Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Bring on the movie fans!—and this ST Beyond event


Bless me, but I'm actually excited for Friday. 

After this long fallow decade of Trek... after two flashy yet brief film trips to the alt-Trek they created... with an actual, short-season Prime episode run coming as flagship of the new CBS All-Access ... and the excitement it has spawned running far more than the movie's—the one with a troubled start and practically no promotion so far...



Bless me, but I'm actually excited for this Star Trek Beyond Fan Event and Trailer #2 Premiere Friday night on the Paramount lot, led by director Justin Lin (left) and more headline cast/crew names TBA soon. Sorry, it's going to feel a bit "local" in the turnout, you far-flung fans reading this—unless you were among a handful to win a paid trip from Paramount to see it. (Or, of course, catch it on Facebook Live streaming.)

But even without that "radical" access ... it's literally going where no on-lot, live Trek movie promo event has gone before–especially for the public. Far more than just the trailer and talkers, I hear talk of some really cool displays—so we'll see!  "Star Trek: The Temporary Experience" is as welcome as any right now.

All of us will be eager to finally see what this jump-start buzz machine will actually jump-start among fans, their social media, and even hard-core media. That's the catch-up strategy, and it's already starting up this week.

But I also can't wait to meet and hear from the alt-movie fans, for once—if indeed a lot of them get in the gates Friday. I don't know that they always break through the "established" circles of fandom that tend to circle me... but I am so ready to gauge their reactions and feelings about what is unveiled this night. I really, really hope to finally meetup a lot of the fanbase who've come to Trek only since 2009, via the big-screen entry point.

With time not on the side of print media, I'll be writing a piece for Star Trek Magazine about not so much the event but the variety of fan feelings that night about both it and the movie. 

Look, as this unusual decade has played out with Trek in flux, my own perspective has finally evolved to understanding that while the "alt-verse" was not my first choice, this an overall well-cast film series has been amazing at pumping in new fans, and grabbing respect in The Town and This Media. It's been the best entry-level drug Star Trek has had in decades.

And if I haven't said it lately, I've said it often on-air: I had been excited to see what Bob Orci was going to bring to the series once left to his own, with JJ Abrams' shifting his gaze to Warsland; I felt for a long time that the JJ veneer on top of any Trek that Bob or anyone has done has been greatly underrealized, and had been eager to see what the final product would be without that veneer. for once. That said, even with its rushed restart after Orci's story was let go, I still have high hopes for the script that fanboy Simon Pegg and partner Doug Jung (right) turned out—and I pay no attention to group think: Lin has directed a far wider range of tales than simply that F&F tag he was stuck with—and he rejuvenated that. (Awesome profile on his life and its affect on his storytelling here.) 

I always hope for the best, and I'm really pulling for these guys. Maybe it's a luxury of optimism, now that we know a weekly return to Prime is due next winter. 

We'll see Friday. 

And I can hardly wait.




UPDATE: per Paramount: "The event will not be live streamed in it’s [sic] entirety. Buzzfeed Entertainment will be live streaming a portion of the event through their Facebook page. "



9 comments:

VWgal said...

Looking forward to the event, the movie and BEYOND!

Michael Sullivan said...

Hi Larry, I will be at the event Friday with my daughter, who came to the Trek fold, not through me, but via these new movies. I hope to see you there, maybe even chat a bit. I enjoyed your McCoy on STC, which I will show my daughter before we go on Friday.

StelArian said...

Any link for the live event, or it's too early?

Unknown said...

Heya Larry! That's actually Doug Jung (the co-screenwriter) in the photo, not Justin Lin.

ASTRAL4 said...

You're quite wrong about the tv show being more anticipated. The only poll ive seen on the subject--with 6500 votes--is on Trekmovie and Beyond is wininng by a 67% to 33% margin.

Larry Nemecek said...

Unknown--urg, thanks for thank. That explains my original "erroneous" image filename I "fixed." Internet rush caught up with me. See the results now.

Larry Nemecek said...

ASTRAL4: Weeeeelll, might depend on your circles. Or generation. Or, just that movie-oriented TrekMOVIE crowd. In many other circles—online websites and podcast, for starters— the movie has been considered, if at all, as already a vestige until things return to series, extended runs, and Prime, with a known Trek vet. STB's false start, late starts, and lack of standard trade promo hasn't helped.

But again, that's I want to see first-hand Friday: the show, and the goers.

ASTRAL4 said...

Larry, that's too large of a difference and sampling to really be a coincidence or fluke. But, the Beyond teaser was viewed by 40 million people between the CBS and Paramount site, and the movie opens 2 months later than STID, which may be why people are thinking the promotion is late..it's not..in a comparison done a month ago, there were 2 trailers two 3 for STID during the same poeriod (up till may 20th), only 5 more publicaly released photos, and 1 less major interview.

Larry Nemecek said...

Sure it is, when you talking about fraction of a genre audience. People who hyperfocus on online audiences, or the loudest 10%, miss the vast majority time and time again. #ohnoits1986again But I love'em, it's the passionate-- and I have my own gripes too. I just try to take the long view and not jump off a cliff on a moment's notice.

But hey—I didn't invent the "late" talk. I was in the UK and got bombarded by the trade story alerts and their whispers about the lack of a trailer at CinemaCon at eh Pegg/JJ event, and then a couple of days later this 'fan" event proclaimed for a month later. And comparing to STID doesn't exactly win your point. :-)

But again, I want everything to succeed, and this social-media-promo-kickstart gambit will be interesting to see. and the fans it attracts--although I'm hoping, being local, it's not the typical jaded/snarky/blase LA bunch completely.