Re: STAR TREK "SOLDIERS OF PAWNS" - Script, Novel & Fan Film
Monday, November 24th, 2008
Hello fans of
Star Trek, and to those of you in the United States, very best wishes for a happy and safe
Thanksgiving a couple days from now.
I am the writer of the
Star Trek ''Soldiers of Pawns'' screenplay.
Soldiers of Pawns is currently being novelized by published science fiction author, Glenn E. Smith (
The Call of Duty) and myself.
Now that many of us have seen and know a lot more about the exciting movie coming our way next summer, and now that it looks like
Star Trek is in ''good hands'' with J.J. Abrams and company, it seemed an appropriate time to retire the
Soldiers of Pawns screenplay.
Anyone who wishes to do so can now download, read and enjoy it over the long holiday weekend and throughout the Christmas season.
For those of you ''trekking'' home to family or friends, perhaps delayed in an airport or sitting in the dim reading light of a crowded flight, this is a great adventure in which to lose yourself and get into the spirit of the season. It
might even offer a ''temporary fix'' to get some of you by until the release of next summer's anxiously awaited movie.
Equally as epic in scope as the new movie,
Soldiers of Pawns is, however, a much different story. It does not ''fit'' into the movie's ''new canon'' but readily fits into everything we've seen up to now. It follows the story of young James Tiberius Kirk and his friendship with Gary Mitchell, beginning in Iowa where the boys first meet, and rejoining them later on the bridge of the
U.S.S. Farragut eleven years before Kirk's ultimate destiny commanding the
Enterprise.
It is a story of heroes and villains, fathers and sons, family, best friends, first love, honor, legacy,
and it uncovers a conspiracy that looms in the shadows of a young Federation.
Every turn of the page brings intrigue, mystery, surprise and adventure, and it is guaranteed to make you laugh, cheer, hope and even perhaps shed a tear or two. It is a grand story of epic proportions; a sweeping
Star Trek tale for fans of all ''generations.''
Glenn and I will jointly monitor this topic, and gladly welcome the opportunity to respond to any questions or comments anyone might have. Please, however, be sensitive to the other potential readers by implementing ''spoiler'' tags appropriately.
Best wishes and
Enjoy
Geoffrey Alan Holliday
_______________
Star Trek ''Soldiers of Pawns'' is an original story and screenplay based on
Star Trek®.
Star Trek® and all associated marks and characters are registered trademarks of
Paramount and CBS. All Rights Reserved. The use of anything related to
''Star Trek'' in
Star Trek ''Soldiers of Pawns'' is not meant to be an infringement on
Paramount or CBS property rights to
''Star Trek.''
You may either continue and read the FAQ below or you can click here to download an Adobe Acrobat PDF of the screenplay
THE ''JOURNEY'' BEHIND STAR TREK ''SOLDIERS OF PAWNS''
Soldiers of Pawns began its decades long journey in the imaginations of two young boys growing up during the ''dry years'' of
Star Trek in the 1970's.
Just like everyone else at that time, my brother Stuart and I had only the original 79 episodes to watch over and over in syndication...
and we wanted more. What would eventually become
Soldiers of Pawns evolved over many endless summers spent together growing up and playing
Star Trek.
The story drew upon many of our adventures as we beamed down from our ''basement bridge'' to explore a surprisingly large number of forested class-M planets provided by the woods behind our home.
Unfortunately Stu did not complete his life's journey in this world, which he left far too early by his own choice in December of 1984, but it was my privilege to know such a creative soul for those precious few years. All the creativity, inspiration and collaboration I was blessed with lives on in
Soldiers of Pawns.
In the years that followed, I continued to develop
Soldiers of Pawns alone. During my undergraduate years and later while attending the
American Film Institute (AFI), it underwent many incarnations and has evolved with the times, but the core elements have survived intact.
Fast-forward to just a few years back when what was popularly coined as ''franchise fatigue'' began to set in after many wonderful years of the ''TNG era.'' I had just pitched for the final season of
Star Trek Enterprise. This led to my former manager being able to arrange a meeting for me with some studio executives at
Paramount who were looking for ''tent-pole'' feature ideas.
I formulated several concepts to pitch and decided I would also include ''my big
Star Trek idea'' as well. I felt the time was right to give
Star Trek a more epic and sweeping scope, and even to consider new faces on perhaps some of the most beloved characters in science fiction--our intrepid heroes from the original
Star Trek series. I was not alone in thinking this obviously.
Unfortunately, as fate would have it, the meeting vaporized during an untimely but all too common ''shuffle'' of studio executives, and among those ''shuffled out'' were very executives with whom I was to meet. They were gone and so, with that, my ''big
Star Trek idea'' found its way into my ''dusty shoebox of memories'' and I moved on.
Well, as we all know, almost 3 years ago,
Star Trek arose ''from the ashes'' once again like the Phoenix, brought to us by the incredible J.J. Abrams, and it is now only just a few long unbearable months away.
When I first heard the news, I decided to ''dust off''
Soldiers of Pawns one last time and give it a final revision with ''shoot the Moon'' plans to perhaps take it to the small screen as a mini-series, or ''plan-B''...to perhaps realize it as the most ambitious fan-produced
Star Trek-inspired project ever undertaken.
It was also during this time that I had the privilege to become acquainted with writer Glenn E. Smith, author of
The Call of Duty. Before we knew it, destiny compelled us to collaborate to adapt this wonderful story and screenplay into a novel.
As work progressed, I decided eventually to set aside all other ''grand plans'' for
Soldiers of Pawns and focus everything on the novel.
Collaborating with Glenn in this endeavor has been an absolutely wonderful experience. It is truly the first time since those early days with my brother that I feel such a synergy of imagination and creativity I've missed for so long since losing Stu.
Being a story that takes place
before the TOS era, not all of the characters we know and love appear. We did not ''throw in the kitchen sink.'' We included familiar faces appropriately, but it was never our quest to ''parade'' all of the wonderful characters from the original series in some sort of busy and confusing spectacle.
Some familiar faces appear, some
don't--and
some even make appearances from
other incarnations of
Star Trek.
At its best,
Star Trek was always a look into the future
and a look at the present...all wrapped up in a compelling story. Some creative license has been taken as
Soldiers of Pawns evolved over its decades long journey, but my brother and I, and now Glenn as well, have always done our very best never to stray too far from the spirit of Gene Roddenberry's original vision or from the core story elements hatched in the imaginations of two brothers growing up together so long ago.
_______________
Star Trek ''Soldiers of Pawns'' is an original story and screenplay based on
Star Trek®.
Star Trek® and all associated marks and characters are registered trademarks of
Paramount and CBS. All Rights Reserved. The use of anything related to
''Star Trek'' in
Star Trek ''Soldiers of Pawns'' is not meant to be an infringement on
Paramount or CBS property rights to
''Star Trek.''http://summerstormpictures.com/Summ... ''Soldiers of Pawns'' - Script Download.html