Last weekend involved Fulfillment of a different sort, as Team Axanar (comprised of me, Alec, and actors Richard Hatch, Gary Graham, and Tony Todd) headed up to Alberta, Canada.
So what’s up there, you may ask, that could lure so many of us from sunny Southern California — aside from beautiful pastoral vistas leading to distant mountains as far as the eye can see, and the biggest, bluest, most-amazing skies (and biggest clouds) I’ve ever had the pleasure of viewing?
VULCAN.
Okay, so it wasn’t “the” Vulcan; there was no Mount Seleya to go hiking on, and Soval — though present! — was without his ears, robes, and trademark hair.
What this Vulcan can boast of, however, is being a charming little town… along with having its own starship Enterprise, a nifty visitor center, an amazing museum (full of fantastic Star Trek costumes and props), cool local murals… and one positively-stellar little Star Trek convention. Oh, and some of the nicest people, not only from Vulcan, but also from Calgary and surrounding small towns.
Each of the actors had panels, autograph signings, and scheduled photo ops, and all of us gave interviews, and participated in the meet-and-greet and dinner open to all ticketed attendees on Saturday night.
Part of Saturday afternoon was even about donor fulfillment, as one of Axanar’s proud supporters — the talented and enthusiastic Doug Clark — was able to enjoy the realization of a dream (and fulfillment of his donation to Axanar!), when Richard, Alec, and I had lunch with him and his girlfriend.
In all, we had a wonderful time getting to meet a few of our fans and donors — including ones who BECAME brand-new fans and donors after talking to us! — of all-things Axanar.
In other words, pretty much what you’d expect, right? 🙂
As they say in Vulcan (on Vulcan, etc.),
LLAP,
Diana Kingsbury
Your Friendly Director of Fulfillment
I had lunch at that same restaurant in Vulcan! I did meet some of the actors but I missed the others from the Axanar team. Had been hoping you would have a small booth to drum up support….
We would have loved having a booth there, Trevor, but as an independent, non-licensed production, we aren’t allowed to have one at any of the officially-licensed-by-CBS Star Trek conventions (which Vul-con is). So happy you at least got to meet some of the actors, though! 🙂
Ever since I saw Prelude to Axanar I have been a fan and I have contributed to the earlier campaigns. So earlier this month I decided to contribute to the project again with the Lunch with the Commanders Garth and Kharn Perk. Well as luck would have it both Richard Hatch and Alec Peters were coming to a convention quite close to my my home in Calgary, Ab. I arranged the lunch through Diana Kingsbury who it seems to work the most incredible hours as she responded to my emails at just crazy times. She was really dedicated and patient as she arranged the lunch and I spent nearly an hour chatting with her prior to our lunch and she was just great to talk too. I have also ordered some of the merchandise from the donors store and Diana handles all of that as well, each of the items came with a little personalized note and that just made the experience that much better. Considering the sheer volume of the job I don’t know where she finds the time (Thanks Again). So we all went to lunch in Vulcan Ab and my girlfriend and I had such a wonderful time. Alec Peters is as knowledgeable and devoted as the most passionate fan but it is coupled with the drive and determination that is required to bring to fruition the first truly professional fan based movie production ever attempted. Not only did I have a great time talking with him, but I got the sense that he is as much a fan as is his audience. It s really something to talk to someone that loves Star Trek as much as I do and is doing something about it. Throughout the lunch Alec, Diana and Richard made me feel a part of the group and I it was great to see them trading ideas as we ate and talked. Richard Hatch was to my surprise as much a fan of SciFi as Alec is and again a such a treat to talk to, his passion for this movie is obvious and he brings 50 years of Hollywood experience going back to Streets of San Francisco, to the project whew (I looked his resume up on IMDB Wow!) and he made the whole experience an event for me. I was really excited to see the movie before I had lunch with them but now I know that the future of Star Trek is in great hands.
It was a great time for all of us! Thanks for sharing your experience with the fulfillment of a once-in-a-lifetime perk here, Doug! 🙂