Unless you’re a Trek fan who has completely avoided the internet all month, you know that Rod Roddenberry, the son of the Great Bird of the Galaxy and Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, was appointed one of the Executive Producers of the new Star Trek television series.
Rod recently spoke with TrekZone, Australia’s first Star Trek fan site (and a bloody awesome one to boot), in an exclusive interview about the new series.
In the interview, he spoke about the messy Axanar lawsuit and the upcoming new Star Trek series.
Rod wisely did not wade too deeply into the very murky waters surrounding the CBS/Paramount vs Axanar Productions lawsuit, but did express his support of – and for – fanfilms based in the universe created by his father.
Rod pretty much said that so long as they treat the material and CBS and Paramount with respect… more power to them.
Rod has shown a great deal of love for fan films in the past, and as much as he enjoys all of them, he did admit he does feel one is a step above all the others. Rod’s choice? Star Trek: Continues. If you haven’t checked it out yet, it’s incredible. Visit their website here and start watching the six episodes they currently have online.
When asked about the new series, Rod couldn’t say much.
“I know very little about the direction. I’ve had two meetings with Bryan Fuller and he is still developing the concept and he’s brought the writers together and they’re still developing the concept. What I’m excited about is the team that’s been put together by CBS. They’ve brought, of course, Alex Kurtzman, Bryan Fuller and Heather Kadin together and I’ve had the opportunity to meet them.”
During the interview, Rod stated he has “tremendous hopes” for the new series, and appears to have a great deal of faith in the creative team.
There’s a lot more from Rod about the new series. To read about it you can visit TrekNews here. To watch it at TrekZone, visit the site here and look for the link to the video.
Congrats to the TrekZone team for nabbing the interview!
And now, to that image that almost broke the internet, that we were all hoping was from the new Star Trek series.
TrekCore have spoken to CBS and confirmed that the above still and it’s companion are NOT from the new Star Trek television series.
They are from a production of some sort, but one that is unrelated to the new Trek series.
Given Rod’s interview (go watch it at TrekZone now) mentioned above, we know that the series is still in the conceptualisation stage.
That’s cutting things close. The series is due to launch in ten months. It’s completely doable, but it means it will be all systems go from the moment the concept is finalised and approved.
Last year I was on the set of a US science fiction production that was filming the final episode of it’s first season – four months before the first episode would even air. Most of that first season was already in post-production. It was a new production, it was science fiction and it was effects heavy, so a lot of care was being taken to get it right. What that means is that the time frames for the new Trek production will be tight because it’s a new production with a relatively new creative team, it’s Star Trek so it’s fair to assume it will be effects heavy, and it’s the jewel in CBS‘s crown – meaning a lot of care will be taken with it, especially because it will be the cornerstone of CBS All Access.
I’ve been involved in two scifi TV series, so I’ve had a very limited amount of real world experience in that genre, but my understanding is that it takes a lot of time and preparation to launch a brand new series, and especially a science fiction show.
TV production is fast paced, but pilot episodes (often an hour and twenty in length) are often treated like feature length films with directors and actors given the time they need to get it right.
On average it takes six to eight days to shoot an hour long TV episode and about another week to do post. It takes on average three months to do principal photography for a feature length film.
If the script for the first episode of the new series is locked down by the end of April and then casting is completed by the end of May, followed by – let’s say two months for principal photography, that gives CBS six months for effects work, reshoots and promotion.
That’s intense.
It looks like it will be an exciting last half of the year for all of us as we wait for more insight into the production.
As more information comes to light, I’ll be sure to post about it here.
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