Post-Axanar, CBS unveils first official fan filmmaking initiative in Trek history

James Cawley talks with Trekzone about a new Fan Film Academy blessed by CBS.

After pushing a nearly year-and-a-half copyright battle with fan filmmakers toward a settlement earlier this year, CBS and Star Trek New Voyages Producer James Cawley announced the creation of a Star Trek Film Academy equipped to train interested creators and produce future fan films.

"Learn the art of Star Trek filmmaking from those who made it," Cawley said when announcing the initiative at the Star Trek Las Vegas Convention this weekend. "From gaffing to costuming to special effects, fans will work side by side with talented Star Trek artists to create short vignettes from beginning to end."

This marks the first official, CBS-sanctioned fan filmmaking effort in Trek's 50-plus year history. The academy will start business in the fall with the first films expected in Spring 2018. Unlike prior Trek fan films or those made under newly announced guidelines, films done through the Star Trek Film Academy will be able to employ people who've worked on professional Trek productions.

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