This is not a 'Will CBS' shut us down?' thread, nor am I a fan film maker, I am a viewer.
I got into fan films around 2004, Starship Exeter was online, New Voyages had their pilot up and within a fortnight I downloaded all of the then-5 seasons of Hidden Frontier. Over the next few years Intrepid and Farragut debuted, Intrepid crossed over with Hidden Frontier, Nick Cook and other HF folks appeared in New Voyages, which had a partnership with Farragut which had relaunched as Phase II bringing to life ideas and characters from the lost 1977 series bible. They even brought back TOS stars and writers such as DC Fontana and David Gerrold.
There was a sense ofa small community who collaborated and shared ideas and talent.
Some of the above productions had industry professionals working on them anyway, however what surprised many was the announcement of OF GODS AND MEN, featuring many Trek stars from the 40 years - of course we know 20 years earlier George Takei took part in Yorktown: A Time To Heal which is finally on course for release very soon.
Things were about to change quickly. With the TV series off the air and fans wanting to keep the prime timeline alive in the wake of the JJ films fan films, a lot of productions ramped up their 'professionality'. Not only that, YouTube became huge and productions was helped enormously by crowdfunding websites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Of course Farragut, NV, Intrepid and many other groups are still going and some use fundraising methods, but some of these fan films began being produced in a more 'professional' manner, like ST Continues.
The team behind Of Gods and Men returned with Renegades which was pitched to CBS as a pilot, and a few others such as Equinox and Captain Pike have pitched themselves as pilots too, with known TV/movie stars in key roles, as well as Trek vets such as Michael Westmore, John Eaves and Robert Meyer Bennett all involved.
There's also Axanar, which is a very polished-looking production which is so far very very impressive with a full film to be made in the New Year. A lot of these productions again uses the same talent, Tobias Richter is leading VFX work over several projects.
The community is still right there but having been a dedicated follower for many years I have definitely seen change. CBS announced last month that January 2017 will see the launch of Trek's sixth series. While I am delighted to finally get a TV show again I cannot help but wonder where this leaves fan films? CBS allow these things as long as profit is not made off them, this could make crowdfunding harder.
Where do people think the future of fanfilms lies?
I got into fan films around 2004, Starship Exeter was online, New Voyages had their pilot up and within a fortnight I downloaded all of the then-5 seasons of Hidden Frontier. Over the next few years Intrepid and Farragut debuted, Intrepid crossed over with Hidden Frontier, Nick Cook and other HF folks appeared in New Voyages, which had a partnership with Farragut which had relaunched as Phase II bringing to life ideas and characters from the lost 1977 series bible. They even brought back TOS stars and writers such as DC Fontana and David Gerrold.
There was a sense ofa small community who collaborated and shared ideas and talent.
Some of the above productions had industry professionals working on them anyway, however what surprised many was the announcement of OF GODS AND MEN, featuring many Trek stars from the 40 years - of course we know 20 years earlier George Takei took part in Yorktown: A Time To Heal which is finally on course for release very soon.
Things were about to change quickly. With the TV series off the air and fans wanting to keep the prime timeline alive in the wake of the JJ films fan films, a lot of productions ramped up their 'professionality'. Not only that, YouTube became huge and productions was helped enormously by crowdfunding websites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Of course Farragut, NV, Intrepid and many other groups are still going and some use fundraising methods, but some of these fan films began being produced in a more 'professional' manner, like ST Continues.
The team behind Of Gods and Men returned with Renegades which was pitched to CBS as a pilot, and a few others such as Equinox and Captain Pike have pitched themselves as pilots too, with known TV/movie stars in key roles, as well as Trek vets such as Michael Westmore, John Eaves and Robert Meyer Bennett all involved.
There's also Axanar, which is a very polished-looking production which is so far very very impressive with a full film to be made in the New Year. A lot of these productions again uses the same talent, Tobias Richter is leading VFX work over several projects.
The community is still right there but having been a dedicated follower for many years I have definitely seen change. CBS announced last month that January 2017 will see the launch of Trek's sixth series. While I am delighted to finally get a TV show again I cannot help but wonder where this leaves fan films? CBS allow these things as long as profit is not made off them, this could make crowdfunding harder.
Where do people think the future of fanfilms lies?
