CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar

[gazomg]

I Liked Prelude. Was looking forward to the movie. Then I heard how dicey AP was. Did my own research and found that the more I read, the less I liked him. Sadly, it was mostly his own words, couched in a certain arrogance, that turned me away from him. I also think he will bear the credit (or, more likely, the blame) for any changes to fan films, He has not served himself, fandom, or Star Trek well. I think the people most annoyed are the ones who watched the promise of Axanar turn to crap, wheter it ever gets made or not.

We don't have to care about Axanar to be annoyed with AP. We just have to care about Star Trek and how disrespectfully he's treated this property.

If honest I never cared for fan films, always poor production, awful writing, or a long list of reasons, and whilst I wont knock those that try their best I simply cared little, so when I stumbled upon axanar prelude, the 20 minute movie, I was blown away, it had none of the tacky cheesy slop associated with a lot, (not all) fan productions, it was in a class of its own.
I dont know Peters, have read nothing from him and not gonna jump on the bandwagon except to say he made mistakes, the issue now is how he will fix these and as for him getting the blame for for all changes to fan films, that might be true, but if it were not him it would be someone else, as its never been easier to make a movie these days and it was bound to happen.

I just hope any meeting between cbs and peters is professional and friendly and does not become a stand off which will alienate cbs and cause them to continue with the lawsuit

 

[Mr. Nova]

Abrams is more than just a mere producer for the film, he's the owner and head of Bad Robot. I imagine he has a better idea of what's going on with the Axanar thing than any of us.

I wouldn't be so sure of that. Abrams works probably 16 hour days and I doubt he has tons of time to thoroughly research this.

 

[Sgt_G]

I wonder how many people in the audience during JJ Abram's announcement ever heard of the Axanar project before he said the name let alone dug into the real facts behind the case..............

Seriously, I'll bet a bunch of those people were like, "CBS is suing fans? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!"

 

[muCephi]

Abrams is more than just a mere producer for the film, he's the owner and head of Bad Robot. I imagine he has a better idea of what's going on with the Axanar thing than any of us.

that must be why, according to long standing assertions by some folk on various boards and news sites comments, all "haters" are being paid and orchestrated by Bad Robot and couldn't possibly have legitimate observations / concerns about Axanar.

 

[muCephi]

IMHO, CBS/P saying they will issue guidelines is a concession that their hands-off approach was partly to blame for generating this crowdfunding free-for-all. It's also part of AP's defense, the "everybody else is doing the same thing" card.

Seriously, if Axanar hadn't stepped on this land-mine, odds are Renegades would have, the way they were going. (Renegades really pushed the envelope with its whole "backdoor pilot" hubris.) All this was a symptom of a phenomenon. CBS/P didn't see it coming because it was really the crowdfunding that changed the dynamic from something people used to do mostly out-of-pocket through sheer ingenuity and persistence (old days, think Exeter) to the quasi-pro stuff funded in large part through fan donors.

In a general way I agree with you. It is likely someone, somewhere would have pushed the limits too much given the access to crowdfunding.

Its just amazing that that incremental process got leapfrogged by a factor of about 100 by one person.

 

[Noname Given]

So? It's better to consider that 1% than write them off as not worth anything. Everyone counts.

Not when they're blatantly ripping off and IP - lying to those that Pledged - and acting like they didn't do ANYTHING different then other fan films unless you count:
- Paying yourself a salary as a Producer when you're NOT a member of a Hollywood Producer's Guild.
- Paying your (then) girlfriend a salary as 'Perk Fulfillment' yet claiming you can't fulfill perks because you lack postage.
- Selling unlicensed Star trek merchandise (like Axanar coffee)
and I could list more...

Thieves and grifters should not be rewarded.

 

[CRM-114]

CBS have confirmed they're settling the suit. (See the sixth paragraph of that report.) It seems probable to me that Abrams' remarks about what this means will prove accurate, unless of course Axanar refuses to settle and demands to go to court for some reason. (I guess it's still just in the realm of the possible they could do that, though given the circumstances it would be baffling.)

This is Paramount's response. It is worth pointing out that CBS and Paramount are regarded as co-plaintiffs, not one.

 

[Maurice]

FYI there's no requirement to be in the pga to be a paid producer. In fact, to get into the pga you have to have been the primary producer on several projects,

 

[CRM-114]

so for all of us out of the loop for weeks on this whole saga,
is the lawsuit being dropped a certainty or just a rumor ?


If it is going to be dropped I suspect there will be some provisions for Axanar to abide by surely and any intended release dates and plans are all well and truly scuppered

"Dropped" is how people are interpreting Abrams' statement, which is not precisely true, not to mention being not as reliable as people would like to think. A statement from Paramount says settlement negotiations are underway; this is not the same as dropping the suit.

 

[Noname Given]

FYI there's no requirement to be in the pga to be a paid producer. In fact, to get into the pga you have to have been the primary producer on several projects,

One of the 'unofficial guidelines' were that they allowed only Hollywood union members to be paid for their work on a fan film project. (Basicially if you weren't 'Union' = no financial benefit.)

 

[Jody Wheeler]

So is it your impression that LucasFilms/Disney has not coupled the existence of the contest with a demand or suggestion that fan films only go through the contest? Fan films exist in limbo and are not sued for Star Wars IP use? Even minor trademark use is sued in the Star Wars world.

They seem to have given non-contest films as wide an amount of latitude as CBS gave Trek films, even with the contest. Will CBS issue legal challenges to fan films that don't license? Who knows? We're going to have to see what gets issued and what finally happens to Alec and Axanar. That's still weeks away.

 

[Jody Wheeler]

He is also not likely to give another five minutes thought to this situation again, having made the PR use he needed of it last evening.

Pretty much. He did what he set out to do.

 

[Maurice]

One of the 'unofficial guidelines' were that they allowed only Hollywood union members to be paid for their work on a fan film project. (Basicially if you weren't 'Union' = no financial benefit.)

Whose official guidelines?

A quick correction, I meant to write that to get a p.g.a. next to your name in a a flm's credits requires being guild member and being the primary producer for the entire production.

 

[OtherGene]

It's good to see people getting excited about the possible completion of Axanar but isn't most of the money to complete it all gone? Hence the whole Valkyrie studios promotional drive? IF there's not enough money to make this thing then all the settlements in the world aren't going to help. And with Valkyrie studios becoming a going concern is there any appetite or motivation on behalf of Mr Peters to begin yet another fund-raiser? In short, can they be bothered to make it?

Maybe it will get done and, if so, maybe I'll watch it but I will do so knowing I never spent a penny on it

 

[Maurice]

Some people here are excited. Many of us are not. Not the script I saw. (yawn)

 

[Jody Wheeler]

And now, Tommy Kraft tells The Rest of the Story.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I'm coming forward with this now in a time when many fans seem to be rejoicing. The answer is that on any production there will be issues and quarrels, but my personal experiences and things that I know have led me to the conclusion that Axanar is not wholly innocent. I have so much more to say on this issue, but it's not worth going into here in this format. None of this meant to take away the excitement fans have and this is not merely a slash piece on Axanar. I simply feel that fans should know the truth of my experiences and I encourage others to come forward with theirs as well to give fans their own perspective."

https://www.facebook.com/tommykraftfilms/posts/1133891623340104?__mref=message_bubble

 

[Ion]

He's currently the Golden Boy in Hollywood, responsible for billions of dollars in ongoing revenue for multiple studios. No, he's not in licensing or legal. But he can twist and contort things in his favor, making it stick because studios want to keep him happy.

One of the worst mistakes you can make in business is to assume that you can't be replaced.

 

[Sgt_G]

And now, Tommy Kraft tells The Rest of the Story.

Eveybody: Skip the pull-quote and go to the link. You have to read the entire thing to get the full effect.

 

[CRM-114]

One of the worst mistakes you can make in business is to assume that you can't be replaced.

People fall from grace all the time in Hollywood. As long as JJ makes hit films (and doesn't do any terrble things), he'll be the Teflon Producer.

 

[Harvey]

If Tommy Kraft "created the virtual environments for that whole film and did all of the green screen compositing," who the hell took home the $15,000 spent on visual effects for Prelude to Axanar?

Edit: Looking at the financial report, I guess all that money went to Tobias Richter.