Star Trek: Captain Pike - Looking At The History Of The Future
While it seems that CBS and Paramount are content to just let Star Trek, one of their most popular properties, just sit on the shelf and gather dust, we the fans continually ask for more. In recent years, there have been many new incarnations of Star Trek available in the books, and movies. While the books are great (I happen to be reading an excellent one right now), we still want the visual experience. J.J. Abrams produced and directed two films that have raised a lot of controversy within fandom and have been accused of falling short by many. I have even heard people who described the J.J. films as being "amazing" turn around and are also bashing them.
While it seems that CBS and Paramount are content to just let Star Trek, one of their most popular properties, just sit on the shelf and gather dust, we the fans continually ask for more. In recent years, there have been many new incarnations of Star Trek available in the books, and movies. While the books are great (I happen to be reading an excellent one right now), we still want the visual experience. J.J. Abrams produced and directed two films that have raised a lot of controversy within fandom and have been accused of falling short by many. I have even heard people who described the J.J. films as being "amazing" turn around and are also bashing them.
Another source for us Trekkies is the recent trend of producing fan films. Some are trying to break new ground with all new concepts, while others are leaning more towards the traditional Star Trek concept of episodic television. All are well produced and feature great casts and are quite professionally done.
I have recently been hearing about a new project that is in the works called Star Trek: Captain Pike. But I haven't been hearing very much, so here is my contribution to help boost the signal for something that promises to be fresh and something that fans have been asking for.
Star Trek: Captain Pike will give us a visual story of the second commander of the USS Enterprise, Captain Christopher Pike. Building on the story by Gene Roddenberry in his pilot for TOS, The Cage which didn't air, but was later reworked for the only two part episode of the original series, The Menagerie. The concept is being developed by Todd Shawn Tei along with others who have gathered an all star cast and are striving to do a film that is professional in all aspects.
ST: Captain Pike is the story of what took place in the years prior to Kirk's command. The story will explore how Pike came to take command from Captain Robert April, the first commander of the Enterprise, as well as his relationship with his father, Josh Pike. According to Tei, one of the most important aspects of his production is that it isn't just about battles and conflict, but will explore more of the interpersonal relationships that were the basis of what Star Trek was all about. For instance, we know that Spock is loyal to Captain Kirk, however in the Menagerie Spock was willing to end his own career, as well as Kirk's to bring Pike to Thalos IV so pike could live some semblance of a normal life. What were the events that led to this fierce loyalty spock had for Pike? This is just one of the aspects that Tei promises will be explored in what he hopes will become an ongoing story that will unfold as new films are produced and released.
The cast that has been lined up at this point includes a list that is a veritable who's who in Star Trek. Along with Todd Shawn Tei (starring as Captain Pike, producing, directing, and writing) is Robert Picardo, Chase Masterson, Linda Park, Dwight Schultz, and Water Koenig. Also among the talent participating is Ray Wise, Eric Roberts, Bruce Davison, Jorge Pallo, and Rico Anderson. The Links point to their IMDB pages.
An undertaking such as this cannot be done without funding. Tei has chosen to fund Star Trek: Captain Pike through Indiegogo. There you will be given the opportunity to help fund the project and there are perks at various levels for donating.
You can learn more about ST: Captain Pike in an interview with Tei and one of his co-writers, Walter Doty that M Sieiro Garcia and I did for The Scifi Diner Podcast.
Here is a list of links to also check out...
Here is a list of links to also check out...
Well, there it is...
Q'aplaH!
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