I know when he was trying to push his vision of a continuation of BG he had already resorted to living in a guest house and running Learning Annex courses on acting, but I think Richard Hatch's career has officially hit rock bottom the way he's decided to go swirling down the drain with Alec and company.
CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar
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Just found this on the CBS vs Axanar page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/69204320/oh-the-places-youll-boldly-go
Is David Gerrold still involved with LFIM?
Is David Gerrold still involved with LFIM?
50 years on and can't stop milking that one episode.
DG is not supposed to be involved with any fan-films anymore, due to the guidelines precluding anyone with Trek histories working on them. Of course, the guidelines are just guidelines, not laws, so who cares, right?
I wonder if that will get him a thank you note from the nice folks at Dr. Seuss?
The film looks like Skinnemax SF, but I don't see the imdb description as being xxx. Mr. Koenig and Gigi Edgley are in it too, would they do xxx? I am not defending the critique above, but it won't help to mischaracterize the overall film.
It looks a lot more like what Alec was aiming for, to be a producer of non-Trek things in Hollywood. I think this proves the money did get intentionally diverted into a studio, and makes the whole thing a solid target for a crowdfunding fraud test case.
It looks a lot more like what Alec was aiming for, to be a producer of non-Trek things in Hollywood. I think this proves the money did get intentionally diverted into a studio, and makes the whole thing a solid target for a crowdfunding fraud test case.
I doubt there's much 'Skin' in it, the involvement of that incredibly sketchy porn star and the director's past credits are probably what give that impression.
The trick is actually getting the donors to do something too - while a lot of em may be indignant, I haven't seen any who seem willing to step up and do something about it.
I think that the government officials may care simply because of their desire to protect consumers, and to get a foothold on regulations in this new area. They just need *some* complainants, and probably not that many.
I do also wonder how well the studio operators have separated the facility from Axanar and its staff. Alec is not in the film credits on imdb that I can see. Will "Industry Studios" appear on the credits? Are Axanar Productions staff part of Industry Studios? (If Ms. Diana is in the pictures, one might think there is *some* sort of business connection...)
It looks like a big fat target for investigation by California officials.
I wonder how Mr. Koenig felt when he first realized this was the facility built with diverted fan money.
Or when he found out about the sordid, nasty side of one of his co-stars in that 'film'..........
It reads like a cheap knock off from a cheap Sex SyFi called Cherry 2000.I'm sure any donor - even the ones who have been brainwashed - would be interested in knowing what's being filmed at the studio their hard earned dollars created.
(comes from C/P vs Axanar - https://www.facebook.com/groups/CBSvsAxanar/ )
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5893906/?ref_=nv_sr_1
I think if I were a Donor, I'd be firing off a strongly worded letter to the state's Ag
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Are they dangerously close to fraud claims from their donors?
Probably not. Alec did include in his KS campaigns a blurb that CBS/Paramount could come in and stop the Project <--- And that would be his defense: He WANTS and is doing all he can to make Axanar - but C/P are blocking him via legal means. As for what he's done with the Warehouse/Studio - he's spin that into: "
If I default on the lease I can't make the promised film; so everything I'm doing is keeping my infrastructure in place to make Axanar . I hope I can work out a settlement that will allow me to give the Backers what they Pledged money to me for..."
If he's managed to shield himself enough that it can't be shown he's getting further financial gain from the warehouse/Studio; the above would probably be enough to keep any Criminal investigation at bay until the CBS/Paramount V. Axanar Productions Civil case is adjudicated. (And I'm just talking the current case as I doubt if Alec Peters loses and does appeal <-- At that point, the CA Attorney General's office MIGHT start investigating. But I'm only speculating a possible Criminal investigation. Any such charges (if brought) wouldn't mean that Pledgers/Donors will get any sort of reimbursement/restitution - just that Alec Peters might then face some sort of criminal trial.
For me - I'm out $75 - and honestly (given the situation) - that is just not enough to go through the hassle of a Class Action suit because at the end of the day IF we get anything back - it would be pennies on the dollar. And honestly $75 for me is a night out at the movies with a date and dinner and not even a very fancy diver at that. I'm not happy I effectively gave $75 to a Grifter; but in the long run it's not a large enough sum for me to waste time in court about. Other Pledgers may feel differently, but in the end, I think most who didn't throw in a lot are of the "It's a lesson, next time I'll know to look into things further..." situation. YMMV.
I see I didn't read the facebook post closely enough. The pic is of a film scene depicting a fictional film opening within the film, and the article says Axanar staff were standins for that. And 'several scenes' were shot at the facility (presumably not a primary site then).
The scene participation itself appears then to carry no indication Axanar Productions was involved in the film's production.
So the studio picked up some on-the-side production work brought to it by one of its own actors (second unit last minute overflow work? it kinda sounds like that's what they are aiming for).
In any case they have got a non-Trek business operation going out of fan film funds. Notwithstanding the suggestions that it just sorta happened that they can't do Trek and hafta pay for the asset they never had to lease/build in the first place, the flimflam with the ownership and the wildly over the top run on C/P IP and the talk by their publicist about native advertising goals early on makes one wonder what the California AG might be able to find in Axanar emails and C/P depositions and that Georgia attorney's correspondence.
The scene participation itself appears then to carry no indication Axanar Productions was involved in the film's production.
So the studio picked up some on-the-side production work brought to it by one of its own actors (second unit last minute overflow work? it kinda sounds like that's what they are aiming for).
In any case they have got a non-Trek business operation going out of fan film funds. Notwithstanding the suggestions that it just sorta happened that they can't do Trek and hafta pay for the asset they never had to lease/build in the first place, the flimflam with the ownership and the wildly over the top run on C/P IP and the talk by their publicist about native advertising goals early on makes one wonder what the California AG might be able to find in Axanar emails and C/P depositions and that Georgia attorney's correspondence.
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Yeah, it sounds like it's a non-porn movie being done by people who have made porn.
I really hope that the people involved aren't aware of the accusations against Deen, because if they are and are still willing to work with him, then I've lost a lot of respect for them.
It's sad that people like Richard Hatch, Walter Koenig and Gigi Edgley have gotten so desperate they're actually doing something like this.
I'm not a donor, but if I was and I don't like them doing something involving a person like Deen could I take any kind of action?
EDIT: Just saw MuCephi's post, so it sounds like it's not quite as bad as I thought, but I'm still leaving my question since they are still, even if just slightly, involved with Deen.
Buy up all the distribution rights to the film and burn it? If its in the can and all contracts settled, can't imagine much else...
You are right though, disagreeing with the nature of content being made might be grounds for claims of being misled by the fundraising campaign... if Axanar Productions hasn't been bought out with that reimbursement of the donor money. If so, the cash is back in the till and Axanar I guess is just a subtenant.
Without evidence of a buyout as proposed, and with Alec reporting that 'our studio' is open for business, donors would reasonably assume that Axanar Productions is making a profit off of and retains ownership in an asset bought with donor funds.
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The second part of your post is more of what I was talking about. I knew you wouldn't be able to do anything about the movie itself, so I was talking more something involving Peters and whoever else is controling Industry Studios.
The only way I would ever give money to something like that was if I knew exactly what the money was going towards at all times. If I pay for a fan film, I want that money to go towards the fan film and only the fan film, and if I'm paying for a studio I either want to exactly what will be filming there and who will be involved. I don't want to think I'm pay for a studio for Disney and then find out it's being used for Cash Markman movies.
The only way I would ever give money to something like that was if I knew exactly what the money was going towards at all times. If I pay for a fan film, I want that money to go towards the fan film and only the fan film, and if I'm paying for a studio I either want to exactly what will be filming there and who will be involved. I don't want to think I'm pay for a studio for Disney and then find out it's being used for Cash Markman movies.
http://axamonitor.com/doku.php?id=perks_fact_check
The sets were always designed to disassemble to make room to rent the facility to other productions.
I'm pretty sure attorney-client privilege will shield this lawyer.
I think it's less an issue of illegally hiding money so much as it is just creating opaque companies that obscure who is financially benefitting from the studio. While the studio is relevant to the allegation the defendants' gained a direct financial benefit from Axanar's copyright infringement, it's tangential to the actual infringement. CBS likely has little interest in the studio itself, and it could become a burden if not liquidated for damages.
The judge and/or plaintiffs may not care about the studio as much as, say, a pesky reporter might, and these little limited liability companies shield investors from public scrutiny.
The kickstarter that explicitly allocates money for the studio assets is here:
https://web.archive.org/web/2016073...ojects/194429923/star-trek-axanar/description
the followon Indiegogo is here: (navigate to the sept 2015 capture using the widget in the upper right): https://web.archive.org/web/20150907012018/https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/axanar#/story
This has been covered on Axamonitor but pertinent to the question of whether donors have any control over what is made or how the funds may be used, I underline a few things below.
Note in particular that the Indiegogo says Axanar Productions is the start of a movement whereby fans fund only what they want, whereas the Kickstarter says Axanar Productions will create adventures like Axanar and beyond, for example a David Gerrold story (that is, it isn't too specific except to suggest the direction of SF).
Because the Indiegogo says its money is for Axanar, that $ doesn't seem related to your question unless they spent some of it on the studio buildout.
However, the Indiegogo description of Axanar Productions' business plan, written presumably before the lawsuit, clearly states donors would donate for future productions they want. Since the Indiegogo fundraising is for Axanar the movie, the Axanar Productions description might be fairly interpreted as an elaboration of the purpose stated for and perhaps implied by surrounding writing for Axanar Productions in the Kickstarter.
Might be something to work with there.
KICKSTARTER
This Kickstarter is for the full-length feature Axanar. Unlike the short film, which we shot in two days and cost $80,000, the 90-minute Axanar feature will take about 3 weeks and cost roughly between $650,000 and $ 750,000 (The budget is in process based on learnings from thePrelude to Axanar budget, so I would expect the budget to climb). So we are breaking up our costs into discreet sections which should allow us to reach significant milestones, as we don't expect to raise the full amount all at once. This first Kickstarter will be for the sound stage and set construction. Anything over what we need for that will be applied to the feature production costs. Full details are below.
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PLEASE NOTE (Added 8/24)
The response to our Kickstarter has been amazing and because of the help of George Takei, we blew through $ 500,000 and now $ 600,000! We never dreamed we would get close to original amount we said we needed, so we didn't revise the actual production budget, which was created before Prelude to Axanar was even shot. We just did rough budgets for set construction and sound stage, which we have good handles on and hoped we would get enough to cover them. Then, while building the sets and modifying the studio, we would be able to work on a better budget for the actual production and show you our progress on the sets and studio.
Well, due to all your generosity, we have everything we need for the sets and studio and are well on our way to covering most of the budget. So we are going to start working on a formal budgeting process for Axanar and get those numbers as soon as possible. As always, every donor will get updated through the updates here, as well as on our Facebook Donor Group.
Accountability and transparency are very important to us, because we take seriously our job of taking care of your money.
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SOUND STAGE - $125,000
We have two potential locations we are negotiating for to serve as our sound stage in Valencia, CA, just north of LA. This will be the permanent home of Axanar Productions and allow us to do more than just Axanar, from other adventures in the Star Trek universe and beyond. David Gerrold (author of "The Trouble with Tribbles") is already lined up to shoot his sci-fi series "Running Dark" here. First year's rent is $ 125,000.
(Remember, to get $ 125,000, we need to raise approximately $ 155,000)
SOUND STAGE RENOVATION - $50,000
Converting this space to be a sound stage will cost approximately $50,000. This includes dropping a grid system for lights and baffling, sound proofing and other modifications to the building. Depending which space we get will determine what exactly we need to do, but this is a rough estimate.
Sci-Fi Film School - After the sets our built, we will be holding a Sci-Fi film school. Learn all about film making from our veteran industry staff including David Gerrold (writing), Richard Hatch and Gary Graham (acting), Robert Burnett (Editing/Directing), Christian Gossett (writing/directing) and Academy Award winner Kevin Haney and Star Trek veteran Brad Look (make-up). Donors will get first shot at the initial film school session.
(Remember, to get $ 50,000, we need to raise approximately $ 62,000)
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INDIEGOGO
Q: What is Axanar Productions?
Axanar is not just an independent Star Trek film; it is the beginning of a whole new way that fans can get the content they want, by funding it themselves. Why dump hundreds or thousands of dollars a year on 400 cable channels, when what you really want is a few good sci-fi shows? Hollywood is changing. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and other providers are redefining content delivery, and AxanarProductions/Ares Studios hopes to be part of that movement.
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