There are now just 22 days to go until Trekzone and MTM launch the ‘Best of 2023’ list.
Here is something new in fan films, the wonderful folks at FSFilm have been inspired by Strange New Worlds and are doing their own musical extravaganza.
Get ready for some Village People music (more people like them than they dare to admit) and more from the 17th of this month.
Chris Lea has released another trailer, it is of the USS Libra, it is an Antares Class ship and it looks like it is under fire when the fan film ‘Indiana’ is released, check out the trailer, you’ll be impressed by the quality.
Only 201 views away from the 5000-view milestone is the fan film ‘Lost & Found’, if you haven’t seen it yet make sure that you do as it is a fan film that is intriguing.
‘Where They Have Gone, We Follow‘ briefly moved into sixth place on Potemkin Pictures most watched videos, it was repassed by ‘Between Two Worlds‘ and the margin between them is currently three views meanwhile ‘Prime Directive’ is now just 31 views away from the 10,000-view milestone.
That’s all the news that MTM has for today, so much to look forward to this month so stay tuned.
Until next time, be good to each other.
Mentioning Trekkie Mentions 
Hey, mate. Not sure if you were aware of a major fan film release from two days ago (with my dad passing away on Dec 3 and me needing to travel back and forth between L.A. and Colorado, I’ve fallen quite a bit behind on covering new fan films on FFF), but “Crisis on Infinite Excaliburs” from The Avalon Universe is the most multi-collaborative fan production to be completed since “Yorktown: A Time To Heal.”
The credits include the names of showrunners from around the globe, including such fan series as The Federation Files, Trek Shorts, Intrepid, Chance Encounter/The Holy Core, Starship Antyllus, Project Gemini: Crossroads, Constar, and Tales from the Neutral Zone (along with Interlude, although that’s not a fan series, per se).
The VFX and acting are amazing, and the production values top-notch (as usual from Josh Irwin). The acting is stellar, as well, along with fantastic music by Adan Mullen. I really can’t say enough superlative things about “Crisis,” and it’s definitely a must-see and must-cover for any fan film reporter out there. It’s already at more than 13K views after only 48 hours, and 360 fans watched the premiere live earlier this week.
One of the most significant milestones for this film, I might add, is a short montage sequence featuring clips from more than 25 different fan films and series–from Star Trek Continues and Hidden Frontier, to These are the Voyages and Dreadnought Dominion, all the way up to Stalled Trek and Farragut Forward (all used with permission, of course!). There’s even a clip from Lost & Found (mentioned above in this very blog entry) included in the sequence. No other fan film has ever done anything even remotely like this, and it’s being talked about excitedly by a lot of fans righ tnow.
This is definitely a “fan film done right” (as your friend Matt likes to say), totally collaborative across wide swatches of the fan film community, over two years in the making, and released with a production quality that brings well-deserved accolades to the dozens and dozens members of the production team.
You’re welcome to check it out here:
Definitely worth your attention and coverage, Chuck. I myself will be doing an interview with writer/director Josh Irwin and star Alex Rexford just as soon as I get back from helping my mom here in Boulder, CO and life returns to something resembling normal for me. But seriously, don’t miss this one, my friend…it’s a real winner!
– Jonathan
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Jonathan,
I offer my condolences to you on your recent loss.
After the letter that you and 18 others signed before the 2023 Trekzone Fan Film Awards and the breakdown of relations after the awards, it was decided that a clean break was needed.
That clean break is to not cover anything that the nineteen letter signers are doing, and life has been great since then, we leave each other alone and MTM covering a small circle of fan films is very satisfying work.
Some news has reached my eyes like that ‘biased awards’ terminology, but my philosophy is, good for them, if using such terms makes people happy, so be it.
It is not worth spending months wondering if somebody is again going to pull the rug from under our feet on the eve of something that we worked so hard on, so this clean break is good for MTM, good for Trekzone and good for everybody else.
I am sure that “Crisis on Infinite Excaliburs” is good and everybody who worked on it, worked hard on it and I am sure that you’re doing a good service for them, but I have no interest in the production, I am very content with that.
We have our ‘Best of 2023’ list coming up and it should do fine, if people are happy that’s good and if people aren’t happy well, they’re not happy but the sun will rise tomorrow.
May you find some joy on Christmas Day and the end of year/beginning of 2024 in these difficult times.
Chuck
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Chuck, I thank you for your condolences and your respectful and non-confrontational response. I’d like to do you the same courtesy.
I and the other fan filmmakers who shared our concerns with you your through that letter (amusingly, a letter written primarily by one of your own countrymen) have felt very hurt and insulted by yours and especially Matt’s aggressive and vitriolic reaction reaction…especially in what seemed like a very purposeful mischaracterization of the intent and tone of the letter to somehow seize editorial control rather than simply asking (in our opinion, quite respectfully) for the correction of an unfair and seemingly arbitrary decision to exclude certain fan films from your awards simply due to a single name (from a short list of “unapproved” names) appearing in their credits…regardless of their participation level.
For example, all I did in the case of “Needs of the One” to get creative consultant credit was to fix a few typos in Josh’s original script. Alec Peters was thanked in the credits for “Ambush” because, way back in 2014, unsolicited, Alec posted to his donors a suggestion that they consider tossing a few bucks to this Kickstarter out of the UK because the project looked intriguing. In the next 24 hours, “Ambush’s” total donations jumped from 1,000 pounds to 4,000 pounds. How could Greg Lock NOT thank Alec for sending that one e-mail? And yet, that one gesture of gratitude (including Alec’s name in the list of a half dozen thank you’s) got Greg’s project effectively banned from the Trekzone awards.
That wasn’t a good look for your show in any way shape or form. It made you and Matt look petty and called into question (for many in the community) the fairness and objectivity of your results…especially considering that Ambush went on to dominate the Showrunner Awards–not in any way to “send a message” but simply because it was such a strong fan film in a number of different categories. But wanting to help you and Matt not take the “hit” to your reputations of being objective and fair, the 19 letter-signers suggested correcting the error before proceeding forward, something that likely wouldn’t have caused much delay, as only four or five total fan films would need to be added to nomination list. But rather than adding those fan films to those in consideration, Matt exploded with resentment and a seemingly endless parade of angry and indignant posts and blogs and videos…ultimately resulting in him announcing that he would no longer cover Star Trek fan films.
And the community collectively shrugged.
The general feeling from most active members of the fan film community at large, both those who signed the letter as well as many who didn’t, is that Matt (and by association, you) are holding onto petty grudges, indeed living and breathing them, trying to justify something that, objectively, can only be described as blacklisting. And I will give you a very salient case in point…
Matthew Blackburn, a fine fan filmmaker from the Mojave area of southern California, was featured above in this very blog for his excellent “Lost & Found” release from a few years ago. His next release, coming soon, will include my name in the credits as cinematographer or camera man or something similar. Will you now ostracize and exclude Matthew’s next release simply because I went on a drive with him one Sunday with my son to go see the wildflower superbloom in the nearby Antelope Valley and shot a few sequences of Matthew in uniform along the way? If the answer is “yes” that you will exclude his next film from contention simply because “Jonathan Lane” appears in his credits, then you are indeed blacklisting, and rather unfairly at that. Matthew is completely uninvolved in any of the fan film drama and simply needed someone to hold his camera during a very rare and breathtaking filmmaking opportunity while taking a scenic drive.
I could easily give other examples, as well. When “Farragut Forward” (certain to be one of the most amazing Trek fan films of the year…or any year!) is released, Josh Irwin’s name will appear in their credits as cinematographer or DP or something like that. Will you blacklist that groundbreaking, as well? How about Sam Cockings? He signed the letter, but his name appears in a ridiculous number of fan film credits because of his prolific VFX work. Are all of those fan films blacklisted, as well?
If so, then it becomes a hard sell that you’re really celebrating the best fan films or 2023 or 2024 or whenever. Instead, you’re celebrating the best fan films that you and Matt Miller haven’t blacklisted due to very subjective and petty ongoing grudges…and the community sees that, even it the two of you still can’t.
I’ll close with this thought, my friend: it takes far more energy and intensity of emotion to hate than to love…and the former is constantly draining and exhausting while the latter is energizing and rewarding. As you can easily see from “Crisis” and the reaction to it, that fan film was filled with love and camaraderie and enthusiasm. It’s at over 16K views now (not that views are particularly important) over two and a half days, but what’s more important is how positive and encouraging the vast majority of the hundreds of comments are.
When you present your year-end awards in three weeks and completely ignore such a significant fan film, it doesn’t reflect at all on “Crisis,” but it says so much about the two of you and your ongoing resentments and prejudices. You are carving out this very small area of the sandbox for yourselves, not allowing certain kids to play there, and then bragging as loudly as you can about how your corner of the sandbox is the only corner that counts and anyone playing in the other parts of the sandbox shouldn’t even be acknowledged. And you seem to be patting yourselves on the back for taking some kind of laudable moral stand against those you’re backlisting when it just looks petty and childish from a distance.
It’s hard for me to explain just how embarrassing this come across to the rest of the community who are being so inclusive, collaborative, welcoming, and non-resentful in our endeavors. To us, it feels like all the light and love is coming from the rest of the sandbox, and there’s this one dark corner over there where we’re not allowed to go…which is fine with the rest of us. But it just makes us a little sad when we look over there and think that those two kids are missing out on so much of the fun that the rest of us are having and are totally willing to share.
And so I will head back to the main sandbox now…knowing that I will be enthusiastically covering most of the same fan films that you guys do, but that you will not be doing the vice-of-the-versa. I’ll enjoy interviewing Matthew Blackburn about his latest release and (later on) John Broughton and Johnny K. about “Farragut Forward” and never once worry about scanning their credits first for any “undesirable” names…because, in my opinion, blacklisting should never be what fan films are about.
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Ambush was never banned from the 2022 Trekzone Fan Film Awards, it is a complete fib, the whole thanking Alec Peters thing was a topic that came and went the very day it came up, Matt completely forgotten it about until Greg Lock asked why there was no nominations months later which was after the selection process was complete, there was no banning instruction issued and no ignore instruction issued, there was simply no room for Ambush that year as it was packed year, you can read the timeline right here https://mentioningtrekkiementions.com/2023/09/11/the-truth-about-ambush/ and if it doesn’t satisfy you, then that’s the way it is.
It should be also mentioned that Ambush didn’t fit with the 2023 Awards because it was outside our timeline criteria while it fit yours so there was no snubbing there.
Also, it was proven that the Vance’s fan films were left out due to an old understanding that Vance didn’t want to deal with Matt and that was later cleared up, Commodore Productions was not found at the time, Frank Parker Jr said that Matt was a waste of DNA and that just left Josh Irwin who was put on the honour roll in a fairly worked out compromise.
The 2023 Trekzone Fan Film Awards was thundering down the runway when the letter was dumped on us, the 19 didn’t give it a month from announcements or six months to mull over things, the 19 gave it to us on the eve of announcements, 19 fairly smart people who knew all of our dates and chatting up in a peace talks group chat or whatever it was somehow did not see how messed up it was to release a letter so close to our big day, so yeah it is quite understandable that Matt was very ticked off.
The answer to your question about the upcoming Matthew Lee Blackburn fan film is no, there are no thoughts or plans to ban or ignore the upcoming Matthew Lee Blackburn fan film because you held a camera, we don’t have an award for cinematographer and if the fan film is worthy of something, it will be honoured, next year will tell if it does.
I believe that minor roles in a production by any of the 19 (20 if Axanar is made) is not grounds to ignore an entire fan film (Directors and Executive Producers/Producers are grounds, we also won’t be selecting any of the 20’s roles) but there are complications, fan films made at Neutral Zone Studios may not be given permission, as you know relations with Ray Tesi don’t exist so who knows if permission will be granted if we come calling in 2024.
Let’s face it, bridges were burned to ashes this year and from what I have read over the last few months, there is no going back even if people don’t have a problem with me, they’ll have a problem with Matt and Trekzone but we are a team and it is in for a penny, in for a pound, I have full confidence in Matt Miller and if somebody does not measure up to his standards on what a person should be then that is good enough for me.
It is impossible to reward people who don’t like you, we tried rewarding you in 2022 and be all that openness and inclusive that you wrote about and you would have had about four awards, there were no motives because facts were facts Interlude was on top in those sections, but you didn’t want us to do that and you wrote a wide-ranging piece on why you didn’t want us to do so, lesson learned, if somebody doesn’t like you in the fan film world, stay away.
We have fan film creators are very satisfied with what we do and how we do things and we’re happy that they’re happy and we will do our best to keep them happy, there are no strings attached between them and us.
Have a great time interviewing Matthew Lee Blackburn and John Broughton and Johnny K., I am sure that the latter two are nice people, I know the former is a nice person, I would interview people, but I don’t have the knack for it, but Matt does have the knack and that’s that.
Lastly, I have heard that when you talk about fan film awards, you talk about all of them except for the Trekzone Fan Film Awards, isn’t that excluding us from your sandbox and goes against the love and all the rest that you’ve been talking about?
That is all I have to say.
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So Jonathan Lane your on here attacking Matt and MTM for something you wanted done but you yourself exclude these awards because you have always had a problem with them. BTW I cant wait for the Axanar financials to be made public I wonder how much was spent on you?
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As the old saying goes ‘Do as I say, not as I do’.
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Oops…copy-pasted the wrong link!
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I would like to make one quick point of clarification. My name won’t be on “Farragut Forward” as I did not work on the film itself. I know that I was spotted on set in photos, but I was assisting them with a separate project, so I don’t want there to be any confusion on that. Credit should always go to the people who do the work.
With regard to coverage of Avalon on TrekZone or MTM. I personally have decided to let that matter go. There are plenty of great filmmakers out there, and no doubt the people they honor will be very deserving of those honors.
Chuck, I wish you and Matt the best of luck on your shows, and wish to make no further commentary on this matter.
Thank you!
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Thank you.
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And closing in on the 10,000 mark is “Dream Time” from Starship Deimos! We’re very proud of all our productions!
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I am, too…Randy! Potemkin’s persistence, organization, and determination has produced more completed fan films than any other production other than Constar. And with Vance Major retiring, you’ll overtake his record pretty soon now. I think you’re less than a dozen films behind him at this point. But honestly, once you cross the 100-release mark, you’re in a class all your own. 🙂
I’ll be following up with you and your teams over the next few weeks, my friend. Just gotta get back in the fan film “groove” after all the life upheavals of late. But congrats to each of the Potemkin Pictures creative teams on jobs VERY well done!
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Thank you!
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We’ll talk about “Dream Time” this week, I like to rotate through the productions to keep them fresh.
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Understandable!
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There are 10 productions in the 9k range and 11 productions in the 4k range so we’re going to be talking about them for a very long time.
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“Lastly, I have heard that when you talk about fan film awards, you talk about all of them except for the Trekzone Fan Film Awards, isn’t that excluding us from your sandbox and goes against the love and all the rest that you’ve been talking about?”
Yes, but only because I cannot endorse or support any production or endeavor conceived in hatred, spite, or some ill-defined need for revenge…including a fan film awards show. Had Matt simply launched the Trekzone Awards without editorializing his reasons for doing so, I would have covered them. But when he stated publicly and repeatedly that the purpose of launching those awards was as a reaction to the Showrunner Awards and Directors Choice Awards charging a small entrance fee , I could no longer provide coverage. Call it “poisoning the well” if you’d like, but I felt the Trekzone Awards were tainted by vitriol and resentment, which is why I asked to have my name removed from contention in the Best Executive Producer/Producer category when I was personally entered (“Interlude” itself was allowed to stay in other categories, as I didn’t want to take anything away from my awesome production team). But I didn’t want my name listed in that one specific category.
Now, why “The Needs of the One” was excluded from the most recent Trekzone Awards, I have no idea. I believe that Josh was told it was because my name appeared in his credits, even though my participation was limited to proof-reading the script. But honestly, that exclusion is what led almost directly to all that came after, as Josh later discovered other omissions and assembled a group to discuss what, if anything, to do about what appeared to be blacklisting. In the end, the 19 signatories were simply trying to help Matt navigate out of a very troubling situation and giving him a chance to be the bigger man and correct his error, allowing some of those excludedd fan films back into his show (there really weren’t many, so it wouldn’t have had any truly significant impact…and everyone knew that except, apparently, Matt).
Anyway, Matt did the opposite of being the bigger man, and he continues to shrink in size almost daily. It really pains (most of) us to see how far he’s fallen and continues to plummet, and most of the group really did respect him, and a few even considered him a friend before he turned even on those closest to him. It’s almost inconceivable to me personally how someone would not only be willing to throw so much goodwill into the river but would so enthusiastically and passionately embrace the process of not only burning bridges but effectively carpet-bombing a reputation that Matt spent more than a decade building up.
And what really leaves me scratching my head is that several of the people who signed that letter actually APOLOGIZED to Matt! Not me, as I never felt he deserved an apology for his behavior…but Josh Irwin not only apologized privately but also publicly and, like some others, was shunned and rejected in a very public way.
Such open resentment and continued passionate posting of negativity and exclusion regarding this group of filmmakers on Matt’s part is, of course, far in excess of what would be an appropriate response from any mature and rational individual…especially considering that the original letter was sent to him privately, not publicly. No blog was ever written, no podcast made, not even a public Facebook post. All of those things were done solely by Matt. The group of 19 reached out in a way that no one would ever know about except for Matt. He then chose to explode publicly, and this has damaged his reputation in ways that I really don’t think Matt is capable of understanding. (If he WERE capable of understanding, he’d stop and alter course…as any rational person would when digging a hole ever deeper wasn’t working and only making things worse.)
Anyway, that’s all I really have to say on all of this. Matt Miller’s gonna do what Matt Miller’s gonna do. He certainly ain’t gonna take any advice from me, and I’m well aware of that. But I know he reads these comments, and I think, deep down, he does know that I’m right (he’d never admit it to himself or to anyone else, of course). But maybe someday he’ll wake up and look at his actions and choices through a different lens and realize that he’s not serving his best interests in following the path of anger and hatred. Heck, even Darth Vader eventually found his way back from the Dark Side…so maybe there’s some hope. Maybe not. Time will tell, as it always does.
Okay, headed to bed now.
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The reason the Irwin film was left out was simple, you were in the credits and after what we had experienced in 2022 with Interlude that was bad for my health, I decided that for the good of my health, I couldn’t take the risk of having another Interlude disaster and I said no, anyway Josh was told all of this when he asked me on MTM’s FB page and seemed to understand so that’s how he got on the honour roll, Matt volunteered to take the flak to shield me from people.
The exclusion drama was overhyped, the Vance stance was an old one and it turned out he didn’t really care about awards so that was a non-issue, Commodore Productions was never heard about and that happens, you cannot nail down every fan film out there and there was no way I was going to let Frank Parker Jr go near the awards, you do not call somebody ‘a waste of DNA’ had the other 18 knew about it, they have agreed.
Now the rest of your message is for Matt, none of it seems to be for me.
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You stay classy Jonathan. And don’t ever apply the same standards to yourself as you do others.
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Does Jonathan Lane have a hard on for paragraph counts? 💦
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Yes
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Thank you for a nice promo! 🖖
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No problem, there used to be a Pizza Hut near where I lived as a kid and it had a video Jukebox and I always picked YMCA, fellow pizza eaters were not impressed.
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👍🤣🕺
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