So that's where Total Recall got that "Two weeks" line.
CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar
- Thread starter Richard Baker
- Start date
- Status
When they start production, we'll start a new thread. A sort of Next Generation thread if you will...
Here's the Time Line as reported by AxaMonitor
2012
September 24: 'Star Trek: Axanar' Announced
Alec Peters announces on TrekBBS his intent to produce Star Trek: Axanar, a “one-shot feature … 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.”
2013
October 30: 'Star Trek: Axanar' Film Posted on IMDb
Producers list the film, then called Star Trek: Axanar, on the Internet Movie Database with a status of ‘pre-production,’ meaning it was close to filming, with a scheduled release date of 2014.
2014
March 31: 'Prelude to Axanar' Kickstarter Campaign
A month-long Kickstarter campaign concludes with 2,123 backers donating $101,171 to produce the short film, Prelude to Axanar. The fundraising goal was only $10,000.
May 4 & 8: 'Prelude to Axanar' Shooting Dates
Director Christian Gossett completes the shoot for Prelude to Axanar in two days in Los Angeles.
July 26: 'Prelude to Axanar' Premieres
The short film, Prelude to Axanar, premieres in San Diego during Comic-Con, to herald the beginning of the project’s second Kickstarter campaign.
August 24: 'Axanar' Kickstarter Campaign
The second Kickstarter campaign concludes with 8,548 backers donating $638,471 for production of the feature film, Star Trek: Axanar (later re-titled to simply Axanar.)
November 17: Name Change to 'Axanar'
Producer Alec Peters announces the name of the feature film is being shortened to simply Axanar. “In deference to CBS, we have removed the Star Trek branding from our website. and our Facebook page,” he wrote. “We are cognizant that we are using CBS’ intellectual property and we wish to minimize the use of that IP in our film and in our overall production.”
2015
January 8: Production Status Reverts to 'In Development'
Plans to proceed with filming are put on pause as the studio build-out progresses.
March 16: Production Status Back to 'Pre-Production'
Star Trek: Axanar‘s IMDb production status is upgraded to ‘pre-production,’ with the accompanying note, “We shoot in May/June.” Those plans were derailed by the news on May 12.
May 12: Director Christian Gossett Resigns
Producer Alec Peters says director Christian Gossett resigns to take a position on another feature film.
June 13: 'Vulcan Scene' Shot
Under new director Robert Meyer Burnett, filming takes place in California for this three-minute scene from Axanar featuring Ambassador Soval, reprised by actor Gary Graham.
July 10: 'Vulcan Scene' Released
A three-minute scene from the feature film, still titled Star Trek: Axanar at that point, featuring Vulcan Ambassador Soval (Gary Graham), is publicly released. The scene is removed from public view in 2016 after the lawsuit is filed.
July 15: Annual Report "of Sorts" Released
Producer Alec Peters publishes a blog titled “Axanar Annual Report” showing a $9,000+ deficit in producing Prelude to Axanar and outlining how money raised from its second Kickstarter campaign was to be spent. He calls Axanar a “fully professional production” in which full-time employees get salaries. Later, Axanar claims it never had employees. Alec Peters goes on to release a flawed "revised" version of the report five months later, on December 15, 2015.
July 31: 'Axanar' Indiegogo Campaign
The third crowdfunding campaign, now moved to to the Indiegogo platform reaches its initial $330,000 goal, just 20 days since the campaign launched.
August 6-9: 'Axanar' Producer Meets with CBS Officials
Axanar producer Alec Peters meets with CBS Officials during the Star Trek Las Vegas event to seek parameters within which he can continue to operate Axanar. His version: They refused to tell me anything. Their version: We’re not authorizing, sanctioning or licensing this project in any way. CBS goes on to issue a formal statement describing Axanar as a “professional commercial [venture] trading off our property rights.”
August 10: Indiegogo Campaign Formally Closes
The month-long Indiegogo campaign formally concludes, with more than $470,000 in donations.
August 11: 'Axanar' Indiegogo Campaign Extended
Indiegogo moves Axanar to its “In Demand” category, which allows ongoing fundraising beyond the initial campaign. Producers raise their goal to $1.32 million to fund four episodes of Axanar, comprising the feature-length film.
August 25: [......]
Following a fruitless meeting between producer Alec Peters and two CBS officials, the industry news site, The Wrap, asks of Axanar, “[Its] seven-figure bankroll raises questions about just how “fan” the project is and at what point it poses a threat to the authorized franchise.” CBS issues this statement:
“CBS has not authorized, sanctioned or licensed this project in any way, and this has been communicated to those involved. We continue to object to professional commercial ventures trading off our property rights and are considering further options to protect these rights.”
September 1: Tony Todd Leaves Cast
Actor Tony Todd announces he’s leaving Axanar. This is not acknowledged by the production until after the copyright lawsuit is filed in December.
October: 'Heroes' Shoot, 'Axanar' VFX Work Begins
"Heroes' Vignette Shot on 'New Voyages' Set
Director Robert Meyer Burnett and producer Alec Peters travel to upstate New York to shoot a short, Heroes, on the sets of the fan production, Star Trek: New Voyages. The vignette tells the story of Capt. Garth’s rehabilitation following the events of the Original Series episode Whom Gods Destroy (episode), 23 years after the events to be portrayed in Axanar.
'Axanar' Visual Effects Begins Shooting
In order to make a planned September 8, 2016, release date for Axanar, director Robert Burnett commissions work first on the script’s visual effects, collaborating with VFX wizard Tobias Richter.
December 15: Axanar Annual Report Released
Axanar Productions releases to donors only a revised 23-page annual report outlining spending through July 31, 2015, from its two Kickstarter campaigns.21) Paramount and CBS file a copyright lawsuit two weeks later.
December 29: Copyright Lawsuit Filed
Paramount Pictures and CBS file suit against Axanar Productions and Alec Peters, alleging knowing infringement of their Star Trek copyrights, seeking damages and an injunction to prevent production of Axanar.
December 30: Tony Todd Cites Accountability Problems
In a series of messages on Twitter, actor Tony Todd disputes Alec Peters’ account of why Todd left the project and raises questions about the accountability of the project.
December 30, 2015: @Richard Baker reads something about a lawsuit and starts 'a' TrekBBS topic thread about this. 21 thread pages later Day 2 arrives.
Well, there were a lot of questions.
Elsewhere information was being suppressed, dodged, censored, twisted, ignored, denied, obfuscated. Donors and fans having questions labeled as morons, haters, idiots, and the like. Donors being accused of not worth having a voice because their donations were too small. The Axanar Marines formed to follow us around the internet to see who was loyal, who was not. Donors being thrown out of the official places for asking questions. Doxing, lawsuit threats, NDA offers to keep donors and questioners quiet. Official rolls and threads were suddenly purged of irritants.
@jespah saw supplies were going to be needed because thiswholething might take some time.
@lurok began bringing them in.
@carlosp started keeping track of everything at AxaMonitor
@TREKZONE.org started doing interviews. Maybe the first one was with Christian Gossett?
@jespah (being an actual lawyer and all) began a blog, The G&T Show, holding the many many court papers (on her own dime) as they were filed, with decoding of all that lawyer-y talk. And then Semantic Shenanigans where the... um... shenanigans were discussed.
And the money kept rolling in --- And Out
Where did that dadgum $1.5million dollars go exactly? Area 51?
TheThread kept discussing thiswholething.
The suit was settled.
The shenanigans kept right on going.
TheThread kept right on discussing them.
TheThread by @Richard Baker started December 30, 2015. As of this posting TheThread is 1,689 pages long.
There were a 'lot' of questions... and shenanigans.
2012
September 24: 'Star Trek: Axanar' Announced
Alec Peters announces on TrekBBS his intent to produce Star Trek: Axanar, a “one-shot feature … 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.”
2013
October 30: 'Star Trek: Axanar' Film Posted on IMDb
Producers list the film, then called Star Trek: Axanar, on the Internet Movie Database with a status of ‘pre-production,’ meaning it was close to filming, with a scheduled release date of 2014.
2014
March 31: 'Prelude to Axanar' Kickstarter Campaign
A month-long Kickstarter campaign concludes with 2,123 backers donating $101,171 to produce the short film, Prelude to Axanar. The fundraising goal was only $10,000.
May 4 & 8: 'Prelude to Axanar' Shooting Dates
Director Christian Gossett completes the shoot for Prelude to Axanar in two days in Los Angeles.
July 26: 'Prelude to Axanar' Premieres
The short film, Prelude to Axanar, premieres in San Diego during Comic-Con, to herald the beginning of the project’s second Kickstarter campaign.
August 24: 'Axanar' Kickstarter Campaign
The second Kickstarter campaign concludes with 8,548 backers donating $638,471 for production of the feature film, Star Trek: Axanar (later re-titled to simply Axanar.)
November 17: Name Change to 'Axanar'
Producer Alec Peters announces the name of the feature film is being shortened to simply Axanar. “In deference to CBS, we have removed the Star Trek branding from our website. and our Facebook page,” he wrote. “We are cognizant that we are using CBS’ intellectual property and we wish to minimize the use of that IP in our film and in our overall production.”
2015
January 8: Production Status Reverts to 'In Development'
Plans to proceed with filming are put on pause as the studio build-out progresses.
March 16: Production Status Back to 'Pre-Production'
Star Trek: Axanar‘s IMDb production status is upgraded to ‘pre-production,’ with the accompanying note, “We shoot in May/June.” Those plans were derailed by the news on May 12.
May 12: Director Christian Gossett Resigns
Producer Alec Peters says director Christian Gossett resigns to take a position on another feature film.
June 13: 'Vulcan Scene' Shot
Under new director Robert Meyer Burnett, filming takes place in California for this three-minute scene from Axanar featuring Ambassador Soval, reprised by actor Gary Graham.
July 10: 'Vulcan Scene' Released
A three-minute scene from the feature film, still titled Star Trek: Axanar at that point, featuring Vulcan Ambassador Soval (Gary Graham), is publicly released. The scene is removed from public view in 2016 after the lawsuit is filed.
July 15: Annual Report "of Sorts" Released
Producer Alec Peters publishes a blog titled “Axanar Annual Report” showing a $9,000+ deficit in producing Prelude to Axanar and outlining how money raised from its second Kickstarter campaign was to be spent. He calls Axanar a “fully professional production” in which full-time employees get salaries. Later, Axanar claims it never had employees. Alec Peters goes on to release a flawed "revised" version of the report five months later, on December 15, 2015.
July 31: 'Axanar' Indiegogo Campaign
The third crowdfunding campaign, now moved to to the Indiegogo platform reaches its initial $330,000 goal, just 20 days since the campaign launched.
August 6-9: 'Axanar' Producer Meets with CBS Officials
Axanar producer Alec Peters meets with CBS Officials during the Star Trek Las Vegas event to seek parameters within which he can continue to operate Axanar. His version: They refused to tell me anything. Their version: We’re not authorizing, sanctioning or licensing this project in any way. CBS goes on to issue a formal statement describing Axanar as a “professional commercial [venture] trading off our property rights.”
August 10: Indiegogo Campaign Formally Closes
The month-long Indiegogo campaign formally concludes, with more than $470,000 in donations.
August 11: 'Axanar' Indiegogo Campaign Extended
Indiegogo moves Axanar to its “In Demand” category, which allows ongoing fundraising beyond the initial campaign. Producers raise their goal to $1.32 million to fund four episodes of Axanar, comprising the feature-length film.
August 25: [......]
Following a fruitless meeting between producer Alec Peters and two CBS officials, the industry news site, The Wrap, asks of Axanar, “[Its] seven-figure bankroll raises questions about just how “fan” the project is and at what point it poses a threat to the authorized franchise.” CBS issues this statement:
“CBS has not authorized, sanctioned or licensed this project in any way, and this has been communicated to those involved. We continue to object to professional commercial ventures trading off our property rights and are considering further options to protect these rights.”
September 1: Tony Todd Leaves Cast
Actor Tony Todd announces he’s leaving Axanar. This is not acknowledged by the production until after the copyright lawsuit is filed in December.
October: 'Heroes' Shoot, 'Axanar' VFX Work Begins
"Heroes' Vignette Shot on 'New Voyages' Set
Director Robert Meyer Burnett and producer Alec Peters travel to upstate New York to shoot a short, Heroes, on the sets of the fan production, Star Trek: New Voyages. The vignette tells the story of Capt. Garth’s rehabilitation following the events of the Original Series episode Whom Gods Destroy (episode), 23 years after the events to be portrayed in Axanar.
'Axanar' Visual Effects Begins Shooting
In order to make a planned September 8, 2016, release date for Axanar, director Robert Burnett commissions work first on the script’s visual effects, collaborating with VFX wizard Tobias Richter.
December 15: Axanar Annual Report Released
Axanar Productions releases to donors only a revised 23-page annual report outlining spending through July 31, 2015, from its two Kickstarter campaigns.21) Paramount and CBS file a copyright lawsuit two weeks later.
December 29: Copyright Lawsuit Filed
Paramount Pictures and CBS file suit against Axanar Productions and Alec Peters, alleging knowing infringement of their Star Trek copyrights, seeking damages and an injunction to prevent production of Axanar.
December 30: Tony Todd Cites Accountability Problems
In a series of messages on Twitter, actor Tony Todd disputes Alec Peters’ account of why Todd left the project and raises questions about the accountability of the project.
December 30, 2015: @Richard Baker reads something about a lawsuit and starts 'a' TrekBBS topic thread about this. 21 thread pages later Day 2 arrives.
Well, there were a lot of questions.
Elsewhere information was being suppressed, dodged, censored, twisted, ignored, denied, obfuscated. Donors and fans having questions labeled as morons, haters, idiots, and the like. Donors being accused of not worth having a voice because their donations were too small. The Axanar Marines formed to follow us around the internet to see who was loyal, who was not. Donors being thrown out of the official places for asking questions. Doxing, lawsuit threats, NDA offers to keep donors and questioners quiet. Official rolls and threads were suddenly purged of irritants.
@jespah saw supplies were going to be needed because thiswholething might take some time.
@lurok began bringing them in.
@carlosp started keeping track of everything at AxaMonitor
@TREKZONE.org started doing interviews. Maybe the first one was with Christian Gossett?
@jespah (being an actual lawyer and all) began a blog, The G&T Show, holding the many many court papers (on her own dime) as they were filed, with decoding of all that lawyer-y talk. And then Semantic Shenanigans where the... um... shenanigans were discussed.
And the money kept rolling in --- And Out
Where did that dadgum $1.5million dollars go exactly? Area 51?
TheThread kept discussing thiswholething.
The suit was settled.
The shenanigans kept right on going.
TheThread kept right on discussing them.
TheThread by @Richard Baker started December 30, 2015. As of this posting TheThread is 1,689 pages long.
There were a 'lot' of questions... and shenanigans.
Last edited:
So somewhere around the 4th of never.
New on AxaMonitor:
SKIN IN THE GAME A reader criticizes the motivation behind AxaMonitor. In reply: An overview of #Axanar’s lack of accountability & its treatment of supporters who dared question the narrative justifying why $1.7 million later Axanar has yet to be made. Read more »
SKIN IN THE GAME A reader criticizes the motivation behind AxaMonitor. In reply: An overview of #Axanar’s lack of accountability & its treatment of supporters who dared question the narrative justifying why $1.7 million later Axanar has yet to be made. Read more »
Timeline for The Trekzone Spotlight:
January 2016
I begin trying to communicate with Alec Peters directly to get an interview. After numerous emails, he stops talking to me.
April
Alec finally agrees to chat with me.
April 3
My chat with Alec is released, having been filmed a few days earlier. Following Mike Bawden being called into the Skype call, the PR man emailed me and asked me to hold over the ‘juicier’ part of the interview until he and I can produce a reaction episode.
Since I was not - and never have been, and still aren’t - out to ‘get him’ I agreed to that condition.
We record that chat before I go on a two week road trip for work.
April 26
Returning home and able to edit the 71 minute episode... part two is released. Carlos Pedraza, Mike Bawden and I dissect Alec’s comments.
June 12
I chat with Dave Galanter, who was approached by Alec to write a novelisation under a pen name.
June 25
I chat with Vic Mignogna, who has a comment about Axanar.
July 2
Christian Gossett joins me.
August 17
My first chat with Carlos.
https://youtu.be/5k6IjH3u3-M
January 23 2017
NY Times journo Eriq Gardener - who had been covering the story.
https://youtu.be/n8tEhLllQrA
January 26
Christian Gossett reacts to the settlement.
https://youtu.be/na1gT3CcVUQ
April 8
I ‘take a stand’ in an editorial.
https://youtu.be/ZXziBjntCeo
September 8
Carlos joins me for the second time.
https://youtu.be/p9HUsIIKf8Y
March 9 2018
The State of Axanar, with Carlos for the third time.
https://youtu.be/rIWeeHoavp4
April 26
30 Days Out.. Two Years Since The Alec Peters Interview (Carlos part IV)
https://youtu.be/8mieVx5VgUI
Alec and Mike refused to join the show.
And there ya go!
January 2016
I begin trying to communicate with Alec Peters directly to get an interview. After numerous emails, he stops talking to me.
April
Alec finally agrees to chat with me.
April 3
My chat with Alec is released, having been filmed a few days earlier. Following Mike Bawden being called into the Skype call, the PR man emailed me and asked me to hold over the ‘juicier’ part of the interview until he and I can produce a reaction episode.
Since I was not - and never have been, and still aren’t - out to ‘get him’ I agreed to that condition.
We record that chat before I go on a two week road trip for work.
April 26
Returning home and able to edit the 71 minute episode... part two is released. Carlos Pedraza, Mike Bawden and I dissect Alec’s comments.
June 12
I chat with Dave Galanter, who was approached by Alec to write a novelisation under a pen name.
June 25
I chat with Vic Mignogna, who has a comment about Axanar.
July 2
Christian Gossett joins me.
August 17
My first chat with Carlos.
https://youtu.be/5k6IjH3u3-M
January 23 2017
NY Times journo Eriq Gardener - who had been covering the story.
https://youtu.be/n8tEhLllQrA
January 26
Christian Gossett reacts to the settlement.
https://youtu.be/na1gT3CcVUQ
April 8
I ‘take a stand’ in an editorial.
https://youtu.be/ZXziBjntCeo
September 8
Carlos joins me for the second time.
https://youtu.be/p9HUsIIKf8Y
March 9 2018
The State of Axanar, with Carlos for the third time.
https://youtu.be/rIWeeHoavp4
April 26
30 Days Out.. Two Years Since The Alec Peters Interview (Carlos part IV)
https://youtu.be/8mieVx5VgUI
Alec and Mike refused to join the show.
And there ya go!
Didn’t he move to Georgia almost a year ago? How long does it take to make fifteen minutes of talking heads?
It is ALWAYS 30 days out!
So June 3rd. I will put that on my calendar.
I've finally discovered the secret to why Axanar hasn't been made yet!
Yes, it's all because of the Pac Man Effect. Yes!
You see, the actual shooting is right on one of the sides of the screen and every time we think it's been reached, it crosses over and teleports back to the funding.
Yes, it's all because of the Pac Man Effect. Yes!
You see, the actual shooting is right on one of the sides of the screen and every time we think it's been reached, it crosses over and teleports back to the funding.
AP wants very much to be legitimized and picked up by CBS as being true Star Trek and what the fans want to see. In that, he's got a point, I'd rather see a fan, any fan do Trek than the fiasco of Disco and the substanceless Abramsverse, but what it amounts to and probably has always been subconsciously all along, a rip off and attempted power grab/play for glory and money unfortunately in the desperate hopes of being uplifted to the pantheon and great heights of GR's Trek once again, which may be after all what people really want though it should have a fresh premise while retaining the same winning format that TOS had.
I think an updated series about Captain Robert April called First Frontier is where CBS needs to go or what could even be better than that but akin to it.
I think an updated series about Captain Robert April called First Frontier is where CBS needs to go or what could even be better than that but akin to it.
It's not going to get made.
Who are the "fans" that you are talking about?
Because, I'm not the least bit interested in Axanar. And I'm a fan. And I suspect, I'm not alone.
Fans are not monolith that all believe and feel the same way you do.
As a fan, I would rather NOT see low budget Star Trek.
As a fan, when the franchise does something I don't like, I don't watch. I do something else. And when the franchise makes something new, I try it out and see if I like it.
And, as a fan, I would also say, some of the heights of Star Trek, was work that Gene Roddenberry had nothing to do with. Star Trek 2, DS9, the good seasons of TNG.
No more prequels. Unless they are willing to ignore canon.
He is talking to the "real fans" and if you think violating any letter of canon or continuity and making a show in 2018 that doesn't look exatly like it would have in the 1960s then you do not qualify as a "real fan". Positive comments about enterprise, discovery, or kelvinverse and you must also turn in your "real fan" credentials because you just don't care about canon and what came before.
But I worked so hard to make my Real Fan credentials....
I think you're kinda nitpicking @Valenti's choice of words while ignoring his point. Just because not every fan likes the same things doesn't mean that AP can't tap into a significant subset of the fandom. Even if you hate the very idea of Axanar, the some odd million bucks the managed to raise came from somewhere, so he must have been selling something someone wanted.
It's probably true, though, that in the end, none of the fans will get what they want.
It's probably true, though, that in the end, none of the fans will get what they want.
The point is Alec claims to speak for the fans and for what the fans want. At best... at very best.. he speaks for a small subset of fans. He does not and never will speak for all fans. He will just pick his own definition or who is and is not a fan so he can believe he is speaking for all the fans that matter when he is speaking for a really very small number.
That is what leads him and his supportsers to the insane conclusion that if prelude had been attached to Beyond, that Beyond would have made millions and millions more.
Which subset are you referring to? The subset that's disillusioned with recent iterations of Star Trek, or the subset who wanted to see a completed Axanar? There may be overlap, but they're not the same thing.
(* Matt looks behind himself to see no one. *)
Who is he talking to? @Valenti, is he talking to you?
- Status