Introducing Star Trek Futures

There are many fan made productions of Star Trek online to choose from, and I am behind them all, any excuse to watch Trek is good enough for me. With the fact that home-made special effects are easier to produce and with very good quality, these fan made productions are getting better and better. Of course the story telling is THE most important aspect, but I also like it to look good.

Star Trek Futures is the latest fan made series that is promising to tell good stories over a 5 episode arc and I for one can’t wait.

From the Star Trek Futures website:

Star Trek Futures (STF) is a prospective live action film project aimed at delivering highly stylized futurist visuals as well as a compelling, relatable, and emotional story. The look of Star Trek Futures is heavily inspired by a nostalgic view of mid-to-late-20th century sci-fi. Drawing from these influences, STF will rely on clever cinematography and musical interplay to create a sense of wonder and imagination set in the Star Trek universe.

Using these techniques, we will tell our story in an impactful, artistic way while using our budget intelligently. As opposed to previous Star Trek media, there will be an overarching serialized storyline instead of one-off episodes.

The goal is to produce a five episode mini-series with each episode being roughly an hour in length that would be distributed via the Internet. Star Trek Futures is an independent, non-profit project not affiliated with CBS Corporation, Paramount Pictures, or Viacom.

The Story

Star Trek Futures is set in an alternate timeline of the late 2300s and centers on a young commander, Jack Crusher, his family, and the crew of the Enterprise-C. In this new timeline, a large group of Vulcans who survived the destruction of their home planet has finally settled on A’ren, a planet located within a corner of the Beta Quadrant embroiled in conflict.

A civil war between the native Cae and their subservient race the Ra’zae is coming to a head. The Union, which had ruled over the small star system for nearly 400 years, has been ousted and is in shambles. Meanwhile, a new fledgling government is in desperate talks with the Federation for support in their struggle against the Ra’zae. For the last few years, the Ra’zae have deployed a devastating weapon that is systematically destroying subspace. This weapon makes traveling faster than light inside the Cesera system extremely hazardous and almost impossible.

The Cae also control a vital energy production and distribution system that is now under a massive blockade created by the Ra’zae. The threat of its destruction would irreparably change the balance of power in the entire sector. The Enterprise and her crew are sent to serve as a diplomatic envoy to the Federation, but unfortunately, becomes caught in the middle of the brutal Cae civil war.

I have received the following from the guys behind Star Trek Futures:

“The story coalesced for Star Trek Futures mid to late 2013 and is currently in the preliminary stages of production. Meaning we are in the process of writing the screenplays for the five episodes, building props, uniforms etc… We plan on shooting a short film later this year to be followed by a Kickstarter campaign to fund the full length miniseries. Shooting for that is expected at the beginning of 2015. We will be using DSLRs equipped with vintage anamorphic projector lenses for the bulk of the shooting”

The production will use the original design of the USS Enterprise-C as designed by Andrew Probert, who is backing it’s use and the production as a whole.

The Enterprise-C design seen in The Next Generation episode ” Yesterday’s Enterprise” was changed conciderable after Probert left the Star Trek production crew, and it’s inclusion in this production goes right back to the ships roots, a more realistic bridge between the Excelsior class Enterprise-B and the Galaxy class Enterprise-D.

Here is a video of the Enterprise-C in a fly-by.

For more info and news, click here