http://www.stphoenix.com/Set in the ST Universe, this new Fan made movie takes place in the 25th Century.
http://trekweb.com/articles/2010/10/06/Exclusive-Producer-Leo-RobertsnbspTalks-About-Star-Trek-Phoenix-Fan-Filmnbsp.shtml1- How did Star Trek Phoenix come about? What was the inspiration for it?
I created the premise of the series in late December of 2007 but really started the research in January of 2008. Enterprise had already been off the air for over 2 years and I had always believed that Star Trek was about the future and not the past. I felt that Gene Roddenberry would have wanted a future television series set forth in the future so that's what I set out to create. I researched as much Trek as possible making up for what I didn't already know and craeted what I thought could have been a possible future based on the storylines that were canon.
2- This is the first live action Star Trek fan film set in the 25th Century. How was producing this epic Star Trek story ?
It was a range of emotions and feelings to be honest. It was challenging, inspiring, difficult, heart breaking, loving, and one of the best experiences of my life. Making a Trek fan film is a labor of love and to do it successfully means sacrifice and I made a number of personal sacrifices to help get Part I complete. Everyone who worked on Phoenix made a number of personal sacrifices making this their personal labor of love.
3- What would you say to Star Trek fans about what sets Phoenix apart from others Trek fan films ?
Phoenix is the only fan film set in the future of the franchise. It's original from the story lines down to the props and costumes. Everything we did for Phoenix was original in some fashion whether it was a remake of something canon or completely brand new. Regardless, its about the future.
4 - Here is a question I asked Hidden Frontier producer Rob Caves and I want to ask you too. The production values on Phoenix are very high - state-of-the-art special effects, good acting and directing, beautiful musical scores. Still a lot of fans have a prejudice against fan films. Do you know why ?
Star Trek fans are, in my opinion, one of the most dedicated groups that support science fiction. Gene Roddenberry created a universe to play in and we hold dear many of the principles he created. When you look at modern science, technology, medicine, etc. you see something from Star Trek in some way, shape, or form. Star Trek has molded our future whether we want to admit it or not. Look at our cell phones, tablet PC's, and more - all were influenced in some way from Star Trek. I think fans have a difficult time with fan films because we find it challenging to accept someone else's interpretation of the Star Trek universe because it's not coming from Gene. I had a very difficult time accepting things that Rick Berman gave us knowing very well that Gene would have never approved it. Does that mean Rick was wrong, not necessarily. Gene disagreed about creating Deep Space Nine but I really liked that series so it depends entirely on the subject matter. I think fans are having a hard time with the new time line created by J.J. Abrams; it's simply not Gene Roddenberry.
5- How filming went on the production ?
This is a tough one to explain because film in general is never perfect. If you have the opportunity to watch behind-the-scenes of any film or TV series I encourage fans to take a look at what it takes to make a production. Filming was challenging and we always encountered obstacles. No matter how well you organize and plan for a film shoot it never turns out the way you want it. That doesn't mean it's a negative experience and in fact, it can be quite positive. We experienced this with the last Phoenix shoot in January of this year. Something didn't turn out how we planned but the director came up with something better, got amazing shots, and the result was awesome. Filmmaking is challenging and a never-ending learning experience.
6-There is a fan campaign to make Phoenix the next Star Trek TV Series. Tell us about that. How do you feel ?
I feel honored, surprised, shocked, and humbled all wrapped into one. I think it's fascinating that fans want to see a fan film on network television on a weekly basis. Of course, if it ever happened the actual TV show would be so much better because it would be backed by a network budget thus allowing full sets, on-location filming, etc. I think the effort of Josh Heinrichs is awesome and he is very determined to obtain enough signatures to get the attention of CBS and find out what they would do and how they would respond; I fully believe this effort is not in vein. Fans are expressing their desire to see another television series and a recent study stated that the second most likely brand to return to television would be Star Trek. I think fans are simply expressing one singular important desire: they want to see a new television series set in the future past the TNG era.
7 - Finally, can you give us an update on the upcoming episodes of Star Trek Phoenix ?
The biggest and main question I receive from fans via email, Facebook, etc is when will Part II of "Cloak & Dagger" be released and my answer has always been when we secure the appropriate funding. What fans need to know is that I don't enjoy giving this answer and in fact, I hate it. There was a recent podcast that focused on Phoenix where the hosts talked about how they disagree that we shouldn't wait for funding or try to raise funding in order to make Part II but the reality is we don't have a choice. Our economy hasn't stabilized and people are still in very unfortunate positions. I personally do not have the financial resources to make Part II a reality. The cost for Part I was around $25K US and to be honest that was incredibly cheap based on what the real costs could have been had we been charged for cast, crew, props, costuming, equipment, etc. I have publicly stated that the cost for Part II will be approximately twelve times that of Part I and the reason is we would build every single set, including the bridge, for the series. This would allow us to complete Part II of the pilot and then move forward with the stories that we want to tell. We have many story ideas and have created arcs that need to be told because they are original, unique, and our writers have put forth a considerable amount of time to create this new, future Trek universe.
We have set a high bar for ourselves and our production values are incredibly high and if we were to deliver anything less it would be a mistake not only for ourselves but for the fans. I have no idea if Part II will ever get made but we are trying to find unique ways that are within the guidelines we're allowed to operate to make it happen. I admire James Cawley and Phase II for their ability to produce episodes that are of extreme high quality and quantity; this is the ultimate goal with Phoenix in the end. As it currently stands, we are considering options to produce a few new multi-character vignettes that would offer fans some background history on the series and answer some of the lingering mysteries left with the pilot. I am in the midst of talking to various people related to the production, writing scripts, and determining what is possible and would make sense story wise. Once we have things confirmed and flushed out, we'll issue press releases and inform everyone at the same time so we're all on the same page.
Thank you, Leo.
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I'm downloading this one as I type this. Looks to be most excellent.
Stephen
Topic: */\* Star Trek: Phoenix From the Ashes Episode One now available for download. (Read 3061 times)