Star Trek fan film, Axanar.

OK, now I'm getting it.

Craft services often refers to snacks - I was wondering why the industry would provide lunches and dinners. I can see the prodco doing that if the cast and crew were filming in the jungle, but not in a developed area. But that leads to the question again as to why you need a company to be there to provide chips and pop, as opposed to getting a runner to go to the local supermarket and getting it. And I don't see how craft services for a 21-minute documentary would cost $2,300.00.

Rik, I am thinking that, for a one-week marathon shoot, I can provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The food, by the way, can be arranged for the eating scenes, while everyone in a ULB can gather around for scenes requiring social gatherings.
 
Aspiring Mogul said:
Craft services often refers to snacks - I was wondering why the industry would provide lunches and dinners. I can see the prodco doing that if the cast and crew were filming in the jungle, but not in a developed area.
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In most union contracts it's stated that if a meal is provided the
meal break is 30 minutes. If a meal is not provided the meal break
is 60 minutes. Over the decades of production it just became
standard to provide meals because that extra 30 minutes makes
a difference. On a non union shoot it is not required. However
meals became a perk for lower budget film – less pay but meals
provided. For obvious reasons on a ULB meals are expected. And
the better the food the happier the cast and crew.

Aspiring Mogul said:
But that leads to the question again as to why you need a company to be there to provide chips and pop, as opposed to getting a runner to go to the local supermarket and getting it.
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It depends. On most ULB projects a PA can run down to the local
supermarket, buy a bunch of stuff and toss it on a table. It can be
cost effective to hire this out on larger budget movies. I have numbers
for several options.

Aspiring Mogul said:
And I don't see how craft services for a 21-minute documentary would cost $2,300.00.
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I agree. I suspect this is simply an error; that he doesn't mean craft
services in the traditional sense but he means this is what he spent
on meals and snacks. He lists "meals" at $467. A cast and crew of
15 at a low $8 per person... You can do the math.

I suspect that line item is meals the production team charged to the
production during pre and/or post rather than meals on set. So that
leads me to think that the two large was what they spent on meals
and crafty during the shoot.

Aspiring Mogul said:
Rik, I am thinking that, for a one-week marathon shoot, I can provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The food, by the way, can be arranged for the eating scenes, while everyone in a ULB can gather around for scenes requiring social gatherings.
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If I were still involved in your project we could go over all the possibilities
so you could have all the needed info to make the decision that is best
for your specific shoot.
 
I was wondering why the industry would provide lunches and dinners.
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Efficiency and now, it's an industry standard/expectation.

On top of what Rik says, some union rules (my understanding) state that the lunch break starts when the last person is served. Do you really want someone driving all over the place searching for a place to eat, waiting in line at a busy place, get served, troddle back in 2 hours after break was announced?

What if that person also got lost? Productions are often going to random places. Not everyone is familiar with where to get food in each area.

Without it these days, you're likely to get a crew who won't operate well. That's assuming they'll even turn up the next day.... or for that matter after the break.
 
Sweetie said:
Efficiency and now, it's an industry standard/expectation.
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If that's the standard, Sweetie, I will meet or exceed it. That's why I've waited all these years, to gather my resources. Of course, I didn't know why, and, now, I do. :)


On top of what Rik says, some union rules (my understanding) state that the lunch break starts when the last person is served. Do you really want someone driving all over the place searching for a place to eat, waiting in line at a busy place, get served, troddle back in 2 hours after break was announced?
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On top of the union rules are the Employment Standard Laws. Almost every jurisdiction in North America, as well as Australia and New Zealand, have a law saying that meal breaks must be at least 30 minutes, if not 60 minutes. Also, for each four-hour shift, a break of 15 minutes is required.

As for someone trudging back and forth, I can't say anything about that, but, in theory, a quick sandwich lunch is possible. Of course, I'm curious as to what the standard would be in factories or construction sites.


What if that person also got lost? Productions are often going to random places. Not everyone is familiar with where to get food in each area.
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Well, part of the fun in travelling is finding new places to eat. But I get your point.
 
True on all points;

A quick sandwich lunch is possible so the mogul must weigh all
options to determine which option is the best for each production.
If there are food option close by then a 30 minute meal break
might be the choice instead of paying for food. A 60 minute break
might be better in some cases. Both have the good and bad. In
your situation you are learning by doing. So you could try one option
on one project and then try another option on your next one. See
which one works best.

Finding new places to eat is a wonderful part of traveling. During
the workday finding new places to eat is less advantageous than
having food delivered to the set or location. The cast and crew can
explore on their days off rather then during their 30 minute break.

I know nothing about the standards in factories or construction sites.
But I have seen food trucks (once called the “reach coach”) pull up
to construction sites. On a movie set (or location) I've seen that, too.
The difference is the production pays rather than each cast and crew
member.

It would be interesting to know when the standard of providing not
only a meal but craft service started in the film business. It has been
in place as long as I've been in the business.
 
One Excited Trekkie

I love anything Star Trek, this 21 minute video really makes me want to watch the film and I can't wait for the release. IMO it looks as good as any Hollywood Big Budget movies!

Well done guys!
 
Welcome to the forum, Stuart. You'll learn a lot from the professionals here, just as I have. :)

The Axanar team will have a kickstarter project soon, to pay for a higher production cost, so perhaps you can contribute. :)
 
but I liked it somewhat. This is the MOST interesting Star Trek I've seen so far. I'm definitely going to watch the movie when it comes out. Great job with the trailer.
 
This is all over the geek internet and Facebook groups.

Paramount has sued the producers of Axanar for copyright and trademark infringement, and they're seeking damages. I am wondering if that's because they got $1 million in crowd funding, which made the company very concerned. The producer, Alec Peters, has issued a statement asking for an amicable settlement, but I think it's a futile request, because Paramount will not only want the production shut down.
 
The guys producing Axannar made a profit off someone else's IP. If I was to take your sci fi idea, say I'm just 'paying homage' then start selling t shirts and other merch I'm sure you'd be pissed, right?
 
PaulWrightyThen said:
The guys producing Axannar made a profit off someone else's IP. If I was to take your sci fi idea, say I'm just 'paying homage' then start selling t shirts and other merch I'm sure you'd be pissed, right?
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They say they used to sell merch to fund the project, but that is somehow still monetizing IP that is not theirs. I understand that pissed Paramount / CBS off.

I think the 15 minute limit and the budget limit at 50k are pretty strict and petty. That seems to be done to make sure a fan-film will never be as cool as the real deal.
It is also interesting to see that they let several fan-series be made and now decide that can never be done again, while that apparently never triggered them to sue those people.
One project really stepped on their toes and in their guidelines they lash out to almost every fan-film made.
 
WalterB said:
One project really stepped on their toes and in their guidelines they lash out to almost every fan-film made.
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Actually, I agree with PWT. According to the law they don't have to allow anything, it's their copyright/IP and anyone using that IP for any reason without permission is breaking the law. So I think they're being fairly generous in publicly offering free use of that IP, with the obviously necessary conditions that the usage will not harm the value of their IP.

The Axanar producer was in my opinion incompetent and foolish and those who donated to the crowd-funding campaign were also foolish. Raising that kind of money, for that level of proposed production values, based entirely upon IP you've got absolutely no rights to, was just asking for trouble. I find it amazing that there were apparently a number of pros on the team and no one raised this "elephant in the room".

While I've got nothing against fan films per se, this episode demonstrates a valuable point: If you are going to make something, anything, which is based on IP owned by someone else, that someone else is entirely free to exercise their copyrights whenever they choose!

G
 
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