Oct. 12: After one year, it's an open house for Portal 47!

My baby is one year old! Portal 47, the monthly insider deep-dive to more in-depth Trek, was launched a year ago this month—and we're having a party to celebrate!

Well, a virtual open house, actually, and you're invited: On Oct. 12, a special edition of one of our guest telebriefings. And in the spirit of #StarTrek50, it's a doozy: None other than Robert Butler, director of Trek's 1964 first pilot, "The Cage."

I thought Robert, whom I've met at a couple of recent panels here in L.A., would make a wonderful guest for this opportunity to show off one of the key features in the Portal package.  At 88, he can't travel much, so the phone-conference format is a perfect way to open up his appearance to the whole world. And there's not a lot of his colleagues still with us.

As the Portales do once a month, you can even send in questions in advance for our guest. Just reserve your virtual seat at this link, and see how, when and where to join in—and forward your pre-questions, if you like. We'll have some visuals, too, for those online...where we never have bandwidth issues.

It's just one of the features our deep-divers get every month—a part of what we call a mini-con all year long, no matter where your center seat is. (Seriously. Any continent, or wilderness... with a wi-fi signal, that is.)

But next week, all are welcome to see what that's like, and get a dose of first-hand Trek tales in the process... where no savvy fan has gone before. Hope you can make it!




(And by the way: If you tried to make our launch call a year ago and could not get in...don;t look for that to happen again. We're good!)

'Beyond' in incredible, Barco Escape three-screen panorama theaters—can you see it near you?

The pre-screening buzz is great for Star Trek Beyond, as I'd guessed, even though detailed reviews are being embargoed til the release July 21...

But here's one detail that should not be a secret: A hot new way to see Beyond and other features, soon, in only a few dozen cities around the globe: a multi-screen, panoramic theater system called Barco Escape.

I'm going to be seeing STB again in L.A. just after the Comic-Con premiere, but the wide Barco artwork below gives you the idea—over 20 minutes of the movie were specifically created for the sprawling, massively wide effect by director Justin Lin and J.J.'s Bad Robot team in full partnership with Barco. These ain't third-party add-ons!

And now there's a trailer out for the Barco Beyond:

Barco, first out in 2014 with The Maze Runner,  has also partnered with 20th-Centruy Fox and Jerry Bruckheimer, and has committed to at east three more films with the Barco touch this year—one of them big-time: The feature 6 Below will be shot entirely in Barco Escape by director Scott Waugh (Act of Valor, Need for Speed), and starring Josh Hartnett.

To me, it harks back to the old Cinerama three-camera multi-screen projection which is amazing, as we recently saw at a festival of films actually made to take advantage of it and projected that way. But THIS of course uses the latest in digital cinema on a whole new seamless level, and expands the visceral sensory experience that is hitting you from such a wide angle.  An epic space blockbuster like Star Trek on big screen is the perfect way to take advantage and showcase all that expanded cinemascope panorama!

I can't wait to try it out here at the Regal at LA LIVE downtown, but check Barco Escape's world screening link here where you can see the cities and showtimes around the world and whether you're lucky enough to have the access, too. Just check it out and get tickets at those exclusive theaters just like you normally would for a show.

Barco uses the Twitter handle @BarcoEscape and has a full website here.

And just so you can get the full Jaylah effect too:

-------------------------------------------
In case you missed it, here's the full press release announcing the deal and the technology:

-->

J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot and Barco Boldly Go Into the Future of Cinema with “Star Trek Beyond” Release in Barco Escape

Digital Cinema Powerhouse Brings Multi-Screen, Panoramic Experience To Theaters This Summer

LOS ANGELES — April 11, 2016 — Digital cinema leader Barco and Bad Robot Productions today announced “Star Trek Beyond,” one of this year’s most anticipated films, will be released in Barco’s multi-screen theatrical format Barco Escape, bringing audiences inside the action from the interstellar franchise - like never before. J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot will master a special version of the film, expanding the storytelling across three screens to unveil a thrilling new movie going experience to audiences when the film, from Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions, releases on July 22.

“Star Trek Beyond,” the third installment of the phenomenally successful reboot, is directed by Justin Lin, and stars Idris Elba, Chris Pine, Simon Pegg, Zach Quinto, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Anton Yelchin and Karl Urban. The most recent film, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” grossed more than $467 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing entry in the Star Trek franchise.

"Justin Lin’s Star Trek Beyond is an epic adventure — truly larger than life,” said producer and Bad Robot president J.J. Abrams.  “It is especially fitting, then, that we are partnering with Barco to provide an ultra wide-screen immersive experience using their unique Barco Escape format. This premium format dramatically expands the width of the viewing plane, giving filmmakers an innovative new tool with which to tell stories and audiences an enhanced new way to experience cinema."

Barco Escape will illuminate the Star Trek universe by creating key “moments” across all three screens that will exhilarate fans. Bad Robot will re-master more than 20 minutes of “Star Trek Beyond” into the new format. As part of Bad Robot’s commitment to the innovative technology, an executive from the company will also join Barco Escape’s advisory board.

“J.J. Abrams and the Star Trek franchise share in our passion for exploration and innovation, which is why we’re thrilled to lead Barco Escape’s 2016 lineup together with ‘Beyond,’” said CEO of Barco Escape, Todd Hoddick. “We are honored to have J.J. and the incredibly talented team at Bad Robot Productions as partners and look forward to sharing the power of this experience to capture the magnitude of big, bold stories like ‘Star Trek Beyond.'”

Since debuting in fall 2014 with the hit movie “The Maze Runner,” Barco has been working hand-in-hand with today’s top studios and filmmakers to create projects that offer audiences an unmatched viewing experience - only available in theaters. Director Scott Waugh (“Act of Valor,” “Need for Speed”) recently announced he is directing the first feature shot entirely for Barco Escape. The film, titled “6 Below” and starring Josh Hartnett, will be released later this year.

Barco Escape also holds a multi-year deal with 20th Century Fox and a development deal with Jerry Bruckheimer, who is also an advisory board member.  Barco is committed this year to offering at least four films in Barco Escape, which has proven to bring audiences out to the cinema with its first two theatrical releases.

The fully DCI-compliant Barco Escape technology utilizes three cinema projectors and two additional cinemascope screens, allowing filmmakers to create for a much larger canvas.  With current exhibitor partners in the United States, Europe, Mexico and China, Barco plans to expand to more than 100 Barco Escape theaters in 2016. 

About Barco

Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops networked visualization products for the Entertainment, Enterprise and Healthcare markets. Barco has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and APAC. Barco (NYSE Euronext Brussels: BAR) is active in more than 90 countries with 3,300 employees worldwide. Barco posted sales of 1.029 billion euro in 2015.

About Bad Robot Productions

Bad Robot was formed by filmmaker J.J. Abrams in 2001. The company has produced television series such as ALIAS, LOST, FRINGE, PERSON OF INTEREST, feature films such as CLOVERFIELD, STAR TREK, SUPER 8, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL, STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – ROGUE NATION, STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, and interactive content including the mobile app ACTION MOVIE FX. Bad Robot's first foray into publishing, S., a novel conceived by Abrams and written by Doug Dorst, was a New York Times Best Seller. Bad Robot is based in Los Angeles and can be followed at twitter.com/bad_robot.

###

Thoughts on "Go Beyond" night—and all it conjured up

Doyle Zhang, modern Trek fan: From
Shanghai, China, fan since ST 09 but now
loves all Prime Trek, won trivia, knew Dr. Trek!

It's been a week since Paramount's Star Trek Beyond Fan Night at the lot. A lot of friends and their news sites covered it pretty thoroughly in word and pictures (see vid links below), and the second, "that's more like it" trailer has been pretty well dissected. (That Other Story from the night has blown up, hot and cold, too.) But here's a few of my personal thoughts...and some pics...

The bottom line is this: If Paramount needed to catapult a catch-up offense in this game of promotion and expectations and "buzz" with a hail-mary pass on a hurry-up offense ... this was a huge score. Both in terms of the event, and of course the movie—not just a trailer, but two full scenes of exclusive footage for the 500 or so fans on hand—and a pass for two to the outdoor-IMAX world premiere at Comic-Con San Diego on July 20, plus a studio street naming for Leonard Nimoy in which his family, the Beyond notables, and all fans on hand took part in a toast and mass photo. How do you top that for feel-good?

Zach Quinto leads castmates, JJ, Justin, Adam Savage,
Nimoy family, and 500 fans in a toast to Leonard—
and the unveiling of a namesake street (right) in front of 
old Desilu Stages 9-10—today's Paramount 31-32

500 fans on Stage 31, to start—and a few of them were actually not streaming or live-tweeting for social media.

It was even crowd-managed well—mostly. I mean, we'd wondered what was gonna fill up four hours; some were even wondering aloud if we'd get a draft look at the whole film.

The last 100+ of this line (left) never got in

Holding the event on Stages 31 and 32—or, in old Desilu terms, Stages 9 and 10, storied home to TOS itself—was a master stroke. But there was a major downside, unbeknownst to those inside: Some 100+ ticketed fans who were in line on time were not allowed in over fire marshal capacity concerns—an overreach probably based on the fact that the normal amount of no-shows an event planner counts on does not apply to rabid Trekfans hungry for a local event in Hollywoodland. But plenty of them were pissed—and were promised at least their own world premiere pass for Comic-Con. We'll follow up and see.

Chris, Zach and Karl in Q&A with fans

This was also, I realized as Friday had drawn near, the first big feel-good Trek hoopla on the Paramount lot in a decade—that's a generation, in employee years. I heard there was a lot of excitement and buzz on the lot, where almost no one goes back to the 90s/Aughts era of constant licensing summits and affiliate station confabs in the cause of Star Trek promo and biz.

I have to admit I was a bit distracted: So many friends from the LA fan, media and fan media worlds were here—from  my "+1", longtime fan propmaker and The Con of Wrath associate producer/donor Rusty Harrell to the @Trekkie Girls from the UK (at left, with longtime Paramount secueity guard Steve D.). And then of course with my own ticket giveaway winners, there was a lot of hosting to do.

But I also was on the lookout for strangers—if any Trek fan can be called that. Over the past year, even with this third alt-verse movie's ups and downs getting off the launchpad, I've  had a gut feeling that film in new hands might actually find its Trek roots and vibe in a way that will have a broader old-fan appeal. I've also become very focused on getting out of my own bubble, my own Internet bubble, and meeting up with those fans who are solely more recent JJ-era fans, or those who embrace the alt-verse with no grumbling.
 
That's why I loved doing a piece for Star Trek Magazine on fan reactions: I was determined to talk with fans I didn't already know! And boy, did I: from China and Malaysia and all over the US, as it turns out, were three that night. In fact, one young lady won the stunt version of Jaylah's staff from STB as the only one in the room with her hand up (besides me, apparently) for my buddy Scott Mantz' (at left, apparently in the Andorian Sector) and his trivia on Edith Keeler's social work house—and it turns out Doyle Zhang (at very top)  had flown in from Shanghai for the event (and was a big Dr. Trek fan, to boot!?).... so again, an amazing night. Look for comments from her and five other fans I spoke with (that's me working, at far right!)  in the Titan Star Trek Beyond movie special issue coming in mere weeks!

So, I yeah—I did miss out on any real hobnobbing with Stars and Names. My head was into hosting and working, as I pointed out the next day in that actual snapshot.

The otherwise nondescript teleprompter on the back wall

But if the hard-cores had a highlight, though, it had to be the Interweb meltdown following impromptu but carefully worded "announcement" by producer JJ Abrams and especially director Justin Lin, coming from that bootstrap celebration of fan passion, that the CBS/Paramount Axanar lawsuit would soon "go away". Their careful wording left lots of wiggle room for interpretation as to final details, but it's obvious they are two guys who'd like the air to be as cleared as possible when their bright shiny movie opens. I made it a point to look over at that moment to see the back-wall teleprompter — and it sure looked  frozen to me, though others have sworn the lawsuit question was indeed scripted in the scroll.

In any case, a lot in the past week has already been thrown back into flux again on this one. We'll see—but that story nearly hijacked the sole focus that Paramount surely wanted this night to have on the Interwebs and TV channels still standing. I'd far rather focus on the new series... and now, even, this new movie.

Chris Pine mingles & poses with fans a bit

Finally... 
Because it all amounted to a pretty happy crowd by night's end, no matter the fandom roots or outlook, as far as I could tell. As my gut had hoped and a recent longform piece on Justin Lin reveals, the new flick's director is an old Trek fanboy from way back—and coupled with his fixer mentality and ability to work fast and furious under fire, the STB scenes we saw hit all the right notes and, in the end, just felt right.

How many news outlets reported on CBS star Stephen
Colbert's special message to the crowd, spoken as a Trek fan?

No, not a secret clue—just still handy in the studio sign shop

1000 of these special numbered TMP homage posters
were printed for the gift swag bag.

How many newbies didn't catch John & Bjo Trimble?

When I first saw ST09 and especially STID, my brain's inner thoughts first turned to "what will I say publicly?" so as to put an honest, upbeat public face on this new paradigm format I was still a bit queasy about—and knowing many fans would look to me for a reaction.

But no such worry here. Maybe it's just serendipity that with Bryan Fuller's bunch of new CBS Trek episodes in the works and apparently Prime-set (no confirmed word yet, though), I could just mentally relax about this feature film—no pressure at being the sole rep of Gene's canon filmic universe any longer, no matter its fate.


Maybe so. But it's moot now: The trailer, the behind-the-scenes reels...and especially the 12-minute-plus piece we were privy to I'm sure you've read about elsewhere by now, keyed by a wonderfully right-on Urban/Pine-McCoy/Kirk moment of reflection... Well, I no longer had to wonder what I'd say about it publicly.

My gut instantly said, "Now this movie I want to see."

And I didn't seem to be alone.

Here's that trailer again ... 




...and a recap of the night from Paramount (sans any Axanar moments) ...
.



...and a full one-camer view of the Q&A, plus Scott's trivia:





New fan, bored fan, or just curious how much Trek you don't even know you don't know? Check out PORTAL 47—the monthly 8-point backstage pass based on my 20+ years of memories, archives and crew contacts from the front row of Trekland....live and online, right to your center seat no matter where it is!  Like a mini-con all year long—taking you where no savvy fan has gone before.

Awesome snapshot captures moi and many at Beyond Fan Day event

More thoughts and images to come on this... But I just had to post this now:

With over 500 people squeezed in to the ST Beyond "Fan Day" hoopla Friday night, this was an amazing moment caught by the event photog—and then as the one frame chosen for the press kit: Click to enlarge and see so many friends and colleagues caught in the shot! And all of them playing...

While I am hard at work (lower right, interviewing fan). Of course!

(Look for the results of my labors, barely slipped in on deadline, in the next official Star Trek Magazine from Titan UK/US.)

Star Trek 2017 TV Logo and First-Look Teaser!

Well, they managed to upstage the "Beyond" movie event Friday, after all. Dang those UpFronts' timing! The Internet is melting down as we speak! 

And now the first hint of a webpage for ST2017 just went live!

Here's to someone finally getting that it can be synergy, not competition, between these two giants corners of Gene's sandbox. Even if by accident. The two news headlines ought to reinforce each other, in mainstream media circles, as #TheWeekOfTwoTrailers.

Meanwhile, here in Trekland, this new TV promo has to be one of the slickest teaserly-only moments for any such anticipatedly secret/undeveloped early stage project ever. Sure shows some Who title influences as well as alt-verse... which proves that, yes, CBS production values and CGI have indeed proceeded along since 2005. Relax, fans—once again, you don't look backwards to the last war when you're about to fight the next one, so to speak.

Or ...maybe this joy merely springs from the knowledge we have already, and what we have is a hunger+faith formula to end the Fallow Times and Boldly Go every week again. Finally.

What do YOU think? I know I can't wait to deep-dive this series as soon as the dust settles. Or, yeah, probably a lot sooner.

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. "

LAST CHANCE tickets for BEYOND fan event May 20!

You've heard all about it ... and likely seen the official, now-closed contest for giveaway tickets... to the big May 20 fan event and Trailer #2 preview hosted by director Justin Lin and cast for the third "alt-verse" Trek film BEYOND, due in theaters July 22.

You've even likely seen the other ticket giveaways from other sites, blogs and podcasts. Did you miss out?

If so, here's your LAST CHANCE... from Trekland and Portal 47:

WIN one of FIVE pairs of tickets to this 7 p.m. event right on the lot of Paramout Pictures in Hollywood with Lin and more—NEXT FRIDAY.  I'll be there, too! 

How? It's simple: Just email me your answer to this question, to larry@larrynemecek.com:

What is another aspect of the Kirk-era "Prime" universe that you feel should ALSO be a change seen in the current alt-verse Trek feature films? *

Now, alt-verse haters, back off. I mean this all in fun: Let's see how deep YOU can dive on this. And I don't need an essay—short answers are fine.

The first FIVE answers I receive that I judge best (creative, original... you know) will be declared winners, and each win a pair of tickets. 

The brief rules:

—Deadline is midnight Pacific time, THIS Sunday, May 15. Simply email to larry@larrynemecek.com.

—Your full name, along with your email off the entry, is required. You can name your second ticket-mate, or just go for now as a +1. 

—MOST of all, this prize is admission for two for this one Friday evening event only—no dream trips, sorry. If you are not IN Los Angeles already that evening or plan to get there yourself if you win, then these won't be much good to you stuck on Rigel VII or Tellar Prime.

Once winners are turned in to Paramount, the studio will get in contact about any further information, guidelines, etc.

BTW, here's how that official Paramount release described the night:

The one-time only special event, taking place at the historic Paramount Pictures studio lot, will include the premiere of the newest Star Trek Beyond trailer, an exclusive first-look of never before seen footage from the upcoming film, a Q&A with Lin and the cast and crew, special guests appearances, and other surprises. The Q&A will be streamed via Facebook Live.

And hey—I'll collect the five winners (and maybe some runners-up?) and post them next week. We'll have to grab pics of our Trekland/ PORTAL 47 winners that night at the event, too, of course.



*ie, Random or not—in the alt-verse, Vulcan is gone, Amanda is dead and George Kirk died early; Kirk was born in space, Chekov was born four years earlier, and the Enterprise and most all tech is vastly more advanced than their Prime equivalent at the same time due to the  leapfrogging info downloaded off the century-later Narada. SO—what's an aspect of the Prime timeline that you WISH was changed in the alt?

PORTAL 47: Finally, my all-new deep-dive fan experience is ready

UPDATE: The sample "telebriefing" is done, and the whole program and two ways to get there are now online—plus some quick bonus goodies. Come be a Founding 47'er!

----------------------------------------------------

I almost forgot to post about it myself! 

But, yes, that all-new, boutique deep-dive fan experience I've been trying to develop …. to get you backstage in the 24th century using the best of the 21st century … it's finally here: PORTAL 47. 

Actually, it's not quite—not til tomorrow, Wednesday night, Sept. 9, anyway. A few early-birds already jumped in as Portallers, after seeing my sneak-peeks at San Diego and Vegas Trek. But for most of fandom, I finally draw back the virtual curtain tomorrow night—Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 7 p.m. Pacific/ 10 pm Eastern. (NOTE: The session is done, but see the UPDATE above, and permanent link!).

I'm so excited. It's like opening night!

That's when I invite everyone to listen in on our very first "telebriefing" for those first members —online or by phone. But it's also doubling as a sampler mashup for everyone still new to the package—so after "halftime" I'll briefly go over the features as well as a couple ways to take it—and I'll have all that, plus more one-time surprises for everyone actually with us that night.

If you're at the "shut up and tell me how" stage, then just go here and sign in for ongoing info! 

The truth is, I've been blessed and gratified to have had a front-row seat in many things Trekland for years now…as all you readers and listeners so kindly tell me you enjoy. I not only enjoy that, but feel compelled to keep connecting the dots for fans, and connecting them with voices they might never have heard from! For me, it's all about preserving and archiving as much as pundits and analysis. 

But so many of the conventional streams of "content" are either slow… or not very dynamic … or ignorant of current tech capabilities …  or not even a good business model for putting food on the table (mine!).  PORTAL 47 may yet evolve and get tweaked past what we launch with, but  that idea of a new kind of "deep dive" into insider insight … is exactly what I'm been trying to put together for several years now.

So! It's show time!  The PORTAL 47 public Facebook is up now (yes— Like!), and the webpage will be up in a couple days—but I'd much, much rather tell you directly than write you remotely. If you are not already on my news list (?!) and need the "coordinates," then please: 

Just sign in at this link here and get the details on how to listen in on the telebriefing…and decide for yourself. It's an hour call, no extra cost to you….and I still have a few goodies in my crew gift bag.   

Hope you can make it! 

"It's not for everyone.  But if you’re a new fan … a bored fan… or a fan who’s starting to realize just how much you don’t know … then my pioneering PORTAL 47 is for you!"

20 years ago: When EXACTLY did Voyager premiere?

VGR Premiere Program

Well, that 's a misleading headline—of course, for most of the world, we all know that Voyager premiered with its pilot "Caretaker" on Monday, Jan. 16, 1995—as the ballyhooed flagship of the newly birthed United Paramount Network. As such, for the first time since the original series, as a "network show" its airdate would be on a uniform date and time, unlike the scattered "week of" airdates of syndicated TNG and DS9. (Mostly).

But six days earlier, Jan. 10, saw a special studio premiere at the on-lot Paramount Theater, complete with some press and a celebrity guest to kick off not only the first network Star Trek since TOS, but the first to be led by a woman.

In special remarks beforehand, co-creators Rick Berman, Michael Piller (at left) and Jeri Taylor all spoke about their feelings on the occasion of this newest Trek, as did star Kate Mulgrew—who then introduced an equally historic figure from the real space universe—Dr. Sally Ride, America's first female astronaut, who had flown twice on the shuttle during the 1980s, and who since has sadly passed away of pancreatic cancer far too soon, in 2012.

As a symbol of bonding between historic women of the real and fictional universe, Kate presented her that night with an actual Voyager combadge, making her an official member of Voyager's crew and with the hardware so that Ride could "beam up to the ship any time" she wished. We carried the event in Communicator #100.

And with those words, after a small press posing event, the Paramount Theater darkened while cast, crew, studio honchos, guest and press all saw "Caretaker" for the first time. Pilots and premiere episodes always hold such promise and hope, unaware how succeeding seasons just might unspool, or for how long... but everyone that night was a-marvel at, truth be told, how it was seemingly the best Star Trek pilot yet for character conflict, potential drama, scope and visual effects.

Reverse of VGR premiere program

On a personal note, we had barely been in L.A. for five months, and the prospect of present for a front-row seat to watch a new Trek series launch was exhilarating with its fresh-faced, fandom-naive cast (well, all but for boyhood Trek fan Tim Russ, who knew best of all exactly what he was getting into.) Thus you can imagine my chagrin when all my photography—taken on 35mm Kodachrome slides in the pre-digital age—was mostly ruined thanks to a new Burbank neighborhood photo lab that used old chemicals, and threw off the color of almost all my photos taken that night. (The top two are among the rare pics salvaged). I never did THAT again—but I've been heartbroken ever since that I did not have my shots to archive, from an event not exactly as mangy with photogs as you'd expect.

Along with those, enjoy the premiere program card I scanned here—and no, those are not printed signatures, and no, it is not going in the Trekland Trunk any time soon!

STV: Meet Star Trek's '60s-style poster artist, Juan Ortiz

This one has been in the can for a while, but hey—people still love Juan Ortiz' funky
60's-style Star Trek poster looks, and very few folks have got to meet this incredible artist who's started a mini-franchise all his own with these iconic, widely-diverse graphics: posters for all 80 original Trek episodes, and now the animated series, too, on everything from T-shirts to trading cards.

CBS helped collect them all into a "coffee table" style book, STAR TREK: The Art of Juan Ortiz —it still makes a great self-gift if you didn't get enough Trek in your stocking!—and during the 2013 holiday season sponsored a gala signing event for author and book, opening a gallery show of the posters at the West Coast venue of the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills. The event was reported, but here's how it looked and sounded, along with Juan and his fans:

Single episode posters (and in the U.K. too) and spin-off goodies like shot glasses, and trading cards from Rittenhouse Archives, are available, too.

STV: Watch Gerald Fried play his OWN '60s Trek music

A little Trekland gift for all Trekfans everywhere... and one that is long overdue: 

This, posted at last, is the HD video I shot of what can only be called an amazing night in Star Trek history—shot off guard, from my seat, on hand-held zoom, on Dec. 3, 2012. It was already an electric evening at Hollywood's Egyptian Theater—the ballyhooed launch party for LaLa Land Records' incredible 15-disc original Star Trek complete soundtrack box set, a landmark moment for Trek and true film audiophiles everywhere. Friends Jeff Bond and Neil S. Bulk, among others, had all labored with love over it. And I have more vidchats from that night to share as well.

But the breathless moment of the evening was its climax, when an audience sat spellbound and delighted as TOS composer Gerald Fried, then 82, not only presented a duet medley of themes from his three classic scores for "The Paradise Syndrome,"  "Amok Time" and "Shore Leave"—but took to the oboe to play them himself, with pianist Rich Ruttenberg deftly adding the undertow.

It was simply 9 minutes of music intersecting history for a result I'd never experienced before, much less in Trek—and with no other apparent video cameras around, I'm just glad to have been able to capture it and share it now. The audio alone would be one thing—and those audience recordings are out there, I believe—but this decidedly unfancy video still adds the visual joy and drama as well...including the audience's delighted reaction to you-know-what from that Vulcan episode, and their 45 seconds of final applause.

Maddeningly, I ran out of chipspace just before the piece ended, but was covered by my iPhone mic—so I hope you enjoy what I edited together here, with sounds and sights alike:

LA ALERT: This Friday FREE in Glendale: Celebrate "Mirror" past and present with Star Trek Continues and author Marc Cushman

And all of this is free, with lots of parking!:

For you SoCal Treklanders, here's a chance THIS FRIDAY NIGHT in Glendale for a big-screen viewing of both the original HUgo-niminated "Mirror, Mirror" and the Star Trek Continues' inspired follow-up, "Fairest of Them All," with a chunk of the STC cast on hand and hosted by author Marc Cushman.

The event is actually titled "Star Trek: Past, Present and Future" and has a Facebook page; it starts at 7 p.m. at the Glendale Central Library, 222 E. Harvard in Glendale.  Marc will share notes on the TOS version from his "These Are The Voyages" book on Season 2, and then it's all capped off with a Q&A with STC cast and crew.

Unfortunately for my STC family feels, I will be in El-Paso for EP-Con—a wonderful opportunity to be with fans there and screen it—but  slated to be on hand in Glendale (check the poster (left)!) are Vic Mignogna, Todd Haberkorn, Chris Doohan, Kim Stinger, Michele Specht, Asia DeMarcos, Kipleigh Brown, and co-writer/director James Kerwin — plus guests stars past and present Bobby "The Gorn" Clark and Michael "Apollo" Forrest. And "more"….in surprise...

In case you didn't hear, this is my first chance to blog it and boast like a proud uncle: STC just won "Best Web Series" at the live-streamed Geekie Awards, and only last weekend took home the festival win in New Media—Drama at the Burbank International FIlm Festival after its World Theatrical Premiere…check it out here (at left)!  

And...we're off! The 2014 LA2Vegas Trek Tour has sailed

Yep, the Trek Tour 2014 is underway!

Social media will chart our progress, under #trektour and #LA2Vegas on Twitter, for one thing, but —in this crazy week twixt Comic-Con and Trek Vegas.... here's at least a look at our launch: the Saturday afternoon welcome dinner at Lucy's across from Paramount, where Gene and Co. would water (especially after Nickodell's closed and was swallowed up by the expanded front of the Paramount lot, circa 1993.)

A good group, don't you think? And we're even missing one late arrival. More Aussies and Brits than Americans... some Vegas vets, some newbies... and you can meet them all in just a few days at Vegas.

TNG Movie Night S3: Sights, sounds & tales from L.A. to E.P.

We'll keep collecting anecdotes here, but it's safe to say Thursday night's "Best of Both Worlds" TNG Bluray movie night from CBS and Fathom Events was easily the biggest Trek blowout event in this series. And kudos to TrekRadio for having podcasters and others (like moi) call in from theaters around the country for a little live flavor of Collective fun.

TREKLAND had our ticket-giveaway winners among the hordes of non-drones heading to cinemas nationwide, and Canada too. As promised here's a round-up of what we got in—including a wedding proposal, thanks to Locutus (or at least thanks to his timing of return).

Of course, the fact that the newly HD'd show in question was "The Best of Both Worlds"—and an all-new cinematic edit to boot—didn't hurt the turnout.

The fact that the flick in question not only packs its own punch, but evokes for all who were around in 1990 that long-ago innocence of witnessing a breakout hit in the process, your reward for  standing by in the lean early years... before all the movies and sequels and had-to-get-a-job worldweariness. It calls to you, back to the days when you really could obsess over the world's best cliffhanger... all. summer. long.

Which, as @SirPatStew recounts in the new documentary, applied to parents as well as kids. (And I won't spoil his story, if you haven't seen it elsewhere yet.)
 
Still, I heard that some goers were confused with that Other Star Trek Movie coming next month ...

"There were five people (looked like a family) who got up and left at the beginning as soon as the Fathom trailers finished and the documentary came on. They apparently thought they had bought tickets for the new J.J. Abrams film-—you know, the one that hasn't even come out in the U.S. yet. Pretty amusing!"—Frank Gruber, Paramus, NJ screening

"Guy came out of the theater, saw an Into Darkness poster, said to his friend: 'That's what I THOUGHT we were coming to see!'—@gregharbin (Seattle)

Unofficial ground central for TNG movie night may have been at the Century City Arclight in L.A., where goers got to hear remarks from TNG staffers and Blu-ray project consultant Mike and Denise Okuda, LeVar "Geordi" Burton, onetime TNG S3 writer Ira Steven Behr, and even Elizabeth "Shelby" Dennehy herself, plus Blu-ray doc producers Robert Meyer Burnett and Roger Lay Jr. The Westmores Michael and Michael Jr, who did the Borg electronics, were also in the house—and thanks to my Vegas Vanna, Mary "Televixen" Czerwinski, for these photos while I was "on location" in El Paso:

Listening to Ira wax historic are (from left) Rob, Roger, Denise, Mike, and LeVar ...

...plus a zinger from Elizabeth!

And friend/photog Mary snags those Westmore boys

But meanwhile, in Charleston, S.C.:

"As the director of Carolina Alliance of Star Trek Fans... last night at a local Regal theater we hosted an event. I've worked with NCM Fathom Events since Season 1 and last night was our largest attendance yet!!! We even had a couple get ENGAGEd!"—Erika Y. Figueroa

Our ticket winner in Philly sent this:

"I attended the showing at the Rave 6 University City... It seats about 200 and was a sellout. As I waited for my friend Amy, I talked with members of the Philadelphia Star Trek Meetup Group and the Southeastern PA Nerd Herd.  I ended up missing the pre-show trivia questions and the [documentaries] and instead spent my time talking with my new friends! (Even more members of these 2 groups showed up after this photo was taken.)—Loretta Painter (in TNG T-shirt), Philadelphia

From our Cleveland-area winner, too, in North Canton:
"The theater was almost sold out, and I bought the tickets for our others there; I was going to help the less fortunate anyway."—Roger Scritchfield, Akron


We also heard from the USS Ticonderoga crew in Salt Lake City:
"We had more than the previous two showings"— @TardisCaptain_p

And the USS Atlantis in Idaho, too:

And yes, here in El Paso, where I was in town for Sun City SciFi con, the small but rowdy group at the "overflow" Tinseltown Cinemark theater stood up for my camera to yell out for TrekRadio, and then racked up a few raffle prizes from the con promoters:

Family night!: "Not a great shot, but here's me and my daughter, @ConeErica in Provo, UT"—@cone_is










We also got some thoughts from Treklanders who simply pinged me:

"Modern me got hit almost as hard in the gut as the 1990 me: Fleet graveyard scene hits me right in the feels every time. —@thejoncon, Phoenix area

"That was fun! Loads of #TNG fans, Trek t-shirts everywhere & even a few costumes. Too bad about tech issues tho."—@wetodded, San Diego

"Unfortunately, here at the Orem, UT event, nobody was in costume. Except me."—Scott Armstrong

"I wonder how many Miley Cyrus fans were disappointed last night?"—@doubleofive, Bedford, IN

"Yes [ennoyed],  but thanks to technical difficulties we lost 30 minutes of the episode #dontgotoAugustaGA —@The_Don_Burrito


"Awesome big sceen show, almost full theater, lots of fun, laughing, clapping, true ST fans." —@laura_leclair8, Revere, MA


The event has not dropped off, the numbers keep growing, and a TNG Season 4 promo night seems a sure thing—especially with that trailer for the set on view as well.  I have it on good authority that plans are well along for a repeat of this special edition and documenatry, so we'll see you in a few months back at the theater—even after that other Trek movie... and hopefully glitch free and with cheer to spare.