Star Trek: Axanar

[Ithekro]

The Kickstarter is up and it has a newer, longer trailer for Prelude to Axanar.

The added length shows some things about what is happening the more or less follow the FASA "history" about the Four Years War. Also the more, larger, and better Klingons ships are coming, be ready Starfleet.

 

[RCAM]

I have no issue with the link as I've already done an article on the project and mentioned it myself, so it's legit to discuss it in the context of the thread about the project.

Okay, cool. I only noticed because the links have been removed in similar situations elsewhere (such as Horizon's thread).

Didn't want to come off like a jerk. I'm all for everyone having easy access to these pages and information.

 

[MikeH92467]

Looking at the quality of production the Axanar crew is going to put out for such a paltry (by Hollywood standards) sum does raise the question of where the zillions of dollars that go into productions from mainstream studios really end up.

 

[urbandefault]

Looking at the quality of production the Axanar crew is going to put out for such a paltry (by Hollywood standards) sum does raise the question of where the zillions of dollars that go into productions from mainstream studios really end up.

The studios have layers upon layers of people who must be paid for their work. Not to mention state of the art effects, costumes, travel, and other expenses. A huge business with these kinds of investments require huge returns to stay in business and to create more product for their audiences.

I don't understand where the problem is.

 

[MikeH92467]

Looking at the quality of production the Axanar crew is going to put out for such a paltry (by Hollywood standards) sum does raise the question of where the zillions of dollars that go into productions from mainstream studios really end up.

The studios have layers upon layers of people who must be paid for their work. Not to mention state of the art effects, costumes, travel, and other expenses. A huge business with these kinds of investments require huge returns to stay in business and to create more product for their audiences.

I don't understand where the problem is.

That's certainly true to some extent. However, there is an old saying "you can't steal a million dollars from a million dollar picture".

 

[Noname Given]

Looking at the quality of production the Axanar crew is going to put out for such a paltry (by Hollywood standards) sum does raise the question of where the zillions of dollars that go into productions from mainstream studios really end up.

The studios have layers upon layers of people who must be paid for their work. Not to mention state of the art effects, costumes, travel, and other expenses. A huge business with these kinds of investments require huge returns to stay in business and to create more product for their audiences.

I don't understand where the problem is.

That's certainly true to some extent. However, there is an old saying "you can't steal a million dollars from a million dollar picture".

Remember we're talking about a system that tried to claim the film Forest Gump was a financial disaster when the author of the Novel came looking for payment from his contact's profit sharing clause..

Box office performance:

Produced on a budget of $55 million, Forrest Gump opened in 1,595 theaters in its first weekend of domestic release, earning $24,450,602. Motion picture business consultant and screenwriter Jeffrey Hilton suggested to producer Wendy Finerman to double the P&A (film marketing budget) based on his viewing of an early print of the film. The budget was immediately increased, per his advice. The film placed first in the weekend's box office, narrowly beating The Lion King, which was in its fourth week of release. For the first ten weeks of its release, the film held the number one position at the box office. The film remained in theaters for 42 weeks, earning $329.7 million in the United States and Canada, making it the fourth-highest grossing film at that time (behind only E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Star Wars IV: A New Hope, and Jurassic Park).

The film took 66 days to surpass $250 million and was the fastest grossing Paramount film to pass $100 million, $200 million, and $300 million in box office receipts (at the time of its release). The film had gross receipts of $329,694,499 in the U.S. and Canada and $347,693,217 in international markets for a total of $677,387,716 worldwide.

Yet:

Winston Groom was paid $350,000 for the screenplay rights to his novel Forrest Gump and was contracted for a 3 percent share of the film's net profits. However, Paramount and the film's producers did not pay him, using Hollywood accounting to posit that the blockbuster film lost money. Tom Hanks, by contrast, contracted for the film's gross receipts instead of a salary, and he and director Zemeckis each received $40 million. Additionally, Groom was not mentioned once in any of the film's six Oscar-winner speeches. The dispute was later resolved.

It's why many things are done as 'non-union productions' (right or wrong); as the Hollywood unions have high fee costs and strict procedures (not related to safety) as to exactly how certain things need to be done, usually meaning swelled production crew numbers, etc.

 

[Barbreader]

The studios have layers upon layers of people who must be paid for their work. Not to mention state of the art effects, costumes, travel, and other expenses. A huge business with these kinds of investments require huge returns to stay in business and to create more product for their audiences.

I don't understand where the problem is.

That's certainly true to some extent. However, there is an old saying "you can't steal a million dollars from a million dollar picture".

Remember we're talking about a system that tried to claim the film Forest Gump was a financial disaster when the author of the Novel came looking for payment from his contact's profit sharing clause..

Box office performance:

Produced on a budget of $55 million, Forrest Gump opened in 1,595 theaters in its first weekend of domestic release, earning $24,450,602. Motion picture business consultant and screenwriter Jeffrey Hilton suggested to producer Wendy Finerman to double the P&A (film marketing budget) based on his viewing of an early print of the film. The budget was immediately increased, per his advice. The film placed first in the weekend's box office, narrowly beating The Lion King, which was in its fourth week of release. For the first ten weeks of its release, the film held the number one position at the box office. The film remained in theaters for 42 weeks, earning $329.7 million in the United States and Canada, making it the fourth-highest grossing film at that time (behind only E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Star Wars IV: A New Hope, and Jurassic Park).

The film took 66 days to surpass $250 million and was the fastest grossing Paramount film to pass $100 million, $200 million, and $300 million in box office receipts (at the time of its release). The film had gross receipts of $329,694,499 in the U.S. and Canada and $347,693,217 in international markets for a total of $677,387,716 worldwide.

Yet:

Winston Groom was paid $350,000 for the screenplay rights to his novel Forrest Gump and was contracted for a 3 percent share of the film's net profits. However, Paramount and the film's producers did not pay him, using Hollywood accounting to posit that the blockbuster film lost money. Tom Hanks, by contrast, contracted for the film's gross receipts instead of a salary, and he and director Zemeckis each received $40 million. Additionally, Groom was not mentioned once in any of the film's six Oscar-winner speeches. The dispute was later resolved.

It's why many things are done as 'non-union productions' (right or wrong); as the Hollywood unions have high fee costs and strict procedures (not related to safety) as to exactly how certain things need to be done, usually meaning swelled production crew numbers, etc.

Blaming costing expenses that have to be carried no matter what to a picture to make it appear like it lost money has nothing to do with unions. But thanks for saying what political party you are a devotee of, Foxahalic.

 

[Maurice]

Looking at the quality of production the Axanar crew is going to put out for such a paltry (by Hollywood standards) sum does raise the question of where the zillions of dollars that go into productions from mainstream studios really end up.

Um, mostly lockdown singles of actors and some spaceship stuff...hardly a comparison at all to a Hollywood feature at this point.

 

[urbandefault]

Looking at the quality of production the Axanar crew is going to put out for such a paltry (by Hollywood standards) sum does raise the question of where the zillions of dollars that go into productions from mainstream studios really end up.

The studios have layers upon layers of people who must be paid for their work. Not to mention state of the art effects, costumes, travel, and other expenses. A huge business with these kinds of investments require huge returns to stay in business and to create more product for their audiences.

I don't understand where the problem is.

That's certainly true to some extent. However, there is an old saying "you can't steal a million dollars from a million dollar picture".

There's another old saying, but I can't remember it at the moment.

But that doesn't change the fact that big studios make big budget films to make big box office, so they can pay the high salaries negotiated by directors and cast. Not to mention paying the upline execs, staff, etc., and keeping the shareholders happy.

Fan films don't have that built-in burden. Not to say that their burdens are any lighter, just less costly.

A small operation with bigtime money could do amazing things.

 

[Ithekro]

On the plus side, Prelude to Axanar looks absolutely awesome. It is just over 21 minutes long.

Richard Hatch plays a very good Klingon by the old standards of Klingons before TNG Klingons started to be a thing.

Lots of FASA Four Years War references and references to people and events in Enterprise makes the "documentary" flow like it was a real thing. Should be out to the general public next weekend. For now the donors are starting to drool all over it, even if they got it a day later than expected.

 

[Duane]

If you haven't seen "Prelude" yet it is very well done. It's one big tease for the movie to come. Several things popped for me, including the sound quality, the sound effects and the acting. Acting-wise there isn't one false note.

The visual effects appear to be 'Star Trek: Enterprise' quality but my eye for these things is not that good. My favorite VFX was the Klingon ship (D7?) in the atmosphere of a planet as it was breaking up. That was super nice.

 

[Danlav05]

I watched the Prelude earlier. I didn't know much about the Four-Year War but it's VERY well done - the quality still lives up to the hype.

There are several continuity references and name drops, the acting is very good - Richard Hatch as Kharn is sure to be a fan favourite. The movie has a lot to live up to but with THAT crew behind the film I reckon it will!

 

[Barbreader]

Alec said he'd post it on the web for the general public on July 30, 2014. I will be giving it a Headline as soon as I see it has been posted for all to see.

 

[USS Intrepid]

I watched it and enjoyed it quite a bit. Nice to see people doing something different with the format.

My hat's off to Team Axanar, who should be rightly proud of their accomplishments.

 

[137th Gebirg]

^^^ Agreed - really liking the "History Channel format" with this, interviews with the people "who were there", interspersed with dramatic recreations and CG that, IMO, rivals anything on TV and most movies today. This might seriously raise the bar and create a whole new fan film gold standard.

 

[CmdrAJD]

I watched it this morning and really enjoyed it. The film looks fantastic, and, as someone else mentioned, there wasn't a single false note in the acting. My 14-year-old son, who is decidedly not a Trek fan, walked into the room shortly after I started it and ended up staying for the whole thing. I've already backed the Kickstarter for the full film. Hopefully it will be even more impressive.

 

[Karak Soon]

Check out the new Kickstarter for Star Trek Axanar here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/194429923/star-trek-axanar

The Prelude To Axanar trailer is shown now (2mimutes), but on Wednesday the whole if it (22minutes) will be up for all to enjoy!

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Based on what I saw this evening, they should easily meet their $100K fundraising goal, because Prelude to Axanar kicked some serious ass.

 

[Ithekro]

My only hope is that whatever style they use for the main film can keep up the acting of Prelude even if it is not in documentary style.

 

[MikeH92467]

My only hope is that whatever style they use for the main film can keep up the acting of Prelude even if it is not in documentary style.

It should. The resumes of almost all of the actors are very impressive. Alec Peters doesn't have the resume to match most of the cast, but he's been solid in the clips I've seen and in his Phase II cameo. He's also being coached by Richard Hatch, so I'm really not worried.