Star Trek: Axanar

[Linnear]

Well, here we go.

"Axanar" is the story of Garth if Izar and the Battle of Axanar, which takes place 20 years before TOS.

I have been working on "Axanar" now for almost two years, slowly writing the script with John Muenchrath and now Dave Galanter. James Cawley has been supporting this project and commited Phase II sets to the project.

It was James who got the ball rolling when he asked me to portray Captain Garth in "The Protracted Man" in a great scene where Garth and the Admiral are watching young Kirk blow up the Kobayashi Maru. The Admiral thinks Kirk is trouble, but Garth sees potential.

That lead to me writing a treatment, which Marco Plamieri, the former Star Trek editor at Pocket Books, reviewed and gave feedback on. Before writing the script, I took a Robert McKee seminar (the godfather of screenplay writing) with Doc John, read McKee's book and the script is now almost done. Dave Galanter and I have been working it for 6 months now.

This past summer I played a restored Captain Garth in the "Going Boldly" vignette, and that story, of how Garth comes back to Starfleet, will be featured in our first vingette, which is a bumper story, set on the Enterprise just after "Whom Gods Destroy". In the vignette, titled "Heroes", Kirk and the Enterprise pick up Captain Garth from Elba II and bring him back to Starfleet, and we see Garth dealing with what has happened.

"Axanar" is a one-shot feature and will be about 75 minutes long. It will be shot both at the Phase II sets, and here in L.A. at my warehouse, which we are emptying out for use as a sound stage.

It has a rather large budget for a fan film, all funded by me, and being based in L.A., we hope to be able to attract a lot of talented people. Christian Gossett, who created "The Red Star" graphic novel, which is in development at Warner Brothers, will be directing.

So, here are a few things for you. The Facebook page will be up shortly, but thought you all deserved first look at the USS Ares, Garth of Izar's ship.

 

[USS Intrepid]

Love that ship!

 

[FredH]

Very nice class! (Though perhaps the glowing deflector dish feels a little too latter-day, but that's a judgment call.) More to the point, I'll look forward to this film.

 

[skree]

Could you post the dimensions (Length, Width, and Height) as well as, commissioning date, offensive and defensive systems and crew complement please?

 

[Titan Designer]

I can finally talk about this. I have been brought on as one of the concept artists. I designed the 2D schematics of the Ares for Tobias Richer to work from. I have also been busy designing the costumes and logo. I will also help with other designs when asked. this looks to be a great film and I am honored to be a part of it. I will post images when Alec allows.

 

[Linnear]

Sean is actually THE lead concept artist. And Sean, you can post anything I post on the public Facebook page. I will get to that later today. And feel free to talk about the process and your work.

Skree, haven't even done this work yet. So you will have to stay tuned. Most of those things are not important to the story and where as you would want to have built back stories for characters, you don't need to do that for a ship. However, it is always fun. And I love that stuff. But maybe Sean wants to take a crack at dimensions.

I will tell you that the Ares is a warship, pure and simple, and built during the Four Years War.

Alec

 

[USS Intrepid]

Four Years War? Glad there are others who remember the FASA material. Or was that John M. Ford? I forget where it cropped up first, but nice to see it mentioned.

 

[MikeH92467]

This sounds very promising! Best of luck!

 

[Danlav05]

So a TOS spin-off tied directly into Phase II, sounds good!

 

[MikeH92467]

Will you be posting a casting call?

 

[E-DUB]

I like the ship too. Looks like a "retro" Centaur. Wish you'd gone with a TOS-style deflector, though.

 

[Titan Designer]

I like the ship too. Looks like a "retro" Centaur. Wish you'd gone with a TOS-style deflector, though.

In my 2d Schematics the Deflector was a TOS deflector. As for the Centaur it was given to me as inspiration along with the Luna in nacelle config. Still think the 3d model turned out great.

 

[Linnear]

Nick: I loved the old FASA stuff, and so we have some nods to it. The Four Years war is the big one.

Mike: Yes we will. You need to be in L.A. We will be shooting the vingette at Phase II in November, and there is one scene that we will need a lot of people. Details to follow.

Danlav05: Yes. I work on Phase II and James is a good friend who has been gracious enough to make Garth a part of the Phase II universe.

E-Dub: Good eye. I LOVE the Centaur and that was the inspiration.

 

[MikeH92467]

Thank you! I have someone in mind (Not me) who might be interested and has the acting chops to be awesome...I'll be watching with great interest!

All the best!

 

[Linnear]

The first USS Ares video:

http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm106/Linnear1701/Star%20Trek/?action=view&current=ares_flyby.mp4

Tobias Richter is the man.

Alec

 

[J.C. England]

Big Congrats, Alec! It's good to see your dream
coming to life. You will be great in this!

 

[Johnny]

Looks good, and that reflection off the hull... quality!

 

[Linnear]

Big Congrats, Alec! It's good to see your dream
coming to life. You will be great in this!

Than you very much JC!

Alec

 

[USS Intrepid]

Very excited that you'll be tipping your hat to the FASA material. I remember being fascinated by their Four Years War manual, and was always curious about Garth's exploits at Axanar. Really looking forward to this.

 

[Linnear]

I had to make some decisions about how much to include from FASA. I didn't like "Xenophon" as a name for Garth's ship. The Marklin Class was just a destroyer and I think Garth would have had a true ship of the line. So I changed what FASA came up with, but I give it a nod. Thus the war with the Klingons which has lasted four years.

Ultimately I am not following FASA, but take inspiration from it. Just as FASA took inspiration from "The Final Reflection" by John Ford. Let's face it, that book had a big impact on many of us.

There is a new ebook fan fiction called "The Four Years War" by Stephen Fender. You can find it here.

He does an admirable job taking FASA and putting it in novel form. But Garth's role is minimal, and this was my major problem with the storyline from FASA.

Garth was the role model for Kirk and a whole generation of Starfleet Captains. And while Canon doesn't have The Four Years War in it, we know that Axanar was a major victory that somehow saved the Federation.

So in "Axanar" Garth is the Patton of his day. He is THE guy Stafleet goes to when they plan the major engagement of the war. And that is because he has been kicking ass for four years. He is promoted to Fleet Captain and given command for a battle the Federation hopes will end the war.

Alec