Project Runabout – Fan Film Factor

PROJECT: RUNABOUT – “IT’S ALL DONE WITH MIRRORS” begins a 3-fan series CROSSOVER!

Fans are about to see a true rarity in the world of Star Trek fan films: a crossover of multiple fan series to create a three-part story! The closest fan films came to something like this previously was a couple of years ago when two of the creative groups from POTEMKIN PICTURES got together to present a crossover of fan-series STARSHIP DEIMOS and KLINGON SCOUTSHIP QAB’ELTH. In that “tag-team,” the two episodes actually intersected, featuring the same sequences seen from different points of view.

But now we have something entire new and different, thanks to GARY DAVIS, RANDY WRENN, and the folks at DOMINION MEDIA. For the past decade, DREADNOUGHT DOMINION has entertained fans with the exploits of that titular starship and her gallant crew. More recently, Gary constructed a full set of a TOS-era runabout craft in his basement and launched the spin-off series PROJECT: RUNABOUT, which released its “PILOT” episode in 2021 followed by its second episode, “YORKTOWN,” a year later.

However, there was no new Project: Runabout released during the following year, in part because Gary and Randy were busy launching their third Dominion Media fan series, WARBIRD VALDORE, set aboard a Romulan vessel and told from the point of view of her captain and crew.

With three separate fan series now in active development, it didn’t take Gary and Randy very long to decide to run a single storyline through all of them for a special crossover fan film event. Of course, the fan film guidelines can be a little persnickety on multi-part stories, so the guys set up the three films to each tell a self-contained story without any “cliffhanger” endings. However, a larger plot line will link the productions together for fans who decide to view all three releases in order.

And that order begins with the third installment of Project: Runabout, an episode entitled “IT’S ALL DONE WITH MIRRORS.” Take a look…

Having already interviewed Gary and Randy more times than I can count (not that I don’t absolutely love those two guys!), I asked them if perhaps we could do a video interview with the cast of the series and get to know those actors a little better. Nearly everyone was more than happy to oblige, and we had a really fun time chatting together. I invite you to join the (landing) party…

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…

DOMINION launches new fan series WARBIRD VALDORE and a new Indiegogo! (interview with GARY DAVIS, RANDY WRENN, JOAN SAVAGE, and MICHAEL BEDNAR…part 1)

DREADNOUGHT DOMINION got its start back in 2015 when the first two episodes “Haunted” and “Anchors Aweigh” were released. Afterward, the showrunner and lead actor, FRANK PARKER, JR. (playing Commodore Samuel Grissom) departed the series, leaving GARY DAVIS and RANDY WRENN to take Dominion where no fan series had gone before…onto the bridge (and corridors) of a Federation-class dreadnought starship.

And so they did, producing and releasing an additional FIFTEEN fan films, including a few crossovers with other fan series, over the course of seven years. (You can watch all the episodes of Dreadnough Dominion on this playlist.) But they didn’t stop there. In July of 2021, using a TOS-era runabout set that Gary constructed in his basement, they filmed and premiered the pilot episode of a new Dominion spinoff series called PROJECT: RUNABOUT. And a little over a year later, they released the second episode of that new fan series, “YORKTOWN,” shot both on the runabout set as well as at the U.S.S. Yorktown Naval and Maritime Museum in the Charlestown Harbor in South Carolina.

You might think that simultaneously producing two ongoing fan series would be enough to keep these two guys busy, and you’d be correct! But when has being busy ever stopped them before???

And so, in July of this year, Dominion Media launched its SECOND spinoff fan series: WARBIRD VALDORE. As you might be able to guess from the title, its stories are told from the perspective of a Romulan warbird commander and her crew. This isn’t the first time a fan series has spotlighted the adventures of another spacefaring alien race. POTEMKIN PICTURES’ BATTLECRUISER KUPOK and SCOUTSHIP QAB’ELTH are both set on Klingon vessels. But this is the first time, to my knowledge, that a Romulan warbird has been been the primary focus of a series.

The new series is filmed in part on sets located at NEUTRAL ZONE STUDIOS in Kingsland, GA and stars JOAN SAVAGE as Romulan Commander Jhu D’Varo, reprising a role she previously played in Dreadnought Dominion. Check out their first episode…

Assuming you just watched it (SPOILER ALERT if you didn’t!), you’ll notice an appearance by MICHAEL BEDNAR, reprising his role of Robert Tacket from STARSHIP FARRAGUT and the upcoming FARRAGUT FORWARD. Now a full captain, Tacket is now in command of the U.S.S. Constitution. His appearance was quite a happy surprise for longtime fans familiar with Farragut (like me!).

Dominion has just launched a new crowd-funder trying to raise $5,000 for their three fan series. If you’d like to donate, click on the link below (I just tossed in $50 myself)…

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/dominion-media-fundraising

I was able to assemble Gary, Randy, Joan, and Mike for a group interview to discuss the new Valdore fan series, their involvement, and of course, the campaign…

With a little help from Home Depot, the newest fan series PROJECT RUNABOUT launches their “PILOT” episode! (interview with GARY DAVIS)

To paraphrase (De)Forrest Gump: “Fan films are like a box of chocolates—you never know what you’re gonna get.”

That was certainly the case when I sat down to watch the premiere of the new fan series PROJECT: RUNABOUT, created by GARY DAVIS and RANDY WRENN, who are also the co-showrunners behind the veteran fan series DREADNOUGHT DOMINION. I went in completely cold, knowing only that Gary had worked long and hard to build a brand new TOS-era cockpit set in his basement and that British VFX phenom SAMUEL COCKINGS had designed an awesome-looking CGI model of a 23rd century runabout and was really excited about the visual effects that he was creating for this initial release.

I knew this first episode was titled “Pilot,” and I’d heard there was an all-female cast (with one male Klingon thrown in). But the phrase I’d heard bandied about was “girl-power.” Well, alrighty, then! So I was kinda expecting a space battle of some kind, great VFX (because Sam isn’t capable of creating anything else) and an intriguing new “homemade” Star Trek set.

What I was NOT expecting was…a music video??? And honestly, a really good music video! Here, take a look…

Of course, it’s kinda hard to make a “bad” music video when you’re playing RACHEL PLATTEN’s uplifting Fight Song! But Gary and Randy were also helped along by four newcomers to Star Trek fan films.

Naturally, there was a lot to chat with him about…