For years those other guys have pretty much had a monopoly on "officially-sanctioned" fan film viewings. (Lucas gets the idea that fan films are free publicity; CBS/Paramount has up until now been pretty clueless.)
Well, that's finally changing. For the first time, Creation Entertainment (those are the guys that hold the big Star Trek bash at the Las Vegas Hilton every year) has convinced CBS/Paramount to let them show a non-parody fan film. The film is the animation feature Borg War, which was selected not so much because it's such a great film (opinions vary greatly), but because it had a simple intellectual property scenario and somebody (meaning me) was persistent in working through the legal issues.
Anyway, here's the announcement on the convention webpage:
http://www.creationent.com/cal/stlv.htm
(It's about halfway down the scroll.) What's cool about this isn't so much the Borg War part (although I'm obviously pleased, personally), but that the approval is a strong indication that the long-suffering Star Trek fan film community is at last beginning to be recognized, in a major venue, for being part of the uber-fan Star Trek culture.
And that's cool because there are some really high quality fan productions, like OGAM and AURORA, that deserve more serious attention.
Well, that's finally changing. For the first time, Creation Entertainment (those are the guys that hold the big Star Trek bash at the Las Vegas Hilton every year) has convinced CBS/Paramount to let them show a non-parody fan film. The film is the animation feature Borg War, which was selected not so much because it's such a great film (opinions vary greatly), but because it had a simple intellectual property scenario and somebody (meaning me) was persistent in working through the legal issues.
Anyway, here's the announcement on the convention webpage:
http://www.creationent.com/cal/stlv.htm
(It's about halfway down the scroll.) What's cool about this isn't so much the Borg War part (although I'm obviously pleased, personally), but that the approval is a strong indication that the long-suffering Star Trek fan film community is at last beginning to be recognized, in a major venue, for being part of the uber-fan Star Trek culture.
And that's cool because there are some really high quality fan productions, like OGAM and AURORA, that deserve more serious attention.