The comments are full of the usual crowd, calling the guidelines "draconian" and so on.
What would they have have said if the guidelines had said NO FAN FILMS full stop?
CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar
- Thread starter Richard Baker
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What would they have have said if the guidelines had said NO FAN FILMS full stop?
Where is Axanar? Its a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. It shall never see the light of day.
I still don't think Paramount/CBS will go after the majority of productions, even if they still continue on like business as usual. I think this has all been just to set a precedent and to make things easier to deal with if someone like Peter's comes along again, and, of course, to shut down Axanar itself. I really and truly, personally believe that all this hand-wringing about some of the smaller productions is all for nothing.
You just may be in luck, then.
You can upgrade to one with a notary stamp and seal, dontcha know. Only $30 more.
oooooooh. A steal at twice the price!
Shades of Nilo Rodis designs
Looks like this http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/wip-u-s-s-bozeman-revisited-aka-unused-tsfs-ship-design.66010/
hey, great idea. Axanar can issue COAs along with pages of their records. Print a few hundred extras of each page of their script, call them production made just like the BSG paperwork on ebay that will sell from now to eternity.
The beauty of is that the guidelines still can go to a full stop and little productions such as this only provide one more push in that direction.
You may be right but which fan production is going to be brave enough to test this theory?
They haven't the resources or the inclination to go full time police on the fan film community - I think it would take another Axanar-scale debacle to really poke the bear hard enough to change this
Visually stunning, and not one phaser fired. I like it. Clever use of voiceover to overcome the building sets and costumes issues. And actually, I wish that was the trailer for Discovery - this sort of 'push the boundaries exploration' is exactly what I'm hoping for from the new series.
It was decent cgi work, but that's about it. Looked less like a fan film and more like a sizzle reel for the FX studio.
This is purely speculation and gut feeling, but I rather feel like Star Trek Continues is going to just keep going until someone tells them not to.
STC is an official 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, so if anyone has a layer of insulation (debatable) it would be them. What STC is, is everything Axanar is not.
The guidelines were released, in my opinion, to A) officially state what fan groups can do without fear of litigation, and B) to forever boot LFIM and co-conspirators out in the cold.
and, I think, (c) to prevent poaching-for-profit "fan films" from targeting all the other studio properties.
Given the cost-benifit issues against full-time policing of the fandom, I personally think the guildlines are somewhat implicedly split into 'red card' (things they will be looking for) and 'yellow card' (things they may object if they become aware of it).
The 'red card' ones are likely to be:
- The fan production must be a real “fan” production, i.e., creators, actors and all other participants must be amateurs, cannot be compensated for their services, and cannot be currently or previously employed on any Star Trek series, films, production of DVDs or with any of CBS or Paramount Pictures’ licensees
- The fan production must be non-commercial (including all sub-points)
- Creators of fan productions must not seek to register their works, nor any elements of the works, under copyright or trademark law.
The other criteria are clearly things that they feel are the sole right of licensees (and objectively I don't really disagree even if personally it's sad that it's some to this), but realistically it's unlikely that they would have the resources to monitor the fandom for infractions of other than the three above.
On the other hand, anyone attempting to follow Axanar's is screwed as they (before the fact) violated pretty every point on the list.
Thoughts?
The 'red card' ones are likely to be:
- The fan production must be a real “fan” production, i.e., creators, actors and all other participants must be amateurs, cannot be compensated for their services, and cannot be currently or previously employed on any Star Trek series, films, production of DVDs or with any of CBS or Paramount Pictures’ licensees
- The fan production must be non-commercial (including all sub-points)
- Creators of fan productions must not seek to register their works, nor any elements of the works, under copyright or trademark law.
The other criteria are clearly things that they feel are the sole right of licensees (and objectively I don't really disagree even if personally it's sad that it's some to this), but realistically it's unlikely that they would have the resources to monitor the fandom for infractions of other than the three above.
On the other hand, anyone attempting to follow Axanar's is screwed as they (before the fact) violated pretty every point on the list.
Thoughts?
just that the length and 2 part limitations are very easy to measure. If anyone egregiously violates these terms, they run a clear risk of it being pointed out to the studios by any coverage. Studios would not necessarily need to audit these terms for them to have teeth.
I've often wondered if this is what the future of fan films will look like. No expensive studios, hand crafted props, not a lot of actors that have to get together in one place to create a production. Just a few green sheets, bunch of beauty shots, a computer and the talent to cut all into a film.It was decent cgi work, but that's about it. Looked less like a fan film and more like a sizzle reel for the FX studio.
Once the VFX reaches this level, who needs plots, scripts and actors that can carry a full scene? When Prelude came out, few people noticed the whole thing could have been created in front of somebodies closet.
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The guidelines also put all professional actors on notice that if they ever want to work on official Trek, they should decline fan film offers. As an extension of that, it implies inclusion of behind the scenes trades, directors, producers, etc.
In other words, if you're making a Trek fan film you probably won't get anyone from Hollywood unless their career is over.
In other words, if you're making a Trek fan film you probably won't get anyone from Hollywood unless their career is over.
It's going to be (to use your terminology) red cards for most things that are easy to measure, preferably automatically or at least by an intern.
Things like:
- Length - simple - you only have to click on the YouTube link. You don't even need to start the film.
- Whether the disclaimer is up - fast forward to the end and look. Might take a little digging if the disclaimer is in a weird place (wouldn't it be interesting for a captain to see it on his/her PADD?)
- Use of pros - check IMDB pages. Might require watching some films from soup to nuts but it's not hard.
- Name doesn't have Star Trek in it - child's play to do this one.
- Crowdfunding amount - a little more digging but the usual suspects aren't too hard to check. Plus productions are going to be blasting those URLs everywhere, because they need for their funders to click.
- Use of 'a Star Trek fan production' - again, easy.
- Trademark and copyright registrations - just have a savvy intern check the US Copyright Office every quarter or so.
- Use of pros not on IMDB
- Knockoff costumes, props, etc. and distinguishing them from stuff hand-crafted just for a production
- Merchandise sales (kinda depends - eBay and etsy are the first places to look, plus anyone looking for $$ would be sharing the hell out of links. But it does require more Google-fu).
- Family-friendly Trek - some of these will be judgment calls. E. g. if a story line is about the trial of a genocidal maniac, that character might spew some nasty hate speech. Is it okay if he or she is brought to justice during the course of the film?
- Exhibiting for no charge - some of this is easier to check (e. g. free streaming), some is tougher (e. g. some Saturday night movie house out in Nowheresville).
kinda hard to imagine establishing any new character well enough in 30 mins to convince people the character needs to be brought to justice, and then that it happened. the emotional experience for the viewer would be pretty rushed.
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