Great news! Really enjoyed "Mind Sifter" which I read in the 70s and always hoped to see filmed. Thought Jeff Bond was a kick-ass McCoy, and look forward to "Torment." Any idea of a release date?
I donated to that kickstarter, and I didn't do it to support the sets. But I know that when you donate to a fan film, you don't really know what will come of it. I just wrote it off to experience. If James does release another film, excellent.
I donated, and I have enjoyed each episode. Looking forward to seeing hopefully two more episodes. I whish James could complete his vision of taking us up to the first movie time frame. LLAP
The latest post on their facebook page is interesting - in response to someone who didn't like the series. They shared a photo that a fan linked to one of the STAR TREK page from the most recently released production with the following notation ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daniel Cer to Star Trek December 13 at 7:29pm · Star Trek New Voyages? What's this? I started to watch but it was painfully atrocious. Has anyone tried it? Their reply... "For those wondering why James Cawley gave up playing Kirk and why New Voyages has stopped making new episodes, it is not just because of a certain legal case, that just finalized it, it is also because of "fans" like this that have nothing but contempt for all the hard work and effort we put into making these episodes for you. For our team, reading such comments is extremely hard and we cannot understand how so-called "fans" can be so nasty and mean? Well, "they" have won the day and New Voyages and other fan-films have more or less all closed their doors, some just releasing their final episodes. When we read comments such as these on this post, it makes us sad to be Trek fans, to read such comments after all the massive efforts we have put into this." Sorry about this rant, but I believe people just do not realize what happens when they make such comments. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "They" have one the day? "Other fan films have more or less closed their doors" - They are being rather over sensitive and overly dramatic,don't you think? They (Before STC came along)was the biggest fan film series and James should have expected a level of criticism from day one. This is nothing but excuses as there was,and still are, more people PRO/POSITIVE/FOR STNV/P2 than ever against it.
I guess the idea of saying "I appreciate the effort, but I really didn't dig the finished product" is beyond some people. I think fan film producers know all too well, they're not going to please everyone, but that kind of mean-spiritedness does hurt...but then I guess that's the point.
They're not fans. They're trolls. I deal with a couple of these every week. I just delete them and block the user. You have to just can't let them get to you or they win. Frankly, I'm more than a little disappointed that P2/NV isn't going to complete the episodes they've filmed. That's an injustice to the cast, crew, donors, and supporters of those works. And I don't think all that many productions are shutting down. We've released more films this year than ever before. Starbase Studios has as well.
Yup... they obviously don't want to continue any longer (no pun intended), but wallowing in and centering on the negativity isn't helping their case any, nor is the lack of movement after the last couple fundraisers. Deflecting some of the blame onto other productions (and thin enough skin to let trolls get to them) hits a bit of that axanar "nerve" for me. I know AP was quite involved with the "final" leg of P2 before departing (biggest shame - he could have just used their sets) and the whole thing leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. I still love their pilot and first 2 episodes. They are the first fan films I ever saw, the first novelty, or guilty pleasure, or whatever you want to call it, that has sent me back to Trek, or at least TOS and its underground. Its too bad things didn't work out differently.
Perhaps people should start asking for refunds from NV/P2 for the donations for the episodes that were not completed or released. They had A LOT of fan support and donations for episodes only partly completed, then abandoned for various reasons ("Origins", "Bread and Savagery" ) and continued to raise funds for other episodes. James should have stopped production sooner than he did if he was unhappy. He's happy with his "Set Tour" and I wish him the best of luck with that and continuing to be the best Elvis around. But he needs to address the unfinished business. (oh, you guys as "Potemkin Productions" put out some good stuff! Very Enjoyable)
No, he doesn't need to address unfinished business. He gave us many episodes, and I'm very sad that there will be no more, but anyone who donates to a kickstarter should realize that there is no contract and the money may just disappear. That's the way these things work. You aren't buying something you are supporting a cause. If the person leading the cause abandons it, well, that's sad. But it's the way of the world.
The past episodes have nothing to do with the episodes that they ran their last kickstarter for. The footage is complete; they just aren't releasing it. The guidelines aren't retroactive; there is no legal reason not to release them. They were doing fine at the level they were at.... if I'm not mistaken, they were convinced to reboot themselves, upgrade themselves, recast themsleves and rebuild themselves. If I'm not mistaken, this was at the urging of someone who has no idea what his limits should be. Even if they aren't perfect, the episodes should all see the light of day, IMO.... their earlier stuff was beloved the way it was. They didn't need to try to compete with STC.
So you want Cawley to act like Alec Peters and Axanar? Part of the reason people are pissed is because AP squandered $1.4 million in kickstarter funds and made NO MOVIE. I'm pretty sure fans of Star Trek fan films aren't gonna get bitten by that crap again. So yes, he's eventually going to have to address the episodes that the fans literally paid for, and he can thank Alec Peters for that.
That is incorrect... https://www.kickstarter.com/blog/accountability-on-kickstarter?page=2 Is a creator legally obligated to fulfill the promises of their project? Yes. Kickstarter's Terms of Use require creators to fulfill all rewards of their project or refund any backer whose reward they do not or cannot fulfill. (This is what creators see before they launch.) We crafted these terms to create a legal requirement for creators to follow through on their projects, and to give backers a recourse if they don't. We hope that backers will consider using this provision only in cases where they feel that a creator has not made a good faith effort to complete the project and fulfill.
Yet another reminder: To clarify some details on our 2015 Star Trek New Voyages Kickstarter, we specified to what the donated money was to be applied: "FIRST GOAL: $20,000 "$20,000 covers the basic costs (very basic) of our July 2015 Shoot, such as electricity, equipment rental and other filming expenses. So, making our base goal allows us to cover our basic expenses, and leaves covering the rest of the shoot expenses up to our production team. "$50,000 STRETCH GOAL "With your help in reaching this goal, the rest of our expenses for our July 2015 "Torment of Destiny" shoot will be met, and this will also allow us the funding necessary to complete more of our standing sets including realize a fully completed Medical office/Lab and Exam Room! So Please help the good Doctor McCoy get his digs!" Since we (just barely) hit the $50,000 Stretch Goal ($50,001!) we seem to be obliged to provide the following things: Basic production costs for our June 2015 shoot ("Torment of Destiny") DONE Post-production costs (editing, color timing, music, sound effects, etc.) necessary to get "Torment of Destiny" released IN PROCESS Completion of more of our standing sets--including McCoy's medical office/laboratory/examination room Sick Bay suite. DONE So, to make good on this Kickstarter campaign, we've been working on completing "Torment of Destiny." Much time, energy, money, and resources are being sunk into our new "Star Trek: The Original Set Tour" project. But we continue to get work done on "Torment of Destiny;" I'm optimistic that we'll finally get it out the door eventually. I don't know what James' plans are for "Origins: The Protracted Man," and for "Bread and Savagery." (I knew at one time, but it's all a new ball game since CBS' Fan Film Guidelines were released. I don't know what James' thinking is now; much post-production work remains on these two episodes.)
Guidelines have NOTHING to do with "in production" episodes. None. Zero. Irrelevant. No one cares about post production anymore. Whatever rough cuts exist would be more then watchable for fans. This isn't a competition. We would watch whatever they have.
^ THIS. Worst-case scenario, you can take a page from The Clone Wars and their unfinished 'Story Reel' episodes from their aborted sixth season. Just put the live-action footage in the right order, use storyboard images (assuming you used storyboards) in place of VFX shots, and place a disclaimer up front stating 'This was never finished, but we wanted to show you what we were trying for." (Hell, the more industrious fans may turn around and finish the shots for you!) I can't see CBS/Paramount being too upset at that, as it's obviously not trying to compete with anything at that point.
If it wasn't for "bad blood" I bet STC wouuld be more then happy to complete "Origins." NV doesn't like it when people fan-edit their work, though. It feels like this turned into a "competition" when STC came onto the scene, and with their thunder stolen , they took their toys and went home rather then finish playing. Its a bit sad. Didn't need to turn out like this in any way.
You know with a little editing and narration, longer material can be reformatted into the new guidelines of "2, 15 minute parts." If need be. Just saying.
Glad to hear that NV is still working on Torment of Destiny and that they will eventually release it. I'm still really looking forward to that episode!