From "bridge restoration" to glorious teaching museum: A Kickstarter for a do-able sci-fi dream is now UP

UPDATE: Apparently, Huston has embroiled me in a $500 donor reward for the campaign: drinks and brain-dissecting. See the page.


Well! It's a big week for a little project that *I*, of all people, first revealed to the world right here back in August 2012. Without naming names!

But Huston Huddleston's project is not so little anymore. Or in cognito.

Yep, after all those "Captain, I saved the bridge!" T-shirts and celebrity support pictures at cons all over the country, comes the big news Wednesday that the non-profit "Enterprise D Bridge Restoration Project" -turned-"New Starship" has zoomed in scope to now become the Hollywood Sci-Fi Museum project—still headed by Huston but with an army of fan volunteers, both white-collar and red-shirted.

The big splash announcement kicks off an $83,500 Kickstarter crowd-funding drive to fund the groundwork of the initial preview site in Hollywood by 2015 and the build to a permanent, custom museum circa 2018. There's donor levels from $1 to $4500...
and it's already got a healthy start. I hope you all can join in and give what you can—and as a board member honored to be asked to serve, I'll give my thanks up front.

Yes, that's right: I'm on the board for this, among a few other peeps you might have heard of before. I vetted this every step of the way or else I wouldn't be involved. So I know a lot of you are thinking, "Hey wait a minute—restoring and housing the Enterprise-D bridge is one thing... but ain't this a bit grandiose? Smells like 'too much, too fast, too overblown' to be real." Or even: "Hey—you're coming back around for more money?"

And these are just the showy parts ...

Fact is, as Huston found out the past two years of hitting up corporate and other big would-be donors, the first concept was too SMALL, in their eyes. That's why the scope and the focus have gone beyond the bridge—and even Trek itself. And even that left a few early supporters skeptical.

"The money guys simply didn't care JUST about the D bridge," Huston told me today. "Some Trek fans don't seem to grasp that not everyone cares about a used set that was from a tour, and from a show that ended 20 years ago."

Be clear: the first "New Starship" Kickstarter  in 2012 funded some of the early planning, so as to get invited to a ton of conventions to spread the world, enchant mainstream media, grab fan goodwill with free photo ops, mushroom the social media, and park a lot of celebrity butts in the captain's chair.

That 2012 total would barely fund a bridge wedding and party center, though... much less the real teaching tool that the touch-screen computers and simulators can be for school trips in science, history, math—in fact, the whole STEM teaching model to jump-start our national education and workforce needs. And the art and crafts of cinema storytelling as well. So what cooler place for dispensing real science and fictionizing than the icons of science fiction everyone is already in love with?

But really ... not just Trek, but ALL these studios and franchises? Doesn't that just multiply the cost and legal hassles even more? How is this even conceivable? It's a Vizzini moment if ever there was one, right?

Au contraire, says Huston: "The secret is, it's not-for-profit and educational. That's the only way this is going to work. Despite how nervous the studio lawyers are going to get, all the actors, directors, producers and writers and certainly fans all want this to happen."

Add to that a lot of museum professionals, management experts, legal and CPAs... closet fans, too: they've done a lot of "sweat equity" to put together a pretty impressive batch of business, marketing, finance, sustained operations, education outreach .... well, binders full of plans.

Grant's "Hall of Robots" welcome video

Plus, my Star Trek Continues "Sulu" buddy Grant Imahara is only the first celeb to shoot an exhibit video for the project—his, natch, on the Hall of Robots.

Which is all one other way I know this is more than just one fanboy's pipedream. All these closet fans—and not-so-closet fans—have already invested thousands of bucks of consulting hours to help get this launched.

"This just seems like the right thing at the right time, " Huston says.

Even Paul Allen's vaunted EMP sci-fi and rock museum in Seattle, mentioned breifly in the Kickstarter video, has had contact with the "Hollywood Sci-Fi Museum" and sees a relationship, not a competition. "They are totally supportive of our concept and amazing people, " Huston says, after a trip to meet with their staff and compare notes. "They just don't do what we're going to be doing," referring to the hands-on student simulators and education access. "It's two totally different concepts."

There's really nothing like this as a teaching/entertainment sci-fi mecca, especially in "media capital" L.A./Hollywood, and there's a lot of interest in both the jobs, and the tourism ...plus the attached hotel/center for a private owner. And then the green-energy/sustainability goals for the eventual all-new building.

A lot of hard work, money and long hours are still to go on this thing. But it is out there with enough planning, vision, and phased-in conception to attract a lot of the real folks who make real things go. Too big to dream? Too big to work? Right now, it's what it needs to be. I'm excited to be a part of it, since way back at the birth ... and can't wait to see what all these excited pro-fans can launch together. Starting—again—right now.



And this is just one of TWO wonderful, non-profit, Trek-related projects I'm going to be involved with as a board member and proud backer. Stay tuned ...

A Seattle rush! Emerald City in my rear-view mirror

Before I get back on the road:

I just had an awesome time in Seattle over Emerald City Comicon—special thanks to Jim Demonakos and Mike Byers! And after five straight years, I think my little colony of Treklanders there is really growing—a hoot for me, since Seattle in 2012 is the very first place I tried out my "Con of Wrath" crowdfunder meetup idea. The prior two years I had cut my chops doing 8 a.m. fan meetups with Shannon and Matt and their once-and-current Seattle Geekly podcast! ECCC itself is just booming and selling out, as are most comic-cons.

I wasn't tabling this year, so panel-less Saturday felt odd with no bags and no show to weigh over me: I got to just attend! Friday had already been great, even with my "Between the Cracks" audience a bit drained from going up against the lovely mainstager, Eliza Dushku. I did get to meet Cat Roberts (left), one of our Star Trek Continues Kirkstarter donors generous enough to land a walk-on role in the Mirror Universe Episode 3....whom I'd missed on opposite ends of the shoot. As a doctor, she was especially sad not to catch McCoy #1 ( or #2, depending how you number vignettes. ;-) ) But at least we swapped snaps.

Friday night was dinner hosted by Huston Huddleston of New Starship, staying in town after meeting with A Major Museum —and then Saturday I was the dinner guest of Oren Ashkenazi (left) , Grace Moore and Bob Collins of All Things Trek podcast of Seattle (right), who'd just had me on their show. Selfie time!

And somewhere in there I even squeezed in another visit to catch up with Wende Doohan, to be featured in The Con of Wrath speaking for Jimmy, and their Sarah (left). (Guess who was the Adventure Time fan?)






Now, little did I guess that panel-and-meetup Sunday would be an even more hoppin' day than I'd planned: A pretty full crowd greeted us for our fan forum "State of the Trek," and a lot of passionate, feminist, activist, pro-and anti-corporate  views of Trek were voiced...and I think I added a little insight as well. Our Q&A speakers were lively, with everything from feminism and untapped diversity to "Hollywood factory" disgust versus JJ's franchise-saving put forth—and I think I threw out a few insights folks might not have considered, too.

But the adrenalin was already pumpin' thanks to TWO shocks right before that, in bang-bang order...






With about 45 minutes to go, who comes up to say hello but three honchos from Seattle's own Outdoor Trek theatre group (inspired but he now-ended similar group in Portland),  Joy DeLyria (left) and Kris Hambrick—plus Phillip Duff (who took this snap, right). I'd only read of their productions of TOS Trek—treating the classic scripts like Shakespeare with free-form and free-casting choices meant to showcase the stories, like those of the Bard's as timeless. In fact, with 20 minutes to go til my panel, I grabbed the Canon and we SHOT a 10-minute interview for TREKLAND STV that you'll see here before their season starts in July.

I might not have cut it so close (look at that line!) ... but what else happened on my panel countdown, RIGHT THEN? To my typical reminder tweet about who's reading my hashtags actually AT the con, lo and behold Uncle's Games from over in the gaming vendor's area across the street tweets me back to offer a prize for my panel to give away. While I'm in the terlet! Holy Terok Nor, Batman!

 So that's why, why before I chatted with Kris and Joy, curting it close.... I accepted this $180 value DS9 tabletop gameplay station model from Stephanie Fields and Sarah Tolsma of Uncle's Games of Seattle/Spokane, who ran it over to me just so I could give it away. Easy come ...

... And easy go. After teasing it sitting out all panel long and thanking and plugging the
store profusely, still amazed myself, we did a trivia question fior it. Dave Kosin, whose energy we practically had to restrain, actually won it fair and square. My thanks to front-rower SarafinaCosplay.com for hopping up to give me a second set of eyes once I launched the trivia question. Good job, Sarafina—we did not need a run-off!

But I needed a breather. Our post-panel throng was wonderful... but thanks to Seattle fan and follower Umberto Lenzi I eventually got out of there and up the hill three blocks via rollerbags for our third annual "Dr. Trek" crowdfunder-meetup for The Con of Wrath...back in the Six Arms pub where it all began. 

And that I'll save that story for later this week...

Oh, and one last word—which I tweeted at the time:

To the young lady in the brown, "Inevitable betrayal" Wash Firefly TShirt who so elegantly defended J.J. Abrams and his movies, and by extension the new and younger fans who came to Trek fandom because of them:

I want you to know that I love you, and nothing I threw in as commentary from other sources was meant to squelch your intelligence, your opinions, and most of all, your passion. Thank god we have you and so many more like you. I'd have loved to have talked to you more, but until I can—just keep the fire, girl. Don't let the Tellurian turkeys (including, perhaps, me) get you down!






Maybe should be it's own post?
I didn't do much cosplay snapping, but I couldn't resist this shot just outside the convention center:

WonderCon look-back: A Bones-Sulu reunion AND a hit panel on video

What a difference a year makes.

A year ago we were drowning in a monsoon that ruined the mood at what I called "strip mall con"—the normally San-Fran-based Wondercon, San Diego's little brother relocated to Anaheim for a year or two and struggling then to share parking with two high school sports events at the convention center there. Meh. People were drenched waiting in open air for slow, overwhelmed and distant shuttle buses.

This year? Wow, and not just for the very welcome sun:

FIRST, I pull off a successful meet-up for "The Con of Wrath" (more on that soon)...

... AND enjoy the largesse of some table space at the hubbub of Enterprise-D chair photo opps thanks to Huston Huddleston (rear, left) and his booming non-profit restoration project and science center "New Starship"....

...WHERE we had a McCoy-Sulu reunion with Grant Imahara of Mythbusters (left and right), soon to be seen as the helmsman opposite my doctor in the new Star Trek Continues indie online series—the pilot episode to debut at PhoenixComicon May 24 (more on THAT later, too!) ...

...PLUS have a wealth of Treklanders drop by: longtime Trek illustrator-author (and Voyager designer ) Rick Sternbach and Voyager illustrator Tim Earls .,.. PLUS post-production producer Steve Welke, all of whom recorded vidchats with me for the blog for later: look for them soon.

Rick...

...Tim...

...and Steve!

PLUS a genre psychology panel I was asked to join that garnered a lot of news attention, recorded on homespun video for posterity (with a cool opening sequence)—and more on THAT later as well.

We even worked!—and got in an interview on the run with one of the dealers who was a pivotal key in the saving of "The Con of Wrath," our documentary on the 1982 Ultimate Fantasy show in Houston that was Stat Trek's most glorious failure. You "Wrath" supporters will hear more about that as well.

I also made it over to the CBS Blu-ray Remastering panel, for the great clips and reaction from another full house (at left) to the Okudas, producer Roger Lay, doc director Robert Burnett and even Brannon the Braga back on his outreach effort. I was sad to hear., though, the offhand news that longtime TV Trek set decorator Jimmy Mees had just passed away. (More on him soon, as well.)

All in all, from my admittedly narrow point-of-view on 2 of the 3 days the weekend, my two days at WonderCon WERE a wonder—a good mix of fans, coming from all across the genre spectrum of course, even as the Trek variety tended to find me—and in surprisingly and healthy numbers, judging by both the panels and the obvious cosplay. I really, really was amazed at the contrast between last year and this—both in numbers and in Trek repping. It was a good year for the show in deed, where I heard totals jumped up from around 40,000 last year to 50,000 this time. With the entire convention center uncontested by high school cheerleaders and girls volleyball championships—confusing the anime fans boys with cosplay photo meltdown—things overall seemed more settled, and folks having a more leisurely and settled time.

I still miss, however, the lack of anywhere to go NOT associated with the nearby hotels—as helpful as they are, overflow choices are still limited. With Anaheim set up to fuel Disney full-time or to host events whose members hit Disney for the night... there's just no mom-and-pop or local nightlife or pubs/eateries in walking distance. And heaven forbid you give up your hard-won, hard-paid parking spot in midday or early evening! Whether WonderCon returns wholly to San Fransisco's Moscone Center, or maintains split campuses now in both OC and the Bay, is among the choices the WC has said it will consider... based on venue vibes like this. Wherever it is held, WonderCon is enjoying the boom of popularity as many regional comic-cons enjoy these days as people shy away—or are forced away from ticket sales shutouts—from megamonstrosity CCSD and its 150,000 bodies in July.

Finally, though—just a big thanks to everyone who came and braved the sunshine this year, and offered up some fun chat or good cosplay, or both:

Ex-Brit Ben Paddon of L.A.'s own TShirt 

Especiale gracias to you guys-n-gals who made it to any or all three of the panels I was a part of, including our "traditional" Saturday evening Trekland "Between the Cracks" show—even if we did have to have it in the "classroom" room, you stuck by. And look for those psych-panel video and donor tribute posts before much more time gets by.

Oh—and you wanna say something about the Hawaiian shirt? Well, GO ahead. Disrespect the uniform.

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 ...

STV—Bridge restoration update: Cons & Kickstarter in gear

When we last checked in with Huston Huddleston, we weren't even saying his name until this whole crazy "restore the bridge" project actually turned out—and prop-hunting crazies didn't descend upon "Dallas's" backyard in the Valley.

But here's Huston, all visible, to give an update on the sets, the progress, their con touring itinerary coming up (where you can sit in your TNG finest and snap pics for free, or make donations if you like for "Save the Bridge" T-shirts and other rewards)... and the whole Kickstarter campaign and some donor-celeb rewards. The drive is now over 50% to goal before ENDING Dec. 18.

Out in the open, New Starship has a logo contest

Have you heard about the project to re-assemble an Enterprise-D bridge from Vegas Experience and World Tour pieces, and to restore it for non-profit uses in Los Angeles?

Did you see our video visit (Part I) when it was still secret?

Well, tis hardly secret any longer, and the non-trademark-infringing "New Starship" project now is looking for a logo: check out the newly unveiled and ID'd Huston Huddleston himself as he asks you all for help via a contest for one that is similarly non-infringing:



(Recognize that fireplace? Those seats behind him?)

STV: LOOK—video of that Enterprise-D bridge project!

I'm just going to let the video and my guest speak for themselves (below the fold).

Unless somehow the past couple weeks you've been under a rock and missed all the online pop culture news and blog stories and podcasts—and some misconceptions—and you still need a set-up for "that fan who saved the Enterprise bridge set when it was about to rot."

Yes, video. Whether you're either curious or cyncial, well, TREKLAND's STV camera is here to prove that there is a collection of Bridge pieces... no, not a filming set, but an amalgam of surplus pieces from the Star Trek Experience and Europe's 1999-era World Tour replicas—and so yes, both were licensed projects under the design and production eye of Trek TV/film production designer Herman Zimmerman and the Paramount team.

And yes, this thing really is sitting right in the San Fernando Valley in the home (and yard) of one Huston Huddleston—a screenwriter and songwriter and most of all fan/collector ... who, at the time we shot this before the national news storm leaked his name, had originally asked to be in cognito so as to avoid local pranksters.

He and his growing volunteer team now have a website at newstarship.com and an IndieGoGo fund page for the restoration—with a sweet video, several cool rewards for donors, a support store full of unique, custom-designed and tax-deductible goodies.... All with the aim of a non-profit foundation overseeing a rental center for parties, weddings, film projects ... even educational uses for schools and students.

Not to mention, meantime, the hope of a fundraising tour of the captain's chair (due to be finished by October) and other pieces at conventions around the country.

In an era left with a void for such popular uses after the closure of the original ST Experience in Las Vegas, it seems the demand is there—and people are clamoring for a replacement.

Enjoy this initial visit with my friend "Dallas" ...and send some IndieGoGo donation love their way if you can spare it. This is an exciting prospect, and one with a growing, capable brain trust behind it. There's a Facebook and Twitter space as well, of course, to keep up with the whole thing.

And we'll be back shortly with more footage of our visit to the bridge pieces from this "early" visit ...