2020 was not a great year in general. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed so much in our lives and taken 400,000 people’s lives in just America alone. Compared to that, what happens on a Star Trek fan film seems inconsequential.
But one of things we all must do is continue on, adapt and persevere. The pandemic might have changed things, but how we adapt is the important thing. And the film industry, which has been shut down for the most part most of 2020, was hit as hard as many other industries. Starting in March, all productions throughout North America, shut down. And while some of the bigger, network and streaming shows, with big budgets, have been able to get back in production the end of the year, it takes a huge amount of money, time and expertise to keep everyone safe. The Indy film business has been hit worse because small films simply cannot afford to do everything needed to keep a cast and crew safe.
AXANAR SHOOT SCHEDULE
Because of Covid-19, Axanar, which had two shoots in October, 2019 and March 2020, has not been able to finish the next two episodes of Axanar. The good news is that changes we made this year, should allow us to complete Axanar this year. And we WANT to finish Axanar this year!
DONOR PERK DELIVERY
In 2020 we ramped up delivering perks for our Kickstarter and Indiegogo donors. With the shipping of all patches, the perk most donors were entitled to, completed in 2019, we focused on shipping signed cast photos, signed crew badges and challenge coins.
We also started delivery of all donor perks for the 2019-2020 Axanar donors who donated through Ares Digital 3.0 and our private-label crowd funding platform.
PERSONNEL CHANGES
In June of 2020 we had to fire our director, Paul Jenkins. Between Paul’s inappropriate and unprofessional behavior, and failing to do what he was supposed to do, we had no choice.
The good news is we were able to hire a real, seasoned Hollywood professional to take his place. Ted Brunetti is one of the top acting coaches in Hollywood, having been James Gandolfini’s acting coach, and having worked with dozens of Hollywood professionals. Ted was chosen to work with George C Scott and Jack Lemon when they were preparing for “Inherit the Wind” and was chosen by Robert DeNiro to appear in his Broadway production of “A Bronx Tale“. No stranger to Broadway, Ted was trained by the legendary acting coach Uta Hagen, and served as her assistant for years. Ted will be focusing on performance and working with actors, something he clearly excels at.
We also elevated Geoff Fagien to Director of Photography. Geoff is a brilliant young cinematographer, and has been instrumental in building out our 2021 plan.
ARES STUDIOS STORE
2020 was the year Ares Studios, the company that runs the sound stage where Axanar is shot, created The Ares Studios Store. This web store sells Axanar and Sci Fi swag and also handles fulfillment of Axanar, Kickstarter and Patreon perks. It really has been a blessing on so many levels, and we are excited about what we have been able to do with it. Axanar fans love all the cool Axanar swag we sell, and we are constantly trying to come up with more cool stuff to stock the store with!
Well, those are the highlights of 2020. Everyone here at Axanar is excited about finishing Axanar is 2021 and we have YOU all to thank! Please stay safe, wear your masks, and get vaccinated when you can!
Alec & Team Axanar
Cant wait to see what you guys/gals do in the coming year. Keep the faith !
As always, let me know if I can help in any way.
Thanks Alec….you’ve been fantastic, in fact the whole team including Fans of AXANAR have excelled.
I hope you haven’t suffered nightmares and woken up in a sweet over all this Alec, you’ve lived and breathed AXANAR for quite a while now.
So yes…lets bring this thing to a conclusion, lets make 2021 Rock in Space!….;)
Thank you Clint! We all are working our asses off!
Alec
Alec, I would be willing to pay up to $30 or so for a nice scale model of the Ares, and to a lesser extent, some of the other class ships. I’m not sure what laws this might infringe upon, but you are already selling calendars, right? Also, what about production stills from Prelude to Axanar? I’m very impressed with the work you are doing.
Our models are at the Ares Studios Store here:
https://www.aresstudios.net/product-category/games-models-figures/