Star Trek: Phase II has signed on Jon Povill as the director for one of its upcoming episodes titled “The Child”, slated to begin production in October 2008.

John is a notable Star Trek alum. He worked closely with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry as his assistant and was the story editor for Paramount’s original “Phase II” series which was planned for the late 1970’s, but never came to pass. Povill co-wrote the series bible for “Phase II” with Gene Roddenberry, and penned the original script for “The Child” with Jaron Summers. The story was later adapted for “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, but Povill has recently restored his script for production by this Phase II cast. It will also feature the Enterprise’s first Deltan crew member.

Brian Q. Kelley, well established television editor, has joined the production staff of Star Trek: Phase II (formally known as Star Trek New Voyages). Although he began working at Phase II a year ago, the announcement was only recently made so that he could work without interruption as part of the editorial department on “Iron Man.”

Kelley has been in show business for 30 years and has an impressive list of shows on his resume including, “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “Star Trek: Voyager,” “Quantum Leap,” “JAG,” “X-Files,” “Millennium” and current ABC Emmy winning series “Lost.”

For the past year Brian has also been quietly at work on the next big Phase II film project editing “Blood and Fire” and has just begun editing “Enemy: Starfleet”.

“Brian’s an extraordinary talent, a super nice guy, and has become a dear friend,” said Senior Executive Producer James Cawley. “I’ve been thrilled with what he has been doing over the last year for Phase II. The work he has done-and will continue to do-is amazing.”

Press Release

Star Trek: New Voyages Becomes Star Trek: Phase II

On Saturday, February 16th, Executive Producer James Cawley announced to fans during an appearance at the 2008 Farpoint Science Fiction Media Convention in Baltimore, Maryland, that Star Trek: New Voyages would shed the “New Voyages” moniker and become Star Trek: Phase II. Cawley assured fans that the change would be more than just the name, promising that the production will have access to new people, new materials, and a new direction, but will remain focused on his original vision for the show.

“Make no mistake about it, this is a new beginning for our production. This will be the next step in our effort to provide the quality show fans have come to expect, with commitment and dedication to keeping the original series look and feel that fans have come to enjoy,” said Cawley, “As before, we will strive to involve familiar faces from Star Trek’s 40-year legacy in our episodes, as well as actors from other classic SciFi shows when we can. You will see the changes taking place over the next few weeks, but you will really appreciate the changes when we release our future episodes.”

This change naturally generates questions and we have chosen a few that immediately come to mind and tried to answer them for fans.

Q. Why are you changing the name of Star Trek New Voyages?
A. New Voyages began as a fan film project, as a bunch of friends who love Star Trek working together to prove there was still plenty of creative life in Gene Roddenberry’s original vision of Star Trek. With our recent Online Video Award from TV Guide for Best SciFi Webisodes, we think we’ve proven that. We’re ready now to move to a higher level — Phase II, Gene’s proposed title for a second Trek series that would’ve aired in the 1970s.

Q. Why make this name change now?
A. The almost universally positive reviews of our latest episode, “World Enough and Time,” combined with our next episode, David Gerrold’s “Blood and Fire” convinced us that this was the time to re-brand ourselves, to demonstrate our commitment to keep raising the bar for our stories and our production values. What better way than to literally move to our next phase, and to continue to honor Gene Roddenberry’s vision.

Q. What about your original mission to continue the original voyages of the Enterprise, Captain Kirk’s five-year mission?
A. Our series will continue to tell the stories of the final two years of the Enterprise’s five-year mission under Captain James T. Kirk. What we want to depict, though, is the transition between what we saw in the first three seasons of the original TV series and the look and feel that we saw in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Q. What changes will we see? How will “Phase II” be different from “New Voyages”?
A. Some changes will be immediate, like our new cast members. Our next episode, Part 1 of David Gerrold’s “Blood and Fire” will introduce our new Mr. Spock (Ben Tolpin) and Lt. Uhura (Kim Stinger), and bring a new character to our regular cast, Ensign Perter Kirk (Bobby Rice), Captain Kirk’s nephew. Upcoming episodes will feature our new Sulu (J.T. Tepnapa) and Chekov (Jonathan Zungre). Other changes will be more subtle, as we introduce new technology and story elements. Phase II will also feature our first spin-off series, “Star Trek: First Voyages,” whose pilot episode will be shot this summer and be released originally as an episode of Phase II.

New Voyages has released its latest behind-the-scenes eMagazine. The 72-page issue #4, the final issue for 2007, again features a number of interviews with personalities that work both in front of the camera and behind to bring New Voyages to fans.

Interviews in this issue include Doug Drexler / Max Rem, Charles Root, Bobby Rice, Evan Fowler, TOS’ Lt. Kyle - John Winston, Leslie Hoffman (Pt. 2), Ralph Miller, and Ron Boyd. Readers will find the latest news on New Voyages projects from James Cawley’s Captain’s Log. “In Harm’s Way” Storyboards, “How Elvis Saved Star Trek” Ch. 12 Excerpt, Phaser 3 Assault Rifle, Hugo Nomination Info, are just a few of the behind-the-scenes articles in this issue, along with information on upcoming episodes.

This issue is special, as it is the inaugural issue for Ron Boyd’s Star Trek: New Voyages illustrated adventures and contains the 2008 Star Trek: New Voyages Calendar. You will need Acrobat Reader 7 or newer to read the 9MB zipped PDF file.

Download your copy of the latest eMagazine or previous released issues HERE.

Original series guest star BarBara Luna returns to New Voyages in the upcoming episode, “Rest and Retaliation,” written by veteran Trek author Dave Galanter.

In a recent interview regarding the New Voyages’ TV Guide Online Award win, Cawley commented, “We are still casting the guest stars, but I can confirm that Barbra Luna will be traveling to New York to fill one of the guest spots.”

Luna, who played Lt. Marlena Moreau in the original series episode “Mirror, Mirror,” also guest starred in New Voyages first episode. “In Harm’s Way.”

“Although BarBara was in a previous episode, that was much more of a cameo appearance, rather than a starring role that will feature her skills as an actor,” said Cawley. “I can’t say what character she will play just yet, there is still so much about this episode we want to keep under wraps until we get closer to production this spring.”

“Rest and Retaliation will be filmed both at the famous Vasquez Rocks in California, and in the New Voyages New York studios.

“World Enough and Time,” starring George Takei, is now available without bandwidth restrictions.

Star Trek: New Voyages now delivers its latest episode using high-resolution Adobe Flash streaming technology, thanks to a partnership with Internet giants Dragonfly.com and Verisign, Inc.

Tune in and enjoy the superior sound and picture quality of this phenomenal Star Trek online series.

The price of success when you produce such a quality product as the cast and crew of Star Trek: New Voyages has consistently done over the past few years, is sometime evident by how many people stampede your site for downloads all at the same time. Such was the case with the new George Takei guest appearance on “World Enough and Time.” But, fear not, the technical issues will soon be resolved. Until then you can read my review of the episode HERE.

To visit the Star Trek: New Voyages website - click on the image.

Written by: Samuel K. Sloan (Farpoint Media Exec. News Dir.)

Last night was the international premiere of the next episode of Star Trek New Voyages’ Fan Film series. Called “World Enough and Time,” it was co-written by Michael Reaves and Marc Scott Zicree. Zicree also directed. The episode showcases Star Trek legend George Takei reprising his role of Sulu. Also on hand was another original series star, Grace Lee Whitney as Commander Rand aboard the Federation Starship U.S.S. Excelsior, captained by Hikaru Sulu.

Executive producer and New Voyages lead actor, James Cawley (Captain Kirk) has definitely raised the bar for fan films to such a high level with this production that every other Star Trek fan film venture will have to step up their game to even begin to approach it in quality and professionalism. I thought Cawley had reached the water mark with Walter Koenig’s performance in “To Serve All My Days,” but this George Takei episode exceeds even that one by a measure of 100 fold.

The story was captivating and in good old fashion Gene Roddenberry style. Takei has never been better and his performance raised the talents of Cawley, Quinn, Kelly and the rest of the cast and crew by leaps. Actor John Lim, who portrays the younger Sulu that we remember from the bridge of the 1960’s original series is totally believable as Sulu, even down to Takei’s rich bravado and peculiar verbal staccato. Cawley can be proud of his acting choices for each character in his rich series. To fill the shoes of the likes of Nimoy, Kelley, Koenig, Takei, Nichols and Doohan is a near impossible task, but he does it almost flawlessly with Quinn as Spock, Kelly as Bones, Bray is near perfect as Chekov and Lim is Sulu. Charles Root is a perfect Scotty, right down to that great Scottish accent and, if it were possible, Julienne Irons is even more beautifully enchanting as Uhura.

Now to the real geek-test of a Star Trek film, the technology, look and feel. “World Enough and Time” completely captures the look and feel of the original series, but with the astonishing added benefit of really fabulous special effects that rival anything seen in multi-million dollar film budgets today. If you thought the digitally remastered versions of the old classic series were great looking, wait until you feast your eyes on what Cawley and his crew of sfx and CGI geniuses have cooked up in this film episode. It made my jaw drop with astonishment and geek-gasim glee.

Last night’s premiere did have one drawback, the live feed from the international premiere hosted at The Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills California, and which was attended by George Takei, Cawley and many members of the cast, crashed and burned just before it was due to air on the internet LIVE. But the good news is the entire event was recorded and will be available this Saturday, August 25, 2007 from the Star Trek New Voyages official website.

Those who know me and my reviewing habits are aware that for me to give anything 4 stars on my Uncle Sam scale is a rare event. To receive 5 stars from me would require that the film or video walked on water. In fact, I think in all the years I have been reviewing films, you can count on one hand those that, in my opinion, rated the BIG 5. So, with that in mind — on the Uncle Sam scale of 0 to 5 stars, I give “Star Trek New Voyages — World Enough and Time”

Star Trek New Voyages has released three images from their upcoming August 23, 2007 international gala and Internet premiere of the latest film from the popular fan-based enterprise. “World Enough and Time,” will star the wonderful and talented original series stars George Takei as Captain Hikaru Sulu and Grace Lee Whitney (Janice Rand).

Feast your eyes on these beauties and then tell me if you think New Voyages hasn’t grown beyond the confines of the fan-film label and has moved into a beautifully produced piece of SF art.

(click on each image to see the full view)

The U.S.S. Excelsior:

Captain Sulu, Commander Rand & the bridge Crew of the Excelsior:

And, the ship that started it all — the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701:

(Read more…)

Star Trek New Voyages’ principal photography for the highly anticipated episode “Blood and Fire” which comes from Star Trek writing alum David Gerrold, has completed principal photography.

One of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s major players will be featured in this episode. Denise Crosby, the actress known best by fans as Tasha Yar, and later played Tasha’s half-human, half-Romulan daughter opposite the great Leonard Nimoy, has an important role to play in “Blood and Fire.”

“Denise will be playing a pivotal character in “Blood and Fire,” said Senior Executive Producer James Cawley. “I had been talking to her for quite some time and we were finally able to confirm her for the June shoot – making this episode even more special.”

Also on board for this episode is Bill Blair, another Star Trek alum and a man very familiar with the SF genre, especially in relation to the vast number of aliens Bill has played over the years in the Trek franchise, as well as countless films and other television SF programs. Bill and his wife Toni were guests on our Slice of SciFi show last year. You can catch that interview HERE.

You can also listen to our exciting talk with New Voyages’ own James Cawley. James stopped by and talked with us in February of this year and shared his plans for the future of the landmark enterprise known as Star Trek New Voyages.

Neil Norman will score the soundtrack and his Cosmic Orchestra will record the music for the Star Trek New Voyages episode “Blood & Fire” which begins shooting in June. Norman, who is in charge of production for GNP Crescendo Records, and who was the Executive Producer of 20 award-winning Star Trek Albums, is a wildly diversified player in the music industry.

The award-winning record producer is a driving force in bringing very intriguing genres of music to the record label, especially Science Fiction. Neil and his orchestra recorded the immensely successful Greatest Science Fiction Hits series - his interpretations of the most exciting Sci-Fi music from his favorite movies and TV shows, with Volume 4 the latest to be completed.

Neil is also the executive producer for other Star Trek albums including the worldwide box office smash Star Trek: Generations and Emmy - winner Star Trek: Voyager, the #1 worldwide box office hit Star Trek: First Contact soundtrack featuring Academy Award-winner Jerry Goldsmith, and Star Trek Insurrection also featuring Goldsmith!

In addition to preparing for the “Blood & Fire” soundtrack, Neil and the Cosmic Orchestra are currently in the process of recording SCI-FI HITS #5 to be released sometime later this year.

Daren R. Dochterman, visual effects designer, illustrator, Visual Effects Supervisor for the 2000 Director’s Edition of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and Production Illustrator for the pilot episode of Star Trek: Voyager (might be better known to Star Trek fans as the Godfather of “remastered” Trek) will be joining the Visual Effects team as VFX Supervisor for Star Trek: New Voyages’ fourth episode, “Blood and Fire.”

Academy Award© nominated Dochterman has worked on such films as the new “Rush Hour 3,” “X-Men 3-The Last Stand,” “Poseidon,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” and many more well known productions, (Check out his IMDB listing) but it was his original pitch to update the visual effects for Star Trek (TOS) that has garnered him much attention in the fan community. Dochterman’s affection for Star Trek is well known and fans appreciate the loving attention he gives to the detailed images of the classic Trek U.S.S. Enterprise.

Dochterman originally approached Paramount about the subject of “remastering” the effects for the original episodes in 2000. Although not ultimately chosen to helm the project we now know as Star Trek Remastered, (to the chagrin of many fans) Dochterman continues to produce beautiful Star Trek illustrations, many featured in the Pocketbooks “Star Trek: Ships of the Line” calendar series and recently published book of illustrations by the same name.

As Dochterman joins the team for “Blood and Fire,” he has already produced new opening credits for the episode. He will be providing guidance and suggestions to the team as they navigate one of the most effects intensive projects so far. Daren’s feel for the classic Star Trek look is right on the money,” said Executive Producer James Cawley.

“The opening credits are just a taste of what he can do – his work is outstanding – it’s great to have him aboard.”

For more information on Daren Dochterman and his work, go to the Beta Five or Trek Enhanced websites.

Visit Star Trek: New Voyages for more information about this and other episode news from the crew of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701.

Written by: Samuel K. Sloan (SoSF Producer & Managing News Director)

Renowned “Star Trek: The Next Generation” director Charles C. Washburn will be joining the Star Trek New Voyages’ growing list of Star Trek alum as its first AD for the company’s production of “Blood and Fire.”

Charlie has a long history with the Star Trek franchise having worked as the first AD on such landmark TNG episodes like “Haven,” “Justice,” one of my favorite episodes called “The Last Outpost” and “The Naked Now.”

Charlie will lend his vast directing talents to New Voyages and David Gerrold’s updated script of “Blood and Fire,” an idea originally conceived by David when he worked as a writer for ‘The Next Gen’ but was deemed at the time as too socially controversial for television.

“Blood and Fire,” first conceived by Gerrold in 1987 for possible treatment for TNG was eventully rejected by UPN and Paramount as being too socially controversial and challenging. The reasons given did not fit well into Gene Roddenberry’s idea of an all inclusive society and controversy still revolves around the idea that Gene himself may never have actually seen the script for final approval.

“Blood and Fire” is the first script to seriously address the idea of openly gay crew members as part of Starfleet starships. Gerrold and Washburn will work closely together with series creator and executive producer James Cawley to bring this enlightening script to the viewer for the first time with shooting on the episode to start at the New Voyages studio set in Upstate New York beginning in June 2007.

Actor Bobby Rice will join the cast of regulars as Captain Kirk’s nephew and young Starfleet officer Ensign Peter Kirk. Also on hand will be actor Evan Fowler and Nick Cook, actor and producer of the “Star Trek: Intrepid” series.

Source: New Voyages

J.G. Hertzler’s Name Is ‘Mudd’

Best known for his role as Klingon warrior, General, and ultimately Chancellor Martok on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”, veteran Trek actor John (J.G.) Hertzler returns to fill the shoes of the ever-lovable charlatan and rogue, Harcourt Fenton Mudd.

Hertzler will also direct the episode, currently titled, “The Sky Above, The Mudd Below.�? “Harry Mudd comes across loud and clear, it will be a hoot to embody the ol’ privateer… Harry Mudd is a cross between a giant Ferengi and a gypsy king,�? said Hertzler after reading the script penned by Trek author, Howard Weinstein.

Hertzler is known for his versatility as an actor, playing a number of roles on ‘Deep Space Nine’, ‘Voyager’, and ‘Enterprise’, as well as many other stage and screen roles.

“J.G. has a great sense of humor and I know he will make a great Harry Mudd,�? remarked Producer James Cawley. “It takes a special actor to recreate the role of one of the greatest thorns in Captain Kirk’s side.�?

Pre-production work continues on the project, which has not yet been assigned a shoot date.

“There are a few key roles and details we still have to nail down before we establish a firm shooting schedule,�? said Cawley.