(Valencia, CA) – Two major players in the universe of Star Trek fan films announced today that they will be collaborating on a pair of vignettes that form a bridge between the two respective shows. STAR TREK: NEW VOYAGES and AXANAR’s producers provided details on their upcoming collaboration to tell the story of Garth of Izar’s rehabilitation following the events of “Whom Gods Destroy” – an episode from season three of the original Star Trek television series produced in 1967. Alec Peters, Executive Producer of AXANAR and James Cawley, the Executive Producer of STAR TREK: NEW VOYAGES said the vignettes will explore the original storyline of Garth more deeply.
“The story takes place six months after the USS Enterprise first visited Elba II,” explained Peters. “Captain Kirk and his crew are tasked with bringing the now fully-recovered Fleet Captain Garth back to Star Fleet Command and Earth.”
“We explore the ramifications of what happened on Elba II and before. Garth has no memory of the last ten years, so we want to know how this affects a man like Garth,” Peters continued. “How does Kirk help his hero regain his footing?”
The two vignettes serve as bookends for the ground-breaking Star Trek fan film, AXANAR, which is currently in production and has caught the imagination of Trek fans worldwide.
“These shorter stories are set twenty-three years after AXANAR,” Peters said. “They tie our production in with “Whom Gods Destroy” to give Garth the full resolution he deserves. In order to do that, though, we knew we would need access to sets and a crew from the era of the original series and there are none better than the STAR TREK: NEW VOYAGES team.”
“We’re excited to have the AXANAR crew at our studio in our Ticonderoga (New York),” said James Cawley, widely recognized as a leading figure in the world of Star Trek fan films. “AXANAR started here in 2010 when I asked Alec to play Garth of Izar in an episode we were shooting , so we really feel like these are sister projects.” We have great friendship and deep respect for the Axanar Team and we are very excited to finally work together on what will be an amazing follow up to “Whom Gods Destroy”! I am positive that our fellow friends and fans will love this!
Echoing the positive statements from Cawley, Peters continued: “James is the most generous guy in Star Trek fan films. He’s opened his studio to us many times, but for a variety of reasons, we’ve never been able to take him up on his offer.
“So this time, when James called and asked if we wanted to shoot this fall, we jumped at the chance. Putting the NEW VOYAGES TOS-era sets and passionate crew of volunteers together with AXANAR’S award-winning director Robert Meyer Burnett (writer/director of FREE ENTERPRISE) and our director of photography Milton Santiago (PRELUDE TO AXANAR, AXANAR), gives both groups the chance to make something special and show how the fan film community can work together.”
Peters and Cawley reiterated the fact that Star Trek fans want more stories and more content and that by working together, AXANAR and STAR TREK: NEW VOYAGES can meet that demand. “Both productions work at a very high level,” continued Peters. “AXANAR has attracted a lot of attention recently and we think it’s important to work with other productions and share the spotlight with the entire fan film community.”
