Brainstorming: Trek on a budget...

[eschaton]

Hey guys,

We know that Paramount is in a contractional period right now, and that appears to be starting to negatively impact Star Trek as well, with the cancelation of Discovery. Whether there will be bigger issues down the line (like say cancelation of Lower Decks or Prodigy) remains to be seen. Ultimately, the issue for Paramount is while Star Trek is popular, it's also not cheap to make. So why not make another Yellowstone show instead for only a fraction of the cost?

Which got me to thinking - could modern Trek be made on the cheap? I'm not talking about cardboard rocks and the like, but could a show be structured in such a way as to limit the VFX and set budgets, allowing for filming at half or less of the cost of the average DIS, PIC, or SNW episode?

The resulting show may not get as many eyeballs on it. But I do think depending upon the content it would be enough to bring in hardcore Trek fans - particularly if it had good writing, and followed up with popular characters/plot points from older shows.

A couple ideas:

• One is a show focused essentially entirely on away missions. This could be an anthology-style show, allowing the jumping around through different eras/cameos from different people. Every episode would start with a "beam in." This sort of structure would mean you wouldn't need to create an expensive set of standing ship sets for the drama to take place in, though each episode may need new uniforms and other props. Of course, the individual sets (or maybe location filming) could get expensive, but similar to TOS (or Berman Trek with the holodeck episodes) they could find ways to creatively reuse standing sets on the Paramount back lot.
• Another idea is to have one-offs which are mostly focused on two people talking in a room. Lots of classic Trek episodes - including some all-time favorites (like say DS9's Duet) are mostly just set up like this. I think plenty of Trek fans would, as an example, tune in for an hour of Bashir and Garak bickering about their relationship in a runabout. Cheap to make, massively popular.

Anyway, I'm interested to hear if others have any ideas along these lines.

 

[F. King Daniel]

1992 is rumoured to be the codename for a Eugenics Wars series. It's part of the Star Trek universe, but otherwise it's something that can be filmed with off the shelf costumes and current day locations. Just gotta rent out some old cars.

 

[fireproof78]

I'm going to borrow @Nerys Myk and his anthology idea from another Future of thread:

Star Trek: Wagon Train To the Stars (Place holder title)
Make a show that is more literal to Roddenberry's pitch, which was built on the old Wagon Train series
Colony ship (Maybe more than one) on it's way to a world beyond the edge of Federation space. Civilian ship with a civilian crew. Stories arise from people in the "wagon train" who are seeking a new life or a new start and those they meet along the way. They might meet bandits/pirates, aliens, Starfleet patrols, traders and others who would also be story fodder. Not like Voyager trying to get home or Galactica fleeing the Cylons. These people want to be out there.

Now, I would have the civilian crew, and probably have them start a colony, utilizing a ship to go to different parts of the planet or system i.e. something similar to the Trappist-7 system, that they can explore, an unearth some ancient civilization, thus allowing a little more either on location shooting, or use of a Volume type set where they can minimize set building. If you do it as an expedition you can utilize jumpsuits and other simplistic clothing to distinguish them as a group, but not necessarily as a traditional Starfleet crew. Make it more anthology with rotating guest starts to reduce costs.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

How about a podcast series? No visuals, just good audio scripts. Let our imagination fill in the gaps like in the days of old radio shows.

 

[F. King Daniel]

How about a podcast series? No visuals, just good audio scripts. Let our imagination fill in the gaps like in the days of old radio shows.

Wasn't Ceti Alpha V meant to be made as a podcast? They've been super quiet on that since the announcement.

 

[Relayer1]

Take the Voyager idea and turn it up to ten.

Star Trek : Survival. A small to mid sized starfleet ship is caught in a wormhole crashes on an unknown planet the other side of the galaxy. The secondary hull is trashed but the primary is more lightly damaged.

Stranded, lost and unable to communicate they are hidden in a massive nebula obscuring navigation. They have few resources but a survivable habitat in the ship. If they can repair it it'll take constructing their own repair facility and perhaps years of work.

The planet is outwardly unoccupied and benign. That may not actually be the case.

There's elements of Robinson Crusoe, Swiss Family Robinson, Lost In Space, Forbidden Planet, Lost, Flight Of The Phoenix...

Standing ship sets, fairly static cast, minimum of effects required - as near to a bottle show as possible. Kind of Stargate SG1 budget wise.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Another thing in favor of a podcast: hire voice impersonators to do multiple roles.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Uh, I think this premise was already done. Around 1966. We generally call it TOS.

 

[fireproof78]

Uh, I think this premise was already done. Around 1966. We generally call it TOS.

*checks calendars *

Why, you're right. It is 1969 and everything is the same!

 

[TerryTrek]

Picard S3 is a good testing ground for Trek on a reduced budget. It doesn't have Discovery's 10 Mil per episode, or anywhere close.

The Popcast mentioned how they had a much reduced budget for Pic S3, that's why it's mainly a bottle show, and the M'Talas sets. They had to cut some corners, but they did it in a smart way.

If the writing and character development are there, the spectacle ultimately becomes a secondary matter.

 

[dinzy]

Does anyone have actual budget numbers for some of P+'s top shows? The Yellowstone shows + Tulsa all have big name actors. That has to be pretty expensive too. Clearly Trek is more expensive to film and do post production on, but I have no way to know whether or not that exceeds the cost of hiring a Costner, Ford, Stalone, etc.

 

[ED-209]

I'd say some of the best episodes are "low budget".

The timeloop episode of DSC S1 was low budget and it was the best episode of the season.

A couple of other samples:

Shuttlepod 1
Duet
Waltz

Sure there are others but can't think of any of the top of my head.

 

[The Wormhole]

This sort of structure would mean you wouldn't need to create an expensive set of standing ship sets for the drama to take place in, though each episode may need new uniforms and other props. Of course, the individual sets (or maybe location filming) could get expensive,

Standing sets are a necessity in order to keep the show cheap. Location filming actually costs more money than filming in a studio does.

 

[The Old Mixer]

^ Indeed. It's well known that bottle episodes--ones that take place entirely on the standing sets--are the cheapest to make. It doesn't matter if it's a starship bridge or the Bunker house.

 

[urbandk]

This is kinda why it might be the right time for an academy show. Lots of time spent on sets​

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Find an old unused school/underused condo building and reno it with cosmetic improvements to suit themselves.

 

[Tracer Bullet]

Absolutely, and that is the way forward for Trek. Bloated budgets prioritize spectacle over storytelling.

 

[SalyutBuran]

^ Indeed. It's well known that bottle episodes--ones that take place entirely on the standing sets--are the cheapest to make. It doesn't matter if it's a starship bridge or the Bunker house.

I'd add bottle episodes aren't what they use to be.

With modern AI/CGI you can do some really really cheap work on set.

Trek screwed up when they went in polar opposition from fan fiction productions.

If they would have just greenlit a show based techniques used on Axanar they would have been rolling in the dough.

Star Trek has the brand and the format, that should make modern tv extraordinarily cheap to make.

Instead they got sucked in by the Abrahams affect and went for big budget lense flare.

I mean it still looks and feel like crap, but it is gold plated crap never the less.

Trek was always a show that exceeded the visiual limitations of the medium, why anything thought attempting to waste millions exciding those tastes is beyond me.

I can't wait until star trek green screen gets made.

99% of the budget on writing and acting.

 

[SalyutBuran]

I'd say some of the best episodes are "low budget".

The timeloop episode of DSC S1 was low budget and it was the best episode of the season.

A couple of other samples:

Shuttlepod 1
Duet
Waltz

Sure there are others but can't think of any of the top of my head.

Real curious how much the pale moonlight cost to make. I don't remember any costs other than makeup?

 

[The Wormhole]

Trek screwed up when they went in polar opposition from fan fiction productions.

No

If they would have just greenlit a show based techniques used on Axanar they would have been rolling in the dough.

Hells no