PROJECT: ENTERPRISE jumps from Kickstarter to Indiegogo!

Project Enterprise-1Recently, I featured a 2-part interview with Paul Olsen, the man responsible for the breathtaking opalescent paint job of the refit Enterprise from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.  Together with the designer and builder of the original model, Paul is trying to raise $3 million to recreate that model, bigger, more sturdy, and with all modern electronics within a custom 4D viewing chamber.  The model would travel around the world to be enjoyed by Star Trek fans everywhere.

But $3 million is a lot of money, and way beyond way could be raised from simple crowd-funding.  So Paul is planning to do a concerted public relations campaign, coordinated by a major PR company, targeted at bringing in major corporate sponsors like Enterprise Rent-a-Car, SpaceX, Boeing, and many others.  So instead of needing $3 million, Paul just needs $50,000 to fund the PR effort.  In fact, the PR effort is only intended to raise the first $450,000 to get them started.  Then, with the studio and materials in place, Paul can negotiate documentary rights to bring in the completion funding of $3+ million over the two years of the rebuild.

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PROJECT: ENTERPRISE – A fan with a plan…and a dream! (Interview, part 2)

Project Enterprise-9
Left-to-right: Richard Taylor, Jim Dow, and Paul Olsen

Last time: We met Paul Olsen, the man who spent eight months back in 1978 and 1979 painting the original model of the refit USS Enterprise for Star Trek: The Motion Picture.  Now, 37 years later, Paul wants to build it again: bigger, stronger, better, and painted to have the same opalescent shine as the original.

And Paul won’t be doing it alone.  Richard Taylor (who designed the refit Enterprise) and Jim Dow (who built the original model) will be part of the team, as well.  And the cost for this rebuild: $3 million!!!  (They intend to build a 12-foot model that will last for hundreds of years plus a virtual reality display room that can be transported around the world.)

Right now, Paul and his team—with the help of Nichelle Nichols, Rod Roddenberry, and Tim Russ—are trying to raise $50,000 through a Kickstarter campaign ending on September 11.  That will go towards a PR tour where Paul will attempt to raise the millions of dollars he’ll need to make this Trek fan dream a reality.  He’s also trying to get official authorization for the project from CBS licensing, and that’s where we’ll pick up our interview, already in progress…

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PROJECT: ENTERPRISE – A fan with a plan…and a dream! (Interview, part 1)

Project Enterprise-1Many Star Trek fans dream big, and I love that…I really do. But what I love the most is a fan with a plan to make that dream a reality. I spoke to one such fan recently. And although I started my interview thinking his was a crazy dream without a prayer of ever happening, by the time I finished, I’d gone to his Kickstarter page and made a donation. This isn’t a fan film, but it’s a cool enough idea that I’m making an exception and sharing it with all of you.

Project Enterprise-2
Paul Olsen

This dreamer is Paul Olsen, and the dream is to rebuild the model of the refit USS Enterprise exactly as it appeared in Star Trek: The Motion Picture…only 50% larger (12 feet long!). The model would travel the world in its own special display, be painted with a opalescent finish to exacting specifications, and be built to last for centuries.

Crazy, you say? Crazy awesome, you say? Not a chance of it ever happening, you say? Well, before you turn away and get on with your life, take read through this interview and see if you start believing in the dream—and the fan with the plan—just like I did…

Continue reading “PROJECT: ENTERPRISE – A fan with a plan…and a dream! (Interview, part 1)”