Tag: Virtual Trek Con

Get a virtual tour of NEUTRAL ZONE STUDIOS from VIC MIGNOGNA today at 7:30pm Eastern Time!

One of the wonders of the fan film world is the incredibly detailed TOS sets at NEUTRAL ZONE STUDIOS in Kingsland, GA. For the past two years, owner RAY TESI has been offering open house fan appreciation weekends when Trekkers from all over the globe could come to tour the facility. Right now, however, the pandemic prevents that from happening. In fact, it prevents any in-person convention from happening.

But not virtual online ones.

Since Wednesday, VIRTUAL TREK CON has been appearing on a computer or smart device near you! And already, thousands of people have tuned in to see and ask questions of celebrity guests from all eras and series of Star Trek…everyone from actors like TIM RUSS, ARMIN SHIMERMAN, MICHELLE HURD, GARY GRAHAM, DOUG JONES and over a dozen others to behind-the-camera folks like IRA BEHR, ROBERT HEWITT WOLFE, and DOUG DREXLER. The full guest list is 34 people! And it’s all absolutely free…you don’t even have to sign up for a mailing list!

Today (Sunday) at 7:30pm Eastern Time, Neutral Zone Studios will be taking its turn as a Virtual Trek Con event with a special live tour of all the sets hosted by STAR TREK CONTINUES show-runner VIC MIGNOGNA, who will be taking family friendly, respectful questions submitted by viewers (so no questions about you-know-what) . Fans are encouraged to submit questions that may be answered live on air in the comments of the live broadcast chat.

Vic will share stories about the fan films that have been made at that studio and (according to the Virtual Trek Con website) have special guests joining to tell their stories and lend their expertise and advice on filmmaking.

The hour-long online event will also celebrate STC‘s Mr. Sulu, actor GRANT IMAHARA, who passed away unexpectedly last Monday. Vic will spotlight Grant’s achievements and the special contributions he made to both the Trek community and the sci-fi community as a whole. 

You can access the live virtual event on Sunday July 19th, 2020 at 7:30pm Eastern Time at the following link:

www.facebook.com/events/s/neutral-zone-studios-live-at-v

There will also be a special message from actress NICHELLE NICHOLS (“Uhura” on TOS) to her fans immediately before the Neutral Zone Studios event at 7:15pm Eastern Time on Sunday.

The folks over at the Atomic Network (creators of RENEGADES) recorded Nichelle and were going to release the video to the public, and the timing was right to have it done during Virtual Trek Con. So you can watch this announcement from our inspirational lady of communications at either of the following links before it goes out to the rest of the public:

The Aron Eisenberg Stage: https://youtu.be/6VIQk_MDShE
The Rene Auberjonois Stage: https://youtu.be/hGTi8mY94Nc

SIX-DAY Virtual Trek Con is FREE to Everyone and it STARTS TODAY with 35 Star Trek Celebrities!

You say you haven’t been to a Star Trek convention in months? And of course, it’s looking like there might not be any in-person conventions any time in the foreseeable future. So yeah, this pandemic totally sucks. But there is one silver lining in in the cloud: convention celebrity guests are stuck at home, too.

How is that a silver lining? Well, it means that we fans can rub virtual elbows with them (and with other fans) via YouTube livestreams, and there’s no need to rent convention space or pay to fly the celebrity guests to other cities and put them up in hotels. In other words, virtual conventions can be FREE!

Sure, there are no dealers rooms or autograph tables or photo ops. On the other hand, no lines…and you don’t need no stinkin’ badges either! So virtual cons are the next best thing to being there—and at least for now, they’re the only game in town.

Thus far, there have been a few scattered livestreams here and there with Trek celebrities. But starting today and finishing on Monday (July 15-20), SUMMER VIRTUAL TREK CON 2020 will kick off with 35 confirmed guests…ranging from authors and VFX and make-up people all the way up to the major Star Trek stars you all love to see, like…

  • Nichelle Nichols – Lt. Uhura: TOS with a Special Message for her Fans!
  • Doug Jones – Saru: DSC
  • Nana Visitor – Kira Nerys: DS9
  • Michelle Hurd – Raffi: ST Picard
  • Tim Russ – Tuvok: VOY
  • Armin Shimerman – Quark: DS9
  • Alexander Siddig – Dr. Bashir: DS9
  • Andy Robinson – Garak: DS9
  • Robert Beltran – Chakotay: VOY
  • Gary Graham – Ambassador Soval: ENT
  • Cirroc Lofton – Jake Sisko: DS9
  • Ira Steven Behr – Writer, Exec Producer: DS9, TNG
  • Robert Hewitt Wolfe – Writer: TNG and DS9
  • Max Grodenchik – Rom: DS9
  • Mary Chieffo – Chancellor L’Rell: DSC
  • Raven Dauda – Dr. Pollard: DSC
  • Hana Hatae – Molly O’Brien: TNG, DS9
  • Doug Drexler – Make-up, Art Department, VFX: TNG, DS9, VGR, and EN
  • The Sons of Kirk – Star Trek-themed rock band, fronted by Gary Graham

And the list goes on and on. You can see everyone who is scheduled here.

And speaking of schedules, here’s a link to the all of the panels and events for the next six days (including direct links to each YouTube livestream):

https://www.virtualtrekcon.com/Calendar

Attending is as simple as clicking any of the YouTube links listed on the Calendar page. And if you go to the YouTube channel below and hit the SUBSCRIBE button, you can sign up for reminders of when each live panel begins:

https://www.youtube.com/THE7THRULE

To my knowledge, this is the most ambitious virtual Trek convention assembled since the pandemic started. It’s the brainchild of CIRROC LOFTON (Jake Sisko) and RYAN T. HUSK (fan filmmaker and cameo guy on a number of studio Trek productions) along with MALÍSSA LONGO (widow of the recently passed and sorely missed ARON “Nog” EISENBERG). It’s a fan labor of love, where fans can participate and ask questions via virtual chats.

Come be a part of history in the making!