Fan Film Friday – Join the new Fan Film LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN!

In 1968, NBC received 115,893 letters from Star Trek fans pleading for the network not to cancel their favorite show…and it worked. Star Trek was renewed for a third and final season.

IF YOU WANT TO HELP US GET THE FAN FILM GUIDELINES CHANGED, SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE…

It is now 2016, and fans have a new opportunity to make their voices heard. This time, the imperiled entity is Star Trek fan films, restricted by a new set of guidelines issued by Star Trek license holders CBS and Paramount. Not all of these guidelines are threatening to fan films. Nearly half of them are perfectly acceptable as written. Another a quarter of them simply need some minor tweaking to better clarify what the studios are trying to communicate. It is only the small number of remaining guidelines that have overshot the mark and wound up too restrictive to allow fans the creativity and passion that the studios themselves say they want to encourage fans to showcase.

A week after the guidelines were announced, John Van Citters of CBS Consumer Products Inc. appeared on a podcast and said the following:

“All of this is definitely a conversation. We hope very much that this helps settle things with Star Trek fan films, that it provides some clarity for everybody, and that we can see what is working and what is not working…and we can follow up accordingly with that.”

But how do fans approach the studios to share our concerns? There is no official mechanism for fans to sit down with the CBS and Paramount executives to try to find a fairer compromise between the best interests of both parties. There is no single fan representative who speaks with the collective voice of fandom. Even fan filmmakers themselves are all over the map in their responses to the guidelines. So how can fans provide their feedback and recommendations to the studios?

WE HAVE FOUND A WAY!

Shortly after the guidelines were released, a group of dedicated and concerned fans came together in a Facebook group, SMALL ACCESS, initially to protest the new guidelines. But instead of simply complaining or threatening or signing a petition, these 1,200 fans went through each of the guidelines one-by-one, figuring out first which ones were problematic and which were fine and acceptable. Through a series of discussions, debates, and surveys showing the opinions of hundreds of Star Trek fans from around the world, we came up with a series of recommendations that are respectful of the original guidelines while also offering the studio executives insights into fan concerns and compromise solutions.

These recommendations have been assembled into a professionally-presented Focus Group Report summarizing and analyzing the results of the discussions and surveys. Of course, with millions of Star Trek fans in the world, a sample size of only 1,200 might seem statistically insignificant. However, considering that most focus groups consist of only 5 to 12 people in a room, a group of hundreds is actually rather impressive and is likely larger and better targeted better than the studios would ever be able to assemble themselves without spending a great deal of money. This could very be the studios’ best opportunity to truly gauge the specific reactions of fan to each of the guidelines.

And the recommendations are not in any way extreme. As was mentioned, fans sincerely tried to find compromise solutions where possible.  Our recommendations are more red-line edits and feedback rather than a list of harsh demands.

SO WHAT NOW?

Fans are invited to download and print this 37-page Focus Group Report and mail it to the CBS and Paramount executives listed below. An optional Cover Letter has also been provided for fans to include if they wish. The hope is that dozens or potentially hundreds of these reports will be mailed so that maybe, just maybe, the executives don’t throw them all in theash and instead actually read a copy. That is our ultimate goal: to have these recommendations seen, read, considered, and hopefully acted upon rather than simply being ignored.

Is it a stunt? Of course it is. So was the original letter writing campaign 48 years ago. And while we might not get a hundred thousand people to all print 37 pages and mail an 8-ounce packet to the studios, what we lack in quantity, we can make up for in dedication and passion!

And with luck, we’ll get some coverage in the media during the 50th anniversary week of Star Trek…and if that happens, hopefully the studios will give us their attention. So please, if you decide to participate, mail in your packet(s) by September 1 at the latest to the addresses at the bottom of this blog page. And please comment on this page (or on the SMALL ACCESS Facebook group) with the number of copies you decided to mail.

WHY SNAIL MAIL AND NOT EMAIL?

Good question! Two-part answer:

• E-mail is too easy to both send and to delete. Sending an e-mail is as simple as a mouse click, and to be honest, the news media won’t care as much. But for fans to go back to the “old school” strategy of sending physical letters through the mail, paying for toner or photocopies and postage, now that kind of effort is newsworthy.
• The executives receiving these packets are busy people, and we should respect their time. They use their e-mail to do their jobs. To publish their e-mail addresses when there are irate Trekkies who will badger these people and clutter up their e-mail boxes would be unfair and inappropriate. Our intention is to convey a positive and courteous demeanor. We want to seem more like a cooperative partner and less like an angry mob.

WILL IT WORK?

Who knows? But we have nothing to lose by trying. On this, I defer to the wisdom of Captain James T. Kirk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZQweGCeAYE&feature=youtu.be

If we do nothing, the guidelines likely remain unchanged for the foreseeable future, and fan films will suffer for it. If we take our shot and the studios ignore or reject our recommendations, so be it.  At least we tried…and that’s a good feeling.

YOUR MISSION, SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT…

You are free to identify yourself (or not) as the sender of the letter/packet (I did).  There is nothing wrong with mailing a letter and expressing your concerns as a supporter and patron of a corporation to executives at that corporation. Just please be respectful at all times.

For those taking on this mission, print/photocopy this Focus Group Report and this optional Cover Letter (or write one of your own) and mail to any or all of the following people:

Jonathan Anschel
Executive Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Secretary for CBS Corporation
4024 Radford Avenue
Studio City, CA 91604

John Van Citters
Vice President, Product Development at CBS Consumer Products
1007 E Dominguez St, Suite L
Carson, CA 90746

Bill Burke
Senior Vice President, Marketing at CBS Consumer Products Inc.
825 8th Avenue
New York, NY 10019

Liz Kalodner
Executive Vice President and General Manager, CBS Consumer Products
825 8th Avenue
New York, NY 10019

Leslie Moonves
Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer, CBS Corporation
CBS Headquarters
51 W. 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019

Marc Evans
President, Motion Picture Group, Paramount Pictures
5555 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90038

Rob Moore
Vice Chairman, Paramount Pictures
5555 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90038

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Please help spread the word by linking to this web page.  The more letters and packets we send them, the more likely someone will finally decide to pay attention and hear what we have to say.

THANK YOU ALL!

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