The final shoot for Axanar is set and the two day shoot will host the final two actors out of the 18 in the two 15 minute scripts! While the team had hoped the Sep/Oct. shoot this past Fall would be the last, one actor cancelled and another we have decided to reshoot after viewing the footage. In addition there are a couple inserts we will be shooting, but the team is excited that Axanar will be wrapped next month!
2024 marks the tenth anniversary of Prelude to Axanar, and the team is excited to be wrapping up this saga that has seen so many challenges:
The lawsuit by CBS/Paramount
Moving the studio across the country
Covid shutting down the film industry for 18 months.
A lawsuit against Paul Jenkins for filing a fraudulent copyright on the Axanar script.
CBS & Paramount violating the settlement agreement in an attempt to scuttle Axanar.
And despite all of this, Axanar will be finished this year! What is especially exciting is that the main crew will have been the same through all 5 film shoots since 2021. Lead by Alec Peters, the two directors, Ted Brunetti and Mark Edward Lewis, the DP Geoff Fagien, the gaffer Jim Ross and the sound team of Chris Manz and Barry Rathbun have been at every shoot, as well as others like Dana Wagner, Scott Good, Dale Simpson and of course, Crysstal Hubbard.
And now with the addition of Dave Lanyon and Gudni Gudnason as executive producers, funding the entire production, the team is firing on all cylinders!
Mark Edward Lewis started the process of post production early, with the first assemblies, despite being incomplete, having been put together early last year. This has allowed Alec and Mark to change the script as needed and add or subtract scenes and dialogue. Both are very happy with the result so far.
"The assemblies have been a huge benefit to us." said Mark Edward Lewis, who is both co-director and editor. "Alec wanted to see the footage set up early, and so we have used storyboard images and clips from Prelude where we haven't filmed actors yet. We then laid a temporary soundtrack over it and it allows us to see how everything flows. We have had numerous sessions reviewing the assemblies and made lots of changes, some subtle, some not. It has been a huge benefit."
The team hopes to premier the next two episodes this summer. Stay tuned for more info on the final shoot!
Team Axanar