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CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar

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Am finding this interesting. Mr. Bawden said he'd only met with the producer in person a couple of times during his PR volunteer tenure with the production (as of the trekzone interview) which makes sense to me. Really most-to-almost-all PR can use the internet for communicating and implimenting. And what did a fan film need a PR department for anyway.

But now saying that he is:
-Flying out to L.A.
-meetingS Thursday (tomorrow as of this posting)

Which I put together with:
-"We will be renting out the studio starting next month."
-"A formal announcement about the rental and the Axanar production, he said in the same thread, was to come shortly."
-"A small group of backers and fans have developed a plan to set up a separate company to take over the management the sound stage, pay the rent and reimburse Axanar Productions for the cost of the build-out."

Suggests to me this is coming down Thursday - or the first round of face to face talks for this to happen is Thursday.

Which circles my own thinking back round to why does a fan film and these meetings need a PR representative there.

Which again has me speculating that the PR guy is more deeply involved than just a PR guy in this not-selling/not-buying of the non-assets change of hands and responsibility for, and same not-selling/buying/exchange of the several hundred thousand dollars involved in this not-buying/selling transaction. That has a production/producer that does not act on his PR advise. Why is Bawden there.

As in the possibilities that he is one, two, or all of the following:
-the Broker in this deal
-part of this investment group itself
-will be a paid producer and/or PR guy for at least some of the new media and/or native media productions that film there


Unless Lord Alec wants to dig an even deeper grave for himself and give C/P more ammo to use against him and his acolytes (which wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility), I doubt at this juncture that we'll be seeing much of any development on the film (or any other derivative works added to the donor store).

Yes, by all means, get those damn patches and whatever else already promised shipped out the door ASAP. As far as actual money making goes, patches and other minutiae from the donor store aren't going to help pay the rent on that warehouse/studio/sound stage or cover other expenses.

Enter Bawden and possible new media/native media productions.

It's my recollection that Bawden alluded to playing some kind of PR angle with new/native productions back in part II of that Trekzone interview (I think? might've been someone else or somewhere else I heard it....). To keep the money flowing, I'm guessing that in the interim here while Ranahan & co. are 'doing the needful' as it stands, Alec will try and get some kind of independent side-venture going (whether that involves someone coming in and renting studio space, or some other idea of his we haven't heard about).

Think about it.......it might not matter why he would possibly continue working on the film (as his past actions show him defying all logic and reason), but how could he?? Outside of his acolytes/true believers/misc. fans.........what actor with any amount of good sense would be involved with this still, signed contract or not?? Further, what author/writer/artist/designer etc would likewise want to be involved with any ancillary/derivative (merchandising) project?

At this stage in the game, I'm really starting to wonder if he still has the people required to keep going with the film, let alone any other related venture.....
 
SNIP
At this stage in the game, I'm really starting to wonder if he still has the people required to keep going with the film, let alone any other related venture.....

I personally would be more interested if there is any money left to do anything meaningful other than keep the lights on and his office warm.
 
From the Axanar page:

[Size-5]A Thunderbirds Lesson for CBS[Size]By Alec Peters May 11, 2016:
A guest blog by Francisco Perello

I recently received my BluRay of 3 new episodes of a series celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Thunderbirds.

It was a UK Kickstarter funded with the blessing off all the copyright holders that raised $300,000: the most successful non-US Kickstarter campaign.

And if you look on the rear above the PROMOTION ONLY disclaimer you will see ITV, the company that owns the IP (in part). ITV gave the fans who made it the green light through a FREE licence agreement . The fans who funded it got lots of cool stuff and ITV got the right to broadcast this as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of Thunderbirds in September.

.....

This has generated so much goodwill and publicity, including extensive prime time coverage in the news on TV, radio, print and Internet, that there is talk of ITV funding a new series!

It would be great if someone could somehow put this in front of those narrow minded, lack of vision, CBS/Paramount execs so they could see how a model collaboration is actually out there doing what Alec has said can and should be done, in what is for certain the first of its kind in the world, and a win, win, win for EVERYONE.

TO COMPARE:

UK
THUNDERBIRDS, 50th anniversary, loads of good publicity, happy fans, happy ITV /IP secure!

US
STAR TREK, 50th anniversary, loads of bad publicity, film sinking, fans annoyed, CBS pissed, IP confused and uncertain!

I’m so humbled by how amazingly well everyone at Axanar has been conducting themselves.

I just wanted to share this campaign, because its my dream (and of course Alec’s more so) that Axanar be a model of how fan and studio production can flourish symbiotically.

Keep up the good fight

Francisco Perello in the UK
Well, Francisco, let's do a FAIR comparisons, shall we?

THUNDERBIRDS: A dead TV series that hasn't done hardly any dang thing other than go into syndication, but it is out of DVD, so the copyright holder is more than happy for the free advertisement to enhance sales, and it appears that the group that the kickstarter project did obtain the license BEFORE going ahead with the project.

STAR TREK / AXANAR: A well-known TV show that has spun off five more TV series (TAS/TNG/DS9/VOY/ENT) and a dozen movies with more in the works, doesn't need any sort of outside help to advertise, and the Axanar project apparently never seriously tried to ask for permission let alone a license deal.

"I’m so humbled by how amazingly well everyone at Axanar has been conducting themselves." --- Oh, that's rich.

"Its my dream (and of course Alec’s more so) that Axanar be a model of how fan and studio production can flourish symbiotically." --- Didn't you get the memo? It's a warehouse, not a studio.
 
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It's my recollection that Bawden alluded to playing some kind of PR angle with new/native productions back in part II of that Trekzone interview
yes, Trekzone pt 2. Starting at 1:00:00

That he is employed in PR and advertising in native content productions. That this is a growing new era in that field and especially for web delivered video being watched on "large screen HD TV sets", that he has a deal in place for a "$200,000 budget to produce one". That if we take a look at the money (outside of crowdfunding) that's in the market right now and production value with new technologies in small settings that has previously not existed, that he's "very excited about where this could go", that he thinks that "the real long term opportunity" is that creators are going to look to what can be done this way, "in a variety of lengths", that that will become "a much more attractive proposition to pursue" to a prospective investor who will "give you enough money to produce five films hoping that one of them hits".


Personal Opinion:
Oh yeah. He is sooooo part of this new investor group deal going down.
 
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From the Axanar page:

Well, Francisco, let's do a FAIR comparisons, shall we?

THUNDERBIRDS: A dead TV series that hasn't done a dang thing other than go into syndication, but it is out of DVD, so the copyright holder is more than happy for the free advertisement to enhance sales, and it appears that the group that did the kickstarter project obtain the license BEFORE going ahead with the project.

STAR TREK / AXANAR: A well-known TV show that has spun off five more TV series (TAS/TNG/DS9/VOY/ENT) and a dozen movies with more in the works, doesn't need any sort of outside help to advertise, and the Axanar project apparently never seriously tried to ask for permission let alone a license deal.

"I’m so humbled by how amazingly well everyone at Axanar has been conducting themselves." --- Oh, that's rich.

"Its my dream (and of course Alec’s more so) that Axanar be a model of how fan and studio production can flourish symbiotically." --- Didn't you get the memo? It's a warehouse, not a studio.



To be fair Tunderbirds has had a movie and various tv shows over the last ten yrs but thats it.
 
I was ready to ask where you heard that from, but I went deep-diving into Google / Wiki: Lo and behold, yes, there is a current remake of Thunderbirds on the air. It was made in New Zealand, and is only on TV there and in the UK. Still, they haven't done near as much since 1968 as Trek has.
 
Actually, it's on Amazon Prime. I've seen it. It's...............ok. They've even used Gerry Anderson's opening countdown from the original
 
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...and a CG series that premiered last year (it's steaming on Amazon).
And the less said about the live action movie, the better :barf:

I have to admit I liked the live action movie

The CGI series is great - its the little touches such as Grandma putting the chairs back around the swimming pool! Also, they use the original opening voice over for the countdown, Sylvia Anderson's last piece of work was for an episode of the new series, FAB 1 returns as FAB 0, Parker is voiced by his original actor, the Uncle/Niece relationship of Tin-Tin/Kayo and The Hood is now officially canon... Me and my dad, both grown adults, have been given the chance to go back in time to the early 90's repeats by watching the new series and reliving a bit of my childhood.

One of the reasons that the puppet series is being made is not just ITV's generosity, but the fact they still hold the licence (through the purchase and merging of companies) for the missing three episodes of Series 2 that were never made.

#

Back to Axanar - What next for Team Axanar? Is it prepare for failure until the case is heard? Can they get the date moved up?
 
From the Axanar page:
..."Its my dream (and of course Alec’s more so) that Axanar be a model of how fan and studio production can flourish symbiotically." --- Didn't you get the memo? It's a warehouse, not a studio.

Sure. "Studio, give us all your IP for free. Then we can flourish right beside you as we sell to your customers too. It would be our dream symbiosis." :beer: :brickwall::guffaw:
 
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Isn't there a complaint that Axanar eliminates opposing views under its control?
Axanar Mods delete posts they don't like. Stuff like that hasn't happened in this thread. Yes, some posts were Moderated, but such Moderation wasn't based on positive or negative views on Axanar - the Modded posts violated the general posting rules of TrekBBS.

If you can show one of your posts was removed/edited for reasons other than a general rules violation - THEN you can accuse TrekBBS Mods of doing the same as Axanar Website Mods.

Posting in response to one of your posts with an opinion or remark contrary to your opinion as expressed in a post ISN'T eliminating opposing views - it's DISCUSSING them - that's a BIG difference.

Discussion doesn't happen on any Axanar controlled boards beyond: "Is Alec Peters and Axanar great; or REALLY GREAT!?!?"
 
Getting back on topic ...

What do we think are the chances that, given his "victory" in the scheduling meeting and court's opinion, LFIM will start agitating the True Believers* to entice them to donate even more money? You know, so he can start production when he crushes CBS/P in January?

A man's gotta earn a living, you know. :lol:
 
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