News Star Trek Voyager Documentary

[DonIago]

I guess my feeling is that this is the same company that did WWLB, which was an amazing documentary that I don't recall being especially delayed, while this one had to deal with the pandemic and all of the complexities it created. The wait has been annoying, but I guess I've never especially doubted that they'd deliver, even if I have doubts as to what the doc itself will look like, as I've expressed above.

If it had been by a different company, I might have been more guarded about it.

 

[Tomalak]

WWLB was a bit delayed, but they gave all backers digital access when it premiered, because the Blu-rays wouldn't ship for another few months. I'm surprised the Voyager doc didn't do this, unless I missed something.

It hasn't been handled as well last the DS9 doc, but I'm not too disappointed and am still looking forward to finally seeing it. But I would probably think twice about backing a future project from the same team.

My suspicion is that costs post-Covid rose dramatically after securing backing, which extended post-production time.

 

[Akiraprise]

I was just thinking along similar lines yesterday. Backers should have gotten to see the film soon after the premiere. Even just a link to view it. The time to completion has been an issue with me for about a year now, where my patience has worn thin, and I doubt I will donate to a similar project either.

 

[DonIago]

I'm mostly not sure what similar project they could come up with that I'd want to donate to. DS9 was a, "shut up and take my money!" proposition (hell, I paid to attend the premiere, and that was before I knew I'd get to meet ISB). I never felt similar passion for VOY, but I wanted to support the community and I thought a doc might finally address some of the BTS questions I'd had for a long time (which it sounds like it may not have done).

Getting me excited enough to open my wallet for a similar doc for ENT or one of the newer series would take more doing.

 

[tomalak301]

Getting me excited enough to open my wallet for a similar doc for ENT or one of the newer series would take more doing.

The only thing that could even get me to consider giving to an ENT documentary is a half an hour (preferably an hour) one on one sit down with Jolene Blalock and letting her be as candid and open as she wants, and no editing.

 

[Tomalak]

I'm mostly not sure what similar project they could come up with that I'd want to donate to. DS9 was a, "shut up and take my money!" proposition (hell, I paid to attend the premiere, and that was before I knew I'd get to meet ISB). I never felt similar passion for VOY, but I wanted to support the community and I thought a doc might finally address some of the BTS questions I'd had for a long time (which it sounds like it may not have done).

Getting me excited enough to open my wallet for a similar doc for ENT or one of the newer series would take more doing.

The main attraction for me for both docs was that DS9 and VGR didn't ever look likely to get a Blu-ray remaster and the associated extras that TNG and ENT got. So I don't really know what could tempt me either.

 

[Firebird]

The only possible documentary I could see me considering backing from these folks is something as candid as possible on the creation and writing of Discovery, because there was just as much "chaos on the Bridge" in the writers' rooms as was faced by TNG during its first few seasons.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

There seems to be some poor memory here. Yes, WWLB was awesome, but it grew far beyond its original scope. The crowdfunding campaign was largely to help put music behind the footage that they had already filmed. It would have been a 50 minute documentary, set apart only by the writers' room segment, but mostly interviews of the actors and some of the writers. The success of the campaign started to change the thinking about the documentary, and things could have spiraled out of control. Actors were interviewed a second time. More of the creative and technical staff were interviewed. They started soliciting fan testimonials. It was recut numerous times before its premiere. After the premiere, it was recut again, this time the archival footage was digitized. This actually necessitated a second round of crowdfunding.

I suspect that there was better communication for WWLB. Behr, Visitor, and Robinson were frequent guests on podcasts.

My own fear is that WWLB would be a weight on the neck of TTJ, dragging it down. Lolita Fatjo probably offers great insight into the business that was Voyager. However, someone on the creative side needed to take over, someone like Braga. Although it's disheartening that people who have seen it were not impressed, I am still looking forward to the documentary. I think David Zappone is generally doing good work. I believe he filmed the interviews Nana Visitor did for her book, and I hope something about it hits film.

 

[Tosk]

There seems to be some poor memory here. Yes, WWLB was awesome, but it grew far beyond its original scope. The crowdfunding campaign was largely to help put music behind the footage that they had already filmed. It would have been a 50 minute documentary, set apart only by the writers' room segment, but mostly interviews of the actors and some of the writers. The success of the campaign started to change the thinking about the documentary, and things could have spiraled out of control.

The original crowdfunding encapsulated all of that. The extended runtime, the original score, and additional interviews were all established stretch goals there from the beginning. The stretch goals also covered select HD show clips, but as the edit came together they decided to try to get all the clips upgraded, hence the follow-up campaign.

 

[tomalak301]

There seems to be some poor memory here. Yes, WWLB was awesome, but it grew far beyond its original scope.

I don't remember waiting 4 years from when I donated to the campaign to when I can see the film. I think it was more tightly knit in terms of keeping with a schedule. With TTJ, it's felt like they dragged their feet and the only sense of urgency you can get was when you paid more money for conventions or a cruise. The Communication has been crap all the way through the entire process.

 

[Firebird]

I don't remember waiting 4 years from when I donated to the campaign to when I can see the film. I think it was more tightly knit in terms of keeping with a schedule. With TTJ, it's felt like they dragged their feet and the only sense of urgency you can get was when you paid more money for conventions or a cruise. The Communication has been crap all the way through the entire process.

Now that I think of it, has there been any communication since the theatrical premieres of the documentary?

 

[Akiraprise]

No. Which is kind of odd but also in keeping with how this thing has gone down. This was the last one. I was posting them here to keep a record of sorts.

News - Star Trek Voyager Documentary

I had no idea VOY not only had to suffer the UPN debacle too (and like ENT), but basically helped launch UPN in the first place! Was interesting learning about the actors and actresses and how the got the role - learned lots of things there. I am sorry to hear the cast & crew didn't get a...

www.trekbbs.com

 

[Cryogenator]

Another treat: they spent about five minutes or so on Bujold, which included footage of her in bridge and ready room scenes that I had never seen or heard of before.

Remastered?

...but the events of the show aren't real.

If a multiverse exists, they might be.

 

[Phaser Two]

I'm sorry to hear about the poor communication about TTJ from the producers. That's unfortunate. I also agree that those who contributed should have received some sort of link to view the finished product by now, but perhaps there will be a release of some sort very soon - it has been only about two months since the premieres, after all - and that will alleviate concerns.

As far as the content-related complaints, they leave me a bit cold but to each their own. I'm not sure how realistic it was to expect a hard-hitting, tell-all exposé. My interpretation of the product is that it was nice to see interviews with almost every key creative contributor, and I could easily see the film sparking interest - assuming it's released somewhere! - among people who haven't seen Voyager.

 

[Tomalak]

Yeah, I don't expect to have much issue of the content of the documentary - I'm just irked that it's taken so long to produce, and as a day one backer I feel pretty let-down with how the communication and distribution has been handled compared with the experience on WWLB.

A couple of months on from the premiere, I'm still no nearer to knowing when I'm going to receive my Blu-ray. There's apparently an event in San Francisco towards the end of this month, so maybe something will emerge then. I won't hold my breath!

 

[DonIago]

I simply don't feel that discussing Harry's lack of promotion or what happened with Jennifer Lien are particularly hard-hitting questions. I'm not looking to point fingers at anyone; I just want some of the most commonly discussed concerns about the series to get at least a mention. WWLB didn't shy away from discussing Terry Farrell's departure, even if the answers didn't necessarily allow for any hard conclusions.

 

[tomalak301]

A couple of months on from the premiere, I'm still no nearer to knowing when I'm going to receive my Blu-ray. There's apparently an event in San Francisco towards the end of this month, so maybe something will emerge then. I won't hold my breath!

Ah yes, you have to pay for another event to get an update on something you already paid for. I'm not even going to this San Francisco event this year. I doubt they will send out an email explaining what was said at the convention. They haven't for any of the others. Heck, those panels should be live streamed and available on youtube for everyone to consume afterwards. Did anyone who works on this thing ever think of that?

 

[Firebird]

Ah yes, you have to pay for another event to get an update on something you already paid for. I'm not even going to this San Francisco event this year. I doubt they will send out an email explaining what was said at the convention. They haven't for any of the others. Heck, those panels should be live streamed and available on youtube for everyone to consume afterwards. Did anyone who works on this thing ever think of that?

The insulting thing is that they've been revealing more stuff at conventions prior to informing the actual backers of the damn project first. That's what has me pissed off more than anything - I've paid my money, but it doesn't seem to be enough. All I have to show for contributing to this fiasco is a coffee mug.

At a goddamn minimum, all backers should've had a link to stream the documentary within a week of the first theatrical premiere.

 

[cuervo7]

Two weeks ago they posted the following 'update' in the comments section of the Indiegogo site.

455 Films 15 days ago
Project Owner
We will provide release dates as soon as we have them. A few of the actors, now having seen the backer premiere cut, want to augment their interview. We’re working on this now, in addition to preparing the special features. We appreciate your support.

So it appears the film is not yet finished. A few months back they were also talking about having to wait for a 'distribution deal' (whatever that means) before blu-rays/digital downloads can be sent out.
I'm sure the documentary will be just fine but the lack of communication and updates is really annoying.

 

[Akiraprise]

"Augment their interview..."

I mean I don't really know what else to say at this point. I feel that those of us that backed this have been more than patient, if perhaps a little pissy at times, but we ponied up the cash to help create this and at this point should have been able to stream the already premiered documentary. Polished DVDs and Blu-rays can come later for those that paid for those but at minimum let us view what others have already seen.