Last day "To Boldly Indiegogo" for Continues—and it will

Today— ending at midnight Pacific time— is the last day you can jump into the "To Boldy Indiegogo" crowdfunder campaign for my beloved Star Trek Continues, where *I* jumped in as Dr. McCoy twice and remain aboard as creative consultant.

If you have not done so thus far, I wish you'd make that leap—especially if you jumped into either of the bang-up "Kirkstarter" drives before ... because you loved the bang-up quality and love of the amazing, Star Trek Continues stories, and their recreated look and feel. Five times now, on time and on budget—right?

And now a final day all-levels donor's bonus is just out.Oh, and did you know: the Webby-winning Continues is now a tax-exempt, 501(c)3 non-profit filed with the IRS—so, for Americans at least, you can even take you donation as a tax deduction!

But, hey, I know what's up: Unless you've been living under a fake styrofoam rock the past few months, you know the fan-film world has been thrown into a tizzy over the Axanar lawsuit and the ripples from it. And then the whole future of Trek fan films seems uncertain, as the studio Trek "fallow time" finally ends and we get an exciting canon series back in episodic form next winter—which is the positive future where a lot of my Trekland focus is going.
 
But in the here and now today, no matter what, let me just assure you this:  Your faith, as well as your much appreciated cash, will not be in vain in Star Trek Continues if you check aboard this Indiegogo campaign. You have my word on that. And Captain Vic's—check his update video on the Indiegogo page at "13 Days Ago." (Today's offer supersedes the bonus mentoned.)

The announced plan was for STC to end after 13 episodes anyway, with a original "finale" that leads into the situation seen at the beginning of The Motion Picture. The crowdfunding strategy was to go big on a goal after the two prior conservative targets of $100K, and thus make a longer haul over time with less crowdfunding. (My local NPR station, knowing even supportive listeners are weary of the on-air fundraisers, did the same thing with a larger goal to cover the entire election season without interruption.)

But to hedge the risk, STC made the switch to Indiegogo—where, unlike the goal-or-bust structure of Kickstarter, you keep whatever you raise. On the other side of the coin, Kickstarter is supposedly more of a comfort for risk-averse donors, of course—but here we thought that with STC's track record of transparency it would be a moot point.

But as you notice: the campaign and its next episodes are going ahead. So if you've been hesitant about helping out this time, let me just say this:

I am as excited about Star Trek Continues as I was when I first recorded this back in 2013, from Sickbay— or any of the other vidchats with STC regulars, crew and guests I've done so far. Many of which I've still not posted!

There's lots more good Star Trek Continues background stuff coming here—just as with the main STC series, where Ep. 6 and 7 that were crowdfunder-supported last year will be out online over Memorial Day and Labor Day holidays: "Come Not Between the Dragons" and "The Winds of Change."

Thanks for listening. Here's the link one more time.
Now, I just need to crowd-fund a few round-trip airfares to Toronto...

L.A. ALERT: A little Trekland/Con of Wrath invasion for Gallifrey One!

Wow! Convention season 2014 is off and running!  Even if "Who" is what it's about.

Yep, Shaun Lyon has once again invited Dr. Trek to be a part of Gallifrey One, the largest Who con in the world, and once again a sell-out at the LAX Marriott this weekend in its 25th edition.


Despite the focus on Doctors who use a screwdriver instead of a hypo, I've been assured—and seen first-hand—that there is a place for Trek at Galley. It's "a change-of-pace" for the travelers who show up for this mega-con who still have more than one interest.

So, come find me at my Trekland table—I'll have Stellar Cartography and Trekland: On Speaker CDs and off-bid Trekland Trunk trinkets of all kinds!

Most of all, I'll for sure be around for these showtimes:

Friday:
—1:30 pm, Program C: The 2014 debut edition of the Trekland "Between the Cracks" show: gabbing about the state of Trek and the boom in Trek nonfiction… and of course ST Continues in post-premiere week!  (The pocket program does not mention "Star Trek," so help me spread that concept across to the "new" Whovians with a wandering eye.)

Saturday: 
—1 pm, Program D: Crowdfunding 101: I'll be among those talking about Kickstarter, Indigogo, and whatever's been invented in the last 47 minutes to help on projects like The Con of Wrath, Star Trek Continues, and whatever else The Suits are neglecting to give us.

—2 pm, Program C: RUR Genesis Preview screening and panel (left): Adaptor/director James Kerwin asked me to moderate the panel for his new project updating the classic 1918 pioneering robot/sci-fi play with Chase Masterson, Kipleigh Brown, and assistant director Joshua Lou Friedman. This is a wonderfully conceived setting in mod 1968, the actual setting of the play (by the writer-director of the next Star Trek Continues episode).

—11 pm-1 am in Program E: Our first  "Dr. Trek" Show meetup-fundraiser of the year for The Con of Wrath documentary—and my first at Gallifrey! It will be an experiment among the Whovians, but let's go! We'll start up after the masquerade is over. Thanks to Shaun for finding us space rather than dragging outside the Marriott…and, as always, you put in $20 for two hours of prize trivia, rare Trek video, clips from the doc… and late-night Trek tales I shouldn't be telling!

If you can, go Join the Facebook Event page right now.

Help award-winning Neal write his fantasy novel—quick!

Quick: do me a favor and noise this around. It's another one of THOSE requests, but a
modest one— so the bottom line is the next-best thing you can do is SHARE IT.

My buddy Neal Hallford, whom you may know as the DP behind my CON OF WRATH doc, is also an award-winning game designer — for "Betrayal at Krondor" and "Dungeon Siege," a popular couple of big-selling computer roll-play adventure games a few years back, based in part on Raymond E. Feist's Riftworld series—though this new book has no connection.

With that esteemed fantasy DNA, Neal's jumped out with a very modest Kickstarter campaign for THE THIEF OF DREAMS—a sprawling, richly textured, all-new fantasy novel ...and one that can be the cornerstone for its own spinoff game, or who know what else. (And "modest," as in—a lot is not needed if many do it.) It's even consistently rated in the top 5 projects in the Fiction Publishing sub-category on Kicktraq's Hot-List.

To see how much of it all he has sketched out, Neal has a great video up at the KS page—here it is below—plus he has a THIEF OF DREAMS website as well. He's put a ton of time into this: a map, characters, an FAQ for both the project and the campaign—and of course more on all the rewards they have set up ... especially if you are wondering what all there is for donor gifts for a novel. Updates are there, too.

You know the drill with Kickstarter: if Neal doesn't reach goal, the project doesn't fund and all donors get their money back. So the days may be ticking by, but there's time to kick in, and then share with all the fantasy and gaming fans you know (like via Facebook). It's a great feeling to be able to create and evolve one's own universe, and to be able to weave a fantastic tale you know fellow fans will love.

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.