Wouldn't know, but thanks for making that incredibly awkward comparison.
Star Trek: Axanar
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Wouldn't know, but thanks for making that incredibly awkward comparison.
Dude. Weren't you just talking about not getting hung up on semantics like a couple of sentences ago?
I don't think its semantics to describe the fundamental property of something?
Its a fan film - nothing wrong about that - but it's hardly quibbling around the edges to describe it as such.
For reference, TOS cost about $183,000/ep (equal to ~$1.33 million in 2013). About the same that TNG spent per episode (allowing for inflation).
http://en.memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Forum:Budget/cost_info
discusses the matter in better detail.
As I mentioned before, I think it would be wise from here on out for the Axanar team to stick with previews that include short action clips, pretty shots and brief sound bites to tease us rather than releasing entire scenes prior to the film's debut. Just my "non-professional" advice. 
Photos alone even generate excitement for me. I can't wait to see what you guys do next!
Photos alone even generate excitement for me. I can't wait to see what you guys do next!
That figure is actually a little low for Star Trek, especially during seasons one and two.
That said, you really can't compare the budget of a weekly television series to that of Axanar. For one thing, the above the line costs on Axanar should be a lot less. I'm looking at a budget right now (not necessarily final) for "Who Mourns for Adonais?" which pegs the total cost of the episode as about $201k. Just short of $46k of that is allocated to above the line costs (generally -- directing, producing, writing, and acting). Those salaries should be a lot, lot less (allowing for inflation, of course) on Axanar, based on Alec Peters' public statements about compensation.
That said, Axanar will have to spend a great deal more leasing and upgrading their current studio space. Star Trek, being a weekly series, didn't have to charge the annual studio facility costs to a few episodes -- they were able to amortize that over the course of a 24, 26, or 29 episode season. They also didn't have to shell out for upgrades to the facility. The Desilu soundstages were a little outdated, but they got the job done. The Ares Studio facility, on the other hand, seems to have been a pretty big expense for Axanar (and so far, only to Axanar, since their planned for profit use of the space hasn't begun yet, at least as far as I know). This overhead can grow pretty fast -- just look at the charges to the second Kickstarter alone ($22k to renovate their offices, $32k for new stage floors, $12k for sound proof doors, $182k for the deposit and first year's rent on the facility, etc.).
They're apples and oranges, really.
I would be curious to see an actual production budget for Axanar showing where the $1.3 million (plus what's already been spent and raised) is going, but I'm not a contributor to the production, so it's really their prerogative to release that publicly or not.
Ok, I did a little more checking and Inside Star Trek cites an average cost of $190,635 per episode, which would be $1,404,100 (rounded to the nearest $100) in 2015 dollars after inflation is considered.
The most expensive ep TOS ever did was "City on the Edge of Forever", which cost $250,396 (1966-7 dollars).
If you want to compare pilots with pilots (which I agree might be a better way), but hard numbers are difficult to come by.
I couldn't find a reliable enough number for "The Cage". Sorry.
In 1992, each ep of TNG cost just under $2 million, which would be $3,401,800 (again round to nearest $100) today.
(http://articles.latimes.com/print/1992-11-06/entertainment/ca-1286_1_television-star-trek)
DS9 had a $12,000,000 pilot in 1993 (source IMDB) My inflation calculator can't handle a number that big, so I took the quoted per ep cost from Season 7 ($4,000,000) in 2000, which would be $5,543,300 (to nearest $100 again).
On top of a $23 million pilot (1995 dollars), Voyager was spending $3,500,000/ep in 2002 (IMDB again), or $4,642,800 (round).
Couldn't find a good number for "Broken Bow" either, but in 2001 Enterprise was costing ~$5 million/per ($6,737,400 rounded), again per IMDB
Goodness, but Trek is expensive. Thanks, Phantom.
And somehow the studio said "Not quite. Can you make another one?"
1) Voyager concluded its production in April, 2001.
2) It's important to remember that "Caretaker" was overbudget due to several mitigating factors. The production lost a day when Winrich Kolbe became ill. And another two days after Bujold quit and Mulgrew was hired, having to re-shoot the scenes Bujold had completed.
Mulgrew's hair and makeup was a cause of major concern by the studio, network and executives. Michael Piller is quoted saying on the Season One DVD special features: "We had to go back and reshoot major footage. I can honestly say this is probably the only Star Trek pilot in which the hairdressing cost more than the special effects."
That $23,000,000 final budget also included converting the TNG sets to the new Voyager sets, major reshoots of some scenes featuring Janeway and her previous hair/makeup, which then had to be re-shot two months after being completed and requiring the re-construction of sets that had been dismantled, extensive visual effects and multiple location shoots. According to Memory Alpha it became the most expensive episode in the entire franchise.
Memory Alpha mentions that "Broken Bow" cost less than half what "Caretaker" did.
Thank you for the information. I kept thinking it was NBC in the back of mind but I knew they were not the production studio.
That's the number given in Star Trek Voyager: A Vision of the Future by Stephen Edward Poe, which was officially licensed, so...
A production budget would be, I think, a fascinating document to read. I'd love to see one myself. Terry -- have guys you hired a line producer?
I've known about "Caretaker" costing $23 million for a long time, but I always assumed that included quite a bit of cash toward things which would be in place for the rest of the series. I... guess that's at least partly true, given the conversion of TNG sets into VOY ones, but it doesn't sound quite as tied to long-term costs as I'd thought.
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