From the fan-film guidelines to Rihanna, and Beyond — My take on all those Trek headlines, in one fell swoop

 
Wow. I picked the wrong week to go off-the-grid into bad wi-fi back home in Soonerland...!

I have so much to get done with "5-0 Fever" con summer and the Trek tour bearing down, plus a new On Speaker archival CD edition to get out ... and a nice website redesign for Trekland, finally, and Portal 47 both in the works...

But I have to say a few things about the crazy going down in Trekland the last few days—starting with the fan film guidelines came out the day I traveled to SoonerCon. (Of course. Oh, and the reaction.)
 
So take an extra 4.7 minutes and I'll wrap it all up for now in one subspace blast and say...

REALLY, Trekland? So much hate and trolling and boycotting...and, right NOW?

Take a breath and step back a sec. Let's put it on the main viewer, shall we?

It's July, 2016. We have a Star Trek feature film that is not only looking more like Star Trek to the hardcore than its two priors... but an exciting episodic series under an award-winning Trek vet with a mix of both Trek alumni and newer voices ...on a platform that will not be ruled by ratings numbers or even note-popping censors ... and, in Rihanna's "Sledgehammer," a Bond-like music hit and video mix from an actual fangirl superstar that will cross generations, continents and media to bring all-new eyeballs to all things movie-Trek and start the pipeline of fresh cadets and warriors and drones all over again.

Rihanna's "Sledgehammer" video w alt-Enterprise: Anyone else see a "The Doomsday Machine" homage here?

PLUS an awesome 50th anniversary that *is* living up to far more than just party hype—with major conventions around the globe, concerts and museum /science tours and the return of the 1960s original 11-footer Big E to its rightful place of inspiring honor in the Smithsonian, complete with a highly researched paint and detail restoration. I just missed seeing the 1701 in 1976, saw it in 1986, was disappointed in 1992... and can't wait to glimpse her return to glory in a couple weeks, right before Shore Leave.

And this is all grabbing mainstream media attention ...smack in the middle of the Big Bang Theory Era. That's what they used to call "synergy."

How people can be poking holes in all that positive, franchise-refreshing force for good is just beyond me. Really. But hey, don't misunderstand: I'm not saying go vanilla—I'm just saying go smart.

What I really refuse to do is get too sucked into the time and negativity sink over the Axanar lawsuit and all the tangent spinoffs from it—while still avoiding any "deer in the headlights" blindsiding.  While you might be feeling a bit down that the Golden Age of Fan Films seems to be over, let me just suggest that it might simply be ...evolving. For I remember all the prior times "Paramount" was decried by fans— from the marketing study and boycott over Spock's death threatened for The Wrath of Khan, to the upset over the "new" upstart TNG without Kirk/Spock/McCoy... and the yell over every new iteration of series to come. And somehow, it all came out in the end just fine. I even hear Star Trek AND its fandom hung around and pressed on.

Look, my low-key friend John van Citters of CBS licensing is now an unlikely Internet star front-and-center over the "fan film guidelines" (thanks to Jordan Hoffman's new official podcast Engage)—but that's the same JVC who used to point out to me years ago, at the clamor for embracing such "rules," how "a Lucasfilms model of 5-minute festival entries would never fly with Trek fans so let's just leave it in the gray area to avoid getting those lawyers involved"--the guys who care less about promotion and brand-building, and more about fiduciary duty and legal precedent. As is their oath. 

That's how I know what a huge leap these guidelines were, for the corporate machinery to agree to as much as they did—even as, to some fans, that 15/30-minute limit may seem restrictive...which is inevitable. There will be a bit of customizing in reaction, on a case-by-case basis ... but look, guys: For nearly two years, I've been worried. I mean, I've been soooo proud to have acted in, and remain a part of the think thank, for Continues; I appeared in New Voyages early on, and have supported Starbase Studios back home in OKC plus any other project that asked for it, on principal.  And yet, sadly, the boom does seem unsustainable in some ways: Today's zooming crowdfunding and temptations mean it was increasingly likely this ever-more-overloaded plane was going to have a rough landing on the choppy sea of expectations sometime— and becoming more apparent every month to many of us.


And face it: As I've said for a couple years now, I was also expecting a lot of the fan-film fire to go out—by fan producers, if not backers and attention spans in general—once a Trek series got going again, sucking all the air out of the room with new canon content to follow and fathom. That's right around the corner, now.

Question is, when and where and how rough would that landing be, who'd take charge in the crisis (if anyone), and who would get hurt in the crash? And would the "owner" CBS/Paramount get blamed, no matter what?

The post-guidelines world will not be this way forever—just ask the website owners who freely post scene clip frames today, unlike in 1996 when C&D's by Paramount went out as frame-grabbing exploded ... or the "official" editors like me four years later who could not mention actors' non-Trek crossover projects in depth—until we could. (Professor X in a Trek mag, anyone?) Or the idea of limiting later-generation Trek cast and crew to only licensed conventions (ca 2001).

The truth is, things in any pop culture franchise "poppish" enough to be alive are always the edgiest on the cutting edge—the fun frontier where no attorneys or rights-protectors have gone before. Until everyone does go there, at least, and things settle down....and then start up again in another paradigm. That's just the world we live it. It's unsettled, but it's ever-fresh: And it's the price you pay for having an incredibly attractive, thought-provoking little space show that keeps attracting new fans, new iterations, new business ...and refuses to die after 50 years.

The other truth is this: For all the meme meltdowns online past and present, fan film fandom... con-going regulars  ....hell, all Internet Trek fandom... are just a drop in the bucket among all the armchair fans out there. You know: the folks who watch the shows, buy the books and toys, and raise their kids with Trek?

And now... a boycott? Really? Aside from the basic math, consider the timing.

Because Vulcan's Forge was never like this: We are FINALLY emerging from wandering the Trek desert of the last 12 years, and have now a transition time from what *was* to what *is*—whether it's fan film parameters or a hit music/movie video or a for-pay streaming platform in the fast-changing media landscape. Same as 1979, 1982, 1987, 2001 ...and 2006.

Thank the Prophets it's happened again. It means we're still alive... and that a 100th anniversary Trektennial in 2066 is a pretty sure bet.

Oh—and beyond our selfish fun? Star Trek remains a good bet for a wracked world that could really use some hope and intelligent futurism in its free time right about now. 

Just like in 1966.

Red Shirt Diaries: Ashley, Jason—and who's Bones?!

The truth HAS been out there for some time, but it hit home today: The Red Shirt Diaries is the cutest, bestest and yet heart-felt little Trek parody webseries out there: The fans are flocking, even before last year's "Season 2" Indiegogo that upped the bar this year … the buzz is growing… and now—yes, I got to don McCoy's dark hair and blue tunic once again!

THANK YOU, ASHLEY AND JASON.

That's Ashley V. Robinson and Jason Inman, of course, who not only announced their engagement recently but also have quite an up-and-coming profile—doing RSD as well as their awesome Geek History Lesson podcast/ YouTube, Jason's  DC All Access webshow co-hosting, and Ashley's burgeoning acting career (listen to this clip!). And of course, they first came on Trekland's STV radar a year ago during that Indiegogo drive (and yes, I still need to post the rest of the vidchat). 

This nighttime fun on Hollywood Boulevard came last Sept. 11 as they held a mini-season premiere screening at IO Club and Theatre for crew, cast and local backers, but I held off the posting until our McCoy spoiler was closer…which, of course, with "Operation: Annihilate!" meant late in the "season." Never fear—you can catch their "finale", RSD's angle on "Amok Time," on Monday next—and of course gotta catch 'em all on YouTube or via the RSD site. (At 5 minutes each, tisn't difficult).

Quite aside from moi's return to solid/dotted-rank, this is quite a landmark episode for Ashley's Ensign, er, Lieutenant Williams as well—and remarkably a big dose of pathos in what is admittedly a winky fun vibe of a series. And how many past World of Williams references can you catch? 

WILL there be a Season 3? WILL their Mirror Universe dream come true? Will Ashley's crack about Commodore Decker bear fruit? It's up to you guys and what they call "online analytics," of course—so, and she says, "SHARE AND LIKE! SHARE AND LIKE!"

CBS/Paramount v Axanar? Some broad thoughts

So, everyone has been buzzing about the joint CBS/Paramount lawsuit filed Dec. 29 against Alec Peters and the "Axanar Works" "fan film" crowdfunded movie. There's been no similar action made against any other fan film that we have heard of—not Star Trek Continues, Farragut, Renegades or New Voyages/Phase II, at least. All of whom, and several more, I've been happy to help promote in the name of a passion fix for fans over this decade-long fallow time for pro Trek—ever since the "gray area" for them to exist as no-income projects was hashed out by New Voyages back in 2004.

But no, this legal action is specific. 

I'm not going to wade into the mushrooming detail points or the back-and-forth here—that's been all over the Interwebs and, five days on, cooler heads are starting to prevail...at least in public comments and posts. Still, there are issues: Some point to the lawsuit as the answer to a threat perceived by the corporate rightsholders re: the scope or quality of Axanar as crossing the line (at least as has been promised)—but the legal issues, if that broad, would point to shutting down everyone. Some guess this is merely the first salvo against the biggest budget of fan films, and that either the owners enforce their property or they lose it—no middle ground. I hope there's no later, broader action—but, as I have always suspected, this is definitely not a typical mass Cease & Desist or broad-brush campaign (this legal action with outside attorneys is reportedly a second step from the owners after sending Axanar an earlier C&D, despite some direct contact). This is a step up: We've already seen the post-"Viacom divorce" split franchise parents actually act together for once in the lawsuit filing, making the "series or movie?" question moot on this. We'll just have to see where this goes.

I hope it goes quickly.... but as corporations, CBS and Paramount will be notoriously slow to offer any more details that would amount to "fighting it in the press"—although there have been follow-up statements. So we are going to be reduced to reading between the lines, and retconning for past clues and quotes, and a mostly one-sided "he said/they didn't" ... so far. The Intertubes were pretty hot the first day... and there are obviously a *ton* of Axanar donors and supporters out there who are not taking kindly to the action. But I have to know this is not 1996, and the big boxes are not blind to that blowback and the potential impact on fandom—and mainstream PR buzz— with a film and series enroute (especially the latter). Thus, the stakes go higher.  There were quick catcalls against big bad CBS, and hoots over the modern nature of franchise ownership vs. fans served after 50 years ... but within a couple days even some online observers started to look at both sides: the immediate hashtag #IStandWithAxanar has now been met with #IStandWithCBS a couple days later... and a host of memes that do not see the production as a martyr, in part in reaction to varied takes on Axanar's public business plan online. And beyond all that, don't make the mistake of thinking that all the world—even all fandom—hangs out on Facebook and blogs 24/7.


As observers, it's also a time to be mindful of who's words we are reading: Who are legitimate journalists versus wannabe bloggers on this, as the "media reports" come out. But it sure has gotten fandom talking—even the mainstream and trade media. And as my buddy John Champion has Facebooked after New Year's Day:  "Congratulations to the 87% of people I follow who have all become experts in the intricacies of federal copyright law in the last four days!"


There's a maxim I learned real early in Hollywood and the Trek business for whenever you try to push the envelope: Just don't do anything to make anyone say "no." A second would be: Don't make anyone ask their lawyer. The fan films exist at all due to the tangle of the legal "divorce" agreements, Paramount and CBS as Hollywood union/guild signatories, etc. … and yet simultaneously their acknowledged obvious value in the pop-culture conversation, especially in a fallow, non-series time. (FREE PROMO! How many tentpole-wannabes would kill for that?)

This is the last way anyone wanted to kick off the big 50th Trek anniversary year, with a movie and streaming series both on the way for summer and then spring—no matter what you may think of them now, sight unseen. So let's hope this gets settled quickly, quietly, and with as little damage to either fandom creativity or the corporate brand as possible.

I've said for a long time that the coming of new Trek weekly adventures, especially, may be what takes a lot of the air out of the fan-film balloon of the last decade, just from the lack of newly diverted attention and dollars among the masses—without "CBS & Para" having done a thing. It's just human nature... even by fans.

I do know one thing. That filing and the frou-frou sure put me behind on my writing during the mid-holiday "dead week."

And you can bet this will be a deep-dive topic at our Portal 47 Ask Dr. Trek Roundtable in January!

STV: Ensign Williams logs in from 'Red Shirt Diaries' !

Finally… on the last day of their Indiegogo…I finally get this posted. Good thing it's not as if they needed my help! 

Meet Ashley V. Robinson and Jason Inman, whose Red Shirt Diaries web series is the slyest, most inventive little take on what NCC-1701 lower-decks life for redshirts 'n' redskirts might have been like…and now an Internet cult hit, to boot. It's all in bite-sized, three-minute weekly "log entries" from Ensign Williams of security, her friends—and, yes, her famous superiors. Organized, of course, by historical records otherwise known as the first 10 outings of Star Trek—original series style.

Are YOU hooked yet? It's so simple—and yet more addicting than a cordrazine slush.
If you're a noob, give a look here on their YouTube channel at the 10 episodes up so far—the TOS classics in aired order, through "Corbomite Maneuver"…told of course, through the long-suffering yet surviving ensign's oddly eventful personal logs, right from her simple quarters on Deck 8.  

Want to see more? Today is the last day of their very modest campaign and they've met two stretch goals already—including a bonus show and location shooting! So, you can still help them out with their drive for RSD's "Season 2", which would get the enterprising duo (and more) through the remaining 16 episodes of TOS' Season 1…and maybe even to Vulcan and plak tow...

Give a listen and find out all the backstage secrets, the genesis, what lies ahead for as we present this first of a four-part visit with Ashley and Jason RIGHT ON THE SET (ie, their living room)—and even a surprise visit from Gertrude/Beauregard. 
 

STV: It's FarragutFest! Celebrate with two REAL and local crew of the Farragut & Enterprise

If it's the first weekend of December, it must be FARRAGUT FEST down in Kingsland, GA, home to the Farragut Studios that boasts the rebuild of Desilu's storied Stage 9...i.e., the original Star Trek sets of the 1960s whose amazing recreations are used here now for both the Starship Farragut and Star Trek Continues indie fan film series, of which I've come to be quite familiar.

If you are lucky enough to be in the region—I hope to go one year, but families already come from several states away to get to walk those hallowed corridors in these incredible lookalikes—I hope you tell Royal Weaver and Sam Rooks hi, if you meet them (video below the fold). Those two, and many more, are part of the local crew who build and maintain those stages year-round in-between times the rest of us are away.  In between the tours, panels and even vendors of FarragutFest, they are among the many who can tell you all the history and backstage detail you'd ever want to know.

And that's why I took time during the "Mirror" shoot for STC's "Fairest of Them All" last spring—our own chat cut short by the needs of the shoot, as you'll see—to get both of these guys on camera and get them their due. The photo (left) just happens to be them atop and steadying a ladder to be able to run the Tantalus Field cover during that filming.

Also during shoots, Sam spends a lot of time with lights, while Royal is everyone's number one door man—and I don't mean the taxi-hailing kind, I mean the sliding Starfleet kind. It's a special art, as anyone who's seen the original bloopers knows all too well!

So—in honor of another FarragutFest this weekend, here's my chat with the locals, to celebrate! If you can't be there, try for 2015—I know I will—and meanwhile check out the Farragut Films Facebook page where I'm sure there'll be pics a-plenty. Go "Like" their page—and of course, go "Like" the Star Trek Continues page as well— if somehow *gasp* you haven't already!

Wyatt is back! Star Trek Continues' Ep. 3 debuts Sunday

Here you go! Aside from the great new WiredTV series and all our usual site videos, I do have some sneak-peeks of my own for Star Trek Continues' Episode 3, the mirror-tale "Fairest Of Them All"—filmed in mid-March and getting its world premiere tonight at SupanovaCon in Sydney, Australia...online Sunday, June 15 at noon Eastern!

And what better way to start off "safely"—a spoiler-free tease, natch—than with a chat with Wyatt Lenhart, who took one episode's leave offship from playing Chekov, but is back now in all his mirror-snarly glory here for "Ep3." I ask him all your pent-up questions!

As I promised, leaving the on-camera world of STC for now did not mean an exit from the production family, and part of my world now is continued documenting of STC in the Trekland style... like this quick chat with Wyatt on a pivotal day of shooting. It's just the first of many more to come:

STV: A wrap for me AND our KIRKstarter—thank you!

I can't believe it's been since April that I posted a "Switching to Visual" video here at TREKLAND—and that I break the drought finally with one featuring ME.

But this is the final day of our KIRKstarter for future Star Trek Continues episodes—and while, yes, we were blessed to make our goal and beyond with 2,900+ backers (!!), I've seen people really get emotional and insistent about being a part of this to help us—and get their name on the record and claim some perks to boot.

(UPDATE: Our $100,000 goal wound up with $126,028 courtesy 2,981 backers! Thanks to everyone of you for being a part.)

Your last chance ends at 6 pm ET/ 3 pm PT Nov. 6, 2013. This drive covers three episodes, and while it's always an option to make a future direct donation—why not jump in now, help hike the tally, get into the system and claim a spot? I should point out: our briefing room table is the biggest reward level. (And my set tour and phone call are among the many unclaimed cast items. Just sayin.')

All of the support from so many fans, just like all the love since premiere date back in Phoenix, has been rather amazing; the Kickstarter site's fan comments and suggestions alone carry their own vibe, worth a read.

Meanwhile, Episode 2 is a more guest-centric show and the regulars have a bit less to do, but I know I stepped up my game in some subtle ways as we all grow into this project and work with our talented and fun STC family. If you were a fan of "Pilgrim" you will love the surprises and color of this next, non-TOS-sequel episode:


I have a lot of STV videos backlogged, including a few from the set of STC, and some thoughts to share... But for now—take a quick late-day set visit with me and thanks again for helping run our Kickstarter tally up even higher: late adds were the secret reveal of our big guest star and the much-requested digital download of Episode 1, "Pilgrim of Eternity."

Thanks also to STC/Farragut set guy and crew mate Scott Grainger for handling the camera and letting me jump into this one!

"Star Trek Continues" coming with me for a big-screen viewing back home at SoonerCon 22—this weekend!

It's red-dirt return time again for me!

Every time SoonerCon rolls around each June, I not only get to go back home for a visit with family and old friends, but meet a ton of new ones as well.

So here is ever-booming SCon next weekend, and the schedule is out: it's  another great lineup of guests and a program/panels list that's bulging at the seams at 100+ events. I'm in there as a special guest on a few of them—my own stuff, plus a couple of actual panels (see below).

But what's really new is a request for my usual Con of Wrath benefit meetup to add a special big-screen HD showing of "Pilgrim of Eternity", the debut of Star Trek Continues we premiered at Phoenix ComiCon that has gotten over 125,000 combined online views. I was honored to be a last-minute addition to play Dr. McCoy in this best-ever feel of a 60s episode with some surprise guests and cameos.

In fact, you can see "ST Continues" Friday night on the BIG screen at the Reed Conference Center/Sheraton, as SoonerCon is trying out the Reed and adjoining Sheraton, et al hotels in suburban Midwest City this year, just five minutes east of downtown OKC's Bricktown nightspots and only four blocks from Rose State College campus (and a former home of ours!).



And everyone who checks into our meetup deal Friday night gets a free limited-edition "Phoenix premiere" poster of "Pilgrim" (left) —plus a chance at a drawing for a cast-autographed version!

Only the Phoenix crowd of 3800, and a couple other cons where producer/Kirk Vic Mignogna has brought it since, have experienced the big-screen treatment.  So, fellow Okies and indie fans, look for us at 9-12 pm Friday night (leaving your Saturday night free). As usual when I'm at a live con, your donation for The Con of Wrath is just $20 (or more) for your screen credit and this private meetup with prize trivia, rare Trek video and recent doc clips shot in process, including George Takei. And here in OKC, you get the "Pilgrim" on big screen, too!

(If you want to see what all the STC hubbub is about first, check out STC at its webpage, like the Facebook and follow Twitter for updates on the next episode ... and even catch some of our rave reviews from the likes of Slate and Breitbart and Pearls of Geek, among others...)

But solo or group, here's the rest of my "organized" schedule for SCon:

FRI - 5PM-F  (group panel) "Out of Darkness: The Iterations and Resilience of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek"   

FRI - 9 PM-THEATER  - Our Meetup Benefit for Wrath of Con featuring Star Trek Continues on the bigscreen—plus all the rest of the goodies.

SAT-1PM-THEATER My "Between the Cracks" Trekland 2013 show: "JJVerse Reaction Edition" show   

SAT-2PM-F  (group)" Cinema So Far: 2013 in Fan Genre Films"

SUN-1PM-THEATER "What Do You Crave, Trek Peeps?" —This is a special one I requested— i just want to hear what, if any, Trek fen feel they are missing in their addiction.  Is it possible to know what you don't know?  Besides having new Roddenberry Universe back on the weekly small screen?

Also, this year I'm going to unleash on SoonerCon a stick of shirts, fliers, programs, buttopns, etc, from SooneCons and ThunderCons past ('80s and '90s) that should find good homes —and for a good cause: once again, the Infant Crisis Services of OKC.

Can't wait! And, this year, to catch up with some of the faces of folks I have not been able to get to know from the new fandom of my stomping grounds that have come along the past decade or so. I'll have a table, yes, but I won't be chained there—it's gonna be a minglin' year. Better follow SCon along on Facebook and Twitter, too.

STV: Star Trek Continues' premiere week: Sneaky peeks!

Ready for even MORE new Trek?

In honor of the world premiere of Star Trek Continues  Friday at Phoenix Comicon with a gala screening, cast panel and signing—and yes, I hope many of you can join us—I put together this little pastiche of faces and moments from my own lenses during our January shoot for "Pilgrim of Eternity." It got its own world premiere as an exclusive clip I showed at BlasterCon in L.A. a couple weekends ago.

You can catch Grant Imahara from Mythbusters, Chris Doohan looking like another Doohan in red, fearless leader Vic Mignogna as Kirk and director, with Todd Haberkorn the Wonder Spock ... and a lot of the cast and crew, including me in McCoy togs and our Kim Stinger as Uhura bein' tough. I'll save some moments with Michael "Apollo" Forrest for a later time.

In fact, you can catch those three npow that we have premiered the thing! And if you crave EVEN MORE, bop over to the STC Facebook page, "Like" it, and scroll back through the last few weeks—there's been fun video and stills a-plenty.

For now, enjoy this teaser—literally!

STV: Kirk and Spock, on-set cut-ups: Star Trek Continues' Vic Mignogna and Todd Haberkorn

Let me introduce you to two of the best voice actors and most popular guests on the anime convention circuit—as well as a couple of all-around performers, directors and even editors: Vic Mignogna and Todd Haberkorn.

With all that, you're catching them at Trekland because Vic is the driving force—as producer, director, co-writer and Captain James T. Kirk—behind Star Trek Continues, which as you know by now this week is the latest "fan film" to debut that looks like anything but amateur. Todd, always at his side—well, sometimes—is holding on to the Spock ears and inflamed stoicism with great aplomb. (Vic was also crazy enough to ask me to step in at the 11th hour to play Dr. McCoy when the prior actor could not make the January shoot.)

With the world debut of "Pilgrim of Eternity" coming at Phoenix Comicon in big Room 120, this chat during the shoot is the third of four videos I'm premiering this week in the countdown to Friday night's huge screening and cast Q&A/signing event. Don't forget you can see more of the shorts at the STC website,  and more clips and stills at the Facebook page, too—which of course is easily Liked.

Till the premiere gets online ASAP after PHXCC for all to see ... Enjoy this third pre-premiere glimpse:



PLUS:  GRANT "MYTHBUSTERS" IMAHARA AS SULU—JUST CONFIRMED AS WELL!

STV: Preview Week Part 2: CHRIS Doohan provides the DNA as Scotty for 'Star Trek Continues'

Of all the fan films and all their cast members—celebrity or not—I doubt there is a case quite like what you see with one role in Star Trek Continues, where DNA trumps all.

Yes, the real-life actor behind one of those iconic Star Trek characters—the late, great Jimmy Doohan, our beloved "Scotty" of course —is being represented in the recast role by none other than his own son, Chris Doohan. Not an actor, Chris has slipped into the role, worked on his "Doohan Scotch" accent, and the result is absolutely amazing—as you can see in this test short filmed last summer.

As you can see in our meetup, Chris is pretty non-plussed by all this—which, as for all of us in the cast, was both a lot of hard work and just having a hoot of a shoot ...

Star Trek Continues has its world premiere at 6 p.m. this Friday, May 24 at Phoenix Comicon's main room—a screening, cast Q&A, and a mass signing! Look for it online as soon as possible via the STC website and the Facebook page.

STV: It's Grant 'Mythbusters' Imahara as Sulu! Must be premiere week for Star Trek Continues

Great news!

As if having Grant "Mythbusters" Imahara as our Sulu in the indie online series "Star Trek Continues" wasn't enough... as you can see in our vidchat below the fold ...

We just heard that Grant confirmed the Mythbusters shoot schedule will indeed let him join us for the episode's world premiere hoopla this Friday night at Phoenix Comicon. I was honored to have been asked to play McCoy in this series for the January shoot, but I also made sure to record several of our folk on camera for everyone in TREKLAND —and thus this little gem.

Here's Grant below ... in uniform and out ... for the episode wrangled and helmed by voice actor/director Vic Mignogna as Kirk, his colleague and popular voice actor Todd Haberkorn as Spock, Chris Doohan playing his dad's role as Scotty ... and original TOS "Apollo" Michael Forrest reprising his role ... in a very savvy way. Kim Stinger is Uhura and Wyatt Lenhart is Chekov, too, and Michele Specht plays Lt. McKenna, another new key character, along with Steve Dengler's Security Chief Drake.

There's a screening, panel and signing for the pilot "Pilgrim of Eternity," all starting Friday at 6 p.m. in the con's huge main room. The show will be online soon after, I'll be there all weekend... and I'll be rolling out more vidchats this week prior to the hoopla Friday. You could also check the website (with three short vignettes, from before my casting) and go LIKE the Facebook page, which has a ton more videos and behind-the-scenes photos. Caption contests, anyone?

Meanwhile, whaddya think about how well Grant channels his forebear? Yes, we go there, too:

Trekland on pods: Doomsday, McCoy, and the Tour

Whoa—now it's the last TWO months that have been a blur...

But one thing that's easy to do no matter how intense the "day job" gets is a friendly little blog interview when Trek is the subject... and Trekland, too.

Shame on me, for I've been remiss in sharing when some of the best Trek and sci-fi podcasts have been good to have me on ... at times with Teras Cassidy of Geek Nation Tours and our second annual Hollywood2Vegas Trek film site tour just before the Creation Vegas con. It's been a flurry.

In all of these we talk about not just the new Trek Tour for 2013, but also what's going on in Trek at large—according to what the hosts bounce off us—and I even wax poetic about esotrekica (yes, that is now a word). Because we turned over another generation in fandom the past couple years, in case you didn't know. In fact, you may have been part of the turnover (okay, I'll stop talking about you, now).

Of course, if you're already a fan or subscriber of these fine pods, you know this already—and if you're not much of a podcast downloader yet, here's your entree. They make a great way to spend a jog or a long commute or an interminable airflight. The hot air in mine alone is enough to start a balloon ride with.

Trekland got even more global than the Internet when UK-based Colin HIggins at Trek News & VIews over trek.fm had me on just today in Ep. 66 to talk about my fave "The Doomsday Machine" with Lou Costanza of The Lou Trek Show, plus explain how I came to be wearing McCoy garb in Georgia last month, and saying things like "Well, it's damn peculiar, Jim." And other Trekland stuff.

Then, Teras joined me to be grilled by Terilynn and "@Gettysburg7" NIck re: a lot of Trekness on their G&T Show for my beardless McCoy experience, the JJ "defection" to Star Wars (whoooo cares?) ... plus the Tour—and even a shoutout to 1701 Pennsylvania Ave on YouTube (you're welcome, Pony and Ralph!) ... Steve & Co. had us on as well for a new Tour Tart entry on the tasty menu at Sci-Fi DIner, Ep. 162B ... and Tom Cruz and Risa of STOked Radio over trekradio.net went way beyond the realm of Star Trek Online gaming for a trifecta of guests on Ep. 27 (the 41:30 mark; or download only here) where we went on about forgotten true fans, the upside of having no Trek TV (blossoming fandom), the future of the "next" Trek TV show, the fun of playing McCoy and of course the Tour—along with Teras, AND Mr. Enterprise-D Non-Profit Restoration & Museum himself, Huston Huddleston, and his project.

Which is all pretty cool considering I haven't even told YOU gentle readers about my Kingsland, GA experience as Bones... much less the Secret Project that's kept me from posting and vidchatting more with you here at TREKLAND... including today's Oscar guest post at startrek.com.

And more podcasts coming up quick ...

"Cookin' With Gas": Another holiday Trek gift from Pony

Merry Christmas or what-have-you—it's my pleasure to pass along a little holiday treat from my buddy Pony Horton, CGI FX whiz and sometime producer/actor extraordinaire with the flair for comedy ... who last yuletide brought us the gift of the inevitable Star Trek/Nixon mashup, 1701 Pennsylvania. Please tell me you saw it, starring Ralph Miller in the role he was born to play-gate?

Well, now, Pony is back, with this video present set in the future ...though it's not of a holiday theme per se, it's just his way of saying "greetings of the season." In that whimsical away.

UPDATE: You can see "Cookin' With Gas" direct at Pony's YouTube page ... enjoy!

Meanwhile here's Teaser #3, via Pony:


Cookin' With Gas teaser trailer #3 from Pony R. Horton on Vimeo.

STV: Tim "Tuvok" Russ is back for indie "Renegades"

So many great Kickstarter projects out there, as you know ... but STAR TREK: RENEGADES is not only an all-star follow-up to Tim Russ and Sky Conway's OF GODS AND MEN epic that you know, but it's on funding deadline and just went over bigtime.

"I am excited to see the fans of Trek pitching in to help us get this project off the ground," director/actor Tim told me today after the $200,000 goal was topped by $20,000 (congrats!). "We will do our best to deliver an exciting film."

I initially caught Tim for a vidchat (below) on the day he and Walter Koenig shot the trailer you can now see at the Kickstarter site ... where the toteboard as of this posting now shows three days left to get the new extra bonus goal of $250,000—by 7 A.M. Monday, Nov. 27. The extra raised will  be spent on boosting visual effects, sets, locations, or anything that had to be trimmed initially to make a do-able campaign budget.

In recent days, J.G. "Martok" Hertzler himself has signed aboard to play the main villain of the piece, and so many cast and crew veterans from "Of Gods and Men" are back, too. But wait—let's let Tim talk about it as you watch his Vulcanness dissolve right before your eyes ...

Don't scream: I'm in the new VIDEO podcast, Trekspeak

Darren Molloney hosts "Trekspeak" globally from Ireland.

Well, this is new.

In a year of firsts, there's a great video podcast—yes, video— that just had me on to guest. Since starting up just last February, Trekspeak takes on all manner of Trek guests, many of them game and fan-film related so far ... and you SEE THEM in the podcast, or their video work at least.
And yet it's not that simple; this is not just a split-screen Skypefest. Host Darren Molloney out of Limerick, Ireland, runs the show with a couple of monitors and a suitably cool background in his virtual set. I mean, look at that! 


And sure, he asks about my current stuff like the Hollywood-Vegas Trek Sites Tour with Geek Nation Tours, to The Con of Wrath of course ... but also the state of the Trek world and all kinds of old stuff too. Now, I say that—I think he also needles some private stuff out of me as well, and Trek context I'd almost forgotten ... the kind of thing that seems old and moldy to me, but newer fans seems to enjoy.  And I'm such a sucker...


Anyway, conversing and being interviewed by anyone with an accent—nay, dialect even—is always cool. Makes you feel more cultured and elevated, if you are just another dumb American.  Darren of Limerick does a great job—so dial this one up and take a listen ... or a peek at a new experiment ... on iTunes as well as www.trekspeak.comhttp://www.youtube.com/trekspeak (the Trekspeak YouTube channel).

BREAKING: Cawley's Phase II to film Spinrad's lost TOS script

Norman Spinrad!

Welcome to news cycles ca. 2012... but however it unfolds, this is incredible.

No sooner on the heels of TOS "lost script"  "He Walks Among Us" by author Norman Spinrad (writer of "The Doomsday Machine") JUST coming to light, thanks to a fan... but producer/star and Elvis reinactor James Cawley of New Voyages/Phase II "fan" film fame has jumped into the fray to film it, with Spinrad directing.

And it all blossomed right there on Facebook.


First, early today from James' Facebook wall:

And then a note this afternoon, from Norman's as well:

Followed by a later comment from James... amid many, many well-wishers on all fronts:

After involving Walter Koenig, George Takei, D.C. Fontana, David Gerrold, Barbara Luna, William Windom, John Winston, Eddie Paskey  ... and Denise Crosby too (with interlopers like me as well) ... he speaks the truth!

Happy holidays with ... Nixon and Star Trek??!!

Just in case you missed this stocking stuffer on Christmas Eve ... here ya go. No worries—it's the gift that keeps on giving!

Yes, it's a little wacky gift to Treklanders everywhere from some of the folks who bring you New Voyages/Phase II—that's sound masestro and jokester Ralph Miller, doing his infamous Nixon sendup full-bore, and Pony R. Horton as the agent, and behind camera as writer/director, plus the CGI and editing involved. Lots more cameos too of your P2 favorite faces ... including Kurt Carley, P2's onetime Chris Pike. And, once again, a "fan film" that's really full of professional work:



Pony tells me: "I am thrilled to have had a great deal of help from my friends Ralph Miller, James Cawley, Rob Mauro, Charles Root, Gwen Wilkins, Kurt Carley, Michael Stern, and John Carrigan in the making of this film, which is a short inspired by James Cawley's STAR TREK: PHASE II and Ralph Miller's hilarious Richard Nixon characterization.  I'm releasing it as a kind-of PHASE II stocking-stuffer, since we're in-between regular PHASE II releases right now."
 
Ralph has been pulling the wry video stuff and bloopers ever since New Voyagers began; Pony has handled CGI for recent full P2 episodes, and helped John Carrigan with those same CG skills to bring to life the "lost" 2005 vignette "No-Win Scenario."

And don't forget to watch the end credits' stills, too!

The Tellarite lives!: Two tales from a long-lost New Voyages vignette

Have you seen "No Win Scenario" yet?

I know the New Voyages-turned-Phase II Trek fan films have a great following all their own, as well as recurring and regular characters and actors. I know many of you follow them, and may even go back as far as 2005, when the big news was to be a series of five "vignettes"—short films to fill the agonizingly long gaps between the release times of the all-volunteer projects—usually a year or more. That's because, as a lot of you are aware, the fan films get their slick look from many professionals who do them as "weekend work" to add to their demo reel—or simply out of love for Star Trek.

But in case you haven't heard the amazing news by now, the Klingon-centric and "long lost" No Win Scenario is out after six years, only the second of the three actually filmed to ever be released (you can see it below)—and all because  NV/P2's John "Kargh" Carrigan (above, on set lakeside, with "Grolst") was determined to make it so. He's pulled off a miracle here, with the help of many hands, to rescue the pieces and finally make them whole. (See more from John, below the fold).

What you may not know is that it's been my secret, too—unless you got me to talk about it at a con in recent years. Not on John or anyone else's level, of course, but on the scale of a true fanboy moment—and after years of the pro life, they are so hard to come by. See, I've always loved the Tellarites since "Journey to Babel," always thought they got short shrift next to the Andorians—even did a nose-puttied Tellarite for my make-up class "fantasy character" project in college. Finally, they even turn up on Enterprise for realz (thanks to closet Tellarite fans Mike Sussman and Manny Coto), but I missed getting in line to be an extra in "Demons"/"Terra Prime"—and then date conflicts ruined my other chance, among other UFP alien envoys for Walter Koenig's groundbreaking NV/P2 "fan" film by Dorothy Fontana, To Serve All My Days.

But thanks to head honcho James Cawley and the gang at NV/P2, they still let me come out on my dates, play a cameo in that ep, and THEN converted the Klingon spy role to a Tellarite in Erik Korngold's "No Win Scenario" script just so I could still be a "porcinoid." The professional prosthetics sized and built by Kevin Haney, who counts Mike Westmore's modern TV Star Trek team among his credits, were just a hoot—and my four late-night hours in the chair with talented makeup artist Jimmy Soltis (above, combing my clove-hair) were unforgettable (and thoroughly documented with video and stills, you better believe it.) To top it all off, we discovered that the nose piece was glued down in such a way that trapped air from a normal "huff" breath resulted in a beautiful nose flare that Gav himself would be proud of—all completely unplanned. And all happily utilized on camera by vignette director Erik "Gooch" Goodrich; the 1 a.m. shoot was topped only by my 5 a.m. release from makeup removal!

So see the video below...but I have to share the overall "phoenix" survival story that John Carrigan was good enough to tell TREKLAND—and yes, knowing how much it meant to me for Grolst the Tellarite to see the light of day, I'd been among those he kept in the loop re: the saga's survival:

The main original shoot did not yet have a Klingon bridge set for the "trainer" scenes, John tells me, and was shot before green screen—a first run which later proved too dimly lit to key the background accurately. The actor playing the Klingon trainer also had to be recast. A few months later, the project stalled, John and wife Annie dined with FX donor/producer Doug "Max Rem" Drexler and NV director Jack Marshall among others during a visit to LA, and even saw a rough cut of NWS that showed up those problems.

"In their opinion even the outdoor campfire footage was not good enough," John continues. "Annie and I were really upset hearing this, because I had seen some rushes on set when we shot the campfire scenes and I at least thought we had all done some good work. On the same trip we also hooked up with Jim Van Over (aka Erik Korngold) who wrote NWS, and ...we sat with Jim and watched the [rough cut] video. When it was finished, I still believed what I saw was some very good acting and well worth saving, but I had to agree that because of many technical problems we had filming outdoors and at night, if anything could be saved, it would take a whole load of work."

Back in the States to shoot "Of Gods and Men" in summer 2006,  John told NWS director Erik "Gooch" Goodrich he still hoped to find a way to finish the vignette.  When both John and Annie reprised their Klingon roles for NV's "Blood and Fire" a year later, they were thrilled that a real Klingon bridge set would be built at last—and perhaps provide a second chance for NWS, if the "green screen" scenes could be reshot with a new co-star. Even having the set delayed for use did not deter him: "I went about the set, quietly telling some people of my intentions and putting together my own little production crew (inside the Phase II production crew) and they pulled out all stops and built the Klingon bridge in 24 hours, as Gooch was only going to be on set that first weekend," he says. With him behind camera and Paul Sieber cast as the Trainer, the "secret" shoots went on at night—including a new insert of a fireside Klingon map John mocked up, complete with an orange-gelled light to simulate the original camnpfire. "It worked so well that you would never know it was shot years apart," he says.

When Cawley decided that all New Voyages' efforts had to go into the main annual episodes, seemingly ending the chance for the vignettes of 2005, John asked "Gooch" to help secure all the footage so that it might be tackled at home in the UK. "He was as good as his word, and I contacted my amazing editor friend Graham O'Hare, and after agreeing that I could only pay him a fraction of what he was worth, we began," John says. The joint choices and all the matching problems were eventually worked out—including the infamous original campfire. "The fire was blazing one moment and gone the next, and was dramatically dead at some points," John laughs. "Graham cured these problems in one amazing go: He created false fire and a glow in the shots which had an amazing effect." Once happy with a rough cut, O'Hare tweaked the audio, and then pulled stock FX shots since even CGI industry friends seemed unable to do the big amounts of original work needed to illustrate Kargh's tale. And then the next Phase II episode "Kitumba" brought John and CGI artist Pony Horton together.

"It wasn't until Annie and I discussed at some length back home about so wanting to get NWS finished that she said, why don't you ask Pony?" he recalls. "What had I to lose? I contacted Pony ... and he said he would be honoured. So after swearing Pony to secrecy we continued: Graham sent him our cut with the temporary SFX in, and Pony went to work. He did an incredible job, but one amazing CGI shot really set the scene for everything to come."

Their rough cut had used the campfire pull-back from Star Trek V but in reverse, going from space to ground: "We had shot the original campfire scene in James Lowe's back garden right next to a river (which nearly claimed our amazing sound man Ralph Miller). What Pony sent to us just blew us away: he had inserted our campfire into an amazing landscape."

"Graham was an amazing co-producer as well as an editor, and he and Pony just went above and beyond for me," John says. "And with a little financial assistance from my amazing wife Annie to pay for some of the long years of work this project took, 'No Win Scenaro' was finally finished.  As Kirk said in Trek III, "The answer is no—I am therefore going to do it anyway." And all of this is why 'No Win Scenario' means such a lot to us."

And now that you know The Rest of the Story... please enjoy!  And relish in the notion that little miracles still do come true—with enough patience and sweat. And Tellarites.