A bright and happy Q’Plah to everyone in fan film land! The BATTLECRUISER KUPOK production crew from POTEMKIN PICTURES has just released the fourth fan film to feature the warrior crew from that honorable warship (pronounced “kuh-POOK”).
This time, there’s a wedding happening, and you’re invited. But don’t start drinking the bloodwine just yet. This wedding has some surprises in store.
Potemkin Pictures has multiple production teams all producing fan films featuring the crews of different starships, and “Team Kupok” is the only one to focus on a Klingon crew. You can watch all the various fan films that Potemkin Pictures has released over the past seven years on their website.
And now, you are cordially invited to view their latest offering, “The Soul of Honor”…
And then there were two…only two more episodes of the cutting-edge and widely-celebrated fan series STAR TREK CONTINUES. The final duo of episodes will be a two-parter entitled “To Boldly Go” and will bring a long-awaited conclusion to Captain Kirk’s 5-year mission on board the U.S.S. Enterprise…something fans never got to see when the original series was canceled in 1969 after only three seasons. The story of Star Trek picked up again a few years later (Trek time) with the first motion picture, but fans never got to see how the 5-year mission actually ended.
Now they will…thanks to the folks at Star Trek Continues.
STC has a long-standing tradition of premiering their new episodes at conventions before releasing them onto YouTube. Their most recent offering, “What Ships Are For,” was shown to cheering fans at Florida Supercon in Ft. Lauderdale the weekend of July 27-30 and then uploaded to the Internet shortly thereafter.
The initial plan was to debut “To Boldly Go (Part One)” at the Salt Lake City Comic Con the weekend of September 21-23…and then to bring their marvelous series to a triumphant conclusion with a screening at the New York City Comicon the weekend of October 5-8.
However, those plans were made before it was announced that Star Trek: Discovery would premiere that same weekend as the Salt Lake City con on September 24. Not wanting to step on the toes of CBS with an unnecessary Trek distraction, STC decided to move the Part One premiere to New York and then debut Part Two a month later (or so) at a convention to be determined.
Now that finale date and location have been announced, and it’s a biggie: STAN LEE’s L.A. COMIC CON! It’s not quite San Diego’s Comic Con (thank Zod!!!), but it’s a major event here in Los Angeles and one I’ve attended for the last few years with my son. Naturally, we will both be going this year, and on Sunday just before the convention ends, stars VIC “Kirk” MIGNOGNA, TODD “Spock” HABERKORN, CHUCK “McCoy” HUBER, and GRANT “Sulu” Imahara will be on hand to screen the series finale for convention attendees!
Currently, plans are set to release “To Boldly Go (Part One)” onto the Internet on October 18 and “To Boldly Go (Part Two)” on November 13. If those dates change, I’ll be sure to let you know.
Here’s a brilliant and hysterical fan-made short created with just a green screen, one TNG uniform, a digital background, two VFX shots from TNG, a bunch of voice-overs, and one very relatable guy from the IT department on board the Enterprise-D. Long live IT Guy!
Well, that didn’t take long! Yesterday, I began asking members of SMALL ACCESS, who had voted to rename and re-brand our Facebook Group, whether our new name should focus on Fan Films or Star Trek: Discovery. After all, they had both brought people to our group, but only one name could be on the sign over the front door. (And no, I didn’t feel that “Fan Film Discovery” was a workable name…sorry, Reece.)
I’d expected to leave the poll up for a few days, but after less than 24 hours, the vote was 102-to-3 in favor of focusing on Fan Films. I doubt another day or four would have made much of a difference. Many comments mentioned that there was already a Discovery group, and the show would either succeed or fail without another Facebook group either supporting or resisting it. Fan Films, however, deserved a wider following and more support. So “Fan Film…Something” it would be!
A number of names were suggested in the comments. Some, like “All Things Trek,” were already taken. Others had potential, like “Fan Film Focus,” “SciFi Fan Film,” “Fan Film Trek,” “Fan Film Federation,” and “Fan Film Fans.” A few gave me a chuckle: “Fundamentally Fantastic Fan Film Factor Forum for Freedom,” “Fan Film Funyuns,” and “Frankly Fans are Furious.”
But in the end, it was moderator Dave Heagney, Jr.’s suggestion of FAN FILM FORUM that just kinda grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. It was clean, simple, and you know how much I love things that abbreviate down to “FFF.”
In fact, FAN FILM FORUM allowed me to do a visual tie-in to Fan Film Factor since I had many of the logo elements already set up in Photoshop…so creating a Facebook cover image for the group was relatively simple:
The visual tie-in between the Facebook group and this blog site makes sense. Aside from the fact that the same guy (yours truly) runs them both, there’s also the fact the Fan Film Factor is currently the #1 blog site focusing on Star Trek fan films. (This site gets more web traffic than the other two.) So why not have a tie-in, right?
Last week, I decided to ask the 1,345 members of the SMALL ACCESS Facebook Group whether they thought it was time to throw in the towel, hang in there longer, or transform ourselves with a new identity and focus.
The reason for this survey was because SMALL ACCESS hadn’t grown large enough to significantly impact the potential revenue of CBS All Access, and as such, would most likely not be able to leverage that financial impact into a justification for CBS to consider revising the fan film guidelines.
After a week of voting, the results were pretty clear that the members want tokeep the group going but with a new name, focus, and goal. Here were the results:
114 votes -Re-brand with a new name and new focus/purpose.
22 votes – Keep our current name and goal.
13 votes – Close down the group entirely.
We had a pretty good voter turn-out of 149 members, or about 12%. (We’re hardly a national election, but in direct-response advertising, a response rate of 2% is considered quite good, and 10% amazing.) And over 92% of our responding members want the group to continue…so that’s what we’re gonna do.
With more than three-quarters of our responding membership wanting a new name and identity…what now? The answer is: one more poll! But this one is pretty straightforward.
SMALL ACCESS has two things that brought people to the group in the first place: Star Trek fan films and Star Trek: Discovery. Some members wanted to pressure CBS to change the guidelines because they love Star Trek fan films, while other members simply wanted a place to either bitch about or defend Discovery.
So which are we more focused on…fan films or Discovery?? Obviously, we’re Star Trek, and choosing one option doesn’t necessarily exclude the other. Members can post and discuss whatever they’d like!
But we can only have one name up on the sign over the shop: either Fan Film…something (no, not Factor; that’s taken) or Discovery…something.
One we have a decision on that, we’ll start discussing what the goals and focus of the group will be. But first, which one gets “top billing” for our Facebook group: Fan Films or Discovery?
It’s a bittersweet time for fans of STAR TREK CONTINUES. After five years and what will soon be eleven episodes, the celebrated fan series is finally coming to an end this November. That’s certainly the bitter part. The sweet part is that we are being treated to four new episodes in a single year. The first two, “Still Treads the Shadow” and “What Ships Are For” have already been released, and the final two-parter, “To Boldly Go” will debut publicly with Part 1 on October 18 and Part 2 on November 13.
What’s also sweet is that STC typically releases blooper reels for most of its episodes. These short glimpses behind the scenes show how much fun the cast and crew had in creating these wonderful productions.
You can see all of their blooper/gag reels—along with all of their episodes and other special features—by clicking here. Scroll down for the bloopers and features.
And here’s their most recent blooper reel release for “What Ships Are For”…
And then there were ten…ten episodes of the don’t-call-it-a-fan-series from “Team Tristan” of POTEMKIN PICTURES. One of now-seven different production crews producing original Star Trek fan films for Potemkin Pictures, the Pelham, Alabama-based Tristan Production Crew presents stories dealing exclusively with the missions of the U.S.S. Tristan, a Constellation-class starship in the late 23rd/early 24th century period of Star Trek.
All of Potemkin Pictures’ productions are ultra low-budget, using actors from the surrounding areas–a combination of drama students at local colleges, community theater folks, and others who just want to be a part of a fun Star Trek fan film project.
Their latest offering, the 8-minute “Seeing Red,” was shot entirely on location (not on pre-constructed sets, although they have a few of those, as well) using what’s available in the local Pelham area. It’s a fun little look into an away mission with two crew members, one of whom is a gung-ho “red shirt.” (You kinda have to forget that, during movie-era Trek, security personnel on starships wore dark hunter green and not red tunics. Obviously, a title like “Seeing Dark Hunter Green” doesn’t work as well as “Seeing Red,” so just go with it.)
This short film is more action-packed than many of Team Tristan’s other releases of late, and it takes a few unexpected plot turns. Not bad for ultra-low budget and (when you subtract opening and closing credits) just five minutes of actual story!
I love the SMALL ACCESS Facebook Group. It’s become a wonderful part of my life, and the people in the group really get along and behave nicely (well, for the most part!), and share both a love of Star Trek and a camaraderie that can really be FANtastic. I love the articles and updates they share with the group (what a great news resource!), and the members usually have some fascinating insights and observations.
In this way, I feel very strongly that the SMALL ACCESS group has succeeded in a big way. We’re nearly 1,350 members strong, and it really is a wonderful Facebook group to belong to. I don’t want to see that end.
But we do have to face a harsh reality. We had a goal to convince CBS to revisit and revise the fan film guidelines by trying to limit subscriptions to their All Access subscription service. We gave it a good try, but after a year, the SMALL ACCESS Facebook group is not going to be a factor in any decision CBS makes regarding the guidelines or Star Trek: Discovery itself.
Had we been 50,000 strong or 100,000 strong, we might have gotten their attention. But if Discovery generates the desired 4 million subscribers, then 1,300 more isn’t going to matter to CBS one way or another. And if Discovery fails to generate those 4 million subscribers, well, then a measly 1,300 more certainly isn’t going to matter to them either.
Therefore, our initial reason for existing unfortunately seems to be a lost cause. It was worth a try, but with the Discovery premiere now just five weeks away and CBS’s marketing push in full swing, SMALL ACCESS is nowhere near their radar.
So what do we do now?
Personally, I’d like for the group to keep going. But I think it needs some re-branding with a new name and a goal that doesn’t involve trying to financially impact CBS All Access (hence my preference for a name-change from SMALL Access).
However, I’ve never been one to rule with an Iron Fist (or any of the Defenders). So over the next week, I’ll be asking the members of Small Access what they’d like to do: re-brand with a new name and goal (which we’ll discuss if this option is chosen), stay the course and keep the old name and goal, or close up shop completely? And the majority will rule out.
On May 13, 2005, Star Trek: Enterprise aired its series finale, “These Are the Voyages”–completely skipping over a half-decade of the much anticipated Romulan War with Earth and the Coalition of Planets.
Many fans were, quite understandably, disappointed. In addition to strengthening the alliances that would form the Federation and shaping the very direction of Starfleet technology from pure exploration into vessels that could also fight and defend, the very nature of the Romulan War promised action and drama that the fifth Star Trek television series (sixth if you count the animated series) had not previously been able to develop.
Two and a half years later, on November 23, 2007, Star Trek fans began to fill in that missing half-decade with a new fan series: STAR TREK: THE ROMULAN WARS. Led by show-runner LEE GARTRELL, this Arkansas-based production didn’t have the financial resources or the professional polish of a Star Trek: New Voyages or Starship Exeter, but what they did have was passion and commitment. They sewed their own costumes, built their own simplified sets, green-screen composited in backgrounds behind their actors, and created their own VFX.
It was a labor of love that didn’t always have the best lighting or sound quality (and you can tell some of the blasts and explosion noises were grabbed from the original Battlestar Galactica), but you can still see how much time and effort went into this fan series which was, at the time, the only fan production that attempted to tackle the 22nd century NX-01 era of Star Trek. (Tommy Kraft’s fan film Star Trek: Horizon was still nearly a decade away.)
Over the course of the next eight years, The Romulan Wars would release nine full-length episodes ranging in length from 22 to 45 minutes (nearly four and a half hours of content!). Their previous offering, a prequel episode entitled “The Atlas,” was released a year before the fan film guidelines were ever announced. At the time, Lee Gartrell was planning for a full run of 16 episodes to finish up the war.
Unfortunately, Guideline #1 prohibits continuing series. So The Romulan Wars is wrapping up with their tenth episode, “The Tunnel at the End of the Light.” Part 1 was released back in May with a running time of 23 minutes (slightly over the 15-minute limit). A few weeks ago, the full final episode was completed and released with a total run time of 37 minutes (I doubt CBS will mind).
Although this is the end of The Romulan Wars, Lee Gartrel is already planning the team’s next project: an original sci-fi series set 790 years in the future. It should premiere next summer.
With word spreading of the happy and surprising news that actor TERRY “Jadzia Dax” FARRELL (of Deep Space Nine) will be marrying ADAM NIMOY, the son of Leonard “Spock” Nimoy, Fan Film Factor just had to include a shout-out of congratulations, as well.
Both of these people do have connections to the Star Trek fan film community. Terry recently appeared in Renegades‘ first full episode, “The Requiem,” while Adam recorded this promo for Axanar in 2015 and then went on to produce For the Love of Spock (honoring the work of his late father) and is working on the upcoming DS9 documentary What We Left Behind, which raised nearly $650,000 from fan donations via Indiegogo back in March.
This will be the second marriage for both people. Adam (61) and Terry (53) both have children from each of their previous marriages.
This is not the first time celebrity Star Trek-crossed lovers have found each other thanks to the show. In 1996, Alexander “Dr. Julian Bashir” Siddig (who had changed his name from Siddig El Fadil) started dating his co-star Nana “Major Kira Nerys” Visitor and got her pregnant (something which was worked into the plot line of Deep Space Nine). Their son, Django El Tahir El Siddig, was born on September 16, 1996, and the couple were married in June of 1997. The marriage lasted for four years before they divorced in 2001. Also, Star Trek: Voyager Executive Producer Brannon Braga and Jeri “Seven of Nine” Ryan also had a relationship while that show was in production. They have since split up.
And of course, perhaps Star Trek‘s most famous celebrity relationship was between its creator, Gene Roddenberry, and the actress who played both “Number One” in the original pilot and Nurse Chapel in the original series, Majel Barrett. The two started dating while Gene’s previous marriage was falling apart, and they got married in 1969 right after the cancellation of Star Trek. They had a son, Eugene Wesley “Rod” Roddenberry, who is now very active in the Trek fan community and runs Roddenberry Entertainment and also founded the Roddenberry Foundation. Gene and Majel remained married for 22 years until Gene’s death in 1991.
Today, however, we wish a lasting and happy future together to Adam Nimoy and Terry Farrell. May they both live long, prosper, and continue their wonderful relationship with Star Trek fans everywhere!
A bright and happy Q’Plah to everyone in fan film land! The BATTLECRUISER KUPOK production crew from POTEMKIN PICTURES has just released the fourth fan film to feature the warrior crew from that honorable warship (pronounced “kuh-POOK”).
