Fan Film Factor – Page 7 – Exploring the world of Star Trek fan films.

DREADNOUGHT DOMINION’s command torch is passed “IN OUR OWN TIME”… (interview with GARY DAVIS and RANDY WRENN)

Seven years. That’s how long DOMINION MEDIA co-showrunner GARY DAVIS has been playing Captain Jason Brousseau, commanding officer of the DREADNOUGHT DOMINION. And in the two years before that, Gary played Commander Brousseau, the ship’s first officer. So that’s NINE years in front of the camera on this long-running fan series.

DAVID “RANDY” WRENN, the other Dominion Media co-showrunner, has played his character, Chief Engineer Stephen Denson, for just as long, himself rising through the ranks to first officer and eventually captain of engineering. But as of September 29, 2023, both men performed those roles as leads for a final time in their swan song episode “IN OUR OWN TIME,” which saw them pass the command baton of the U.S.S. Dominion to Captain Maurine Farrell, played by popular fan film actress of multiple fan series, VICTORIA AVALON.

The episode was another strong offering from the team, with a fun, original, and engaging story and their typical mix of seriousness and humor. Take a look…

I plan to speak more with Victoria Avalon when Dominion‘s next episode premieres. But right now, I’ve decided to focus on Gary and Randy and their decisions to step away from the front of the camera to focus (no pun intended) more of their attention to efforts behind the scenes…

Funny videos: “Servin’ with Captain Lorca” and “Cardassian Space Station”

What if “Weird Al” Yankovic were a Trekkie? (Actually, he probably is!) But that’s okay, because we’ve already got a brilliant song parody writer in the form of IAN RAMSEY of the STAR REKT YouTube channel. I covered Ian’s parody music videos in a blog back in February, but the guy’s as prolific as a tribble! He’s covered everyone from Queen to Katy Perry to The Backstreet Boys to Barry Manilow and more—each parody more hilarious than the last!! And now we can add Ricky Martin and Green Day to that list with parodies of Livin’ La Vida Loca and American Idiot. Set phasers for laughter…!

New CROSSOVER fan film “ORIGINAL PARTS” on tap for 2024, a UNITED KINGDOM collaboration between AMBUSH and INTREPID! (interview with GREG LOCK)

Back in 2022, after being in production since 2014(!!!), the long-awaited TOS-era fan film AMBUSH (out of the United Kingdom) was finally released by showrunner GREG LOCK and his team. This past year, Ambush won “Best Fan Film” in the 2023 Star Trek Fan Film SHOWRUNNER AWARDS…along with wins in a dozen other categories…making it the top award-winner overall.

Since then, fans have wondered if and when Greg Lock might return to Star Trek fan films and whether we might see the return of members of the crew of the U.S.S. Ambush someday. That question was answered the day before Christmas with the release of the following very unexpected trailer featuring none other than NICK COOK and DAVID REID from the fan series INTREPID wearing Pre-STAR TREK: PICARD-era uniforms. Check it out…

David Reid is returning to the role of the Intrepid‘s Romulan security officer S’Ceris, a character he hasn’t reprised in nearly a decade. And Nick Cook is, of course, playing Captain Daniel Hunter, a role he’s performed not only in episodes of Intrepid but also in other fan series like TREK SHORTS and CONSTAR.

Indeed, crossover collaborations like this are proliferating recently in the fan film world! In fact, one of the most recent examples, CRISIS ON INFINITE EXCALIBURS from the AVALON UNIVERSE (which I will be covering once I can schedule a Zoom interview with the very busy star of that release) was a major collaboration among nearly a DOZEN different showrunners and fan series!

Frankly, I think this trend of collaboration is awesome, as fan filmmakers can pool resources, knowledge, characters, filmmaking equipment, props and uniforms, and all sorts of other things to make more and even better productions.

But how did this particular collaboration between two of the U.K.’s most prominent Star Trek fan filmmakers (the other being the omnipresent SAMUEL COCKINGS…I wonder if he’ll be a part of this, too) come to happen? For the answers to this and other questions, I spoke to Greg Lock himself…

SANTA needs a new KIDNEY…

As some of you know, back in 2012, I helped a professional, real-bearded Santa Claus write his memoirs in a book titled BEING SANTA CLAUS, which is available on Amazon in hardcover, paperback, kindle, and audiobook versions. It recounts the heartwarming stories of Santa Sal’s then-20-year career wearing the red suit–from his first clueless mistakes to becoming one of the most believable and effective Santas you could ever meet.

Last year, Sal lost his beloved wife of 35 years, Linda, and this past November, Sal was placed on the kidney transplant list. He now lives with his daughter and granddaughter in Kentucky, and they struggle to make ends meet. You can help make Christmas for Sal and his family a little merrier in two ways:

1) You can buy a copy of the book in any version, and royalties from the sale go to Sal and his family. You can also spread the Amazon link to your friends and family and loved ones.

2) You can donate to the following GoFundMe campaign…
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-sal-lizard-aka-santa-aka-the-vampire-santa

I know that at at least one person out there in the Star Trek fan community has generated more than $18K crowd-funding his legal bills/debts for an upcoming lawsuit. Right now, Santa Sal (a Trekkie and former president of STARFLEET: the International Star Trek Fan Association, Inc.) has generated just $707 to help himself and his family survive a very challenging Christmas.

Whether or not you gave to that other campaign, please consider donating a little to help Santa Sal and his daughter and granddaughter. Or maybe buy a copy of the book. Sal’s stories are wonderful and will make you laugh, cry, cheer, and always smile. My friend Sal has given so much over the years, and I hope people can see their way to giving back at least a little.

Thank you and Merry Christmas.

Funny video: Tuvok, the Vessel’s Vulcan

It’s that most wonderful time of the year again! That magical time when Trekkies with waaaaay too much free time go through hundreds of hours of episodes looking for certain spoken words to create Christmas carol music videos like Let It Snow (Make It So) and All I Want for Christmas. And now, it’s time for Star Trek: Voyager to get the same treatment! Actually, this video is over half a decade old already. But if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s new for you! Take a look, and have a very Merry Christmas…

STARSHIP DEIMOS releases their 22nd fan film “DREAM TIME” (interview with writer DAVID EVERSOLE and actors TUCK STEVENS and DASHAWN KELLEY)

It was March of 2016 when STARSHIP DEIMOS released their first episode, “THE LUCKY ONE.” Now, more than seven and a half years later, they released their 22nd completed fan film, “DREAM TIME,” this past September. As usual for releases from POTEMKIN PICTURES‘ numerous creative groups (there are currently six active teams), the story is intriguing. But even more intriguing is the story behind the story, which was conceived by the late HOMER WILLIAM EVERSOLE and then completed posthumously by his brother DAVID EVERSOLE, both of whom have written numerous fan film scripts for Potemkin Pictures.

Another interesting aspect to this latest release is that the starship Deimos has now seen its fourth captain take command, following stints by TERRY SELF as Captain Jeremy Quinn, TONY ANDERSON as Captain Mark Stone, and most recently VICTORIA AVALON as Captain Sian Gabriel. The newest captain, the recently-promoted Timothy Harper, is played by returning cast member TUCK STEVENS, who has served in various producer roles on Deimos throughout the last half-decade.

And finally, actor DASHAWN KELLEY is an actual working actor with nearly two dozen film credits on his IMDb page…only a handful of them fan films for Deimos. Up until now, his character of helm officer Daken has had relatively limited screen time. But in this latest release, Daken is the main character, and Dashawn gets ample opportunity to show fans his acting chops, which he does very impressively. In fact, let’s all take a look at “Dream Time“…

With these three individuals each contributing significantly to the success of this fan film, I’ve decided to give each of them his own interview segment, beginning with writer David Eversole…

My SON the FAN FILMMAKER!

Two weeks ago I blogged about, among other things, how VANCE MAJOR retired from fan films only to discover that his 7-year-old son ROYCE MAJOR wanted to make fan films! In fact, here’s one of Royce’s first projects.

Over the years, Vance and I have swapped “dad” stories and compared notes, as my 13-year-old son Jayden is very similar to Royce: Star Trek and sci-fi fans, very into computers, very creative, adorable, and way smarter than their dads (both Vance and I both are totally out of our league when it comes to our kids completely lapping us!). And as I was giving Vance some compliments on Royce’s latest efforts and praising his involvement as a father in encouraging Royce’s passions, I told Vance a little about what Jayden was up to these days.

“Y’know, Jonathan, I’d really like to read a blog about that,” Vance said to me. “I mean, it’s great reading about all these other fan filmmakers and their projects, but Jayden is the ‘next generation,’ and finding out what he’s been doing would be really interesting…to me, at least. You really should write a blog about Jayden and his latest projects.”

Okay, Vance, because you asked for it…!

Like many kids, Jayden has a lot of hobbies and interests. He builds competitive robots and takes karate. We watch Star Trek, Stargate, and other sci-fi together. He spends waaaaaaay too much time viewing YouTube videos, but welcome to Generation Alpha (the next one after Gen Z). He hangs out on Discord in a bunch of special interest group servers (he even has a server of his own), he has his own YouTube Channel, and has friends and followers all over the world (he says that people from other countries are nicer than Americans). And yes, Mommy and I feel completely overwhelmed trying to keep track of and monitor all of this online activity…heaven help us!

Fortunately, Jayden is at his core a “good kid”—kind, empathetic to others, and a bit of a prude. We’ve discussed online privacy and safety with him, and he gets it. Like many parents, we’re crossing our fingers that the genie doesn’t get too far out of the bottle, but eventually you just have to trust that you’ve raised your kid right.

One of the things that completely blows our minds—in addition to the robot-building—is Jayden’s ability to code video games. He creates his projects using the Scratch game engine (developed at MIT for kids) at a level that, frankly, most 13-year-olds aren’t even close to being able to do.

You’ve obviously heard of fan films, but did you know there are also fan GAMES? Jayden, along with possibly hundreds of others, has taken to creating video games based on a 2D online game released in 2015 called Undertale (read more about it here).

Here’s a short segment of one of literally dozens of fan games that Jayden was created based on Undertale…

R.I.P. – ARTHUR H. LANE (1932-2023)

My dad passed away early this morning. He was 91 and had Alzheimer’s. He and my mother were married for 58 wonderful years, having raised two loving sons with three wonderful grandchildren.

I know most eulogies start with a biography, but what I believe is far more important than where Arthur Lane grew up (New York City) and what he did for a living (stock broker) is the impact he had on those around him.

You see, my dad was one of the four “Lane boys” brothers. That term doesn’t mean much to most of you, but to my grandmother, mother, and three aunts, it meant the world. And that was because the “Lane boys” (and their father, my Grandpa Moe Lane), were the sweetest, most honest, loving, decent and dedicated men you could ever hope to meet.

You’ve probably heard some folks described as “absolutely the nicest person in the world.” In the case of my father and his three brothers and their father, that was almost an understatement! These five amazing men were all incredible husbands, loving and supportive fathers, and stand-out role models for their sons and daughters.

I know that some folks on Facebook try very hard to paint Jonathan as somehow nefarious or [insert random insult here]. Welcome to modern life. But those in the fan community who know me even a little are solidly aware that I am generous, supportive, encouraging, courteous, and always willing to help if I can. And let me assure you all: I got that from my father (and Mom, too!). I am a “Lane boy,” too…as is my brother David and all of my cousins, both male and female. We’re equally dedicated to our wives and children (and in a few cases, grandchildren), to helping friends, and just generally being nice and pleasant to people.

I thank my dad (and mom) for making me who I am today—and for making me in the first place! Dad showed me through a beautiful example, day after day of my entire life, how to be a wonderful father and husband…and ultimately a grandfather, too.

There’s an autobiographical song by the late singer/songwriter HARRY CHAPIN titled Shooting Star, and the chorus starts off with these two lines…

“Oh, he was the sun, burning bright and brittle,
And she was the moon, shining back his light a little.”

“ZERO HOUR” was supposed to be a one-minute PROMO, but it turned into a full seven-minute FAN FILM!

Next week, the eagerly-awaited CRISIS ON INFINITE EXCALIBURS, the latest fan film from THE AVALON UNIVERSE, will finally make its debut. And having seen an early cut, let me assure you that it will be a game-changer of a release, sure to be talked about excitedly by a LOT of fans for a very long time.

Avalon showrunner JOSHUA IRWIN and his team have poured a massive amount of time, effort, financial resources, and emotional commitment into getting this production perfect. And leading into its December premiere, Josh wanted to release a short promo “ad” on YouTube to tease the new film. But not just any ad, Josh had a clever idea.

As some folks know—and most others can very likely guess—Avalon‘s new fan film features a crossover of many different universes (one might say an infinite number!). And yes, one of those is the Star Trek “Mirror” Universe. VANCE MAJOR, who plays the character of Erick Minard across many fan films and series—including CONSTAR, VALIANT, DREADNOUGHT DOMINION, PROJECT GEMINI: CROSSROADS, ANTYLLUS, NATURE’S HUNGER, RAINCROSS, EAGLE, TASK FORCE 78, and of course, Avalon Universe, where that Minard is the chief engineer of the U.S.S. Excalibur.

But Minard also exists in the Mirror Universe as a villainous sociopath known as The Phantom, a character who will be appearing in the upcoming Crisis on Infinite Excaliburs. So Josh thought it might be cool to see The Phantom recording an ominous-sounding log entry for about a minute, hinting at some nefarious plan and ending with “A crisis is coming…” Josh tossed the log entry promo idea over to Vance, offering him complete creative control over whatever he would send back.

Now, technically, Vance officially “retired” from fan filmmaking last year, and this time he actually meant it. Well, mostly. He retired to spend more time with his son Royce, but now Royce wants to make fan films. So Vance is quietly working on CONSTAR: THE MOTION PICTURE, with Royce being the filmmaker in charge. But that’s more of a project done for sheer fun and father/son bonding time.

However, Vance is also available for friends in the fan film community who’d like his help either in front of or behind the camera. In fact, that’s how the “retired” Vance Major wound up appearing as various Minards in Crisis. So Vance was game to do the promo, as well.

But then, like Josh, Vance had a clever idea…

Here’s what ROD RODDENBERRY has planned for the LONG-LOST 3-FOOT MODEL of the U.S.S. ENTERPRISE…

On November 1, I reported on the possible (but likely) discovery of the long-lost original 33-inch (aka the “3-foot”) pre-production model of the U.S.S. Enterprise…for sale on eBay, of all places, for a starting bid of only $1,000!

Designed by the legendary MATT JEFFERIES and constructed in late 1964 by Hollywood model builder RICHARD C. DATIN and a sub-contractor, the model was used for all but one of the visual effects shots for the first Star Trek pilot “The Cage” before being replaced by the larger, lighted 11-foot model that is now restored and on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

The model was stored by Paramount after production wrapped on Star Trek TOS in 1969, and in 1973, when GENE RODDENBERRY returned to the the studio to oversee the new animated series, Paramount presented Star Trek‘s now-revered creator with the 3-foot model as a gift. And it remained proudly on Gene’s desk at home in Bel Air Estates for the next five years…

When pre-production began in 1978 on what would become Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Gene was “asked” by the studio to loan out the model to visual effects company Robert Abel & Associates, which used it to help build an early shooting model of the refit Enterprise that was never actually seen in the film because RA&A dropped the ball and was fired from the project a year later.

The model was never returned to Gene, and although he attempted to track it down and recover it, his efforts went nowhere. Eventually Gene moved past the loss and never blamed anyone openly nor showed any bitterness in public. (I’m not sure the same could be said for his wife MAJEL BARRETT.)

And so the final fate of the 3-foot model remained a mystery until an auction item was posted on eBay late at night the evening of Halloween after a seller apparently found a whole slew of Hollywood paraphernalia in an abandoned storage unit that he himself won in an auction. The listing was quickly discovered and first reported via X (formerly Twitter) by Trekcore.com co-owner ALEX PERRY. I wasn’t even clear the lister realized that this wasn’t some prop replica of the starship but rather THE original model!

Fans leapt into action, reached out to Gene’s son ROD RODDENBERRY, and the auction was quickly removed from eBay. The questions now were:

Was this indeed the long-lost 3-foot model? If yes…
Would Rod be able to take possession of it? If yes…
What would happen to the model after that?

Fans had many thoughts on this last question. From photos, the model is obviously in pretty poor shape and would need significant restoration, along the lines of what was done to the 11-foot model…

But assuming those repairs were made, should Rod keep it? Display it at the offices of Roddenberry Entertainment? Auction it himself to the fans? Or donate it to a Star Trek, sci-fi, or Hollywood history museum…or even to the Smithsonian itself?

As of earlier today, many of those questions were answered in an e-mail sent to subscribers to the weekly “Roddenberry Transmitter” newsletter. Here are the relevant portions of Rod’s message to fans…