Sulu To Star In High-Class
Fan Fiction Movie
Fan Fiction Movie
From the press release (on Ain't It Cool News):
GEORGE TAKEI may be playing a hero on HEROES and serving as Howard Stern's recurring sidekick on subscription radio, but it's as the dashing Mr. Sulu, helmsman on the starship Enterprise, that he will be forever loved by the fans.
But he hardly imagined his greatest Sulu episode would come in 2007! Takei is starring in "World Enough and Time," a new STAR TREK episode produced by an amazing mix of Industry pros and fans that will be premiering at the Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills on August 23, 2007, with both the premiere and episode streaming real-time worldwide on the Internet – literally a world premiere.
The "webisode," which premieres Aug. 23 at www.startreknewvoyages.com, boasts co-stars like Star Trek alums Majel Barrett and Grace Lee Whitney, and a crew including "Star Wars" & "Star Trek The Next Generation" writers and designers.
But what the release doesn't really make clear is that this is essentially a high-class unauthorized fan-film.
This is pretty interesting. Is Paramount deciding not to take legal action? Could they?
Could fans and industry pros get together and make high-class fan films of cancelled series, even alternate versions of dissatisfying last episodes?
"The Sopranos: Between The Black"
Hi Valerie, Nice to *meet* you!
ReplyDeleteMarc is a mentor of mine, and I've been hearing his stories since the episode's conception a year and a half ago. Marc's a former writer for ST:DS9 and had several meetings with Paramount to do it with their full knowledge. So unfortunately, a scenario difficult to replicate.
Details here: http://www.zicree.blogspot.com/
Paramount seems to be okay with it, at least unofficially; the upcoming Sulu episode is the fourth in the series, and previous episodes have featured other Trek players, including Walter Koenig returning as Chekov. Not to mention that it has the blessing of Gene Roddenberry Jr. I think if directly asked, Paramount would have to condemn the series, but off the record, they probably know it's the best thing out there for reconnecting with their fan base.
ReplyDeletehttp://hellochieftain.blogspot.com/2005/12/so-we-all-know-what-shite-state-star.html
More Sulu! Hooray!
ReplyDeleteSorry to be so late to the comment game here. I'm a real fan of this blog and how it covers relevant issues. Been trying to catch up on what's happening within comics, which is an iceberg I only skim the top of these days.
ReplyDeleteNew Voyages is the biggest of a bunch of Trek-fan efforts which, as I understand it, have the tacit approval of CBS/Paramount as long as they don't make any money from the venture. So "authorization" is in place, provided the group is very careful about keeping it all-volunteer, among other things.
I crewed on the Sulu episode in question, and it was great fun to participate in a project which recreated a huge piece of my adolescent fascination (I'm 47). Also, it was enormously sweet to meet the man and watch him work. You'd never have known this wasn't a high-profile gig for Mr. Takei.
My feelings about the episode itself (the most polished Trek fan film I've seen yet, by the way) are mired in basic storytelling issues, but most fan-film groups have a very thin skin when it comes to hearing about that sort of thing.