Captain’s Log – April 20th, 2016

I got a call today from Tommy Kraft or Star Trek: Horizon.  Tommy was called by CBS who suggested he cancel the Kickstarter he was planning and drop plans to make the sequel to Horizon.  According to Tommy, this news came from Bill Burke, CBS Consumer Products chief, who also said other productions would be getting calls.

This is ominous news for Star Trek Fan Films.

The fact that Horizon got the first call is no surprise, however.

Horizon is a feature film and the sequel, titled Federation Rising, was also going to be a feature film.  It's clear to us this is the # 1 thing that Paramount/CBS has an issue with when it comes to fan film productions.

The Hollywood rumor mill is running in overdrive about the reported problems swirling  around Star Trek Beyond. "Industry insiders" say Paramount is worried about the performance of their Star Trek movie this summer.

Whether those rumors are true or not, the first trailer for Beyond was widely panned and necessitated apologies from director Justin Lin and writer Simon Pegg - not the way you want to launch a major summer blockbuster.

Then there were the reshoots. Once they were announced, publicity around Star Trek Beyond slowed to a trickle and is now almost non-existent. And earlier this month, at the high-profile CinemaCon event, a trailer for the Star Trek Beyond was conspicuously absent, despite appearances by Simon Pegg and JJ Abrahms.  You can read about that here.

So is Paramount is concerned about Star Trek Fan Films potentially showing up their Star Trek movie this summer? Possibly.

Of course, taking the time to call or email fan film producers with an explanation of what the studios' concerns were could have had us all on the same side.  It's too bad CBS and Paramount don't seem to realize what an asset a vibrant fan base can be to a 50 year-old franchise.

Alec