The movie world was shocked this week when news broke that none other than the film-loving producer and director Joel Silver was working on a sequel to the hit 1997 adventure flick “Speed”. Word has it that Silver is looking to bring back the film’s two stars, Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. But the good news for fans of the original film isn’t just that Silver is looking to reboot the action comedy-drama. It’s also that he won’t be making the movie with a new cast. Instead, he’ll be sticking to the original crew.
Like the baseball analyst who only watches the World Series, the late night host that only watches the Oscars, the comic that only watches SNL, the music critic who only listens to Pitchfork, and the political pundit that only watches Fox News, the film critic that only watches horror movies, the TV critic that only watches Syfy, the comic that only watches Rick and Morty, the music critic who only listens to Pitchfork, the political pundit that only watches Fox News, the film critic that only watches horror movies, the TV critic that only watches Syfy, the Star Wars fan that only watches The Force Awakens, and the baseball analyst that only watches the World Series, the film critic that only watches horror movies, the TV critic that
The most successful mainstream movie today is a sci-fi thriller. Even more successful than that are the movies that are based on books. But did you know that the most successful movie of all time is a book? I am talking about the Bible, which is the bestselling book in history. It has sold more copies than Harry Potter.
Today is FIVE YEARS since CBS announced the Star Trek Guide fan film to avoid objections. (For readers outside North America, here is a screenshot of these guidelines). Five years ago today, fans were shocked and outraged by these seemingly draconian restrictions. And since then, those ten recommendations have led to what I call the BIG FALSE of Star Trek fan films. You may have seen…
CBS executives killed the Star Trek fan films!
Admittedly, I was among those who initially thought that these new rules would spell the end of Star Trek fan films: no more than two 15-minute episodes, no funding limit of more than $50,000, no ongoing series, not paying anyone to participate in a fan film, not using actors or crew members who had previously worked on a Star Trek studio production, etc. The list of things we couldn’t do seemed endless and stifled any creativity. How can such an oppressive set of rules make a movie for Star Trek fans ????.
Many fans have tried to have these recommendations removed or changed. Petitions went around, angry podcasts were published, and I myself started the project: ONE SMALL ACTION on Facebook to try to put financial pressure on CBS….. Not to scrap or repeal the guidelines, but to make some reasonable changes that don’t destroy Star Trek fan films. In the end, all efforts were a failure. Even Small Access never got above 1,200 members and sent only 70 letters to CBS….. not quite the hundreds of thousands that BJO TRIMBLE managed to reach in the late 1960s.
Of course, management did NOT destroy all or even most of the Star Trek fan films. In fact, in the five years since these recommendations were announced, hundreds – if not thousands! – of fan-made Star Trek movies have been posted on YouTube. Vance Major alone has done over a hundred of them!!!
Check out the list of fan films I’ve covered over the past five and a half years! Does this list tell you that fan films are dead? ? ???? I don’t think so.
And yet, the BIG lie continues to this day! Check out this comment on the Facebook screen from 12. June 2023 to…
I’m both amazed and baffled by how some people on social media (not many, but more than you’d think) can still write those words or variations of them. And yet they continue to exist.
So today I’m going to officially reveal the BIG FALSE of Star Trek fan films! If you see another post like this on Facebook, bookmark this page and send it here…..
Sometimes, as in the case of the person whose comment I quoted above, they try to smuggle their argument past you based on a technicality. Note, as John Brandes says in his comment above, quality fan productions and those that tell complete stories. This of course refers to STAR TREK CONTINUES and STAR TREK: NEW JOURNEY/PHASE II. It could also refer to AXANAR, RENEGADES and STAR TREK : HORIZONT. These are the 800 pound gorillas from the fan films. Of course, these aren’t the only quality productions by Star Trek fans that have told complete stories. Movies like PACIFIC 201, THE HOLY CORE, CHANCE ENCOUNTER, SQUADRON, FIRST FRONTIER, DECEPTION II, anything Aaron Vanderkley did in Australia or at AVALON UNIVERSE, even my own fan film INTERLUDE and many, many others, were able to be high quality and tell complete stories in 30 minutes or less.
But let’s focus on the 800-pound gorillas. Did management really kill her? It’s time to start debunking ….
First: Axanar and the Renegades weren’t killed. Axanar is still filming after settling a lawsuit with CBS/Paramount ….. Only limited to two 15-minute parts instead of a two-hour movie. It’s not death. As for Renegades, they went ahead but surgically removed all references to Star Trek. This is the closest management has come to killing a quality movie for Star Trek fans. But that’s not surprising, considering that the manual was written specifically to end the Renegades (there was no need to end Axanar, since the process had already done that – that’s why the manual doesn’t include seasons…). Something that would never have had anything to do with Axanar).
However, killing off a quality fan film/series (which was ultimately not Trek style anyway) is not what BIG FALSE is claiming. And the others?
It is a common misconception that a Star Trek sequel by TOMMY KRAFT: Horizon was closed because of the guidelines. Two months earlier, Tommy had been approached by CBS who asked him to put a project called FEDERATION RISING on Kickstarter with a budget of $250,000 (which he did). However, the project was about the crew of the NX-04, the USS Discovery, and I wonder if Tommy would have received the same invitation if he had chosen to talk about the NX-05 (Atlantis) or the NX-06 (Endeavour) or any other ship not named Discovery. We’ll probably never know for sure.
But technically, Tommy could have raised $50,000 for a 15-minute first half and another $50,000 for a 15-minute second half, and then for $100,000 he would have had a half-hour fan film (maybe even 40+ minutes, since CBS didn’t sue fan productions for exceeding the length limit). Maybe he’ll lead the crew in discovering the 22nd. He was asked to portray the 20th century if he followed all the rules, which happened two months after he was approached by CBS. He might even do some anthology stories about the early days of the Federation with other NX teams. But that’s not what Tommy decided to do.
And even if the guide hadn’t been released, it’s hard to say whether Federation Rising would have managed to raise $250,000 via crowdfunding. Of all the Star Trek fan films ever made, only Axanar, Renegades and Star Trek Continuation have managed to surpass that number. No Trek fan film or series has come close to that (not even New Journeys/Phase II). So I’m not prepared to say that the Federation rebellion was killed by management, but what about two 800 pound gorillas: Phase II and beyond?
JAMES CAULEY announced the cessation of Phase II production TWO MONTHS before the guidelines were announced. It all started with the closing of the New Voyages/Phase II Facebook page on the 22nd. April 2016, followed by the famous text message a few weeks later…..
So no, management had nothing to do with the closing of Star Trek: Phase II. But what about the Star Trek sequel? It’s hard to argue that management killed STC when you look at the timeline below …..
- 22. June 2016 – CBS announces new rules for Star Trek fan films.
- 3. September 2016 – STC releases a 44-minute film called Embracing the Winds.
- 2. April 2017 – STC releases the 54-minute film Still Treads the Shadow starring REHA SHARMA (who was featured in the first season of Star Trek: Discovery).
- 30. July 2017 – STC releases a 49-minute film called What Ships Are For with John de Lancey (who played Q in TNG, DS9 and Voyager).
- 18. October 2017 – CTC releases the 46-minute film To Boldly Go, Part I.
- 3. November 2017 – CTC releases the 58-minute film To Boldly Go, Part II.
For example, of the eleven full episodes of CTC that were produced, nearly half (five) were posted on YouTube within 17 months of the Guidelines announcement… and the final four were filmed even after the guidelines had gone into effect. The five broke many rules (length of episodes, continuation of a fan series, salary scale, and major involvement of Star Trek veterans and other professional actors). So it’s hard to say that management killed Star Trek Continues.
In management, the total number of scheduled CTC episodes was reduced from 13 to 11. In numerous interviews, Vic Mignogna has said that only 13 episodes would be made because Vic, who is approaching 60, has admitted that he can’t keep playing the 35-year-old Captain Kirk forever. So yes, if belief in BIG FALSE prevails, I agree that management killed TWO episodes of CTC and possibly Renegades. Maybe.
But that’s about it.
Some fans also falsely claim that there was a mass abandonment of small Star Trek fan projects in 2016-2017. Again, this is not true… At least what I’ve seen from the perspective of a man who has been tirelessly covering Star Trek fan productions since mid-2015. The following is a list of projects known to me to have been completed within 18 months of the publication of the guidelines:
- STAR TREK : ANTHOLOGY – There are three ongoing series: CHALLENGER (about the exploits of Captain J.M. Colt, the same non-commissioned officer who served under Captain Pike in the cage), ASSIGNMENT EARTH (a sequel to the TOS episode of the same name starring Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln), and a final episode titled MOTHER. The year before (2015) their Kickstarter went pretty much nowhere, so it’s hard to blame management for this block.
- STAR TREK : CAPTAIN PIKE – These guys raised about $85,000 in two campaigns on Indiegogo in 2015, largely because their professed star Walter Koenig played a Starfleet admiral. But rumor has it that this production was a vanity project and completely failed behind the scenes. It is therefore difficult to say whether he was influenced by the guidelines. They never announced a shutdown… Or even released any updates after November 2015. That’s why I’ve always thought this film was probably fake (which is surprisingly rare for Trek fan films, all things considered).
- STAR TREK : EQUINOX – Another wreck or scam that raised several thousand dollars, but was shut down three months before the textbook was published. Here’s an ad. So you can’t blame management for that.
I vaguely remember that the last fan series from that era wanted to show TOS’s U.S.S. Constellation before Doomsday Machine, and they said they were going to close due to guidelines. But then again, the show has had problems before and directing might have been a convenient way to avoid losing face.
Other than the projects I just listed, no other fan projects from that era were discontinued, as far as I can recall, because of the guidelines. Sure, I may have missed one or two (unlikely), but there certainly wasn’t a massive meltdown, folks.
In fact, since the guidelines were announced five years ago today, we have seen the opposite of a massive freeze. I’d say it’s a resurgence of fan films – maybe even a flood or influx of films! – In all sizes, shapes and quality levels…. From cosplayers with their mobile phones to ambitious professional productions of half an hour. And they all tell complete stories… Just do it in 30 minutes or less. Full doesn’t necessarily mean long.
And if you think fan films can’t be good – very good even! – even under management restrictions, then you haven’t seen any Star Trek fan films lately!
When the manual first came out, few fans were so openly opposed to it and were clearly as outraged as I was. And I still think some of those recommendations could have been relaxed a bit. But management has NOT destroyed the Star Trek fan films as I so fervently predicted five years ago. They were manageable. In fact, they’ve helped us amateur filmmakers focus even more, improve our scripts and editing, and learn to do more with less. They may have even made us a little more creative….. If not by writing stories (we’ve always been creative, people!), then it’s by solving problems.
So for all those who still believe in the BIG FALSE : It’s been five years and Star Trek fan films are doing well, thank you!The movie industry is dark, and full of misinformation. Every year, studios take decades to decide to produce a movie, and once they do, they spend years and millions of dollars making it. We’ve seen this time and time again with the “Transformers”, “Spider-Man”, “Ghostbusters” and “Star Wars” franchises. And now, the “Star Wars” franchise is adding a new installment, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”.. Read more about omonatheydidnt and let us know what you think.
Related Tags:
Privacy settings,How Search works,oh no they didn t stolen,brendan ontd,ontd bts,ontd drake,omonatheydidnt
