Star Trek

[Valka]

Well, you have done your duty for Trek-kind, and now you have every right to complain about this movie because you've seen it for yourself and therefore know what you're complaining about.

[Buster's Uncle]

This IS a thing I prefer.

[Buster's Uncle]

I've gone back and edited in scene labels to  the earlier comments.  I resisted editing the comments of my live review otherwise, mostly.



You know, this movie works as a before-the-fact metaphor of Reagan in Hell watching T rump campaign...  It is like an elaborate meta-joke of unfulfilled promise to make Voyager look like they always had a plan and carried it out.  It is like -I seriously wonder if Stuart Baird ever worked again.  It all lands on his desk in the end - a board propped across his lap in a filthy alley if there's any justice.

Why not have fished Lore out of whatever way they got rid of him the last time with his memory reset instead of piling on another improbable copy?

But the fact is, as I've already pointed out, the problems that ruined this were not writing problems, for all that the writing wasn't great.  I don't say this often about TNG stuff.  The show's (and its successors) failures were mostly at the script level, not failures of execution.  REAL Star Trek typically failed at the execution when it failed, rarely because the writing was bad.

No wonder this turkey sank from sight like Highlander IV or Rocky Balboa, quickly and leaving astonishingly few traces, for all that it was the last hurrah of TNG - and obviously knew it at the writing stage, long before it turned out to suck beyond all possible expectations and do accordingly badly at the box office.

(It's still not too late to do that Titan cartoon...)

[Buster's Uncle]

It's Saturday, and a quiet one so far, so time to catch up on the Anaxar mess - and anything else going on in fanfilms this week. 

Bracing myself for the sheer nastiness of reading mountains of Anaxar hate at Trek BBS...

[Buster's Uncle]

Interesting Anaxar development - not that it tend to pass the smell test...

Lawsuit-Plagued Axanar Looking For Private Investors
Says it's spinning off $250,000 studio space liability
1701 News
MICHAEL HINMAN  Mar-17-2016 12:52am






A group of "independent" fan-film producers in the middle of a copyright infringement lawsuit from two major studios is poised to give up its own California studio space.

Alec Peters, a named defendant in the lawsuit from CBS Corp. and Paramount Pictures Inc., told supporters on the "Star Trek: Axanar" website Wednesday plans are afloat to more or less spin off that converted office space to what he calls a "small group of backers and fans."

"The cost of converting this space into a soundstage was a big piece of what we raised money for in the Axanar Kickstarter campaign," Peters wrote on the website. "Some of that money was also intended to cover the monthly rent of the space," which he added was $12,500 per month.

Because of the lease signed by Axanar Productions, which also is named in the copyright infringement suit, even after the fan-film is made, the group would still be liable for $250,000 in rent.

"Someone needs to pay that rent," Peters said.

These "backers and fans" will create a separate company that would take over management of the soundstage, as well as pay rent, and even reimburse Axanar Productions for the fan-donated money it invested in the commercial project, Peters said. That company also would assume the $250,000 lease liability, which would cover the next two years.

"To do that, the new company will need to be a for-profit entity, and raise investment dollars for capital," Peters wrote. Axanar Productions, incidentally, is listed as a for-profit corporation in California.

"We consider this a win-win for for everybody," Peters said. "The new entity will reimburse Axanar Productions all the money that was spent on upgrading the building, and those funds will go into the production."

Axanar spokesman Mike Bawden responded to Peters' latest announcement in a social media area that has been discussing the overall copyright infringement case, "CBS/Paramount v. Axanar," a group originally formed by the owner of 1701News. There, he told discussion participants that reimbursement would be made to Axanar Productions, not the people who donated money to the troubled fan-film that raised more than $1.1 million in crowdfunding.

"The investors will have no interest in Axanar Productions or its projects," Bawden said. "From what I understand, they are looking at the viability of renting the soundstage out to productions, including, I presume, 'Axanar.'"

The move would remove the "ticking clock that was the monthly rent payments for the soundstage" and "other liabilities," Bawden said. "It also means, I assume, that Axanar Productions will have additional cash on-hand if and when the lawsuit settles. Exactly how much and when, I don't have those details."

The transaction, if it does take place, would be more than just liabilities. Axanar Productions budgeted $400,000 for the space, but the "actual cost was more," Bawden said. "They've put a great deal of money into a soundproofed floor, a massive green screen, a lighting grid, sets, equipment, ventilation, etc. All of the physical assets that were paid for out of their second Kickstarter campaign."

What this means for the lawsuit is unclear. CBS/Paramount filed an amended complaint last week, and on Tuesday, the judge in the case denied Axanar's motion to dismiss as "moot." Axanar will have an opportunity to respond to the amended complaint before the end of the month.

CBS and Paramount sued Peters and Axanar Productions last December claiming the entire operation violated its copyrighted Star Trek works. It is seeking up to $150,000 in statutory damages for each instance of infringement, or actual damages. That could potentially cost Axanar hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more.

The two studios, which is readying "Star Trek: Beyond" in July as well as a new Star Trek television series in January, still has left the door open to add more defendants — primarily those who helped write, direct and produce the yet-to-be-filmed "Star Trek: Axanar" production.

http://1701news.com/node/1084/lawsuit-plagued-axanar-looking-private-investors.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Cawley Says Some People Shouldn't Do Fan-Films
'Star Trek: New Voyages' producer speaks out about Axanar lawsuit, more or less
1701 News
MICHAEL HINMAN  Mar-16-2016 9:31pm





How is the ongoing legal battle between the two studios that own the rights to Star Trek against an "independent" fan-film affecting other fan film productions?

Last week, "Star Trek Continues" star and executive producer Vic Mignogna shared his thoughts with 1701News. And now, "Star Trek: New Voyages" producer — well, Star Trek fan — James Cawley has shared some of his thoughts about fan-films as well.

"I have been playing Trek since I was a little kid, running around my neighborhood with my friends," Cawley recently wrote at the TrekBBS. "I am still doing that, although not as much these days. At nearly 50, I would look silly. But my toys have gotten better."

Cawley commented in a thread on the popular Star Trek message board that now has more than 12,000 posts discussing the copyright infringement case CBS Corp. and Paramount Pictures filed against Axanar Productions and Alec Peters last December. Although he didn't reference Axanar directly, Cawley did contrast what "New Voyages" does compared to what Axanar reportedly has been doing.

"I don't rent my sets, I don't charge for anything, and I certainly have never gotten any salary for playing Trek with my friends," Cawley said. "If you are not in it to have fun and be at summer camp, you should not be doing a fan-film."

Axanar has built what it's dubbed Ares Studio in Valencia, California, just outside Los Angeles, to where it reportedly planned to offer commercial rentals of its space. Peters, the producer in charge of Axanar, also reported paying himself a salary of $38,000 last year, plus expenses, which no other fan-film producer has claimed in the past. Axanar reportedly raised more than $1.1 million in crowdfunding, on a fan-film that has yet to be produced.

Mirroring what Mignogna told 1701News last week, Cawley said he would never find himself locked in a court battle over whether or not he can make fan-films.

"There is no question in my mind that CBS owns Star Trek," Cawley said. "There have been very gracious to allow us to play in their sandbox for many years. We have always had a good relationship with CBS, and have always complied with any request that they have made of us, and will continue to do so.

"If CBS says, 'Stop making fan-films,' we would abide by their wishes, and say, 'Thank you.'"

Cawley has allowed other productions to use his New York-based sets for years, but stopped the practice after "drama" he endured last fall. He didn't get into specifics about what happened.

"I am tired of the associated drama that goes with that scenario," Cawley said.

Although Cawley is credited as a producer on "New Voyages," he describes it more as a "fake title when it comes fan-films because none of us are doing this for a living, or at a pro level. I would simply prefer being referred to as a huge Trek fan in reality."

"I have spent far too much of my own money for many years — 15 of them to be exact — far more than I care to think about," Cawley said. "I did it for nothing but the love of the game. If and when it ends, at least I can say I played by the rules I was given when I crossed the finish line."

"Star Trek: New Voyages" released its 10th episode, "The Holiest Thing," last year. The fan-series' 11th episode, "Torment of Destiny" guest-starring Richard Hatch, premieres later this year.

http://1701news.com/node/1083/cawley-says-some-people-shouldnt-do-fan-films.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Uno, I figure you'll have a serious look at my live review - I'd like your reaction, especially to my suggestion for the sandbag torso effect.  There's a lifesize baby doll in the living room a lot older than I am, who's played the baby in a number of shows over the years, and the sand body has been very effective for proper heft.  Feeling sorta realistic for the actors handling has no downside.

...His last show was a production of The Miracle Worker I was in about 18 years ago, and I saw the actress playing Mrs. Keller carrying him backstage during a show, patting his bottom and saying "There there" in a mommy voice...

[Valka]

First pictures I've seen of "Bread and Savagery" - hope it's better than their last one. That new Kirk actor can't act.

James Cawley sometimes posts at TrekBBS. Alec Peters used to, but he got so obnoxious that T'Bonz permabanned him. More than once, as I understand he tried to sneak back under a DL.

[Buster's Uncle]

...I think the fanfilm series should all seriously look at not doing sequels to the real episodes.  Once in a while, okay - but not that many of the fanfilms come out, like written fanfic can, and it's gotten so every thing I see is some sort of sequel...

The mirror universe called; it wants a vacation.

[Valka]

OTOH, the Mirror Universe episode that Star Trek Continues did is one of their best. People tend to be divided as to whether it or "Lolani" is the best one.

"Bread and Savagery" is a New Voyages episode, so it remains to be seen how they'll do it.

[Buster's Uncle]

If I was running a Star Trek recreation, I rather not be trying to get Cawley and Mignona and whomever else on the phone several times a year to swap info about what we each had in the pipeline -too much trouble and too many ways for it to backfire- and would just avoid an obvious major source of overlap by doing no sequels to ST episodes.

It's kind of a lame fan thing when it happens too much - Mylochka and I have extensively discussed followups to a number of ST episodes (a Sulu's ship in the Valjiir universe series, and one is half-written for a long time now) - but there are thousands and thousands of fanfic stories released all over creation in a year; not quite the same thing as a handful of fanfic films, and two doing the Mirror Universe within about a year, is it?

(I mean, if a LOT of 'whatever happened on the Nazi world?'  stories all came out in a short time, I guarantee Mylochka would never include that episode in her series -I'm deliberately giving an example we didn't discuss- might drop the whole thing, in fact.  The fan shows don't have the luxury of fast production/release and/or killing an unfortunately-timed effort, so I'd say steer away entirely.)

[Buster's Uncle]

Interesting.  David Gerrold has made a number of public statements about the Anaxar thing (claiming "I don't have a dog in this fight, but", which doesn't seem to be the actual case - and you know my own experience of his honesty) drawing the ire of the haterz.

Turns out -and this is new by me- that Bob Heinlein came to feel like he'd been had/cheated for his gracious waver over flatcats/tribbles when he found out Gerrold was selling stuffed tribbles at cons...

[Buster's Uncle]

James Cawley sometimes posts at TrekBBS. Alec Peters used to, but he got so obnoxious that T'Bonz permabanned him. More than once, as I understand he tried to sneak back under a DL.

At least two DLs, I understand.

[Buster's Uncle]

Ooh!  Good news about Continues applying for non-profit status:

STC received their approval on March 14. You can find the post on their FB page.

[Valka]

If I was running a Star Trek recreation, I rather not be trying to get Cawley and Mignona and whomever else on the phone several times a year to swap info about what we each had in the pipeline -too much trouble and too many ways for it to backfire- and would just avoid an obvious major source of overlap by doing no sequels to ST episodes.

It's kind of a lame fan thing when it happens too much - Mylochka and I have extensively discussed followups to a number of ST episodes (a Sulu's ship in the Valjiir universe series, and one is half-written for a long time now) - but there are thousands and thousands of fanfic stories released all over creation in a year; not quite the same thing as a handful of fanfic films, and two doing the Mirror Universe within about a year, is it?

(I mean, if a LOT of 'whatever happened on the Nazi world?'  stories all came out in a short time, I guarantee Mylochka would never include that episode in her series -I'm deliberately giving an example we didn't discuss- might drop the whole thing, in fact.  The fan shows don't have the luxury of fast production/release and/or killing an unfortunately-timed effort, so I'd say steer away entirely.)

I could have sworn that I've read several Valjiir stories that take place on Sulu's ship (the D'Artagnan). Or is this something else?

Interesting.  David Gerrold has made a number of public statements about the Anaxar thing (claiming "I don't have a dog in this fight, but", which doesn't seem to be the actual case - and you know my own experience of his honesty) drawing the ire of the haterz.

Turns out -and this is new by me- that Bob Heinlein came to feel like he'd been had/cheated for his gracious waver over flatcats/tribbles when he found out Gerrold was selling stuffed tribbles at cons...

The fact is that the term "tribbles" are copyrighted, and David Gerrold/Star Trek took advantage of that. I've got my own home-made tribbles (they're easy to make), and one that has a button attached to it that reads "Property of Space Station K-7".

Heinlein could have sold stuffed flatcats at conventions, but didn't do so.

I'm not saying David Gerrold is the most honest person around, but he's not as evil as some people make him out to be. And I have met him and we had a brief chat about writing sequel books, as he was autographing a couple of his books for me in Calgary.