June 24 2018
It appears that we’ve given some people food for thought today, we’ve made it onto AxaMonitor FB group which suppose with the amount of fighting going on the last couple of days was inevitable.
This wasn’t started as a quest for a speck of fame, a couple of dollars on the site (we’re money free) or any hint of notoriety but a scream of frustration watching everybody fight over this fan production called Axanar.
It is true Axanar is not your standard fan production (there is even debate on it being a ‘fan production’), it has had more publicity and chatter than about every fan production combined and it has also had more money and more turbulent times than any other.
It has a history that is seemingly rockier than Mt Everest and that is what attracts people to see what is said or is unveiled next.
We actually like Axanar, AxaMonitor, Trekzone, Fan Film Factor etc, each brings something unique.
AxaMonitor the website is an interesting place, the posts are informative and well linked and its nice if you want to really think about things.
Trekzone has been watched since the days of Aussie Cubbyhouse back when TU was a wonderful place to be, apparently it still is but haven’t been there for some time.
Fan Film Factor is pretty good on talking about the various productions going on in the Star Trek world and despite the CBS Guidelines, business seems to be booming on the fan film production front.
Finally Axanar, it is always interesting to see what happens next, will they make their 30 minutes of film or not? Will it be successful?
But the Facebook groups/pages on both sides of the Axanar argument are starting to get out of hand, that’s the frustration, it gets so nasty, stuff about photos of people used for target practice, movie posters, unflattering personal descriptions and more.
There is freedom of speech and we support it but it doesn’t mean freedom from consequences, people can get emotionally hurt by comments aimed at them and maybe one day even physically hurt if somebody takes it too far.
Even if they aren’t emotionally hurt, there is no doubt they’d feel anger and if they feel angry it ruins their day, it ruins the people around them day and nobody wins at home.
That’s what we are here for, to make people see that this fighting doesn’t do anybody any good.
All it takes to start a change is one leader of a page or group saying that’s enough, we will discuss the latest events until the cows come home but we will be civil and we are not going to be calling people asses, idiots, retards, retarded etc.
Lastly, somebody asked who watches the monitor of the monitors, the answer is you the reader are that monitor, we watch out for each other and we try to improve how we do things.
If anybody wants to comment do so but remember keep it civil and we’ll answer you as soon as we see it and think about an answer.
Mentioning Trekkie Mentions 
Well, I gotta say I have been enjoying this read so far…but there’s one thing I don’t understand.
“(there is even debate on it being a ‘fan production’)” …why is there debate on this? CBS isn’t making it; Paramount isn’t making it; it is being made by a fan of the franchise with no prior filmmaking experience before he got involved in all this.
now, sure, I know that when a fan film is hyping up the crowd and stirring up interest, they like using buzzwords and pithy soundbites that make their movie sound fantastic…but it’s obviously hyperbole; when they say ‘professional film’ they just mean they are trying for that level of quality. they don’t ACTUALLY mean they are a professional studio crafting a star trek film when they have no ties with CBS or Paramount. it isn’t a professional studio, it isn’t an indie film; it’s a star trek fan film.
…or am I just misunderstanding what the debate is about? is there some other aspect that is under debate?
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Axanar at least once referred itself as a ‘Independent Star Trek film’ in its 2015 Indiegogo campaign and people haven’t forgotten it since.
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see, I worked from the assumption that that was hyperbole, salesmanship talking up a product to make it sound awesome….I don’t think anyone from Axanar Productions actually thinks of themselves as Professional or independent, or thinks that are making anything more than a fan film. (they think it is going to be an AWESOME fan film, to be sure, but still a fan film, not an indie film.)
now, sure, there are folks on the anti-axanar side that point to it as ‘another lie from Peters’, and while Peters has misrepresented the truth at times, he does so not in an attempt to deceive or defraud, but rather to deflect, to avoid accepting responsibility for a series of bad decisions and blunders he made. he lies to save face, not to intentionally spread false information. so the ‘independent’ bit gets lumped in by the anti-axanar folks as a ‘lie’, instead of being shrugged off as just an advertisement hyping up a product as much as possible… a ‘harmless’ or ‘innocent’ lie, not a malevolent one.
hell, you’ve seen how things go; sides have been chosen, minor words are taken out of context to bolster each side of the argument, and folks are now looking for the worst, and not seeing all of it.
I am on the anti-axanar side of things, but I do not see Alec Peters as a criminal, nor do I believe he committed fraud. I see him as a screw up who made very bad decisions, and then made more bad decisions to try and cover up the earlier bad decisions, spiraling into a colossal train wreck. in my opinion, he is an idiot, not a criminal. he did wrong, but not out of some desire to steal from people or commit fraud. he got in over his head, and cannot admit his failures to others or to himself.
of course, just as the anti-axanar types cannot differentiate between ‘harmless’ exaggeration and outright lies, the pro-axanar types have a hard time differentiating between mocking someone for being a fool, and wanting to tear him down because he is evil and needs to be destroyed….
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Independent Star Trek film does sound more impressive than just plain Fan Film.
The big time can make people lose their grounding, it brings on so much expectation and temptations and massive pressure to hold the course on quality and originality etc.
Prelude to Axanar was a massive success then suddenly they’re confronted with the problem of trying to top it with the main event and that was basically unprecedented.
Being a fan film, there was only so much latitude given before CBS had a problem with it and Axanar found out just how much latitude there was before CBS slammed the cookie jar lid shut.
Let’s face it, Fan Films were pushing the envelope for years, from full sets to professionals in front of and behind the camera, it created an arms race between productions of getting more money and more professionals to be top dog of fan films.
As for all the fighting, everyone is starting to learn what is acceptable and what is unacceptable and that is good for everyone.
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that ‘arms race to be the top dog of fan films’…that was Peters’ first major mistake. He forgot the point of fan films. after that, it all went downhill, and his hubris, coupled wit ha lack of self-awareness, kept amplifying that problem, until the outcome came to an inevitable conclusion.
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Alec probably saw New Voyages/Phase II, Continues, Farragut etc and thought if they can do it so can I.
Sometimes when trying to make something bigger and better than anything before you make a mistake and then another and another and it snowballs as you try to get out.
Eventually CBS’s spotlight landed on Axanar and you know what happened next.
Now Axanar has to swim in the same pool as everyone else, the question is can they make it to the other side of the pool?
On another note, it is ironic that the fan production series (New Voyages/Phase II) that caused the professional boom in fan films was rewarded in the end by CBS.
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There are differences, of course, between what Axanar did and what STNV did; NV didn’t start out many years ago with this Set Tour as part of a master plan; there was never an intention to convert the fan film into a business when they started. that idea was something that came around when NV was looking to wrap things up, and Mr Cawley was looking for some way to avoid simply tossing out the set that so many had contributed time, effort and money to create. Axanar, on the other hand, started very early on in their production on making plans into expanding into a profitable business, making plans for studio space that hadn’t even been finished yet and looking at converting it into a profitable film studio. NV crept up slowly on bringing massive amounts of crowdfunding; it began with the creators initially covering most of the expenses themselves. Axanar dove head first into being BIG, bigger than anything yet seen, going way over the top.
a phrase like ‘scope creep’ is sometimes applied to what Axanar did…though ‘creep’ implies gradual, slow changes that eventually got out of hand. the rapidity in which Axanar made plans to expand into a business venture, complete with merchandising and various additional revenue streams, without either a finished product or any kind of tacit approval from CBS, showed more of a ‘scope explosion’, and they steered themselves straight off of a cliff in order to fly, a precipice that other fan films had approached slowly and cautiously simply to admire the view.
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CBS would of acted eventually, the fundraisers were getting bigger and bigger and media was starting to write about what everyone was doing.
Axanar probably would of been fine if they just made their fan film, waited six or so months then turned professional and made the other stuff and stayed away from merchandise.
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The problem is this….both sides are entrenched. I am friends with some of the anti axanar crowd, and outside of talking axanar, we get along great…..so we avoid that subject.
Blasting a con repeatedly because you don’t like an invited guest, will not make them cancel that guest. Contracts are signed, and no Con big or small wants the legal hassle of having to pay out for a cancelled guest.
The fact is accon can invite whoever they want, and crying or harassing them over it, doesn’t do any good, it simply makes you and your group look bad
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Both sides can be entrenched in their beliefs but there are better ways to go about expressing the beliefs than throwing mud at each other 24 hours a day.
Fans are getting sick of the behaviour, Trekzone Plexus yesterday posted about the Spanish Inquisition quote on FB and the majority of fans that wrote in wrote of their unhappiness with the ongoing saga.
Other locations are starting to get the same results, some are even leaving because they’ve had enough.
As for the convention, whoever goes there looks like will have a great time and it looks like it has increased interest in Honor Harrington so that is a win for them.
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