Tag: Ray Tesi

Back in March, the new fan production STARSHIP REPUBLIC tried to raise $16,000 in an Indiegogo campaign.  They came up pretty short (like only 15% of the way there).

Crowd-funding campaigns can be a funny thing.  Sometimes they catch fire, like the recent Deep Space Nine “What We Left Behind” documentary campaign that has taken in nearly $650K (with an initial goal of “only” $150K).  On the other hand, the currently-active Industry Studios campaign, which set a goal of $60K, has barely managed to crack $20K.  (Of course, Starship Republic would have loved to have reached $20K…so it’s all relative.)

The late, great, legendary Yogi Berra once famously said (when fan attendance at Yankee Stadium had dwindled): “If the people don’t want to come out to the ballpark, nobody’s going to stop them.”  Such can often be the case with fan films.  They try, they fail, they give up.  It’s not a happy result, but sometimes the dog just doesn’t hunt.

But there’s no rule against hitting the crowd-funding “reset” button, and Starship Republic show-runner RAY TESI is doing just that!  Ray asked me to share the following message with all of you…

Continue reading “A message from STARSHIP REPUBLIC”

As reported here last month, STARSHIP REPUBLIC, one of the newest fan series to come out of STARBASE STUDIOS,  was trying to raise $16,000 in an Indiegogo campaign.

They didn’t make it.  They took in only 15% of their goal, leaving the future of the project in doubt.

Yesterday, an update went out to donors announcing plans for a second crowd-funding campaign, but this time, the production would be sharing more details about its story line to try to increase interest.

It’s actually an intriguing move for a fan film.  Most fan filmmakers wrestle with how much of their story to reveal and how much to keep “secret” to avoid spoilers and ruining surprises for the viewers.  Most fan producers, when they crowd-fund, share only the barest details, despite potential donors requiring specifics before they contribute because they want to know exactly what they’re supporting.  (Not all donors are so demanding, but I know of several producers who have told me of receiving messages from potential donors saying they refused to give anything unless they were told more about the plot and story.)

What makes the decision by Starship Republic‘s show-runner Ray Tesi to unveil “secrets” to donors so intriguing is the fact that the plot going forward to SO much more expansive than anything that was hinted at in their first 9-minute vignette release “Serpent of Yesterday.”  Although set in the TOS era, upcoming plans for the project incorporate flashback elements from the Star Trek: Enterprise era as well as scenes which will take place in the movie-era time frame.

I actually knew most of this from my interview with Ray Tesi, but he asked me not to reveal anything, despite the details being quite exciting.  However, now the Kzinti is very much out of the bag, and Ray is the one who released it.  Here’s what he said…

Continue reading “STARSHIP REPUBLIC shares plot SECRETS and announces plans for more crowd-funding!”