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...

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!

Star Trek 2017: Five questions I still have

It’s been two weeks now since The Big News, when this is where my mind went in the first few hours …  while many fans went off, not on the potential show but on its potential delivery system.

But with all the immediate hand-wringing since by media types, pundits, and fans somehow armed with a Twitter account… there’s been absolutely no news on the content side of the equation. 

Which itself speaks volumes.

But it has been two weeks… and I still have a lot of unanswered questions.  Maybe the dust has settled enough for others to see this as well, but….

Here’s what I just want to know:

1)    How big is the show order? Eight, 10, 12, 18 episodes? As an expensive streaming show, how much investment and risk is CBS willing to stake, and for how far ahead a commitment? 

2)    Where they will shoot this for CBS Television Studio... in LA (at Paramount, a CBS studio, or elsewhere) … or out of town: Vancouver, Toronto, who knows? I ask purely for selfish and convenience reasons...as well as for that great pool of experienced Trek talent from all areas of production who would easily and seamlessly help jump-start a new production--no matter who was in charge or their best "same but different" vision. And who of course could use a job. 

3)    Is the "CBS preview" an hour-long promotional preview with interviews and demo features, or the actual pilot episode? 

4)    Is Alex Kurtzman to be an actual hands-on showrunner, or a Dick Wolf “nameplate” type who picks a showrunner and then moves on, leaving all in the hireling’s hands? And, if so, who IS that “real” showrunner to be, and then who else will be in on the format development of characters and setting? The actual CBS press release was not shy about admitting that writers have been interviewed—but did not to specify if they were actual show runners, or pilot writers, much less who had been hired. Obviously, no one, as of then—or even now: that hire and clarification will surely be a news-making moment. 

5)    And ultimately, of course, the big le-matya: The timeline choice between Prime and alt-JJ as the setting.

And that last brings up a couple angles in this tale you may not yet have considered:

It struck me, after the CBS-Bad Robot tug-of-war over the legacy fate of all things Prime, that CBS has that vested interest $$wise in building on the existing library and its spin-off products. By 2015, surely it is hardly Trekkie mumbo-jumbo to the network brass to understand this, and to push for hiring creatives who can easily design and tell stories in “canon” and still feel unencumbered and unchained in their storytelling/visualizing. (#primeisnotscary #primeisnothard )

Of course, many may be confusing the potential apples and oranges of this  “JJverse” vs “prime” question: there's also the visual canon versus the timeline canon—and then, the mistake of equating either choice as simply the 1980s and the 2010s. They aren’t, of course: a “modern Bad Robot” quality can be both indulged and intelligently applied to a pre-TNG setting or a post-TNG setting in Prime as well as alt-verse…if the right drivers are given the keys. Don't assume that a "Prime" show means it has to look like 1987 production technology, or even 1995. 

My own preference? Many of you know I've said it time and again for years, both in podcast interviews and live at cons--since the end of Enterprise: Prime, of course, since that's the franchise strength of 730+ hours... And in the "B/C" era, midway Kirk/Picard. It's the most open and most intriguing...and still plenty latitude for nervous nellies worried about "canon freak." The Tomed Invident? Cardassian first contact? Perhaps Bajoran and Breen, too? Evolving Klingon detente, and the Romuksns "silent" reaction against them? But only as touchstones--still lots of open spacescape to explore, both literally and figuratively.

Which leads to another reality that’s been overlooked here: Of all the potential showrunners we might like to see, with or without Trek credits already… how many of them are not tied up by contract to another studio and are even free and clear to navigate to CBS's Trek?

Seen in that light, this business-driven renaissance that had Kurtzman in the first press release might have been more about having his name and friendly CBS-based deal involved than his recent film experience—an experience he had already chosen to end for the third movie, even before former partner Bob Orci was taken off the project.

Yes, it will all come out in the wash—sooner than later, actually, in these next 15 months.  So many, many questions still unanswered—and maybe a few assumptions to be second-guessed as well.

Listen: I deep-dive the Trek 2017 news on NPR & Trek.fm

For those of you who prefer your Trek 2017 info and discussion audio-style as well as deep,
I took part in two great discussions this week that are now downloadable for a listen at your leisure.

Many are familiar with The Ready Room, the flagship program of Chris Jones' Trek.fm network of podcasts—and for the third time this year he invited me on for a breaking-news special edition. This time, rather than the deaths of Leonard Nimoy and Harve Bennett, we had a much more upbeat time talking about the future: the news, business angle and still many questions surrounding "Star Trek 2017"—as well as the stupifying and varied fan reaction to the CBS All Access streaming platform it would pioneer. It's 90 minutes and quite a deep dive, by the times we plumb the angles and implications...and as usual I hope I brought some historical and production context many fans might not have thought of yet.

Also this week, NPR radio host Tom Ashbrook in Boston invited me on his On Point call-in talk show Friday to join two TV critics and bring the hot-news Trek perspective to the topic—the current so-called TV  "reboot" wave. Of course I made the point that Star Trek has already passed through its initial "regeneration" not once but twice, 1986 and 2009—and that to fans this represents not a TV fad but just the latest volume in the series FINALLY coming out, dammit. I had the last half-hour of the hour-long show, but it's all great fun with X-Files and Gilmore Girls getting the secondary attention from the other guests, as well as Trek. You can listen or download it as well at the link.

And if you are not in the download audio habit—that's simply what a podcast is!—they make a great on-demand companion for your long commute, your long jog or workout, or whenever meaningful (and specialized) audio can come in handy. 

Here's as good a time as any to try them out!  I've been a guest on 30+ shows all across Chris's Trek.fm network for years now and he even has a special page made up for them in Trek.fm's coveted "featured iTunes" status section...although you can get to them in a zillion ways—including just direct audio play off the website.

Of course, this was also the topic of this month's "Ask Dr. Trek" Roundtable telebriefing in my Portal 47 group of backstage deep-divers (that's the session where they pepper me, instead of a wonderful guest Trek voice you've likely never heard from—which is the second one of the month). And true to my archive opening feature in P47, I shared both Bob Justman's 1986 memos and Interstat fan letters that year to show how much things are still the same between 1986 and 2015.
 If you're diggin' these type of second-level info, past or future, you really should come through the Portal with us each month for the whole package!

I'm excited about 'Enterprise in Space'—and so will you!

You've never seen anything like this.

You've seen Kickstarter and other crowd-funded projects… you've seen fan films, games, novels, events… a lot of them I'm involved with. But no—you've never seen anything like this: 

"This" is the Enterprise in Space project you may have been hearing me hint about in recent weeks.

Look, I had no clue I'd be wrapped up in this non-profit mission as the year started. Now I'm thrilled I got involved and can spill the beans and the excitement: There's so much!—but hang with me while I try. The site and project is finally LIVE, and it is based on a few simple premises:

Take our shared and inspired love of space and exploration, whether fact or fiction (right?)... give 100+ student minds worldwide a chance to fly their space projects in orbit—all disciplines and, for once, for free ...let the donors come along as virtual crewmembers... and make science fact out of that science fiction. It's a great way to play the adventure and pay homage to all our sci-fi heroes and creators with a real-world result.

There are SO many groovy moving parts, it's hard to get it all out. For starters, you can take a look at the website's first video to get an idea.

But as founder Shawn Case says, simply: "Isn't it time a real Enterprise flew in space?" That was Shawn's starting premise... and if all goes as planned, that will finally happen in 2019—along with a big outreach to educators and students, helpful corporations and non-profits, and of course grassroots funding... all over the world. And after the 8-foot craft re-enters for recovery, the whole thing goes on a tour of museums and conventons before going on a display at a major space museum (yes, we're talking with THAT one). And, of course, the experiments' data will be maintained, analyzed and made available.

Just to be clear: The NASA space shuttle Enterprise was an unpowered test ship, remember, and flew key but dummy drop-tests; Richard Branson's same-named Virgin craft was sub-orbital. Thus, the name "Enterprise" is an honored one, from namesakes of Star Trek's various iconic and beloved ships to their own namesake as two heroic US Navy aircraft carriers, and even sail ships before that.

Shawn, a Trek fan and space buff from Oregon, did what a lot of us do in our daydreams:  figure out how to marry up the most inspirational, optimistic science fiction with science fact, right? It got me excited, and it got the National Space Society excited too—where both Gene and Majel Roddenberry served as prior board members...excited enough to sponsor what Shawn and his team have planned out for over three years, now officially the "NSS Enterprise orbiter." It's got the likes of Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin and Nichelle "Uhura" Nichols, Grace Lee "Yeoman Rand" Whitney and renowned broadcaster Hugh Downs...and many more... just as excited.

And the first part of all is... there's a contest—open to ANYONE—to design the thing! Sure the orbiter has to be spaceworthy, but check out these rules and get your entry in. Call all the designers, doodlers and CG artists you know as well. That's why there's no shiny spacecraft to show off—yet—but the contest ends Nov. 27, so get cracking. Or sharing.

The optimistic brand of science fiction—from Gene's Star Trek to the forward-tilting futurism of Heinlein and Asimov—has always had a mutual love affair with NASA and our real-life space heroes, right? I mean, as I've said often, I was a NASA kid way before I was a Trek fan, growing up on all the early flights—especially the Apollo moon landings. We played Apollo at recess, guys! I turned our treehouse into a LM and we put on whole Apollo missions.

I bet you feel the same way, right? You swell with pride every time we fix a satellite, discover a new deep-space secret, or rev up another rover on Mars. And I bet you've fumed "Stop picking on NASA, budget-cutters!" more than once the last decade or two, right?

Now, yes, we're not talking backyard model rockets here. But Shawn's dream isn't just shared by you and me: It tugs at the heartstrings of inspiration for a lot of fans—many of whom are today's aerospace pros, rocket scientists, project managers, top educators... and that's exactly who got excited enough to join the EIS team. I now know the guy who oversaw Citibank's world-record eCommerce system ... the woman who managed the $6 billion expansion of O'Hare Airport... a longtime engineer for the space shuttle and unmanned probes galore... NASA's only two-time educator of the year—but Buck Field, Alice Hoffman, Fred Becker and Lynne Zielinski are just the tip of the iceberg of the talent within the EIS group, all under the legal sponsorship of the National Space Society. The meet has been meeting twice weekly for months, jointly on Skype calls from California, Oregon, Texas, Illinois, other states and even Chile.

And THAT is why this $40 million project can be done, with Space X boosters and SpaceWorks capsule fabricators as the intended contractors—that kind of talent pool. ... Wait, did your eyes glaze over at that budget? How about, as Shawn says, you think of it as "2 million people worldwide giving $20 each...one time"? We have non-profit and corporate grants, too, and aerospace tech testing materials for re-entry... but our viral target stays the same. No one or two big sponsors in control ... but grassroots for "the cost of a movie ticket," as Shawn says.


See, fans, don't think of your typical Kickstarter, here. One of Shawn's goals that I Iove is that there IS no donor bureaucracy with EIS—no levels, no toteboard, no manic requests on ticking-clock deadlines. 'Cause let's be honest: you know I will support all my projects and hope you do too, but there is a bit of crowdfunder fatigue out there.

So, with EIS, just send in $20 for the entire project, and be a virtual NSS Enterprise crewmember: You get an immediate certificate, plus first updates on every step of the mission AND, most cool: Your name goes on a chip that will fly and come back post-flight, for you to see yourself at an event near you. And, for just that $20, you've got plenty left still to help out your other fave projects asking for your help—or shop for those great Trek Christmas gifts!

Look, do me a favor: Share the design contest info now (it closes Nov. 27). (Later there'll also be a contest to design the mission patch.) Share the website, Facebook and Twitter, Google+ and YouTube with everyone you know—the more far afield the better (I'm lookin' at you, my European and Asian friends, for starters!). Tell all the cool teachers and bright young minds you know about the experiments submission and curricula materials. Volunteer to help out, either live or online...or even be a sponsor if you want to go big. We need everything from local event speakers to video/animators to social media voices.

Most of all, please "sign aboard", cadets, with your $20 donation that helps make it all possible—and claims your place on the digital manifest you can see yourself in a few years.

Then follow along as Enterprise in Space, step by step, makes this inspired dream a reality. There's more to come: a tablet showing your "crew" image waving from the portal window, filmed by a tether-towed camera? A new technology of AI-style vocal smart computing for experiment and craft control, a la Starfleet? The ideas are rolling in as we speak...others are volunteering help from their expertise areas .... and there will soon be a weekly EIS podcast produced by our Trekland: On Speaker producer and friend Chris Jones at trek.fm to really keep everyone up-to-date, along with the e-newsletter you sign up for on the homepage.

I am aboard as the "promotions manager" for EIS, which mostly means I'll be the voice and face of bringing the excitement and details and talented people of EIS to the fan, space and genre community at our live and recorded events...and at conventions and conferences. I won't blog here at Trekland so much as link you over to our posts, podcasts, and press releases as each project milestone is reached. 

But I do hope you sign up and join us on this adventure—a positive, real-world outcome based on all the good vibes from that positive future that Gene and so many others aspired and inspired to.

As for me ...It feels great to be a "space kid" again!

Hold your horses—there's no Netflix-CBS "talks" *

Before I get to a look back at FedCon, or Phoenix Comicon…. or a deadline reminder to you about the coming LA2Vega Trek tour and the one-day special we threw in... before all my backlogged videos patiently waiting… I need to address this today.

There's a story up on "Plus.Google" by an unnamed writer—yes, a story without a byline—that quotes me from a Phoenix Comicon panel Saturday saying Netflix and CBS are "in talks" to do a new Star Trek series. "Lucrative" ones, no less.

And that's not true.

I know Trek fans are hungry for new material and hoping that someone "gets it" and gets on with doing one. That's why everything from the continuing novels to fan fiction, to Star Trek Online and other games, to the fan films, to  cosplayers and prop and shipbuilders are all still going strong: People are desperate for new Star Trek—including the new fans driven by JJ or the Bluray remasters and, yes, mass Netlfix availability. And, said desperate fans pounce on every crumb that's out there — as good fans would. Or they even do more, like organizing a Facebook "petition" campaign to get Netflix to produce a "fifth season" of Enterprise.

But this non-bylined writer known only as "Starfleet Intelligence" is too wrapped up in tossing around jazzy phrases of TheBizSpeak in this post, and has the situation blown up way too big —though it makes a nice screaming headline. I wish he or she had talked to me afterward for some real context to the tiny bit I DID mention. (or even got my bio right.) 

So, HERE's some context.

As we know by now, Netflix has changed the TV/media landscape yet again by becoming a platform of clout with original shows like House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black—popular not only with fans, but critics...and now the award shows. It's in Netflix's interest to be casting about for new shows—including those from known franchises. I understand Star Trek is one of them—especially as Trek's 737 hours of "reruns" performs as a top draw ON Netflix. As I understand it, there have been overtures.  But none taken. So far.

That's it, guys. I appreciate the pedestal, of sorts, but this excitable blogger makes it sound as if show budgets and writer's guides for a done-deal Trek series are already floating around in CBS offices. Maybe they are—but not to my knowledge. We all know plenty of people in private and public have pitched show concepts and formats—and on a "channel" that makes financial and distributional sense. And, we do know that one good way to help get Star Trek back is to keep those Netflix viewer "ratings" tickers clicking right along marathon-style, as a barometer, to reveal any and all Trek shows being watched. But inertia and the unanswered questions of who, what, when, where, and how much have, so far, won out. Sadly.

Oh—and someone also needs to tell this "reporter" that Star Trek Communicator is not a current thing. 

Sadly. *sniff*



*Again: That *I* know of.

STV: Why Doug Drexler backs that petition for a Netflix ENTERPRISE

Amid all the hoopla over that movie that came out May 17, or even our little Star Trek Continues ...

You might have choked on your gagh a few weeks back to read about a campaign to get Netflix to fund a "fifth season" of none other than... Star Trek: Enterprise?

It may have even popped up on your Facebook. That's how I first dropped my jaw over the topic. But I find out all about in this vidchat--just below. But first, consider this:

Netflix funding of original series and now the return of "old" series, of course, is a done deal already: new eps of cult classic Arrested Development are a movie lead-in, Kevin Spacey's original House of Cards aired there too—and now a Veronica Mars comeback movie, of all things, is green-lit after zillions of Kickstarter backers.

So look at where we are in 2013!

For the first time, a "dead" show could actually be brought back to life with non-network backing .... even an online streaming service. And the show's still-pissed-off fanbase would actually have a hand in resurrecting it by demand, and continued streaming.

And so that leads us to Jen DeSalle and Robert Bolivar, who decided to launch their own Facebook et al petition campaign to convince Netflix to do the same thing for Enterprise. After all, if zillions got a 20-something mystery drama back in production, surely many times more would stand up for the disrespected and increasingly missed final incarnation of TV Trek?

Then what to my wondering eye should appear than the respected name of Doug Drexler among the "backers" of the petition drive. No fan-flak he, make-up and CGI pro Doug went on to the Battlestar franchise of course and works all over now—but Trek is still his heart and soul. He wouldn't attach his name to this Facebook petition to Netflix lightly—so I had to track him down and ask, given all we know about Trek TV these days...



So the Facebook campaign HQ is here—and I wrote the founders to get more about it.

Jen told me that she was for the campaign to convince Netflix even with the Paramount/CBS "moratorium" on Trek TV. "Trek on TV has consistently done better than any of the movies by far. Now, CBS may not see this in the short term but over time, one of the things we hope to show them, is that the TV side is not only profitable, but, in the case of a series like Enterprise, also cost-effective." And, she adds, the "selfish" chance for a lifelong fan to create a page, CGI mockups and promo banners on such a campaign with Doug and other sites was "too much to pass up".

It was a comment by exec producer Brannon Braga, of all people, about using Netlfix to revive Enterprise as a renewed series or even TV movie that nudged Bolivar to jump ahead with the campaign for fans who feel "cheated" at the early departure of the NX-01. "Network interference, declining ratings and other studio red tape are something that every show has faced," Rob says. "Enterprise was just hitting its stride when it was cancelled. With our Facebook campaign, we are doing something that has never really been done with Trek before. We have gathered the fans, actors, production staff, etc.— all of them in basically the same place to support each other and the cause. Are there hurdles? Absolutely, but we have the ability of hindsight this time around. We know what works and what doesn’t. We know how to keep costs down and with the advances in digital sets; we can film just about anything. I think that Netflix is the perfect medium for this type of endeavor. Enterprise fans deserve this. We just want to see the series played out the way it was supposed to be.

" It's a worthwhile cause, and I hope, and pray that it is noticed, that we are heard, and we get our dream, at least one more season of Enterprise, to see some of what we can do now, and of course maybe the Romulan War wouldn't hurt.," Jen adds. As does Rob: "Streaming media is the future of television, and so is Star Trek."

What do YOU think? Does this really have a chance of appealing to Netlfix, much less persuading CBS to let it be done in the first place?

Or do we truly live in an "all bets are off" media world of change today, and who knows?

NPR and me, etc: It's that mainstream media Trek again

UPDATE: You can catch the aired 20-minute NPR segment here ..... and the Voice of Russia "Prism" show here.

FLASH: I'll be on LIVE and in-studio Friday with SoCal NPR's KPCC and AirTalk host Larry Madden— 11:40 am PDT until the end of the show. If you aren't local, the station streams online, too.

Rumor has it we'll be talking about that Star Track thang—past, present and on down the road.

Which brings up the topic of the Mainstream Media —because, in case you hadn't noticed, we're tunic-deep in that special time again when they (or at least the closet-Trekfan hosts and producers sprinkled among them) can safely talk Star Trek beyond the latest science breakthrough or second-degree Trekland obituary.

I've been hit up by a number of media outlets to gab on about Gene's sandbox and JJ's corner of it, thanks to the media blitz of the Into Darkness premiere and hoopla. Aside from KPCC, I've also spoken with the Voice of Russia and Prism host Andrew Hiller in Washington, D.C. for a brief segment on his show online Friday and can be heard at that link.

So far, the print media has grabbed me for a bit in the Miami Herald already in a Sunday piece by Rene Rodriguez (left).... and there's more outlets out there who haven't sent me links yet—but I'll share them, in the next day or two... a couple from around the globe. It's all about everyone wanting opinions and context about THIS movie for the layman, and how it fits into the big 50-year Trek tableau. And, as we stay out of a time of active "aired" production, it's what we have to bite into.

It's a big-picture I continue to stay interested in, since there's so much "daily shiney" out there already to steal our attention elsewhere—a big picture I have written about already for years. Me love the canon details, yup ... but the long-view eddies and floes are good to keep in mind as well. It's fun to use the mainstream medial channels for that.

Plus, you never know just what mundane corner will yield up the next anal canonista or bigtime fan of Captain Proton, right?

True-life tractor beams: The latest "Trek lead"

Tractor beam stuff!

The "lead," in journalistic jargon, is the top of a news story— the essence or nugget of the story, simply stated, that is then elaborated upon in succeeding paragraphs. If all you got was the first sentence or so, you'd know the gist of the story—even without more background.

When Civil War technology yielded not only all-new mass killing methods but mass communication as well, early-day journalists using telegraph lines for the first time realized the line might be cut at any time in critical situations, in battle or by spies. Thus, reporters got into the habit of spitting out the most important news first, and then elaborating as working lines allowed. Just in case.

Softer feature stories have their own lead style—and if those stories are about cutting-edge science or technology, it's a good bet they'll begin with leads that mentioned a certain future-soaked sci-fi franchise. We say this over and over again, and STILL it keeps happening. To-wit:

Tractor Beam: NYU Physicists Build Real-Life Working Model Of Sci-Fi Staple

"Star Trek" may have predicted the iPad and the iPhone, but who would have thought scientists could actually build a working tractor beam?
New York University physicists David Ruffner and David Grier have proposed how a working tractor beam might be assembled, according to a written statement. ...

It IS an amazing story. Again.
So how else to best introduce it to the American public?

Pods and news and secrets—what a day

Wow, this is an insane day prior to travel... but had to share about what you can download TODAY: A great show with some deep places ... really! .... as I got to be a part of trek.fm's "The Ready Room" podcast this week— for their Episode Number 47, naturally!  (And yes, we did review "47" for the newbies."

Totally unrelated, but in breaking secret news I have to sit on something that will surely make news when I can say! At least, among the hard-core canonistas ... and perhaps even my author friends.  More on that in a few months, when I can ...


But back to trek.fm today and your download click-finger:

Now that fandom and the biz have awokened from the drunk of how the Star Trek 2009 dynamic would play out,  Trek's current and future form wound up as our topic —and former Treklanders Doug Mirabelo, onetime emergency Andorian, PA,  and Rick Berman's last assistant at Parmaount, and industry vet Jose Munoz, also a former PA at Star Trek back in the day, joined me from their Zero Room geek-media podcast (and their great Star Trek animated pitch with Dave Rossi) for this show. Hosts Chris and Greg gamely tried to herd the cats. I had not talked to Doug nor Jose in years, so it was doubly fun. And heaven forbid any of us had strong opinions to spout.

And I even use some colorful metaphors. Yes, really.

A shout-out to Chris and Greg for including in the news roundup that it's the final weeks of open registration for our "Hollywood to Vegas" Trek filming site tour that I'll be hosting for Geek Nation Tours in August, pre-Vegas Khhaaann. Please give Teras an email for info so he can call you and see how to make it work best.

My "Pendulum Theory" gone wild, takes over Trek.fm! Kinda.

I've been talking about it for years—just an observation—but my eighth "Supplemental" TREKLAND post for rebooted startrek.com about the pendulum swings of Star Trek fan tastes-n-trends seems to caught a lot of notice.

That includes the guys behind trek.fm's The Ready Room weekly podcast, Christopher Jones and Greg Harbin, who had me on for TRR #19, "It Doesn't Have to be Seven Years Apart," which is posted now and also available on iTunes.

Thanks to the title given the original piece by startrek.com—"Is It Time For a TNG Comeback?"—there seems to be a lot of misconception about what I meant (era/vibe/look, not specifically a Stewart/Spiner/Frakes et al reunion movie again). The TRR guys let me come on to talk about the piece and clarify some of those sidetracked misconceptions, but we also opined on The Big Trek Picture in general, especially as to any future TV return. And they were even gracious enough to let me talk about The Con of Wrath and even about the long-lost Grolst coming to light.

I hope everyone gives it a listen and becomes regular TRR listeners. It's a slick addition to their trek.fm lineup of shows and features, and one of many great Trek podcasts that Treklanders are privileged to enjoy.

TV vs. Movie: Think about this

On the heels of my last musings about What Hath ST2009 Wrought... or will ... I thought I better get on the record with this now.

I've said it before and I'll be saying it again:

By any measure, whether this movie sinks or soars—and I'm betting on the latter!—I'm wondering when everyone will wake up and realize it is JUST a movie.

I don't mean the quality ... I mean the fact that's it just two hours of film. Taking two years to produce. And it's another two-year wait for just another two hours.

If this is the safest way back to public respect for Star Trek by the all-knowing mainstream media and the all-funding studio investors, then so be it.

But Star Trek will never again be how we now think and remember it—the fandom, the escalating excitement, the onrush of cool factor—until it returns to television. Not until we return to the days when there's one weekly adventure after another being constantly cranked out, not matter what the format or era or character set (assumig it's top-notch, of course) will we really return to the heady days of the '90s and early Aughts.

We need characters evolving, gadgets a-gleaming and canon deepening more than just two hours every two years.

Sometime around May 15 or 20, a week or two after this movie opens to roaring success, everyone will wake up and suddenly remember that fact.

We've Never Gone This Way Before

A whole new cast in the glare of the spotlight. Hollywood veterans. For a movie. Months in the making and countdown.

When you think about it, after 43 years of viewable Star Trek productions, we’re now in a place Where No One Has Gone Before.

Sure, Trek's certainly had its share of movies, new series casts and first-time producers. But I’m wondering what the “morning after” for this mix will be like, no matter how great the performance—and I don’t think most fans or industry watchers are following through that far.

First up, let's be straight: Like most every other watcher by now, I’m pretty convinced JJ’s new movie will pack a wallop, both with the box office and mainstream pop culture—and most hard-cores fans will be along for the ride.

But consider: All prior Trek movies have been “icing on the cake” for a TV show cast that earned them—both original and TNG. For good or bad, all the films to date have been adventures in search of achieving a big-screen bang with characters and actors we already knew. Almost no exposition—visual or verbal—was ever required.

This time, it’s a whole new ball game. Sure, we know the characters—unless the mostly confirmed plot format alters even that, and we only mostly know them. But for the new actors playing those old roles, well … let’s say I was curious when J.J.’s casting news dribbled out. Sure enough, his actors went of a true feature film line-up, not those open to a TV run follow-up.

Now consider II: For the most part, there is and was no established “Star Trek HQ” of creative staff and support folks yielding up this work. For the first time since Harve Bennett’s pre-TNG films, Star Trek ‘09 is proceeding like any other nomadic movie crew: certain departments are hired up and show up on-lot as needed, and then go away again, as needed. As is the nature of the biz, they close up shop and go on to the next project—cast and crew alike. The ongoing honchos involved don’t even all office at Paramount.

So, come 2009 and there will again be no full-time Star Trek “presence” at Paramount, save someone in Home Entertainment—with even Bad Robot concerned with a host of other projects too. No still-standing sets or offices to tour through or sneak peeks at.

Most of all, these actors will not have to depend on these roles—and they certainly aren’t in the middle of a seven-year TV run to promote. For now, anyway, while you’ll see their beaming faces all over at promo time next May, I’m betting they’ll be absent from standard convention slots fans are so accustomed to. They will likely love this movie—and the next ones—and their fans, and what they do for their careers… But as film actors they will likely be out doing just that, trekking the studio-meeting circuit rather than the con circuit.

I’m just sayin.’