Star Trek Luminaries Behind the Fastest Funded Film Project On Kickstarter 158
An anonymous reader writes "Legendary sci-fi writer Marc Zicree (Star Trek, Babylon 5, Sliders) and special effects wizard Doug Drexler (Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica) are behind the fastest funded film project on Kickstarter. They're using crowd-funding website kickstarter to directly communicate with and enlist the support of fans for their latest project Space Command. Maybe with direct communication, sci-fi fans can rest easy and not have to worry about their favorite shows being cancelled like FireFly."
Writers that don't own the show (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe with direct communication, sci-fi fans can rest easy and not have to worry about their favorite shows being cancelled like FireFly.
That would work only if the writer actually owns the copyright in the show's setting. If the publisher owns it, and the publisher wants it canceled, no amount of crowd funding is going to bring it back.
Sci Fi Luminaries? (Score:3, Insightful)
Not quite... (Score:4, Insightful)
"(C)ommunication" isn't the issue, it's having demonstrable ratings that appeal to advertisers - TV is not an entertainment medium, it is a mediumm for conveying advertising. They attract you by offering you some entertainment, but until you realize the networks don't really care what they show, they just want an audience to watch the commercials in it.
The best thing a Sci-Fi fan can do is get themselves a nielson box [yahoo.com] and then set their TV to watch all their favorite shows.
Re:Am i just too stupid to understand kickstarter? (Score:5, Insightful)
Impressive - and yet, not (Score:5, Insightful)
I know it sounds impressive... fastest funded (a claim made), blowing past their $75k goal, etc.
But does anybody actually remember the average cost of an episode of Firefly? Low estimates - and I do mean low are $500,000. Per episode.
Now, I know.. they don't need seasoned actors. They don't need expensive VFX firms. They don't need extensive sets. Perhaps they don't need people for wardrobe, catering, location scouting, etc. etc. etc.
And yes, I did see Star Wreck. But if that is the sort of result that one can expect*, it's entertaining enough but certainly not nearly as good as most of the TNG or DS9 episodes, Firefly, BSG, StarGate, or even Red Dwarf.
* I actually have, or had, higher hopes for Pioneer One. But Season 2 still seems very much up in the air, with the crew behind it admitting that they'll have to secure far more substantial funding first.
Still, best of luck to them.
Re:Sci Fi Luminaries? (Score:5, Insightful)
Spending their own money, they wouldn't be creating advanced buzz. This way when they take their product to market they can say "See, we've already got all these people invested in it." And every investor will make sure to see it ... with friends.
Re:anyone else here think. (Score:4, Insightful)
Is that really why you think firefly died? Because I know from experience that sci-fi fans are perfectly happy to watch multiple sci-fi shows at "once" (provided they don't occupy competing time slots.)
Babylon 5 would have been successful regardless of what else was on the air because it is different from anything that has been on before or since, despite its failings. I am far more interested in rewatching B5 than Trek, and I own pretty much all of both. (Literally all in the case of B5; I might be missing some TNG or something still, and maybe one or two movies I don't want to watch anyway.) I have a bunch of box sets etc. I don't want anyone to think I'm just a B5 fanboy, I'm a sci-fi fanboy in general. I like almost all of it, except BSG ;)
Re:Sci Fi Luminaries? (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes, and it's a perfect name. Did you watch the video? They're hearkening back to Asimovian science fiction stories (there's even a theremin in the background music!), when things were simpler and more optimistic. Just look at the semi-retro style of their spaceships; they scream 1960's scifi, and they look exactly like the kind of ship that would be built by an organization named "Space Command".
Someone please bring a better story to big screen? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re-run after reboot after re-run.
So many more great novels exist in the world that would be incredible on big screen.
Isn't it time to give some other hugo award winners [thehugoawards.org] a chance on the big screen?
My personal vote, tho not hugo class is the amber series [wikipedia.org].
Re:Sci Fi Luminaries? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes... that's exactly what does not make sense here.
These guys aren't civilians. These guys aren't naive students, fresh out of college; arrogant, idealistic, and with unrealistic dreams, with no sense of demographics, and no experience of making motion pictures -- i.e. your typical kickstarter client.
Getting funding for a motion picture is very difficult if you have no industry connections. However, it is surprisingly easy if you do. In this case, all you would need is a script written by someone with experience (check), some directorial or VFX experience would be good (check), and at least one B-List named actor who has signed a letter of intent. That might not get you all the money you need, but it would definitely get you enough to get started, you could easily get a million or so that way.
Considering they've worked on shows with plenty of actors who are not exactly busy right now, you'd think there's at least one person they can call to get them interested. Admittedly as a writer and vfx designer they'd have little contact with on-screen talent. However, they MUST know people who know people.
If you have experience and some sort of name in the industry you can sell to people who have real money, just as easily as you can sell to some guy on the net with $10.
Ergo... something does not add up here.
Plus the fact, I'm pretty sure most professional distributors would look down on any kickstarter funded project. I would seriously doubt the ability of any kickstarter project to ever get into cinemas. I assume none have as yet, I doubt many ever will.
Admittedly, I am of the opinion that kickstarter is just another parasite that looks to suck the dreams out of the desperate, idealistic and naive. There's no shortage of similar parasites in the industry. And there's no shortcuts to success in the industry. You have a sellable product, or you don't -- it's a business, and that is what most new filmmakers forget. (along with demographics -- it's only teenagers that go to the cinema in enough numbers to make real money from a movie. If your movie doesn't appeal to teens, kiss your profits and distribution deal goodbye).
Re:Sci Fi Luminaries? (Score:2, Insightful)
naive students, fresh out of college; arrogant, idealistic, and with unrealistic dreams, with no sense of demographics, and no experience
You mean like these guys [kickstarter.com] or these guys [kickstarter.com]?
If you have experience and some sort of name in the industry you can sell to people who have real money, just as easily as you can sell to some guy on the net with $10.
Yes, and may be you don't want to sell to people who have real money, because they want to buy you to make product, not to buy the product you make. That was a big part of Fargo's motivation to go to Kickstarter.
Re:Great (Score:5, Insightful)
Did you not see DS9 then, or something?
Re:Great (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Sci Fi Luminaries? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:anyone else here think. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Great (Score:5, Insightful)
DS9 was not about a married man balancing the needs of his family with the needs of his job.
It was about a single father workaholic who was barely present in his son's life....