In Brief

Lights! Camera! Trekkies! Film Academy to Open for 'Star Trek' Fans

News
By Elizabeth Howell
( space.com-spaceflight )
published

Starship Enterprise
The iconic science fiction TV series "Star Trek" first aired on Sept. 8, 1966, chronicling the voyages of the starship USS Enterprise. The studio model of the ship (shown here), fully restored, is on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. (Image credit: Dane Penland/National Air and Space Museum)

A CBS-backed "Star Trek" Film Academy will allow fans to explore the "final frontier" by helping them make their own films, according to an announcement at the Star Trek Las Vegas Convention last weekend.

Nathan Mattise reported at Ars Technica that the program will be in collaboration with "Star Trek New Voyages," a fan series that ran from 2004 to 2015. Productions will use the "New Voyages" sets in Ticonderoga, New York, and employ professionals who worked on other "Star Trek" shows. 

"Fans will work side by side with talented 'Star Trek' artists to create short vignettes from beginning to end," Star Trek Film Academy representatives said in a statement. "The adventure for attendees will start with preproduction meetings, go through rehearsal, lighting, costuming and makeup, all the way through to filming. Fans can participate in front of or behind the camera."

The initiative marks the first time CBS has officially backed fan films since the series' debut on the network. It also comes a few months after copyright holders CBS and Paramount reached a settlement with the group producing "Axanar," a fan production that was intended to be a feature-length film until the copyright holders alleged infringement. 

CBS and Paramount recently released guidelines for fan productions that limited the length of films and the use of "Star Trek" uniforms and accessories, among other items. Details on how the film academy will fit into these guidelines, as well as prices and dates, have not been announced yet.

Editor's Note: This article has been corrected to clarify that "Star Trek" did not debut on CBS in 1966; it was on NBC first.

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Elizabeth Howell
Elizabeth Howell
Staff Writer, Spaceflight

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace