StillPaisleyCat

In an exclusive interview with MovieWeb, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth identify Prodigy as the best entry point to the franchise. No official comment on the cancellation on Paramount+ and Nickelodeon, but positive energy nevertheless.

"I think we both feel very good about Star Trek: Prodigy being a fantastic entry point because Prodigy came from the standpoint of people who don't know the Star Trek world. The characters themselves are learning as they go what it all means to be Starfleet and be Star Trek. I think from that standpoint, for people who are feeling intimidated by 57 years by the number of shows or episodes, it is a great way to understand what Star Trek is about through the characters learning the same things themselves. I think that was one of the amazing creative decisions the Hagermans (sic) [Brothers] came up with.”

cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/504533

The markers of the strikes’ impacts are beginning to appear.

CTV Sci-Fi Channel/Syfy’s SurrealEstate may not have been on your radar, but it’s one of the first cable announcements pushing back a premiere date (from ‘summer’ to late October). It’s a quirky and fun show that deserves the profile of a peak fall run.

We’ve also seen announcements of Canadian network shows (e.g., Kids Ruin Everything) being picked up by CW and other US linear platforms as they try to fill their schedules. Much the same happened when COVID stopped production, and shows from Canada and elsewhere were given a chance to break into American markets.

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/scifi/t/249163

The “Julia Child of science” makes science accessible through pop culture.

Editing to add: Dr Erin Macdonald is the science advisor for the Star Trek franchise among other ongoing roles.

cross-posted from: https://kbin.projectsegfau.lt/m/moviesandtv@lemmy.film/t/17503

With talent unable to do press and content pipelines at risk of running dry, executives at every major streamer are quietly debating the pros and cons of holding back completed series.

Edited to note Paramount+ reference:

Paramount+ has already wrapped production on its Frasier revival.

Fascinating article, with numerous examples where significant characters make trivial residuals on hit shows with significant streaming runs.

It also has implications in terms of explaining why kids of people who work in the industry are working in the industry. If you’ve got parents in LA and NY and they can help support you, you’re more likely to hang in a business that’s not actually paying a living wage.

It gives a different lens on Mica Burton’s appearance in Picard season three as a recurring character for example.

Burton, the daughter of the "Star Trek" star LeVar Burton, tweeted about how little she got paid when she appeared in five episodes of "Star Trek: Picard" earlier this year.

In response to a thread regarding misconceptions about the union, Mica wrote: "Please read this thread. I said before, there is no way I could survive as a working actor if I didn't have my 100 other side hustles. Yes, I was on Star Trek. I also do not qualify for SAG health insurance and was paid almost the same fee my dad was paid for Roots back in 1977."

Ok Raptors fam here…are we having trouble keeping a conversation going because it’s midsummer or because we’re not getting reason to hope for an interesting season ahead?

Personally, I’m seriously wondering if there’s any point to keeping our SN and TSN subscriptions.

Will I really be willing to invest my viewing time in a season that promises to be no better than last and without the exciting of seeing a crop of new players develop? Seriously, a couple of seasons ago I was more invested in watching Banton and the others in 905 games. I just feel weary thinking about taking in the main team in the fall.

How are others feeling?

The markers of the strikes’ impacts are beginning to appear.

Syfy’s SurrealEstate may not have been on your radar, but it’s one of the first cable announcements pushing back a premiere date (from ‘summer’ to late October). It’s a quirky and fun show that deserves the profile of a peak fall run.

We’ve also seen announcements of Canadian network shows (e.g., Kids Ruin Everything) being picked up by CW and other US linear platforms as they try to fill their schedules. Much the same happened when COVID stopped production, and shows from Canada and elsewhere were given a chance to break into American markets.

One has to wonder whether this situation could backhandedly help Prodigy find a new home - or even get Paramount to revisit its decision. Why give up new and unused content when you can’t count on making more for a while?

There were media reports last week noting that a new CBS Studios production, under the pseudonym ‘Dovercourt’, had been added to the Rumour section of the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) Ontario hotlist.

As of today, there is more confirming information, and a clear indication that this is the greenlit Star Trek Section 31 movie event starring Michelle Yeoh.

‘Dovercourt’ has moved into the firmer preproduction section of the list. It’s identified as a TV movie. Olantudne Osunsami is listed as the director, with the two other EPs based in Canada Frank Siracusa and John Weber also listed. These all line up with the previous S31 direct to streaming movie announcement in the spring.

Preproduction is listed as running from May 1 to October 22, 2023. This implies that production design and costume design are underway in the Greater Toronto Area.

Paul Henry Kirby is listed as Production Designer (PD). He seems to be new to Star Trek. I find listings that he was PD on Shazam! Fury of the Gods and several other cinematic releases. He was Art Director on Batman Begins. (His portfolio is listed on a personal website paulkirby.com.)

The production location is given as Toronto rather than Mississauga, which suggests that the big volume leased soundstages at Pinewood Toronto Studios may be getting one more redress for the movie rather than using CBS’ own stages.

The hotlist says it is compiled by the guild from “from deal memos, callsheets, crew lists and Members updating their availability.“

If you’re not familiar, every month the main publisher of Trek fiction, Simon & Schuster puts out an offering of more than a half dozen ebooks for $ 0.99 in Canada and the US and at a similar low price in some other countries.

This month is a bit of a blast back to the late Berman era with a collection of DS9 Dominion War books, a Voyager Seven of Nine story and a few others.

The standout of the month however is the Star Trek TNG - X-Men crossover ‘Planet X’.

While my preference is for physical books, Simon & Schuster’s ebook deals got me invested in the high quality Trek Relaunch continuity of Treklit as well as helped fill in my collection of out-of-print standalone classics.

Can highly recommend taking a risk on adding ebook specials at low cost to your ebook summer reading.

Barbie has been a summer juggernaut as a cinematic feature despite outrage from the right in the United States. Dean Obeidallah argues that conservative boycotts and backlash only have traction in specific niches where their adherents are the majority of the market.

One wonders if Paramount will take note as they strategically rebrand their streaming offerings. Unfortunately, it seems they’ve been headed in the other direction.

While Discovery led the way in representation across many diverse groups, some of us have been concerned that Picard season three pulled back to more traditional gender roles and an emphasis on white cis-male heroes. SNW has a large female main cast, but the OG female command officer Number One doesn’t seem to be getting much opportunity to show heroic leadership.

Thought this conversation might be less fraught over here at Quark’s.

A bit late, but for those who aren’t aware, the small town of Vulcan, Alberta, has long embraced its connection to the franchise. A gigantic model, Trek themed uniforms for the town council, fairs and parades - nothing seems to be too much for this cheerful town of unabashed fans.

Conan O’Brien may have goggled to hear of it, but at this point it’s a point of multigenerational identity and civic pride.

I thought folks here might welcome a local take. (And I was myself taken aback by the local news site’s name ‘Chat News Today.’)

FAST - Free Ad-Supported Television on demand - was just taking off globally as the post-pandemic economic slowdown drove down the total available advertising revenue. It’s still a major source of revenue for Paramount Global however, and only promises to grow as advertising demand recovers.

This article provides a good evidence-based overview of Paramount’s dominance in this end of the market. As Star Trek fans have good reasons to be concerned about the state of Paramount+, it’s good to have some solid data on PlutoTV (where many of the older shows are available free) and the bigger picture of where Paramount Global is being successful.

In a Stream Metrics study for IndieWire, the analysts identified an owner for 1,364 of the channels. Most owners are in the single digits, but one company holds more than 20 percent of the channels studied: Paramount Global.

If you’re Paramount/Pluto TV, you can take it to the next level. Paramount has so many channels in part because it has its own platform with Pluto TV, which was launched in 2013 and purchased by Paramount (then ViacomCBS) in 2019. That allows Paramount to launch as many channels as it likes, without the licensing costs, and count the ad dollars. It needs that reliable cash; core streaming service Paramount+, like so many others in the SVOD category, hemorrhages mountains of money.