for Picard, TERRY MATALAS, explained that the “oopsie” wasn’t a mistake at all but done quite on purpose…

This Guinan wouldn’t remember Picard because in this alternate timeline, the TNG episode “Time’s Arrow” never happened. Because there was no Federation, those events did not play out the same. No previous relationship exists. However, she still was likely traveling to Earth and, as we know, she hung around a bit. So this Guinan is different. But she, of course, can sense something is off. She’s going through a kind of time-sickness thanks to Q’s meddling with the timeline.

Of course, Facebook is nothing if not immediate. No sooner had I been “schooled” by multiple Facebook fans than other fans began defending me (or simply attacking the original “schoolers” or the show itself) by pointing to the scene on the bus with the punk rocker. Explain that!

Explain what? Well, KIRK THATCHER reprised his brief role from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home with the following “sequel” scene…

At the end, the rocker humbly apologizes and turns down the music, rubbing his spiked collar as if remembering the last time this happened on a bus up north in San Francisco when he was given a Vulcan nerve pinch by Spock.

Of course, if the Picard of the Confederation never went back in time to 1893 to meet young Guinan, then it stands to reason that Kirk and Spock never went back to 1986 to find two whales to bring back to the future. And even if Kirk did go back, the xenophobic Federation would certainly not have allowed a Vulcan to accompany the team. Heck, Spock probably wouldn’t even exist in the altered timeline (a human mating with a non-human would be abhorrent!).

So why was the punk rocker rubbing his neck with worry, hmmm…?

I think I found ALL of the EASTER EGGS in the latest episode of STAR TREK: PICARD! (editorial review)

SERIOUSLY, EPISODE-RUINING SPOILERS AHEAD! JUST FRICKIN’ WATCH IT FIRST!!!

Perfection! The fourth episode of PICARD‘s second season, “Watcher,” was sheer, brilliant, fun, edge-of-your-seat Star Trek perfection! The Borg Queen would be envious!!!

Actually, there was one teensy oopsie. Picard visits 10 Forward Street, the address of Guinan’s bar in Los Angeles, and younger Guinan does NOT recognize him! I mean, it has been 128 years since their first meeting in San Francisco with Samuel Clemens (“Mark Twain”) and Data getting his head blown off. But Jean-Luc Picard is pretty unforgettable…as are time travelers who know your future. On the other hand, Guinan’s whole apathetic attitude did a U-turn when Picard finally revealed his name. So maybe she did remember him…just not by appearance (and he is MUCH older now).

(Oh, and I read the theory that Guinan didn’t remember meeting Picard a century ago because, in the altered timeline, Starfleet never existed, and Picard never went back in time to the 19th century. If so, then how does the punk rocker remember Spock’s Vulcan neck pinch? Hmmmm…)

But I’m willing to overlook the oopsie because there were so many things about this episode that I loved! The scenes between Agnes and the Borg Queen continue to be an unexpected highlight thanks to the amazing performances of both ALISON PILL and ANNE WERSCHING. The two characters couldn’t be more different, and yet they’ve begun to mirror aspects of each other, like their loneliness, as the attempted assimilation might be affecting both of them. It was also intriguing at the end when Agnes breaks her promise to the Borg Queen (to stay and “chat”), proving that she (Agnes) might not be completely trustworthy either.

The car chase was also amazing, punctuated by some of the best “old married couple” bickering I’ve seen on any TV show (Trek or otherwise). The writers are trying a “do-over” with Seven and Raffi, helping us to not only accept their relationship but to actually root for it to happen. The on-screen chemistry between JERI RYAN and MICHELLE HURD is simply magic. I don’t think any other Star Trek couple has clicked to comfortably.

(And for anyone asking, “Hey, how is it that a person born in the 24th century, raised by the Borg, and currently a Fenris Ranger can drive a 21st century SUV like she’s in a Fast and Furious movie?” I’ve got an answer. Seven was on Voyager for four years with Tom Paris. Voyager has a holodeck. Tom Paris loved hot-rods from the 20th century. Just because we didn’t see him teaching Seven to drive and to race doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Granted, it’s not official canon, but I’m placing it firmly in my personal “head canon.”)

And speaking of chemistry, the sparks between Captain Rios and Dr. Teresa Rodriguez are flying as fast and furious as Seven’s driving. Two more actors giving very engaging performances.

But let me tell you what I loved the most. Let’s talk easter eggs…!

After nearly a DECADE in the making…we finally have AMBUSH! (video interview with GREG LOCK)

Way back in 2014, there was a Star Trek fan film that held a successful Kickstarter, shot a bunch of footage, and was still not completed as the calendar turned to 2022. Oh, and the title of that fan film started with the letter “A.”

You know from the title of this blog that this fan film’s title was AMBUSH, not AXANAR. But eight years is still eight years. The Kickstarter for this United Kingdom-based Star Trek fan film managed to generate £4,649 in donations, which would be about $7,200 today. Donors were treated to frequent news on the project, with 32 separate crowd-funding and production updates posted in 2014 and 2015. Things slowed down a bit in 2016 with only three additional updates posted, the last of which coming three months after CBS and Paramount announced the new (at the time) fan film guidelines in June.

Then nothing…for over a year. Many of us in the Trek fan film community assumed this was just another case of the guidelines convincing a production to shut down. There weren’t many, but it seemed likely that Ambush might be one.

But at the end of 2017, a quick update to the backers titled “We’re still not dead” assured us that Ambush had not been abandoned. Showrunner GREG LOCK and his co-producer had simply found some paid film production work that had kept them too busy to finish up the project. No other update was provided, but there was a general feeling of optimism.

A few months later (February of 2018), still no release date, but Greg shared a number of “character posters” that showed the unique uniform style and the shuttlecraft interior set that had been constructed…

Unfortunately, nearly another year would go by before the next update in January 2019 that wasn’t so much an update as an apology for taking so long and an explanation why the finished product probably wouldn’t be as ambitious as they’d hoped.

The next update didn’t come until May of 2021, more than two years later, and it was also apologetic. A still-unfilmed scene now looked like it would never be shot, as most of the team had moved on over the previous seven years, COVID was now an issue, and even the technical equipment they’d used had become outdated. But a rough cut had been assembled, and plans were to release a version of Ambush using the footage that was shot, which Greg felt was still pretty decent. Also, perks were going to FINALLY be sent out to donors!

A September 2021 update promised a release soon, as they were close to locking picture on the film…leaving only a final visual grading, a sound mix, and tweaking some VFX. Then two updates in 2022 and finally, on February 15, 2022, this…

So…what took so long? I decided to ask that very question (along with a bunch of others) directly to Greg Lock in this enjoyable video interview across the Atlantic Ocean…

SURPRISE! Nearly all TIME-TRAVEL episodes of STAR TREK to Earth’s past actually have the SAME general plot… (PICARD editorial review)

TIME FOR SPOILERS!

“It’s just a ripoff of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home!”

I’ve read versions of that complaint in the comments from multiple STAR TREK: PICARD detractors on Facebook this week. And believe it or not, they’re not entirely wrong…but not for the reason they think!

Y’see, nearly ALL Star Trek time-travel episodes and movies where someone goes back to old Earth of the 19th, 20th, or 21st century tell almost the EXACT SAME story! Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at the following list…

“Tomorrow Is Yesterday” (TOS)
“The City on the Edge of Forever” (TOS)
“Assignment: Earth” (TOS)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
“Time’s Arrow, Part II” (TNG)
Star Trek: First Contact
“Past Tense” (DS9)
“Little Green Men” (DS9)
“Future’s End” (Voyager)
“Carpenter Street” (Enterprise)

Now think back to all of those stories and tell me if they each share most if not all of the following plot elements…

Something gets “broken” in the past and needs to be fixed before the time traveler(s) can come home.
The method of time-travel is explained and often (but not always) shown…usually in a dramatic fashion.
The time-travelers will split up into smaller teams, each with its own mission. This allows for cutting between an A-story and a B-story and possibly a C-story.
Often, one of those teams remains back on the ship (assuming there is a ship), either in the past or still in the future.
There’s at least some comedy relief where our heroes from the future don’t quite understand something from the past (but we do, and it’s funny).
There’s usually a scene involving technology from the future that is either observed being used, or else it is lost and/or stolen. Often, this piece of equipment needs to be retrieved and/or destroyed lest it change the past in some way.
At least one person gets separated from their team. Frequently, this person is either injured and/or is captured and must be rescued.
The time-traveler(s) connect(s) with at least one special person from the past who can help them in some way. This character(s) becomes very well developed in the story, ultimately becoming someone we care about and can relate to/root for.

Not every time-travel story will contain every trope, but you’ll be amazed when you think about it just how many of these beloved episodes and movies share most of the same plot elements. And indeed, think about other sci-fi like the Back to the Future trilogy and see how many of those tropes you remember seeing there, too.

And speaking of Back to the Future, this third episode of the season, “Assimilation,” along with next week’s fourth episode, were both directed by LEA THOMPSON, the actress (and Trekkie!) who played Marty McFly’s mother in the first two Back to the Future movies and his great-great grandmother in the third. So she’s no stranger to time-travel stories!

Let’s take a look at how this latest episode of Picard follows the tropes of these Star Trek “back to Earth’s past” episodes and movies…