Batman – The Scheme Is Sound

Did an Indiana Jones FAN FILM just win an EMMY AWARD??? YES!!! (video interview with KEVIN CROXTON)

An Emmy? A real Emmy?? For a FAN FILM??? Yep! Awarded by the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS)…the same folks who give out awards for the best TV series and specials and soap operas and news programs and all the rest just gave an award to an Indiana Jones fan film! And not only that, it was a fan film starring fourth and fifth grader kids playing nearly all of the parts! Take a look…

How the heck did this happen???

The answer is revealed in the video interview at the bottom of this blog, but first, a little background about the fellow I’ll be talking to. I first met KEVIN CROXTON shortly after the premiere of his first fan film, the Star Trek-themed THE BUNNY INCIDENT, back in 2018. Filmed at the now defunct Starbase Studios in Arkansas, this fan film featured 33 of Kevin’s fourth and fifth grade students playing Starfleet and Klingon roles, singing, dancing, and acting. It was adorable.

Kevin, a composer by trade and training, was also an elementary school music teacher in western Arkansas, and the kids in his fan films were all members of his extracurricular music club at his school. Shortly thereafter, I asked Kevin if we would agree to create the score for my own Star Trek fan film INTERLUDE, which he happily agreed to do.

The following year, Kevin and his music club produced and released their second fan film, BATMAN: THE SCHEME IS SOUND. At 12 minutes, it was twice the run-time as their previous effort, this one featuring elaborate costumes for Batman, Robin, Joker, Catwoman, Penguin, and Riddler…along with an actual, drivable BATMOBILE replica! Seriously, how much would you have given to have this guy as your teacher growing up??

Two years later in 2021, Kevin posted his third themed fan film to YouTube. Shot mostly before the lockdown and edited and scored after, the 12-minute IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE was a James Bond adventure with fancy cars, tuxedos, and a cameo appearance by GEORGE LAZENBY, the second actor to portray the character in the single feature film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969. How on earth does Kevin keep managing to top himself? It’s certainly a mystery!

But top himself he does! As you can see if you watched the film above, INDIANA JONES AND THE TREASURE OF THE AZTECS has a cast of dozens and dozens of kids; very impressive performances; amazing costumes, props, and music; and numerous “exotic” filming locations. It also has an incredible stunt of Indiana Jones (well, a stunt double) jumping from the back of a galloping horse into a speeding jeep. It even has a cameo voice-over from actress KAREN ALLEN, who played Indiana’s girlfriend/wife in three of the franchise films!

The film was definitely worthy of an award, and it has won many. But an EMMY??? There has to be a story behind that, and Kevin explains it all and more in the following fun interview…

Things that go IndieBOOM! – three Trek fan filmmakers win big!

The winners of the third annual IndieBOOM! film festival awards have just been announced, and three Star Trek fan filmmakers did really well. The first, GLEN L. WOLFE (along with DAN and KELLY REYNOLDS) took the FAN FAVORITE overall grand prize of $500 for their recent fan film THE EQUINOX EFFECT, filmed at WARP 66 Studios in Arkansas. You can listen to an interview with the three of them here. As a side note, Glen also won for best FAN FILM in the first IndieBOOM! film festival in 2017 with HIS NAME IS MUDD…the first of THE FEDERATION FILES anthology fan series.

The second Star Trek fan filmmaker didn’t win for a Trek fan film—even though he had one entered, as well—but he did take first place in the FAN FILM category with a 1960s BATMAN musical fan film titled THE SCHEME IS SOUND. This fellow is Emmy Award winner KEVIN CROXTON, who teaches music at Parkview Elementary School in Arkansas, and each year his 4th and 5th grade music club students produce a musical fan film in a specific genre. In 2018, it was Star Trek (THE BUNNY INCIDENT—which was also a finalist this year). Right now, Kevin and the kids are working on a JAMES BOND themed fan film for 2020.

The third Star Trek fan film to take a first place award was THE LOOKING GLASS from Neutral Zone Studios (directed by MIEK HEATH). However, even though it was entered in the FAN FILM category, The Looking Glass actually took the first place award in the SCI-FI category, in which it was also entered.

Rounding out the eight finalists in the FAN FILM category were two films from the UK (one a Dark Knight theme and the other XBox vs. Playstation), one Halloween themed fan film from Canada, and a Lost Boys sequel from the USA. The annual IndieBOOM! film festival is one of the only competitions to offer a category open specifically to fan films.

On a personal note, I couldn’t be happier with the results. While I certainly support and celebrate ALL Star Trek fan filmmakers, Glen Wolfe and Kevin Croxton are both part of the team for my Axanar Universe fan film INTERLUDE. They’re also both residents of the state of Arkansas, along with my directors JOSHUA IRWIN and VICTORIA FOX…so a lot of Star Trek being made down there in Arkansas, folks!

A few people asked me why The Equinox Effect didn’t win the FAN FILM category as well as the overall prize. According to the rules, the film with the most views per category wins first place in that category, and the film with the most views overall wins the grand prize of $500. So if Equinox won overall, wouldn’t it have also won its category?

VOTE NOW as 3 STAR TREK FAN FILMS are selections for this year’s IndieBOOM! Awards for a $500 CASH prize…

Christmas is over, New Years is still a few days away, and you’ve got some extra time. So what do you do now?

How about helping your favorite Star Trek fan filmmaker win $500 cash?

The IndieBOOM! Film Festival was among the first to offer a category exclusively for FAN FILMS…along with many other categories (comedy, drama, documentary, animation, scifi/thriller, music video…you can view the entire list here). It’s a real film festival, now in its third year of presenting awards to both aspiring and accomplished independent filmmakers…including fan filmmakers!

In the first year of IndieBOOM!, a Star Wars fan film from Mexico won in the category. And last year, a Star Trek fan film, THE FEDERATION FILES: “Walking Bear, Running Wolf” took first place as best fan film against two Star Wars, one Blade, one Superman, and one Stranger Things fan film competitor finalists.

A panel of judges choose the films that make it as finalists. Those, in turn, get posted online and to IndieBOOM!‘s ROKU channel for viewing. The film that gets the most views on their website and ROKU app in each category receives “Winning Laurels” (first prize) in that category. Also, the panel of judges will choose their favorite selection among all finalists, which will receive the Jury Prize Laurels. And finally, the overall most-viewed film of the festival will receive Fan Favorite Laurels and a cash prize of $500!

This year, THREE Star Trek fan films have been selected as finalists. In order to “vote” for them, you have to actually watch them through (no loading and reloading the page). Viewing is free and can be done at the following links. Here’s the Star Trek finalists from the Fan Film category (in the order released). Scroll down the linked page to view…