Star Trek fan productions
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2007) |
| Television series |
|  | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Films |
| ||||||||||
| Setting |
| ||||||||||
| Production | |||||||||||
| Unmade projects | |||||||||||
| Spin-off fiction | |||||||||||
| Aftershows | |||||||||||
| Documentaries | |||||||||||
| Cultural influence |
| ||||||||||
This article deals with fan-made productions using elements of the Star Trek franchise. Paramount Pictures and its licensees are the only organizations legally allowed to create commercial products with the Star Trek name and trademark. Although fan productions are unauthorized and subject to legal issues a status quo exists between the fans and the studio and the number of fan films has increased.[citation needed] The fan film community has received some coverage from the mainstream media.[1][2][3]
Fan films
 | This article may contain excessive or inappropriate references to self-published sources. |
Fan made video projects are commonly called "fan films", a misnomer since they are not shot on celluloid.[citation needed]
- Star Trek: Hidden Frontier
- A series with 47 produced episodes, the series centers on the starship Excelsior and its home base, Deep Space 12, as they mediate disputes between various races and fend off attacks from a powerful new alien race, The Grey. This series is an offshoot of a previous Los Angeles Star Trek fan series, Voyages of the USS Angeles, sharing some settings and characters.[citation needed] Fan Films Quarterly listed Hidden Frontier as one of the 10 most pivotal moments in fan film history in its Summer 2006 issue. [citation needed]
- Star Trek: New Voyages
- Co-creators James Cawley and Jack Marshall aimed to complete the original series' five-year mission, with fan actors cast as Kirk, Spock and the rest of the Enterprise crew on an exact replica of the original bridge set. One episode -- "To Serve All My Days" -- was written by D.C. Fontana, story editor on the original Star Trek series.[citation needed] The second episode features Walter Koenig guest-starring as an older version of Pavel Chekov, his character from Star Trek.[citation needed] Several other actors from the original Trek series have also now signed on to appear in future episodes, including George Takei reprising the role of Hikaru Sulu in the third episode, "World Enough and Time", joining the original Yeoman Janice Rand, Grace Lee Whitney.[citation needed] Fan Films Quarterly listed New Voyages as one of the 10 most pivotal moments in fan film history in its Summer 2006 issue, and has been reported on by National Public Radio.[4]
- Star Wreck
- A series of Finnish parody movies created by Samuli Torssonen from 1992 onward. The latest film, Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning, was released in October 2005 and became an internet sensation, having drawn more than four million downloads from the main site alone, making it the most popular film of all time in Finland.[citation needed]
- Borg War
- Borg War is a 90-minute animated movie originally distributed as episodes on the Machinima.com website and then on other video sharing sites. The entire movie is available as a single download on the website and a DVD version, with extra features, is available as a bittorrent. The raw footage for Borg War was produced using Trek-themed computer games (a process known as machinima) and then heavily edited to create the final movie. Borg War repurposes the games' voiceover clips to create a new plot line, allowing canon characters to appear with the voices of their original actors (notably Patrick Stewart as Picard and Tim Russ as Tuvok). Borg War was nominated for two "Mackie" awards by the Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences. The website claims that a million videos were downloaded in the first seven months of release.
- Captain's Nightmare
- A Lego fan film directed by Jonathan Markiewitz that was featured on BBC Online in celebration of Star Trek's 40th anniversary in 2006. The film was inspired by the music composed and conducted by Ron Jones and the Star Trek: The Next Generation two-part episode "The Best of Both Worlds".
- Fry's Trek
- Fry's Trek is a short fan film that was shot inside of the Burbank Fry's Electronics store. The cast wore TOS costumes and props, and stayed in character, even as security was escorting them out. It was featured on Digg.com, Fark.com, and Wil Wheaton's blog[citation needed].
- Redshirt Blues
- David Rogers' film presents the tale of space weary security officer on the Enterprise who is sick of Kirk, the ship, and the redshirt he must wear everyday. While on patrol, he meets another Redshirt on first assignment, to whom he reveals the truth about Redshirts. This film gained national exposure when screened on the SciFi Channel's Exposure in 2001.
- Starship Farragut
- Launched in July 2005, this series takes place during the original series era and tells the story of the crew of the U.S.S. Farragut (NCC-1647), a Constitution class starship under the command of John T. Carter. The production was featured in a New York Times article[3], and has signed a cooperative deal with Star Trek: New Voyages. Their first episode, "The Captaincy", premiered at the Farpoint science fiction convention in February 2007.
- Star Trek: The Pepsi Generation
- In this 1989 film, the "Ferrari" have stolen all of the Pepsi from Starbase Seven-Up, and it is up to the crew of the Enterprise to rescue it. Captain Picard, along with Doodah the android, Ya Har, Jordashe, Rigor Mortis, Sexx Toii (the Betamax counselor), Ensign Expendable, and Weasley Crushme all leap into action. Along the way, viewers meet the harried Star Trek writing crew and the Ferrari's fearsome leader. This film has been popular for years, and was featured by the BBC in a series on Star Trek fans.[citation needed]
- Star Trek: Dark Armada
- The first episode of Dark Armada takes place ten years after the events in Star Trek: Nemesis on board the U.S.S. Batavia. It was started in March 2005 by film-makers gathered from Star Trek fan clubs in the Netherlands and Belgium.[citation needed] Filming began in January 2006, and an initial episode was released that September.[citation needed] Filming of their first full episode, "Nightfall", is due to start in July 2007.[citation needed] They have had coverage in Dutch newspapers, TV, and radio.[5] Dwight Schultz, who played Reginald Barclay, recorded a video greeting for the project.[6]
In production
- Star Trek: Das Vermächtnis
- Germany's Star Trek: Das Vermächtnis (Star Trek: The Legacy) is planned as one of Europe's more ambitious fan films. After a false start with director Christoph Hees in 1997, the project went into hiatus for two years. In 2000, German fan celebrity Willi Wiegand (aka Vulcan Willi) joined the cast. In May 2003, the production was featured in Trekkies 2, when Denise Crosby visited their new Next Generation-style bridge set. By July 2005, nearly $30,000US had been spent on the sets. The film is planned to be roughly 60-90 minutes long, and is scheduled to be released in 2006 as a free internet download. The filmmakers plan on releasing an English dub as well.
- Star Trek: Of Gods and Men
- A three-part series directed by Tim Russ and starring several Star Trek stars, including Nichelle Nichols and Walter Koenig.
Trailers
- Bring Back Kirk
- When Captain Kirk was killed in Star Trek: Generations, fans from around the world started the "Bring Back Kirk" campaign. The campaign's goal was simple—to see Captain Kirk returned to the living, and to see the character have a happy ending. The original Bring Back Kirk teaser trailer was released in 2001 and became popular at conventions, such as the 2003 Starfleet Ball and Brazilian Trek Con at Sao Paulo. It was followed by a second trailer in [Trek Today http://www.trektoday.com/news/220304_02.shtml March 2004] which was featured in an article in Star Trek Monthly and the New York Post's Starr Report.
Legal issues
The attitude of the Star Trek copyright and trademark holders toward fan works has varied over time. In early 1996, Viacom sent cease and desist letters to webmasters of Star Trek fan sites that contained copyrighted film clips, sounds, insignia, or other copyrighted material.[7]
Under threat of legal action, many Trekkers shut down, leaving behind scanned copies[1] of letters sent by Viacom. Shortly afterwards, Paramount launched a subscription-based website, Star Trek Continuum. In the lead up to the release of the film Star Trek: First Contact, then-president of Paramount Digital Entertainment David Wertheimer stated Viacom was targeting sites that were "selling ads, collecting fees, selling illegal merchandise or posting copyrighted materials."
![[1]](http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue37/letter2.gif){kind=link}
Faced with the threat of legal prosecution, most of the sites complied with Viacom's demands, deleting the offending data. However, a handful of webmasters resisted Viacom's pressure tactics, demanding specific citations of offending material from Viacom.
In a Wired article, Jennifer Granick, a San Francisco criminal lawyer who went on to champion cyber rights, felt that the unofficial sites should be covered by the fair use doctrine in U.S. copyright law. In a 1998 article, UCLA associate professor Howard Besser saw it as an example of the content industry "exploiting concerns over digitization and attempting to reshape the law by strengthening protection for copyrights holders and weakening public rights to access and use material."
References
- ^ Suellentrop, Chris (2005). "To Boldly Go Where No Fan Has Gone Before". wired.com. Retrieved 2007-06-28.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Kimmel, Daniel M. (2005-07-31). "Enterprising fans captain 'Trek' spinoffs". Variety. Retrieved 2007-06-28.
- ^ a b Hakim, Danny (2006-06-18). "'Star Trek' Fans, Deprived of a Show, Recreate the Franchise on Digital Video". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-06-28.
- ^ Mann, Brian (2006-07-22). "NPR: Star Trek Fan Films Live Long and Prosper". National Public Radio. Retrieved 2007-06-28.
- ^ "Project Dark Armada". Retrieved 2007-06-29.
- ^ "Video Greeting from Dwight Schultz". YouTube. Retrieved 2007-06-29.
- ^ Granick, Jennifer (1997-10-09). "Cyber Rights Now: 'Scotty, Beam Down the Lawyers!'". wired.com. Retrieved 2007-06-29.