Star Trek Fan Film Guidelines Announced

[Darth Knox]

If you're a fan of Star Trek you may be aware of the ongoing legal dispute regarding the fan film known as Axanar. in it's 50th anniversary year of the franchise CBS Paramount seem to have settled that dispute and today launched a set of official guidelines for aspiring filmmakers going forward. What do you think?

Letter to the fans
http://www.startrek.com/article/star-trek-fan-film-guidelines-announced

The guidelines
http://www.startrek.com/fan-films

[Darth Justicar]

It looks strict--but everyone has Axanar to blame for that, so IMO they should not complain to Paramount about it.  Some form of check needed to be put into place on productions that were overstepping their bounds by competing directly with the original IP and even appearing to have official endorsement because of the actors they hired.

How does this compare to the Star Wars rules?

[Darth Knox]

It looks strict--but everyone has Axanar to blame for that, so IMO they should not complain to Paramount about it.  Some form of check needed to be put into place on productions that were overstepping their bounds by competing directly with the original IP and even appearing to have official endorsement because of the actors they hired.

How does this compare to the Star Wars rules?

very similar to the star wars fan films awards rules. stricter in some places, more relaxed in other places. However, as much as Axanar may have caused this, having accepted rules that everyone can abide by can only be a good thing going forward. maybe next thing they'll do is have their own awards like lucasfilm does.

[scifidude79]

I'm only surprised it took this long.  I love Trek and I love fan films.  The problem is, in more recent years Trek fan films have taken a life of their own and even attracted the notice and talents of industry professionals.  While that's not necessarily a bad thing, it is bad for CBS/Paramount.  Their own recent efforts have been failing to excite longtime fans and a lot of fans are saying that fan films are better than what CBS/Paramount is putting out.  So, this has been an issue for them for some time.  I think Axanar raising all of that money and plannng on using it to put together a professional level (but still low budget) movie was just the final straw.  Rather than continue with their lawsuit against that one project, they decided to crack down on all film projects of that nature, effectively pulling the rug out from under a lot of good filmmakers.  By limiting fan films to short, strictly amateur level films, they are hoping to get rid of the competition as their new movie and TV series draw nearer.

I only hope these guidelines take effect from here forward and aren't applied retroactively.  If they do that, a lot of good films will have to be taken down.

[Darth Knox]

I'm only surprised it took this long.  I love Trek and I love fan films.  The problem is, in more recent years Trek fan films have taken a life of their own and even attracted the notice and talents of industry professionals.  While that's not necessarily a bad thing, it is bad for CBS/Paramount.  Their own recent efforts have been failing to excite longtime fans and a lot of fans are saying that fan films are better than what CBS/Paramount is putting out.  So, this has been an issue for them for some time.  I think Axanar raising all of that money and plannng on using it to put together a professional level (but still low budget) movie was just the final straw.  Rather than continue with their lawsuit against that one project, they decided to crack down on all film projects of that nature, effectively pulling the rug out from under a lot of good filmmakers.  By limiting fan films to short, strictly amateur level films, they are hoping to get rid of the competition as their new movie and TV series draw nearer.

I only hope these guidelines take effect from here forward and aren't applied retroactively.  If they do that, a lot of good films will have to be taken down.

in the internet age it would be impossible to enforce this rules retroactively. But going forward they will definitely crack down hard.

Totally agree with your comments about fan films being better received than the latest "official" movies. With regards to Axanar, a lot of the people involved with that are actual established film makers already. From what I've seen of the production, Paramount would be well off actually getting these guys officially involved with all future Star Trek productions. They've shown that they are passionate for the franchise, knowledgeable and skillful in terms of film making.

That might be asking a lot though

[Darth Justicar]

IMO they are within their rights to eliminate the competition.  At least personally, I have found some of the Star Trek fan films to be disrespectful to the IP owners by attempting to directly compete with the original IP.  It is one thing to have complaints about the official product...another to outright compete on the same scale, get professional actors (especially those from the franchise itself!), and so on.  That would be like if I took my fanfic, published it in hardcopy, and started selling it as direct competition against the official novels.  I have actually refused to watch ST fan films for that very reason, because of what I considered to be disrespect that was permitted until these new rules.  I would feel better about watching new things created after these rules go into effect, because I would not see them as spitting in the face of the original IP and trying to say, "We're better than you."

IMO if one has THAT problem, one should either a) produce a review like Nostalgia Critic and others, explaining the problems, b) write fanfic where you can do stuff on whatever scale you want but you cannot make money or take away from the movies/TV shows, or c) create an entirely separate franchise that you see as answering the problems you saw in the original IP.  (For example, some of what Ronald D. Moore did in the new Battlestar Galactica--under proper licenses for the BsG IP--was directly answer the severe flaws of Star Trek: Voyager.)  But NOT cannibalize directly from the original IP.

I know there have been management issues with the Star Trek IP and I've called that out in other threads.  But for me, until now I personally had a big ethical problem with what people felt entitled to do in terms of fan films.

[Darth Knox]

It's a fine line. Axanar really went way over that line though. That being said, the Star Wars franchise has never experienced this problem as they have always embraced the fandom, even with the Disney buy-out. CBS/Paramount have (on occasion) been quite dismissive and disrespectful towards their fans. I think they looked long and hard at the Star Wars Fan Film Awards and saw that there was a way to allow fans the freedom to be creative, while still maintaining control in a way that protects the IP.

Having seen a few of the Star Trek fan films, I was surprised at how many actors who have appeared in ST movies or shows actually popped up in these productions. Off the top of my head I know that Walter Koenig, Tony Todd, JG Hertzler and Tim Russ have all appeared in fan films.

I agree with Justicar, that if you have THAT much of a problem with the direction taken by the studio, you have plenty more options open to you other than making a fan film. However, as with all IP that have generational loyal fanbases, we all have some degree of entitlement. But some people just react very differently to it all.

Personally, despite my longing to see Axanar, I think the legal dispute that has resulted in these rules being released can only be a good thing. As someone who is currently working on making a fan film, I know how hard the process is and would never want to make something longer than 15 mins. if I did, I would just become an actual film maker. And, in all honesty, the majority of people who make fan films usually do it on a shoe string budget and therefore don't have the budget to make something longer.

Of all the fan films, both SW and ST, I have seen, the ones that are best are the ones that are 5-10 mins long. I personally wouldn't want to watch a fan film at home on my ipad that was 90 mins or more (that's what the cinema is for). These rules, while placing certain restrictions on fan films, will actually make the creators more creative. And maybe it will inspire some great original sci-fi (who else remembers Babylon 5 or Farscape for instance).

[scifidude79]

The problem with Paramount is that they first tried the heavy handed approach.  In the late 90s, they actually issued C&D letters to any sites even using Star Trek logos and images.  However, they almost immediately rescinded those orders, realizing that people using that stuff fell under Fair Use.  Some people and sites skate the line of what is accepted under Fair Use and fan films really do go too far when people make money working on them, including industry professionals who are paid for their work.  Since they rescinded the C&D orders, they took on a policy of ignoring things like fan films, which has led us to where we are.

I think an established set of guidelines is actually overdue.  I was briefly involved in a ST fan film that went nowhere.  However, I was building ships for it, so I was constantly on the phone with the producer. He told me that CBS would contact them periodically saying don't do something, usually after they'd already done it.  So, a list that you can consult ahead of time really helps.

Furthermore, I think a fan film scene where projects like Axanar, who was using someone I actually know, who is an industry professional, to do effects work made it a lot tougher on the amateurs.  We were ridiculed for our effects on the trailer for the film I was working on because they couldn't hold up to projects like Axanar.  So, limiting fan films to strictly amateurs actually levels the playing field a bit.

And, of course, CBS/Paramount is completely within their rights to protect their IP.  Limiting fan productions to fun films that are no threat to them makes sense.  They're letting people continue to make them, they just want to limit what can be done.  That's not an issue for me.  If anything, it makes it more interesting.  When you're not limited on time, you can do what you want.  However, with a 30 minute cap for a single project, it makes it more challenging to tell a good story in that time.  And, it could lead to good things for aspiring filmmakers.  Most big shot directors started off making shorts with a single camera, no money and some volunteers.  People wanting to do fan films have their shot to do just that without "why isn't your film as good as Axanar?"

[Lady Mineva]

Hey, thanks for posting these. A couple of my friends want to do both SW and ST fan films and I keep telling them to be careful. I will definitely share this with them.

As for who remembers B5 and Farscape


When I found out that she was going to be around, I ran over to my DVDs and discovered that there is not one picture of Chiana on them. I had that conversation with her and we decided that the Farscape boxset should be all Chiana. (Sorry I'm kind of proud of that picture. It's much better than the one of me holding the door for Shatner.)

[Darth Justicar]

Knox, while I felt they had every right to kick Axanar a lot harder than what they ultimately did, and that CBS/Paramount were wholly in the right here, even I will admit there are reasons in the other thread that I ranked Star Wars higher in the "Fandom Management" category, and the fact that the situation got out of hand this far at all before coming up with a way to acknowledge and manage that aspect of the fandom only further makes my case.

[Darth Knox]

the cynical part of me thinks the only reason why CBS/Paramount discontinued legal proceedings was more to do with publicity; they have a new movie coming out and it's the 50th anniversary of the franchise this year. While they are within their rights to take legal action against Axanar, the whole situation was making them look like the bad guys. Plus a lot of fans of Axanar said they were going to boycott the new film.

I'm surprised it has taken this long for these rules to come out though. SW has had theirs in place since 2002. Add to that the troops like 501st Legion being able to do what they do and it further highlights the fact that SW has always been willing to work with the fanbase. As Justicar and SFD eluded to, the way Trek fans have been managed in the past has been quite heavy handed. Hopefully this is the beginning of a new chapter of cooperation.

 It will be interesting to see if Axanar actually gets released, as even though legal proceedings are no longer happening, that doesn't mean the film can still be released.

[Jev Moldara]

Okay, I have no problems with the guidelines, except for the first one:

"The fan production must be less than 15 minutes for a single self-contained story, or no more than 2 segments, episodes or parts, not to exceed 30 minutes total, with no additional seasons, episodes, parts, sequels or remakes."

So basically they are saying that it doesn't matter how popular it is or how much of a story you have to tell, you cannot go beyond these set guidelines or they're coming after you. They really don't want any creativity coming out of the fans that might threaten their brand.

The only other group that's anywhere near this level of ass-hattery is Disney.

[Darth Justicar]

It's not an issue of not wanting "creativity"--it's an issue of not wanting a rival series, and given that's what Star Trek began as and is about to be again, that makes sense.

[Jev Moldara]

It's not an issue of not wanting "creativity"--it's an issue of not wanting a rival series, and given that's what Star Trek began as and is about to be again, that makes sense.

It's not even about a "rival" series.

Paramount's last two forays into Star Trek television (Voyager and Enterprise) were abysmal. Enterprise never really stood a chance and Voyager was such a screwup that one episode in particular was declared officially non-canon.

What they don't want is some upstart amateurs showing them up by doing a Star Trek series, fan film, etc that is true to the spirit of the show and outshines them. Axanar did just that. Son much so that it pulled in actual Trek actors to reprise their roles. Basically, Paramount didn't get their share of the pie that Axanar made in crowdfunding and, as any whiny bitch will do, has basically said "I'm taking my toys and going home."

[Darth Justicar]

Just because the original IP didn't do well--and I agree Voyager was bad, and earlier ENT was too (later Enterprise was good)--doesn't entitle fans to try to outright try to compete against it.  I would rather be honest and go to another franchise if I am that disheartened than go out to damage something I am invested in.