(Please note this blog is the opinion of Jonathan Lane, editor of Fan Film Factor, and not that of Axanar Productions.)
Remember this scene?
I was having a discussion a couple of days ago with one of the many Trekkers who is furious about these new Star Trek fan film guidelines from CBS. “It’s obvious that they just wanted to destroy all fan films forever!” he said with anger and disgust.
“I’m not sure that’s true,” I responded. “I think they sincerely wanted to help fan films by making these guidelines.”
He was shocked…especially since I’ve gone so far as to set up the SMALL ACCESS protest. He couldn’t believe I was being serious! But I was.
My wife is an attorney, and I used to work closely for many years with the Star Trek licensing department (back when they were still Viacom Consumer Products). Granted, I wasn’t in the conference room at CBS when these guidelines were written up, but I still think I know what happened and why it happened…and it was all because the wrong people were in the room.
Let me ‘splain…
I know from seeing my spouse in action that the first duty of an attorney is to protect their client at all costs. And a lawyer doesn’t simply guard against the obvious; he or she must think of every little possible thing that can go wrong. Many years ago, I had to sign a contract to work on a project for Disney–that document was as thick as a Dostoevsky novel! Lawyers do their job when they’re thorough.
I know from working with the licensing folks that their first duty is to protect their licensees, who are essentially clients of CBS paying for the right to make a licensed Star Trek product.
Now, think back to that scorpion story. In order for the scorpion (CBS and Paramount) and the fox (the fan filmmakers) to both make it across the river, the scorpion has to fight its nature and NOT sting the fox.
The wrong people were in the room.
I imagine that the lawyers and the licensing people had a large whiteboard and they put up everything they could think of that needed protecting about Star Trek intellectual property. Their goal for the meeting(s) was straightforward: find a way for fan films to be made in a small way that would keep them from being perceived as any kind of “real” (studio-produced) Star Trek–hence, the 15-minute rule–and also to protect the licensees–hence making fan films use store-bought uniforms and props. Almost every guideline was, I believe, a sincere attempt to find a way to make fan films acceptable to allow to exist while still performing the lawyers’ and licensers’ first duty: protection.
They were just doing their jobs. It’s their “nature.”
Now, perhaps I shouldn’t have said “the wrong people were in the room” as much as “the right people didn’t show up” (maybe they were busy; maybe they weren’t invited). And who are these “right people”?
The marketing the public relations department!
From that first letter-writing campaign back in 1968, Star Trek fans have been the poster child of an ultra-loyal, nearly-obsessed, activist base of support for a media franchise. Other Hollywood studios would kill to have fans as loyal and involved as Trekkies and Trekkers! We’ve endured, grown, strengthened, and supported this one franchise for fifty years!
In that time, other sci-fi series have built their own followings–Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, Stargate, Farscape, Firefly, etc.–but none except Star Wars has even come close to the size and unstoppable enthusiasm of Trek fans.
Trekkers have kept this franchise alive through multiple cancellations and have helped it thrive into a multi-billion dollar franchise. And how did we do that? We published fanzines. We designed new starships. We created artwork. We started fan clubs. We wrote fan fiction. We went to conventions. We sewed our own costumes and put on our own pointed ears and bumpy foreheads and blue antennae.
And most recently, we made fan films.
Those fan films weren’t always blockbuster quality. In fact, most were the fan equivalent of high school musicals where the kid singing “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat” has his voice crack during the finale of the song (yeah, that was me). But they had heart! You could tell that these were labors of love. And the best thing about them was that they were getting better and better and better.
Were these improving fan films ever going to be a threat to the studios producing the “real” Star Trek? Of course not! As good as the sets look for Star Trek Continues or New Voyages, no fan is going to watch an episode and then NOT go and see Star Trek Beyond or NOT tune into the new series.
Just the opposite, in fact!
Fan films build excitement and enthusiasm for the media property…especially during those down times when the studios aren’t spending millions marketing the next movie or the 50th anniversary or the new TV series.
It’s been three years since the last media blitz for Star Trek from the studios for Into Darkness. And it was four years before that since the previous blitz. And what kept Trekkers excited during those lean years when the marketing dollars weren’t being spent? That’s right: fan films (among other things).
And the bigger and better that Star Trek fan films got, the more coverage they gained in the press. There was a great article in the New York Times that came out shortly after the release of Star Trek: Of Gods and Men. And once Prelude to Axanar was released, media coverage exploded (long before the lawsuit).
All that press coverage was FREE ADVERTISING for Star Trek…especially during the multi-year “hibernation” period between film releases.
And that’s why I say the right people weren’t in the room. While the legal and licensing scorpions were doing their jobs trying to make sure fan films stayed as small as possible–no fund raising above $50,000, no use of anyone who ever worked on any Star Trek series or movie, no ongoing series–there was likely (I don’t know for certain) no one in the room saying, “Hey, wait a second, guys!”
There was no one saying how important it is in today’s world of a million online distractions a minute to have something that gets the attention of your fan base. And moreover, something that does that and doesn’t cost your studio a penny.
With Star Trek fan films watered down to 15-minute, inexpensive, non-continuing vignettes, “bigger and better” is now completely off the table. Sure, some fans will still make videos, and some will still watch them. But the days of a million YouTube views in a week for Star Trek: Horizon and the days of coverage in Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal…those days are now gone. The fox has been stung by the scorpion, and now they both lose.
And the sad thing is, it didn’t have to be this way! A collective cheer and sigh of relief went up throughout Star Trek fandom after J.J. Abrams’ May 20th announcement that the lawsuit was “going away” and that “…the fans will be able to [continue] their productions.” It’d been months (pre-lawsuit) since I’d seen fandom so…well…happy.
And now I can’t remember a time when I’ve seen Star Trek fandom so miserable…not even when Enterprise was canceled just as it was getting good! Whether fans are blasting the new guidelines or blaming Alec Peters and Axanar or simply trying to tiptoe carefully through what is now a legal minefield so they can still try to find a quiet and humble way to continue making their once-proud fan series…the mood of fandom is undeniably sour and morose and defeated.
Happy 50th anniversary, Star Trek.
The timing couldn’t have been worse. But the scorpions were true to their nature, and the fox has been poisoned so close to the opposite shore of the river.
Will Star Trek die because of this? Will there be a mass “Trexit”? It’s hard to say. Maybe it’ll all blow over. But Star Trek fandom will never be the same as it was going into December of 2015, when fans were all excited and looking forward to the amazing golden anniversary of Star Trek: the new movie, the new TV series, and yes, the new fan films, too.
And the saddest part is, I don’t think the scorpion even realizes what it just did. And that’s the reason I’m trying to tell them…through Project: SMALL ACCESS. If you agree, please help spread the word.
I have to disagree with one sentiment: I am very likely to watch an episode of a fan film and then not go and see the next big budget movie, or the new series. It isn’t because of the fan films, though, it’s because the movies and the studio behind them have lost the heart of what Star Trek is. I’ve been watching Star Trek since the original series first hit TV screens, in the 1960s. I’ve watched the cartoons that followed, the TV series, the movies……
Then came the reboot. I dutifully went to see it and was disappointed. Even the original series, billed as “Wagon Train to the stars”, broke more ground and dealt with deeper concepts than did that movie. Then the second reboot movie came out and all that it did was throw “Wrath of Khan” and “search for Spock” into a blender, without actually adding anything to the mix. All flash, no substance. I wasn’t going to the next movie anyway, but I certainly watched the many fan series.
So, here lies “Star Trek”, dead at fifty years young. We will mourn her. Any other by the name is but pale imposter.
Yes, the fuckers did THEIR damn job and they and their bosses WILL pay the ultimate price for it!
REAL fans, the ones who WON’T just go watch any drivel that is called STAR TREK. I Hope bot the series and the new movie TANK!
No disrespect to the honorable producers, directors and actors and support staff on those two projects. THEY are fucked by the greedy assholes at the damn studios, CBS/P. I’m sorry that they will be screwed over in the future by the greed of the stupid corporations.
Yes, their Lawyers DID their damn job, but they shouldn’t have been able to do it so well. BUT they will learn and learn the HARD way.
FUCK star Trek. It’s dead. It got stabbed in the back by the greedy assholes who Don’t know a fucking thing about being real capitalists. They are just stupid greedy asses.
Very disgusting and totally Unprofessional behavior from the corporate teams. This stupidity should in years to come be “Essential Readings” in future graduate business courses as the be “What NOT to ever do unless you are trying to kill of the golden Goose” And Star Trek WAS the golden goose of Paramount/CBS.
I grew up with Star Trek, but its just exhausted me. I am so done with all CBS and Paramount. And that means a lot of properties and films. They’ve poisoned the well. .. My vote doesn’t count. All the people I could possibly influence will be a drop in the bucket. But I’m through. They’ve beaten me down as a fan and its over.
I am a backer, I also used to be a huge Trek fan. Since the first reboot was so bad I haven’t even bothered to see darkness. From everything I have heard I made the right choice. Your blog has given me a little insight into the process that caused me to choose to boycott all production compainies involved in the new corporate trek productions. I really appriciate your viewpoint! Thanks for this! I am still going to boycott all of them, the dismal way they are doing business leaves me no choice. But, I can be a little less angry. I am really looking forward to seeing where Axanar will be going now, and I really can’t wait to see your production no matter what form it ends up taking! Keep up the good works and expect support from me when you need it!
Your explanation makes sense. However, i still say #BoycottBeyond and #BoyCottSTReboot! It grieves me, but I see no real way to get their attention other than in their pocket book. All they need to do is allow things to go back to where they were before the stupid lawsuit, and then we can all go see the new movie, everyone will get what they want. Otherwise, I’m done with anything CBS.
I totally agree.. if I wasn’t explicit before. Please let me be explicit now. CBS has poisoned the well of [all their properties] for me. I am a one man boycott of everything CBS or Paramount, no more TV, no more Films.. no more All Access.. if I hear the slightest notion of CBS or Paramount stink.. I’m gone. And I am not seeing any new commerical Trek.. the road has ended. I have a lot more things to do with my life than watch their Ads.. or Pay for their shows.. they have sent up a Flare.. than means I will be watching for their Brand. Anything CBS/Paramount.. I abstain. This won’t rub out.. and I won’t forget.
Jonathan, you may very well be right. In fact, I am guessing, with you knowledge, you are. However, that does not excuse the upper managements responsibility to the company to increase shareholder value. Look at what they have done with ST in the last 10 years, essentially nothing. They have had rumors of battles with Paramount, and stuff, but it all means that they considered Axanar an easy target and Paramount not, and their threshold of shareholder concern seems very low. Had Axanar been conceived by them, made with the same passion and concern, it could have been a theater quality blockbuster. A series of the same quality would have been similarly successful, and would have been an excellent balance to Paramount and the new Trek. Instead, they have relied on the fan community to whore for them for the last 10 years, to keep it alive (as happened in the 70’s), and now, they have decided to venture out, and are practicing nuclear force removal on all competition. Scorpions or not, the upper management has shown an absolute total lack of knowledge and skill in maintaining the property, and their endorsement of the New Rules Of Acquisition shows they have NO connection to the fans, or concern. They don’t even have concern for the shareholders, and that I think would be the place to break this all and get changes. Engage the shareholders, show them what they lost, and who was responsible, and see if it is enough to institute change. Show a model where everyone wins, and CBS makes money, and I would say there is a better chance of change than with the scorpions and their misguided masters. BTW full disclosure: I have joined your group, and agree it is one tactic to be employed, among others.
Actually, Jonathan, given the promoted content to the new series, I will almost definitely be giving it a pass. The last thing Star Trek should be doing is to engage in faith-bashing. Star Trek has NEVER taken the popular, easy road, but has always sought to rub society’s nose in its errors. Today, those societal errors have gotten to the point of manifesting the Mark of the Beast in our land (after all, what is a $135,000 fine over a cake but an effort to force people out of the marketplace? That is what the Mark of the Beast is all about: “Violate your faith or we’ll kick you out of society!” That IS what is going on today). Star Trek should be exposing that, not patting it on the back like some lily-livered sycophant.
What does this mean for the project and studio? I only recently became aware of the Prelude and I would GREATLY like to see this made rather than whatever BS they are drumming up for 2017.
I must say well put. We do sometimes forget the legal processes of these types of situations. That being said, A simple question. Was this just another way to prevent Axanar and other fan films from being made in general?
I see this more as an attempt to shut down large fan film production in general(if not for a short time) as away to say “Oh we dropped the suit but now you have to play by these rules since we were forced to let you go.” Its just all too coincidental and followed to closely to not be a strategic stance. Being someone who has studied warfare for most of their life, you look for alternative ways to defeat your enemy if your primary strategy was either defeated or derailed in some way. This feels more like “since I can’t take out your army, I’m gonna hit all your supply depots instead” type of strategy.
Just another thought on this. It just didn’t seem so clean as “The right people weren’t there.” I hope the Axanar team will recover and maybe give us something different instead like what Renegades is doing with their production.
I will not and a can’t watch the new series as It is ONLY available on CBS All-Access at $6 month With commercials as if it were being shown on Network Live. ABC gives free access to their shows with commercials and that is acceptable because it’s free. True the Fandom will not stop the video shorts that will be made now. BUT CBS is slowly killing the goose that laid the golden egg for them. If Gene were around he would have told those attorneys to burn that guideline book and Stop attacking the Goose.
As a longtime fan of Star Trek universe I have come to love the positive message it gives in the face of world turmoil.
As a long time Star Trek of 45 years, I’d like to weigh in. First saw the show when I was 5 years old, so I grew up with it, the original series in syndication, the movies, TNG, DS9 (for me the pinnacle), VOY, and ENT. Never posted on this topic before, but now as see how this devastating action by CBS/Paramount take shape; I feel moved to do so now.
As a fan I feel betrayed. I understand IP rights, and as someone with a conservative bent overall, it’s hard for me to argue. However, as a fan I still feel betrayed because I do not believe CBS/Paramount has stewarded Star Trek the way it deserves to be. Obviously it is being treated like a commodity rather than the cultural phenomenon that it has been over the last 50 years (my entire lifetime!). Cutting down Enterprise, just as it was turning the corner bad, …but understandable. But the reboot into the JJ-verse was just awful. Some may disagree with me, none of the JJ=Trek films were Star Trek. At best they were Star Trek parody.
Fan films started off slowly, but really took off with the end of the Enterprise. Today they’ve reached a level that they could no longer be ignored by CBS/Paramount as they were messing with their “whoring” of Star Trek for cash. Series like Star Trek Continues and Farragut were providing what the fans wanted with a level of quality that made for TV.
Axanar was about ready to really take things to the next level. When I saw the trailer last summer, I was just blown away. And more projects on the way from others as well. All these fan films, took some aspects from the original and were true in many respects. As a fan, I could pick the ones I liked, and passed on others. I am really disappointed to see the guidelines from CBS. Very deflating.
It’s all familiar though, Star Trek vs. the Network. The last time it was Roddenberry’s battle. Now he’s gone, and Star Trek itself has been assimilated.
Yes, CBS/Paramount has the IP rights, but how many times have we seen someone who owned something ( a pet, a nice car, or whatever) and just abuses it. It’s their right, because they own it…and if the cash keeps coming in, so who cares, right?
Small Access? I think that’s the problem. Fans who are so hard up for Star Trek, they’ll watch ANY Trek, even a bad reboot. If no one came to those awful films, CBS would never been in the position they are today to bully the fans.
I’d rather let it die than exist in the CBS/Paramount borg-ified form. Axanar was worthy; it should have been made. And, I don’t blame Alec one bit; it was just a matter of time. If it wasn’t Axanar, it would have been STC or one of the others.
Ken T.
It’s too late. I don’t frigg’n care anymore!!!! I will not reward Paramount for their decisions, which I consider to be foolish in the extreme. I will see this new Star Trek movie when it comes out but I am not excited about it and I am increasingly certain that my opinion is in the vast majority of fandom! The “geniuses” at Paramount and CBS have never gotten it right with Star Trek. Ever. I don’t expect them to change now. If the new movie is as poor as I fear, this may be the last one. Either way, I’m tired, I’m old, I’m pissed off, I’m through.
I will be completely shocked if any at CBS saw the wisdom in above post. While I have much confidence in the fans being the lifeblood to keep Trek alive, I have much confidence in CBS strangling the lifeblood out of Star Trek. Yes, I agree that the right people were not in that meeting. And they were purposefully not there. The reason is, I believe, that CBS wants to restrict all it can and a counter needs to be made. They hope a counter will not happen and all of this will be swept under a rug. What gives fans room to counter this? The fact that Paramount has for DECADES allowed fans to create Star Trek material in good faith.
These guidelines should respectfully be countered.
Perhaps it’s time to all fan producers stop with Star Trek and together begins a new kind of “open source” series from the scratch, with no individual copyrights, where everyone can make fan-fictions, fan-movies, fan-comics, fan-wath else, with or without profits, but certainly without big studios and anoying lawers. Let the scorpion and the fox drown and start a new era where the fans do everything themselves. You can do that, and I guess all sci-fi fans will support. Think about.
regards,
Eduardo Bolis (from Brasil)
Words escape me. The empty suits cancelled the original in all their brilliance.
There have been other stupid decisions over the years by them. I contributed to Axanar.
Fan films can be anything.
We’re footing the funding.
But why stop at Star Trek. Could be any fan work for anything. Pick any book of fiction or even non fiction. Who ever owns the rights can go after a fan produce project.
So the argument is that these studios are in the business to make money. Which is true.
But we don’t have to buy what they’re selling.
So I for one want my money back
Not from Axanar production
But from CBS.
Everyone should just boycott everything from CBS / Paramount
But we know no one will do that.
But could you imagine the results ?
It would be glorious!
Has anyone see the interview some CBS empty suit did justifying all this crap? Maybe post it so we can see the other side of their story, and what other twist and turns they will try. There will be an effort to do the “with heavy heart we had to clamp down” in complete disregard of other productions that have gone for years that were direct copy’s of their characters, ships and names. It keeps moving more and more to a deliberate attempt to silence “one” production. Some other groups of course, are also voicing the snarky “tried to make money” thing, as well as the unfounded “it’s all one groups fault” story. Sad for Trek, sad for freedom, sad for creative artistic talent. I stand with Axanar for their freedom, creativity, understanding of Trek, and truth to Treks framework. Not to mention it was damn good..
I’ve been a star trek-fan all my life, but no more. Let’s create something new in the spirit/vision of gene without CBS/paramount. To quote a fan:
” it’s time to all fan producers stop with Star Trek and together begins a new kind of “open source” series from the scratch, with no individual copyrights, where everyone can make fan-fictions, fan-movies, fan-comics, fan-wath else, with or without profits, but certainly without big studios and anoying lawers.'”
Let’s make a new “Axanar” without star trek and make it succeed and a success so that we can say ; It’s beyond, CBS … 😉
Come on guys, if renegades can do it so can you.
I’m a life-long fan and love this thoughtful article. I’d like to throw a different log onto the fire…and I understand it won’t be a popular sentiment but I think it’s thought-provoking much like the hallmarks of what we love about Star Trek.
I love hosting house parties. Viewing parties, gaming parties, PPV event parties. I love having guests over, entertaining them, and creating an environment that’ll keep them coming back for more. I don’t always know everyone that comes over and I don’t need to so long as everyone’s having a good time and nothing gets destroyed (the cops occasionally showing up is sometimes a bonus, honestly). When there isn’t a party though, you bet your bottom dollar I lock all my doors and make sure my security is tight. I want people to enjoy my parties. I want them buzzing about the next one. When the party’s over though, I still need to protect my home and personal space. No one would begrudge me that…well ok except the tool that puked in my pool but he’s banned for life for it.
Copyright law and the protection of Intellectual Property is the actual villain here, not the studios or executives involved. CBS & Paramount have a very unenviable task of balancing the same issues. Some of the cornerstones involved with protecting themselves REQUIRE them to be aggressive about certain things. That they’ve made any allowances at all for fan films will require them to have to divert time and money monitoring that razor edge they’ve created. Would you want to stand in your front yard with a flashlight and shotgun all day every day that there wasn’t a party at YOUR house?
Disney is legendary for defending their IP and you don’t see any riots in the streets. How many people hate Disney for their aggressive stance on these issues? How many of those haters still take their children to the next release? How long would Coca-Cola maintain their market share if everyone who was a fan decided their fandom entitled them to the secret recipe so they could make it themselves? Metallica took on Napster for all the little bands you’ve never heard of trying to make a buck doing what they love. Metallica didn’t need the money, but they were big enough to take the publicity hit for taking a stand against piracy and any other theft of art that results in taking money off the table of a starving artist that doesn’t have the resources to make that stand themselves.
We, as fans, may not appreciate the tack being taken by the people that own the properties we adore and wish to emulate, but as someone who’s regularly engaged in defending my own IP, I can tell you we don’t appreciate how draining and dreadful it is to HAVE to take any approach at all to these matters. I’d love to leave my house unlocked when I’m not there, but not trusting my guests does NOT mean I hate them or want them to never come back.
To the Axanar team, I LOVE your work and your passion. I can’t help feeling its a shame this couldn’t have been conceived, crowd-funded, and assembled without the Star Trek name. We’ve all seen movies that would have been better off titled differently and unburdened by the associated baggage. I know the tough road ahead of you and hope you’ll persevere through whatever rewrites are ahead of you. Please get this out into the universe. What you’ve done so far shows you’re the sorts of artists the world needs more of.
IP Defender, In as much as IP is a property, and deserves legal protection (witness the large scale pirating of movies and software in China and other places), in this particular instance, it is not a clear cut issue. Axanar deals with the ST framework, and uses a minor character named in one episode. Were this a true issue of IP protection, ST New Voyages and ST Continues should have been dragged to court millennia ago, because they are egregiously using the very same characters from their “protected” series. The fact they have not, indicates that this issue is NOT about IP{, it is about the fact CBS cannot tolerate a product of superior quality, and so they have used whatever tools they can find to stop it. The New Rules of Acquisition are simply fluff to engage the rest of the community and to force them to make the childish decision “It’s all Alec’s and Axanars fault”, and to rally to the flag and protect their own interests. This is a purely economic battle against a perceived threat to their business, which is the truly crazy and silly part of it. Axanar could have been produced, established a fan base, and then been graciously co-opted into CBS’s fold as a ready made series, which would have enhanced their other offering, and ensured success of both series. Whoever is at CBS has the business skill of a ferengi child.
Having had some time to think on this, i can say i am hugely disappointed in what Paramount/CBS have done here.
These guidelines are nothing short of a DIRECT assault on this specific project. If one really reads and examines them closely, one will see that nearly EVERY one of them is tailored to shut down this project…
– No longer than 15 minutes: well, so much for this, and any other feature-length fan film
– No use of actors who have ever been involved with the franchise: There goes J.G., Tony, Kate, and Gary
– No profanity: Yeah, they’re salty because of some of the language in Prelude.
– No crowdfunding over 50k: they’re scared by how good Prelude looked, and how good the main film will look.
These are just a few examples….. These guidelines were purposely written in this way, to kill this project.
And in their execution of this childish vendetta, they have successfully killed pretty much EVERY other fan project out there..
“Throughout the years, many of you have expressed your love for the franchise through creative endeavors such as fan films. So today, we want to show our appreciation by bringing fan films back to their roots.”
lol, to their roots, my ass… “you saved the franchise in the 60’s, and turned it into a cultural phenomenon. You kept it relevant throughout the years we didn’t have anything to offer, and in spite of the outright blunders we made. For this support, we’d like to show our appreciation by bringing fanfilms to their knees, gutting beloved projects, and showing you, the fans, just how little we actually care about you, and your creative endeavors ”
Yeah, to hell with this. Until Paramount/CBS decision makers pull their heads out of their asses, i’m done….Not seeing Beyond, not planning to watch the new show, which is a shame, because i was actually looking forward to both.
Thanks a lot Paramount/CBS….you’ve managed to do the very thing you sought to prevent: You’ve alienated your fanbase, and essentially ensure the death of the franchise.
No Politically Correct monstrosity ever had a prayer with the fan base, anyway, so, unless the new Star Trek series abandons political correctness and actually engages in telling truth to power, it will, after a brief tenure, go down in flames, and CBS’s pay service with it.