Many following these boards are probably aware of the production of independent Star Trek episodes up in Georgia, well it seems the movement is going "big time".
Farragut Films produces episodes up in Kingsland, Georgia as part of their series "Starship Farragut"
There are many others out there producing materials. Some are interesting, some are pushing their luck, some others are extending the genre.
James Cawley, who started Star Trek: Phase II and Star Trek: New Voyages.
Star Trek; Renegades
Star Trek: Horizon
Star Trek: Captain Pike
and yes, even a XXX parody was created.
The only rule was that it had to be non-for-profit and couldn't be broadcast on TV or in theaters and it had to give credit.
Now we have Star Trek: Axanar being made in Valencia, California. Crowdsourcing has been a great revenue stream for these guys (over $1 million raised in total). The quality of the productions are now exceeding television standards and are quickly approaching theatrical levels.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/star-trek-axanar#/story (https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/star-trek-axanar#/story)
In essence, "Star Trek" has been open sourced like the development of Linux, and it is opening up this influx of creativity. Each new production gets yet better actors, better production values, better stories & scripts. All of this at "no profit". It is an interesting phenomenon to say the least and even if you aren't a fan, it is interesting that so much is being done with it.
https://www.youtube.com/v/K723TV7GZFQ
https://www.youtube.com/v/1W1_8IV8uhA
While I enjoy Star Trek and have through out the years, I did not know this was going on. Very interesting.
I have seen some of these and for the most part have enjoyed watching them. I would recommend the following for the best quality:
Starship Farragut series. It has decent writing and sets and approaches TV quality.
Star Trek: Phase II and Star Trek: New Voyages. Definitely the best quality series out there. The sets, writing , and acting are good enough for television.
Some of these have been able to get original Star Trek actors to act in their shows, most notably Walter Koenig and George Takei. Renegade Studios has produced a full length film, Star Trek: Of Gods and Men, casting actors such as Koenig, Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Alan Ruck, Tim Russ, Grace Lee Whitney, and others from various Star Trek series.
I am a die hard Trekkie, and I find this "indietrek" to be FABULOUS.
Not fabulous in its execution most of the time, but the fabulous that so much effort goes into keeping that universe alive...
I think it speaks to the power of the Star Trek message of hope, that our future can be something close to what G.R. envisioned for humanity as a species.
I have seen the trailers for Anaxar; and it looks A++
Definitely looking forward to its release!
How are the copyright issues handled? Seems like the corporate lawyers would be all over this with cease and desist letters.
CBS now owns the rights to Star Trek. The predecessor company (Paramount Pictures) purchased the complete rights from Gene Roddenberry during the pre-production of "The Wrath of Khan". As long as Congress keeps extending the copyright law (usually called the "Mickey Mouse Law" to help Disney) it will not go into public domain until 2025 at the soonest.
I did notice that if you donate a certain amount to "Araxanar" they will send you a Blu-Ray of the finished product. To my knowledge this is the first time they are using this as a distribution method.
Araxanar also was a featured panel at Comic Con where they showed the new teaser and had the actors there to chat with the audience. That is pretty good PR for something that is not produced or endorsed by the owners.
When a crowdsource amount starts hitting the multiples of millions I suspect CBS will start stepping in.
Here is the trailer for the indie release, "Star Trek: Horizon" which is currently in post-production. It is based on the era around the Trek show "Enterprise".
https://www.youtube.com/v/MWD9RMp_Gfk
Here is the trailer for Star Trek: Renegades. Directed by Tim Russ (who played Tuvok in Voyager). It has a wealth of Trek stars in it. Classic Trek star "Chekov" (at 143 years old) appears.
This one is currently being pitched to CBS to be funded as a "web only" series (like Netflix or Hulu).
https://www.youtube.com/v/OjeX5drV9ms
Quote from: spuwho on July 25, 2015, 11:01:40 PM
Here is the trailer for Star Trek: Renegades. Directed by Tim Russ (who played Tuvok in Voyager). It has a wealth of Trek stars in it. Classic Trek star "Chekov" (at 143 years old) appears.
This one is currently being pitched to CBS to be funded as a "web only" series (like Netflix or Hulu).
https://www.youtube.com/v/OjeX5drV9ms
Looks better than abrams star trek, at least no lens flares
It has been suggested that CBS just simply form a web channel for Star Trek material alone. Re-runs throughout, with these new productions from these different creators during prime time.
No different than "House of Cards" or "True Blood" and the other web only content.
A former Trek AD mentioned at ComicCon that they did propose the show "Enterprise" go web subscription only when the broadcast ratings weren't meeting their goals. He said they (CBS) wanted no part of it even through it was shown to be financially viable.
Actor Robert Hatch said the networks are extremely short sighted because Neilson's expire after 24 hours and many people today time shift their content. He noted that their thinking is very monolithic around short term advertising demographics. A policy that they have stuck too since the big 1970 programming purge.
By shifting their programming to the subscription model then they would have to abandon their allegiances from Madison Street ad executives, to the people actually watching the material. This was considered untenable in the current influence driven television "racket".
By shifting programming to what people really want, instead of what draws advertising it would force a new level of accountability in programming quality.
This could represent the beginnings of a fundamental shift in program development.
^^it tells you something that the best shows currently on TV are for the most part on the non-advertiser supported networks (HBO, etc).
This looks better than half the stuff I see coming from the Networks today. When will they realize that some people want something better than "junk food TV" like The Real Housewives?
I guess CBS and Paramount have finally become the Borg when it comes to indie productions.
The Axanar production crew have gone out of their way to make sure they don't violate Trek copyrights. In fact they have said they maintain contact with their (CBS) legal department constantly.
Now, Axanar is 2 weeks from starting their shoot schedule and CBS drops the bomb. Probably has something to do with the fact that CBS has a movie and new TV show coming out in 2016 and 2017. Resistance is futile.
Per Entertainment Weekly:
http://www.ew.com/article/2015/12/30/star-trek-crowdfunded-film-axanar-lawsuit-paramount-cbs (http://www.ew.com/article/2015/12/30/star-trek-crowdfunded-film-axanar-lawsuit-paramount-cbs)
Crowdfunded Star Trek film facing lawsuit from Paramount, CBS
Paramount Pictures and CBS Studios have filed a copyright infringement complaint against Axanar, an independently produced Star Trek prequel film that has been a major success on crowdfunding sites Kickstarter and Indiegogo, where it has raised more than $1 million.
The lawsuit, obtained by EW, states that Axanar infringes "[Paramount and CBS' works] by using innumerable copyrighted elements of Star Trek, including its settings, characters, species, and themes." As a result, the two companies are seeking $150,000 in damages "for each separate Star Trek Copyrighted Work infringed."
According to Axanar's website, the film is scheduled to begin shooting in January. Although the filmmakers Alec Peters and Robert Burnett have not released a full statement yet, Peters did briefly address the lawsuit on the film's official Facebook page.
"Well, it appears CBS knows that Axanar is exactly what fans want, because they are trying to shut us down!" he wrote. "While Team Axanar will have a response shortly, know this DOES NOT deter us from what we are doing! Delivering to fans exactly what you want."
The movie — called "the first fully-professional, independent Star Trek film" on its Indiegogo page — is set to focus on Garth of Izar, a hero of Captain Kirk's, as he and his crew struggle through the Four Years War against the Klingon Empire. Read more about Axanar at the project's website.
CBS/Paramount at the behest of directors JJ Abrams and Justin Lin will be dropping their lawsuit against the fan film "Axanar".
http://www.cinemablend.com/m/new/J-J-Abrams-Responds-Lawsuit-Against-Fan-Made-Star-Trek-Film-132397.html (http://www.cinemablend.com/m/new/J-J-Abrams-Responds-Lawsuit-Against-Fan-Made-Star-Trek-Film-132397.html)
That's great news! I've been following the Axanar project since this thread was originally started. It looks really good and I'm super excited about it. Here's to hoping it's gets finished soon.
Basically JJ and Justin, who have significant back loaded contracts in their Star Trek production deals made a case that filing suit "against the fans" is a total Kobayashi Maru scenario and not only destroys any good will, but also the future pocketbooks of any directors.
While there are some in the Axanar world who are in the "anti-JJ" realm, and prefer classic Trek stories, JJ Abrams is clearly in touch with sci fi fandom when it comes to making new films and prefers to maintain the same level of engagement he does with the Star Wars fans.
I mean the guy went and came on set with the Chewbacca Mom (Candice Payne) last week.\
https://www.youtube.com/v/uQereoIxioI
But the CBS lawsuit did force Alec Peters (founder of Axanar) to clean up some of his "non-for-profit" status of entities. On the day of the suit, the guy wasn't even registered in the State of California as a NFP. Oops. Winston & Strawn took care of that fortunately.
Kudos to JJ for sniffing out a potential social media issue in advance.
For those who don't follow such critical components of US culture.
The "Indie" Star Trek movement will probably be coming to a close and at the least be reduced to a very small output.
Per the Hollywood Reporter:
CBS, Paramount Settle Lawsuit Over 'Star Trek' Fan Film
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/cbs-paramount-settle-lawsuit-star-trek-fan-film-966433 (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/cbs-paramount-settle-lawsuit-star-trek-fan-film-966433)
(http://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/scale_crop_768_433/2017/01/star_trek_court_illo.jpg)
Stand down from battle stations. Star Trek rights holders CBS and Paramount have seen the logic of settling a copyright suit against Alec Peters, who solicited money on crowdfunding sites and hired professionals to make a YouTube short and a script of a planned feature film focused on a fictional event — a Starfleet captain's victory in a war with the Klingon Empire — referenced in the original 1960s Gene Roddenberry television series. Thanks to the settlement, CBS and Paramount won't be going to trial on Stardate 47634.44, known to most as Jan. 31, 2017.
According to a joint statement, "Paramount Pictures Corporation, CBS Studios Inc., Axanar Productions, Inc. and Alec Peters are pleased to announce that the litigation regarding Axanar's film Prelude to Axanar and its proposed film Axanar has been resolved. Axanar and Mr. Peters acknowledge that both films were not approved by Paramount or CBS, and that both works crossed boundaries acceptable to CBS and Paramount relating to copyright law."
Peters' Axanar video and script, which feature such arguably copyrighted elements as Vulcan ears, the Klingon language and an obscure character from a 1969 episode, sparked a lawsuit in December 2015. The litigation then proceeded at warp speed with the case almost making it to trial in just 13 months, an amazingly brisk pace by typical standards. Before R. Gary Klausner, the same federal judge in Los Angeles who presided over the copyright trial in 2016 concerning Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven," the case charted an unexplored copyright galaxy. Although there have been past legal disputes over such fare as Harry Potter and Seinfeld encyclopedias, as well as a closely watched battle a few years back over an unauthorized sequel to J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, this one has boldly gone places. "There's never really been a trial over fan fiction before," says David Kluft, a partner at Foley Hoag who has written about Star Trek litigation.
News of the lawsuit brought mixed emotions on the part of the famously hard-core aficionados of Star Trek.
Some were astounded when CBS and Paramount sued after decades of turning a blind eye to fan-made works. But in taking action over Peters' video, the studios aimed to convey the message that professional-quality "derivatives" of its films and series wouldn't be tolerated (Paramount released a Star Trek film last summer and CBS has a new Trek series coming to its All Access streaming service due some time this year). Upon widespread concern caused by the lawsuit, the companies put out "guidelines" so fans can stay legally in bounds with amateur productions.
The case is now ending, which probably means no one will ever get to see the several-hourslong highlight reel of episodes and movies being prepared by attorneys for CBS and Paramount for the purpose of introducing jurors to the franchise's intricate universe.
Instead, when Axanar comes out, it will look different.
"Axanar and Mr. Peters have agreed to make substantial changes to Axanar to resolve this litigation, and have also assured the copyright holders that any future Star Trek fan films produced by Axanar or Mr. Peters will be in accordance with the 'Guidelines for Fan Films' distributed by CBS and Paramount in June 2016," states the parties' joint announcement of a settlement.
Creators of parodies or homages often argue they qualify as "fair use." But a summary judgment ruling from Klausner earlier this month took away fair use as a defense, which for Peters was the equivalent of going into battle with a starship's shields down. What's more, the judge found under an objective analysis that the YouTube video, dubbed Prelude to Axanar, was too congruent to Star Trek, leaving a jury to decide whether a reasonable person would find the total concept and feel of the works to be substantially similar. In other words, Peters' best hope to avoid an adverse verdict was for jurors to look at Axanar and conclude it doesn't feel authentically Star Trek.
"It was first presented to me as something very raw and unformed," recalls Christian Gossett, the director hired to take Axanar, he says, from nerd-horrible to Trek-worthy. "Once it became clear that Prelude was not a Star Trek spec for CBS but a fundraising tool that generated over $1 million [in crowdfunding], I suspected that a lawsuit might follow."
Kluft can't recall any instance when a jury has found insubstantial similarity after a judge has concluded otherwise. The fact that CBS and Paramount have looked the other way, maybe even encouraging past Trek fan fiction, probably wouldn't have mattered much on the issue of liability. (It may have factored more had CBS and Paramount brought a separate claim of trademark infringement. Failing to police a mark holds consequences, and the studios' decision to give the defendant a pass here deserves at least some notice.)
"You got sued because you are too good," says Kluft, referring to Peters. "It's a compliment."
The trial that would have been is somewhat of a moot point now, but it might help to explain what the parties were thinking by striking a deal. At a pretrial conference two weeks ago, Klausner told the parties there would have been three big issues. Besides similarity, a jury would also entertain whether Peters — a lawyer by training who runs a merchandising website — acted willfully in committing infringements, and also, what damages to assess. These latter aspects could have become the most important at trial and may have factored as the parties negotiated a settlement months after premature talk of a deal, spurred by comments by Star Trek Beyond executive producer J.J. Abrams at a promotional event.
For the prospective trial, CBS and Paramount had a big decision to make. They could have either gone after profits — which they estimated to be about $1.4 million in income from Axanar (possibly from the crowdfunding campaign and ad revenue from YouTube) — or elect statutory damages, which can be up to $150,000 per infringed work. That might not sound like much, but adding up the hundreds of copyrighted materials used in Axanar — TV episodes, more than a dozen movies and all those elements like Starfleet uniforms — it could have theoretically computed to damages surpassing $100 million. The complexity of figuring out what copyrights were at issue was one of the things that made a case covering a five-decade-old entertainment franchise somewhat unique. David Grossman, the plaintiffs' attorney, had told the judge he'd indicate his choice of actual damages or statutory damages on the first day of trial. Meanwhile, Peters' attorney Erin Ranahan (working pro bono) was preparing to use the studios' lack of pre-litigation warnings to knock the allegation of willfulness and had hoped her damages expert would tell jurors that fan-made fiction hardly makes a dent in CBS/Paramount's Star Trek earnings and represents free promotion.
The choice also represented the difficulty for CBS and Paramount in figuring out what constituted a true victory here. Whatever the result of the trial, the dispute could have dragged onto an appeals court where Peters may have challenged the judge's decision not to let him argue before a jury that Axanar is a transformative fair use of copyrighted material. Meanwhile, a humongous verdict could have driven Peters into bankruptcy with the studios having little hope of collecting. More importantly, CBS and Paramount could have suffered bad publicity from being a bullying Borg at a time when a new Star Trek is about to launch on CBS All Access, something Star Trek fans — and even Abrams and Star Trek Beyond director Justin Lin — might not have tolerated.
Instead, the parties have made arrangements to move on. Maybe, to quote one famous Vulcan, they discovered that "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
The joint statement from the parties linked to the guidelines and added, "Paramount and CBS would like Star Trek fans, with their boundless creativity and passion, to 'Live Long and Prosper.'"