Star Trek fan episode.

A

Aspiring Mogul

Star Trek Phase II is a fan production company started by Elvis impersonator, James Cawley, and it has produced a handful of fan episodes based on the old series. What they did was to buy an abandoned car dealership lot in upstate New York, convert it to a soundstage, and start filming.

Many of the actors who were from that series - George Takei and Walter Koenig - have appeared, as also have Denise Crosby, who played Tasha Yar.

The episodes are well done, and the company has just released its latest episode, "Kitumba". How much would it cost to do something like this, assuming people agree to work cheap?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=419hNYe2OaY
 
The fan production company, Retro Studios, has made yet another fan episode. The plot is obvious at a few times, but it's still good for a amateur work.

That said, the web page said they produced the episode in 175 hours over 11 days, which comes to 16 hours a day. I'm beginning to see not just what my project will cost me, but what it will take out of me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFjikVnvypg&index=1&list=PLx-UrTqWFFk8LZyFaxt0-Agy8HWjb_ZqF
 
From what I've seen on other forums, these volunteers are also volunteering a lot of money into these productions. They do it for the love of the franchise and are very passionate hobbyists.

That being said, there is sometimes a little crossover where you see actual filmmakers and actors who make things that aren't fan films, and I'm sure these productions fall under that category.

If you want to know exact numbers, just get in contact with the people who made it. They aren't hard to reach. I'd message them either on youtube or make a post on trekbbs.com in the fan film forum.
 
Dreadylocks said:
From what I've seen on other forums, these volunteers are also volunteering a lot of money into these productions. They do it for the love of the franchise and are very passionate hobbyists.
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They've poured tons of money - James Cawley bought an abandoned car dealership in upstate NY and converted it to a soundstage. They have apparently since added a lot more space to it, and they're using it to film further episodes.
 
Yeah, that's another phenomenon I've observed. These trekkies (and I use the word lovingly, as I am one myself) love to build sets and get things 100% replicated like the show. Sometimes, I think, to the detriment of the project, but hey, it's a hobby.
 
You kind of have to look at productions like this as something akin to golf, or skiing, or scuba diving, etc - a hobby. All of these hobbies require a fairly significant outlay of cash to get started, plus significant ongoing expense as long as you continue to participate. Those expenses are paid with no expectation of getting them back, or getting a financial return - the experience itself is the only return.
 
Aspiring Mogul said:
I'm beginning to see not just what my project will cost me, but what it will take out of me.
Click to expand...
Yep. The standard shooting day is 12 hours. For low budget
movies those days can go to 14 easy. 16 is rare but when
people aren't being paid it happens all too often.

Mogul, do you know if the actors and crew were paid to work
on this fan film? Were the ST veterans paid?
 
linked article said:
Shot over eleven days, and 175 hours
Click to expand...

...and that's just time for the actual shoot. There's a lot more time & money (or in the case of freebie work, sweat equity) to be taken into consideration for both pre & post production.

Heh. Trekkies. Gotta love 'em. :)
 
At a star trek convention I went to a while ago, I made contact with a group of people who have since moved the sets to a soundstage in Georgia. But it does take a lot, but the fanbase is so dedicated that these productions actually happen. I have always wanted to make a star trek fanfilm or series, and if you actually get one together, I'd love to help out in whatever capacity I can. Star Trek Horizon is an Enterprise era fanfilm that is currently in production, and that guy releases some bts videos so that may be of help.
 
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