All posts by Todd

Exeter Trek Pilot Filming

Here is a brief behind the scenes look at the upcoming Star Trek fan film series “Exeter Trek.” “Exeter Trek” takes place between the Pike and Kirk eras, aboard the U.S.S. Exeter (NCC-1672), before the doomed mission which occurred under the command of Ronald Tracey (TOS: “The Omega Glory”).

Exeter Trek is Coming Soon

It’s been a while and it has been brought to my attention that an update for our first episode is in order. I do apologize for the silent running, but real-life has a way of creeping into these fan-based productions.

First of all, Exeter Trrek is still among the living. Our first episode titled, “Our Dearest Blood” is in the can. We filmed it over the course of a year. We shot our first exterior scenes back in October of last year. Unfortunately we were unable to complete the scenes needed. So we returned to our location here in Jacksonville just as things started warming up in 2015. Despite missing a key cast member and the heat plus the ever present possibility for a downpour, we indeed finished off all the sequences needed. Both shoots went well and despite all the hard work involved, I am pleased with what we did.

Our interiors were shot at the then, Farragut Studios in late January. It was a 2 day, hardcore exercise in back dating the sets to our pilot era look, shot set-ups, several takes of the scenes, costumes being completed last-minute, trying to find a hot cup of coffee, etc,…But when we left the studio late Sunday night, we were all exhausted, but had a Blast!

Now the real magic begins. Our Director, Wayland Strickland will begin the process of editing, sound effects,cgi, music cues, etc ,…as soon as he has completed his work on another film that’s ahead of ours in the cue. Wayland, Tori (AD), and I are all pretty much on the same page when it comes to bringing you a fan film that really “LOOKS” & “FEELS” like a show made in 1965. From the angles for the shots, lighting, wardrobe, hairstyles… we did everything we could to go back to that first pilot time frame.

Ken Thomson, our Special effects master will start his work on our space shots as soon as he completes, “Eye of the Tempest” One of his personal projects. I have sent him a rather lengthy list of shots needed with some visual aides to make the rendering somewhat easier. Ken knows what we need and has the skills to get that old school look without it looking too cheesy. A happy medium between the pricey and overblown CGI that some folks use and our 1965 look.

That being said, we would like to say that this process takes time. All the talented folks of the Exeter team have real lives, families and jobs. So when they have the free time to help us complete it, they will. We are grateful for the help. We may have this first episode ready by the first of the year,…hopefully. Mind you, when we are close to release, there will be a great deal of fan-fare to indicate it’s arrival!

Another behind the scenes update is that we are definitely moving forward with our series. We are confident that when you finally see what so many folks poured their hearts into, you will want to see more,…much more! We have 3 vignettes penned and another full episode is already in the very early stages of pre-production.
I really appreciate everyone’s interest and will continue to update you as often as is warranted. God Bless & God Speed…

Stay tuned…
John R. Sims-Executive Producer.

Hello Galaxy!

Since this is our first post, I’ll keep it short and simple. We are a fan film project that is being produced in association with Farragut Films LLC. Our film series will take you back to 1965 and show a TREK that never was. The Exeter is the newest Constitution class vessel to be launched and despite her doomed future, she’ll have many an exciting adventures.

We are striving to re-create the pilot era vision that takes place between the Pike era and the Kirk er, but aboard this new ship. Her crew is diverse in cultural backgrounds so the opportunity for more three dimensional characters can occur. This project aims to be action/adventure as well as thoughtful stories that will entertain and maintain canon.

If you have any special talents and live in the northeast Florida or southeast Georgia area and feel like joining us, feel free to contact us.