The Star Trek fan film guidelines specify the maximum length of a Star Trek fan film to be at most two 15-minute shorts. Oh, yeah, Paramount and CBS??? Well, you’ve never dealt with a talking monkey sitting the center seat of a starship!

CAPTAIN SIMIAN’S FIRST COMMAND from the fine and friendly folks at NATURE’S HUNGER is a whopping two hours and fifteen minutes long! That’s an even higher run time than their two hour and five minute release BOMBER GIRL from last year. But while that previous fan film crossed over Star Trek with a World War II storyline, Captain Simian goes in an entirely different direction taking Star Trek on a collision course with The Planet of the Apes franchise.

I know…it’s bananas!!!

But that’s just how showrunner JOSE CEPEDA and his gang roll. Nature’s Hunger has always been a quirky fan series, having previously mashed up Star Trek and The Wizard of Oz, of all things (Dorothy joins Starfleet!). But throughout it all, Jose and his team bring passion, dedication, and love of both Star Trek and filmmaking to each of their productions.

This latest release breaks new ground not only in terms of make-up (the ape masks are really well done) but also for bringing in an extensive amount of AI (Artificial Intelligence) to generate footage that would have been impractical or even impossible to create on a humble fan film budget. Granted, the AI is animated while the rest of the film is live-action, so you kinda have to adjust your brain when you watch those parts. But it’s still a very ambitious fan film project to undertake. My congratulations to the entire team.

Take a look at what they produced…

And speaking of the entire team, I had the opportunity to interview a full gaggle of them recently, and it was a lot of fun. These folks from Atlanta, GA are some of the nicest people in our community and have a bunch of really great stories to tell. After you watch the two-plus hours of Captain Simian (above), take another 90 minutes out of your life to watch this great interview. You’ve got four hours of your life to spare, right…?

Submissions for the 2026 Star Trek Fan Film SHOWRUNNER AWARDS are now complete. The window of eligibility to enter this year was any Trek fan film released between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2025—although the majority of our submissions were released last year. The longer window allows fan films that didn’t win previously due to stiff competition a “second chance” and even a third one to take home an award—although once an entry wins in a category, it is no longer eligible to earn an additional award in that same category.

This year, we have 23 entries combining for a total of just under 10 hours of viewing for our 12 showrunner judges. For comparison, last year we had 24 entries and the year before there were 27 entires, each with a combined runtime of just under 9 hours. So we decreased by one submission but increased by an entire hour! If you’re curious as to why, spoiler alert: one of our submissions has a run time of 2 hours and 15 minutes just by itself!)

As we’ve done for the previous two years, the winners will be announced on Star Trek‘s anniversary of September 8, 2026. There are 22 categories with three winners in each category: Admiral, Captain, and Commander level. I salute all of our 23 entrants for 2026, and I wish each of them the best of luck. (Honestly, I wish they ALL could win!)

I realize that I say this every year, but once again, we have some really amazing Star Trek fan films this time—of all different runtimes—that cover the gamut from comedic to dramatic to suspenseful to thoughtful to parody/farce. Some are episodes of ongoing fan or fanthology series, others are stand-alone releases. There are fan films shot on sets, on location, on green screens, some with heavy VFX, some light on VFX, a few with elaborate make-up and costuming, cool props, and several really standout acting performances and even original music. We truly have some of the best of the best that the world of Star Trek fan films has to offer this year!

So I strongly encourage you to watch as many of these marvelous productions as you can. Here are all of our entries for 2026 alphabetically by title (with the fan series indicated where applicable)…

BROKEN MIRROR (DREADNOUGHT DOMINION)

CAPTAIN SIMIAN’S FIRST COMMAND (NATURE’S HUNGER)

THE CASSANDRA EFFECT (USS CASSANDRA)

THE DUMBSDAY MACHINE (STALLED TREK)

FARRAGUT 2024

FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE (TREK SHORTS)

THE GREAT EXPERIMENT (TREK SHORTS)

THE HIVE

THE ICARUS MANEUVER (AXANAR UNIVERSE)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Rs5nKJ4RHMo1mQIvj_BcAoQOoYZox-Q_/view?usp=sharing

TO KNOW THINE ENEMY (TREK SHORTS)

LORELEY – PART III: ERSTKONKT (FIRST CONTACT)

MIND LEECH (THE FEDERATION FILES)

REALITY BURNS (TREK SHORTS)

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN – PRODIGY RECKONING (EPISODE 4)

SECOND STAR TO THE LEFT (TALES FROM THE NEUTRAL ZONE)

SLIPSTREAM (THE FEDERATION FILES)

SMOKE AND MIRRORS (WARBIRD VALDORE)

STARCHILD, BUT EVERYONE IS TYLER DUNIVAN

TASK FORCE 78: CAPTAIN ROTH IS IN DEEP MUDD

TASK FORCE 78: WHERE DO YOU GO?

TASK FORCE 78 – PHASE II: DR. TODD’S DECISION

TIME AND TIME AGAIN (STAR TREK FAN PRODUCTIONS INTERNATIONAL)

WHAT’S NEXT (SCI-FI SHORTS)

The submission window for the 2026 Star Trek Fan Film SHOWRUNNER AWARDS is now open and will remain so until midnight Pacific Time on May 31, 2025. Any Star Trek fan film released publicly between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2025 is eligible for entry regardless of the person or team producing it.

The online entry form is located here…

https://www.cognitoforms.com/JonathanLane1/_2026StarTrekFanFilmSHOWRUNNERAWARDS

As usual, our judging panel remains at twelve, made up of people who have, themselves, served as showrunners on one or more fan films or series. This provides each judge a unique and personal perspective on what goes into making a fan production in our nearly two-dozen categories. In other words, our judges are knowledgeable and experienced in filmmaking which, I truly believe, brings a high level of expertise to our competition—along with our sister contest, the DIRECTORS CHOICE AWARDS, which just wrapped up earlier this month.

And it is for this reason that, each year, I publish a blog spotlighting our judging panel and what they have accomplished in the world of Star Trek fan films specifically. We’ve got two new judges this year plus one “swap.” The swap is GLEN L. WOLFE for DAN REYNOLDS. They are the co-owners of WARP 66 STUDIOS in northern Arkansas and the co-showrunners of THE FEDERATION FILES fanthology series. Each year, one of the two of them “tags out” to give the other a turn. So in 20256, Glen will be taking over Dan’s spot, who in turn took over Glen’s spot in last year’s competition.

Our two new judges are both from “across the pond” in Europe. One is relatively new to being a showrunner, although he’s already had a multi-year career in Star Trek fan films. The other is a bit of a legend and someone whom I’ve been trying to talk into being a Showrunner Awards judge since we first launched this endeavor five years ago…

THOMAS ARGANTE – USS CASSANDRA

The first of our two new judges this year is THOMAS ARGANTE from The Netherlands. Over the past half-decade, he has made multiple guest appearances in fan series productions from DREADNOUGHT DOMINION, PROJECT: RUNABOUT, and THE CONSTAR CHRONICLES. But within the past year, he and a team of Dutch Trekkers have begun building a number of TOS-era sets, and they’ve released the first two episodes of Holland’s newest Star Trek fan series, USS CASSANDRA. Thomas brings a fresh pair of eyes to the showrunner awards with a European perspective, and we’re really looking forward to having his as a judge.

JOSE CEPEDA – NATURE’S HUNGER

Returning for a third year, JOSE CEPEDA lives near Atlanta, GA and is the showrunner of the wild ‘n’ whacky NATURE’S HUNGER fan series, which has been going non-stop since 2010 with dozens of releases…the more recent ones shot in Jose’s basement, which is filled with amazing TOS set recreations. Jose has also made cameo appearances as his character of Captain Ramses of the U.S.S. Crusader in a whole slew of different fan series. This year, Jose’s two-plus hour mega-project  CAPTAIN SIMIAN’S FIRST COMMAND will likely be in consideration as a Showrunner Awards entry. And while Jose can’t vote for his own submission in any of the top three-of-five ranked spots on his ballot, I anticipate this unique fan production will nevertheless be a tough competitor.

SAMUEL COCKINGS – TREK SHORTS and TEMPORAL ANOMALY

A returning judge for a fifth year, SAM COCKINGS from the U.K. is a fan film factory! To list all the projects that Sam has created CGI animations for (both his own and for others) would take up far too many electrons for a single blog. Focusing simply on Sam’s own projects, he wrote and directed (and did almost everything else for but act in) the 52-minute TEMPORAL ANOMALY, which premiered in 2019. More recently, Sam’s fanthology series TREK SHORTS (which he also occasionally acts in) has topped THIRTY total releases over the past five years! And all of them feature Sam’s signature jaw-dropping CGI visual effects. Some of those films will likely be in contention this year. And in addition to all of the above, Sam is also the co-host of the TREKYARDS podcast. Sam is one busy Brit!

NICK COOK – INTREPID

Our second brand new judge is anything but new when it comes to producing Star Trek fan films. Indeed, Scotland-based NICK COOK and his team began production on the first episode of STAR TREK: INTREPID way back in 2003, although it was not completed and released until 2007. But since then, Intrepid has released more than a dozen episodes, plus an additional three crossover fan films with STAR TREK: HIDDEN FRONTIER. Add to all of this multiple appearances by Nick’s character of Daniel Hunter at various points in his long Starfleet career as part of releases from Samuel Cockings’ aforementioned Trek Shorts fanthology series. If anyone knows what it means to be a showrunner and produce complex Star Trek fan films, it’s this bloke!

JOSHUA IRWIN – THE AVALON UNIVERSE

Back for a fifth year and based in northwest Arkansas, judge JOSHUA IRWIN actually went to film school and has worked in the entertainment industry for decades…which is why his AVALON UNIVERSE fan films look so polished and professional. With more than a dozen Avalon Universe fan films completed and released in less than six years, Josh also has the footage for a final release already “in the can” that will wrap up the expansive Avalon saga…at least in the 23rd century. And he’s already gotten deep into a 24th century Avalon Universe sequel series! In addition, Josh has helped out MANY other fan filmmakers with their projects (directing, editing, cinematography, etc.), including myself on INTERLUDE, VANCE MAJOR on CONSTAR, and most recently RAY TESI on numerous TALES FROM THE NEUTRAL ZONE. This year, Josh has quite a few new fan films that are eligible. It’ll be interesting to see which are entered and how they do!

JONATHAN LANE – INTERLUDE and AN ABSENT FRIEND

Based in Los Angeles, California, JONATHAN LANE (that’s me) began blogging about Star Trek fan films in 2015 on the AXANAR website and started FAN FILM FACTOR at the beginning of 2016. But it would be three more years before I decided to write and produce a fan film of my own. INTERLUDE was actually a fan film of a fan film, a sequel to PRELUDE TO AXANAR. But my real goal was always to learn more about the process of creating a fan film and to blog about it. With a cast and crew of more than 55 people, Interlude debuted in 2021 and inspired dozens of behind-the-scenes blogs covering everything from crowd-funding to pre-production, production, and post-production. My second Star Trek fan film, the Filmation animation-style AN ABSENT FRIEND, was released in 2024 and used A.I. to recreate the voices of beloved late actors LEONARD NIMOY and DeFOREST KELLEY in their iconic roles of Spock and McCoy.

MARK LARGENT – STALLED TREK

Based in Dallas, Texas, returning judge MARK LARGENT is the brilliant and incredibly talented mind behind the STALLED TREK series of 3D animated puppet parodies that began with “AMUTT TIME” back in 2012. Four years later, Mark and I collaborated to create a Stalled Trek parody of the Axanar lawsuit titled PRELUDE TO AX’D-WE-ARE. In late 2019, Mark released a Stalled Trek short titled “ALL AHEAD FULL.” Most recently, Mark released his hilarious and award-winning crowd-funded puppet parody, “THE CITY ON THE EDGE OF FORECLOSURE.” And if you haven’t had enough of those parody puppets, last year Mark released his latest masterpiece, “THE DUMBSDAY MACHINE,” which has won numerous film festival awards and will probably be entered into the Showrunner Awards this year…right, Mark?

VANCE MAJOR – CONSTAR

Returning to our judging panel, Kansas-based VANCE MAJOR revolutionized the world of Star Trek fan films by boldly making grassroots-quality productions with little more than a script, a cell phone camera, and (maybe) a uniform…or a hoodie. Sometimes Vance would luck out and shoot on a TOS set in Oklahoma, Arkansas, or Georgia. But more often than not, it was just a room in his house or a park in his town—with the story being the most important element. Vance produced and/or was involved in nearly 150 CONSTAR saga fan films telling the story of his character Erick Minard, and he has cameoed in countless other fan films and series. Vance has been an inspiration to innumerable fan filmmakers for his “just do it and let the critics be damned” attitude toward creating his projects.

BRIAN W. PETERSON – THE LOST STARSHIP

Returning for a third year as a showrunner judge, Kansas-based BRIAN W. PETERSON made his debut in 2023 with the excellent THE LOST STARSHIP, which he wrote, produced, and appeared in as an extra. That project was so successful that it won an ultra-impressive THIRTEEN different awards in 2024’s Showrunner Awards competition (second only to Josh Irwin’s CRISIS ON INFINITE EXCALIBURS with 18 wins at various tiers). Released under the banner of the fanthology series TALES FROM THE NEUTRAL ZONE, The Lost Starship film was produced as a collaboration between NEUTRAL ZONE STUDIOS and AVALON UNIVERSE. Brian is also a published author with five novels under his belt (two of them sci-fi). Brian is planning to write and produce more fan films going forward, which is good news for fans!

BENJAMIN SCHULZ – LORELEY

If you’re one of those Trekkers who doesn’t watch fan films that require subtitle translations, then you’re really missing out when it comes to the LORELEY fan series. This German production debuted their first full-length fan film in early 2022, and their latest release, Loreley – A STAR TREK Fan Production “PART III: ERSTKONTAKT” from last year, just took the BEST STAR TREK FAN FILM Award, at this year’s Director’s Choice Awards. Multiple Lorely releases are eligible for the 2026 Showrunner Awards. Their costumes, lighting, camera work, make-up, green screen compositing, and visual effects are simply spectacular and certainly worth checking out. Benjamin, along with his filmmaking partner HEIKO THIES, oversees most of this well-oiled operation, so he certainly knows what goes into making a quality Star Trek fan film.

GLEN L. WOLFE – THE FEDERATION FILES and WARP 66 STUDIOS

Returning to judge after taking a sabbatical last year, GLEN L. WOLFE lives in northern Arkansas and is the co-owner of WARP 66 STUDIOS, a collection of TOS-era starship sets that have been used for numerous Star Trek fan films. Along with his showrunning partner DAN REYNOLDS, Glen has helped create more than a dozen episodes of their fanthology series, THE FEDERATION FILES. Glen is affectionately known (by me, at least) as the “Where’s Waldo of Star Trek fan films,” having appeared in and/or helped other filmmakers make countless fan films and series over the last couple of decades.

RANDY WRENN – DREADNOUGHT DOMINION (and more!)

While his production partner GARY DAVIS is busy helping to get NEUTRAL ZONE STUDIOS back up an running in Gary’s home state of Ohio, North Carolina-based RANDY WRENN is retuning for a fifth year as a judge. Both men have been the co-showrunners, writers, directors, and stars of DREADNOUGHT DOMINION for a decade…although they have now both stepped behind the camera for the foreseeable future (well, except in the Mirror Universe, that is). They have also spun off the new fan series PROJECT: RUNABOUT and WARBIRD VALDORE, the latter being the first (that I know of) fan series to be produced entirely from the point of view of the crew of a Romulan vessel and crew. I fully expect entries from all three series in this year’s Showrunner Awards.

And that’s our twelve judges, all looking forward to viewing some really FANtastic Star Trek fan films! Once again, here’s the link to the submission page…

https://www.cognitoforms.com/JonathanLane1/_2026StarTrekFanFilmSHOWRUNNERAWARDS

Earlier this month, the winners of this year’s DIRECTORS CHOICE AWARDS were announced. Now it’s time for fan filmmakers to submit their work for the other major award competition dedicated exclusively to productions judged by their peers—the annual SHOWRUNNER AWARDS.

Unlike the Directors Choice Awards, which are open to fan films from any genre, the Showrunner Awards focus EXCLUSIVELY on Star Trek fan films…allowing our little niche of a niche of a niche to shine as well as providing a friendly venue for Star Trek fan filmmakers to compete directly against each other.

As the name implies, the judging panel for the Showrunner Awards is made up of a dozen volunteer fan film showrunners, and I’ll spotlight them in an upcoming blog. Another unique aspect of the Showrunner Awards is that each of our nearly two-dozen categories recognizes THREE winners, with the top film in that category earning an Admiral Award, the second-place finisher receiving a Captain Award, and the third highest judged film winning a Commander Award. Each award is personalized for that fan film and sent to the entrant as a digital printable certificate.

A final element that distinguishes the Showrunner Awards is that the eligibility window for submission is more than just a single year. Last go-around, we reduced that window from five years down to three. So this time, any Star Trek fan film released between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2025 is eligible to be entered. This allows for a fan film that may not have won in a previous year (because of strong competition) additional chances to earn an award—although no film is allowed to win twice in the same category. Also, the multi-year window allows a fan filmmaker who wasn’t previously aware of the Showrunner Awards to enter a slightly older project rather than missing out completely.

As always, the cost is $10 per entry plus $1 for each category beyond Best Fan Film that the submitter wishes to enter—things like Best Director, Best Actor/Actress, Best VFX, Best Music, etc.

The submission period is open from today through May 31, 2025. After that, judges will have until the middle of August to view and vote for their top five fan films in each category, with the most points going to each judge’s top choices. (A showrunner judge is not allowed to vote for any of their own fan films in any of their top three slots.) Winners will be announced, as usual, on September 8, the anniversary of the first airing of Star Trek on NBC back in 1966.

Anyone can submit a nomination using the following form page:

https://www.cognitoforms.com/JonathanLane1/_2026StarTrekFanFilmSHOWRUNNERAWARDS

Good luck!

The annual DIRECTORS CHOICE AWARDS have returned for a fifth year to announce their winners for fan films released during calendar year 2025. If you’re a fan filmmaker and want your production judged by a jury of your peers, there are currently two options. One is the Directors Choice Awards, and the other show, the SHOWRUNNER AWARDS, is limited exclusively to Star Trek fan films.

However, the Directors Choice Awards, hosted and organized by GLEN L. WOLFE and DAN REYNOLDS, co-owners of WARP 66 STUDIOS in northern Arkansas, are open to fan films from all genres of sci-fi, fantasy, superhero, and horror. And that makes for a pretty extensive list of entries.

This year, the competition had 40 fan film submissions from around the world, a slight drop from last year’s 55 entries. As usual, the judges for the Directors Choice Awards were the directors of the fan films that were entered. All judges were expected to watch each of the submitted fan films before voting, which—I can tell you from personal experience as a judge myself last year—can be a commitment of many, many hours of viewing!

Genres this year included the old familiar standards like Star Trek, Star Wars, superhero, horror, Indiana Jones, Alien, and the original Battlestar Galactica…plus some newcomers we haven’t seen before like Logan’s Run, Blade Runner, Transformers, Max Payne, Jaws, and The Hunger Games. For a list of all the fan films that were entered, all of the nominees in each category, and all the winners, you can watch their presentation video.

Below is a list that was announced yesterday of all the winners and runners up in each of the categories, along with YouTube links to those specific fan films…

BEST DIRECTOR

Winner:
Farragut 2024
Joshua Irwin

Runner Up:
Echoes of Darkness: A Star Wars Fan Film
Gary Scullion

BEST ACTOR

Winner:
Blind Faith
Tucker Vaughn as Matt Murdock

Runner Up:
Max Payne: Perdition
Daniel D. Lopez as Max Payne

BEST ACTRESS

Winner:
Alien Lost Transmission
Gabriela Fuentes

Runner Up:
Power Girl (a Fan Film)
Elissa Strange as Power Girl

BEST HAIR/ MAKE-UP

Winner:
Logan’s Legacy
Faith Lymburner

Runner Up:
What’s Next
Candace Lambert

BEST AUDIO MIXING

Winner:
Loreley – A STAR TREK Fan Production “PART III: ERSTKONTAKT”

Runners Up:
Task Force 78 – Phase II: Dr. Todd’s Decision
Steve “Hairy” Harris

Star Wars: The Battle of Takodana Revisited
Ty Baker

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Winner:
Blind Faith
Bryson Sams

Runner Up:
Echoes of Darkness: A Star Wars Fan Film

BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC

Winner:
Blind Faith
Sam Cannon

Runner Up:
Loreley – A STAR TREK Fan Production “PART III: ERSTKONTAKT”
Michael Donner

BEST F/X MAKE-UP

Winner:
Batman Beyond

Runner Up:
Captain Simian’s First Command
Clay Sayre

BEST ORIGINAL COSTUMING

Winner:
The Stranded Warrior

Runner Up:
Farragut 2024

BEST ANIMATED

Winner:
Cybertron Falls: Till All Are One

Runner Up:
Mad Max Apocolypse

BEST SETS

Winner:
Farragut 2024

Runner Up:
Alien Lost Transmission

BEST CGI

Winner:
Echoes of Darkness: A Star Wars Fan Film

Runner Up:
Loreley – A STAR TREK Fan Production “PART III: ERSTKONTAKT”

BEST GREEN SCREEN

Winner:
Loreley – A STAR TREK Fan Production “PART III: ERSTKONTAKT”

Runner Up:
To Know Thine Enemy – A Star Trek Fan Production

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

Winner
Power Girl (a Fan Film)

Runner Up:
The 51st Hunger Games

BEST LIGHTING

Winner:
Alien Lost Transmission

Runner Up:
Mindleech
Joshua Irwin

BEST COMEDY/PARODY

Winner:
Dirty Santa

Runner Up:
Batman & Robin: Day of Justice – A Batman Fan Film

BEST HORROR

Winner:
Halloween Descends

Runner Up:
El Coco de Haddonfield (Halloween Fan- Film) Short

BEST SCREENPLAY

Winner:
Echoes of Darkness: A Star Wars Fan Film

Runner Up:
Second Star to the LEFT
Ruth McCartney

MOST CANON

Winner:
Judged By

Runner Up:
Alien Lost Transmission

BEST ENSEMBLE

Winner:
Echoes of Darkness: A Star Wars Fan Film

Runner Up:
Dawn of the Clone Wars: A Star Wars Fan Film – Official Teaser

BEST EDITING

Winner:
Echoes of Darkness: A Star Wars Fan Film

Runner Up:
What’s Next
Dan R. Reynolds

BEST PORTRAYAL OF EXISTING CHARACTER

Winner:
Blind Faith
Tucker Vaughn as Matt Murdock

Runner Up:
Jaws (2025) Feature Fan Film
Tim Baker as Quint

BEST ON-LOCATION SCENE

Winner:
Batman: Masks
Garage Set – Brooklyn Optics in Brooklyn, NY

Runner Up:
Dawn of the Clone Wars: A Star Wars Fan Film – Official Teaser
Goblin Valley, UT

BEST PLOT TWIST

Winner:
Second Star to the LEFT

Runner Up:
Batman Beyond

BEST TRAILER

Winner:
Dawn of the Clone Wars: A Star Wars Fan Film – Official Teaser

Runner Up:
Do Androids Dream? A Blade Runner Fan Film

BEST POSTER

Winner:
El Coco de Haddonfield (Halloween Fan- Film) Short

Runner Up:
Batman & Robin: Day of Justice – A Batman Fan Film

BEST DOMESTIC FILM

Winner:
Alien Lost Transmission

BEST FOREIGN FILM

Winner:
Echoes of Darkness: A Star Wars Fan Film

BEST ALIEN FAN FILM

Winner:
Alien Lost Transmission

BEST BAD SANTA FAN FILM

Winner:
Dirty Santa

BEST BATMAN FAN FILM

Winner:
Batman Beyond

BEST BATTLESTAR GALACTICA FAN FILM

Winner:
The Stranded Warrior

BEST BLADE RUNNER FAN FILM

Winner:
Do Androids Dream? A Blade Runner Fan Film

BEST DAREDEVIL FAN FILM

Winner:
Blind Faith

BEST HALLOWEEN FAN FILM

Winner:
Halloween Descends

BEST HUNGER GAMES FAN FILM

Winner:
The 51st Hunger Games

BEST INDIANA JONES FAN FILM

Indiana Jones Fan Film (2025)

BEST JAWS FAN FILM

Winner:
Jaws (2025) Feature Fan Film

BEST JUDGE DREDD FAN FILM

Winner:
Judged By

BEST MAX PAYNE FAN FILM

Winner:
Max Payne: Perdition

BEST POWER GIRL FAN FILM

Winner:
Power Girl (a Fan Film)

BEST STAR TREK FAN FILM

Winner:
Loreley – A STAR TREK Fan Production “PART III: ERSTKONTAKT”

BEST STAR WARS FAN FILM

Winner:
Echoes of Darkness: A Star Wars Fan Film

BEST TRANSFORMERS FILM

Winner:
Cybertron Falls: Till All Are One

BEST IN FEST

Winner of a $250 prize:
Echoes of Darkness: A Star Wars Fan Film

It was nearly twelve years ago when ALEC PETERS, MARK EDWARD LEWIS, and a bunch of members of the production team of PRELUDE TO AXANAR sat together inside a the SOL 7 sound studio in Encino, CA while the sound levels of that groundbreaking fan film were mixed together and equalized.

It is now 2026, and the sequel that fans have been waiting a dozen years to see is now mere weeks from release! Oh, I know what some of yoou are thinking: We’ve heard THAT one before! “Thirty days out…yeah, right!” was the frequent taunt from detractors as the release date of the two AXANAR sequels (permitted by the 2017 legal settlement with CBS and Paramount) slipped later and later and later still—years later, in fact!

So what makes this time different? Why am I confident enough to state on this blog that I firmly believe that AXANAR: THE GATHERING STORM (the first of the two sequels) will be released to fans before the seasons change from winter to spring in 2026?

Because I’ve just watched the entire thing!!!

With the exception of a handful of shots of two of the actors that haven’t been composited yet to replace the green screen with a CGI-generated digital background (maybe a total of less than 3% of entire film), it’s done. All of the incredible VFX shots, every sound effect, all of the digital readout display animations, the opening credits, the closing credits, the voice-over narration of John Gil, and most of all, the sumptuous musical score composed by the identical twin LIVESAY brothers, JASON and NOLAN. (These guys have worked on and orchestrated multiple big-name Hollywood film, TV, and video projects—including STAR TREK: PICARD, DISCOVERY, STRANGE NEW WORLDS, THE ORVILLE, DAREDEVIL, X-MEN, and a host of others. And now they’ve given Axanar one of the greatest soundtracks in fan film history, at least in my opinion.)

I’ll be honest with you, when I first saw a rough cut of Axanar: The Gathering Storm last year, I wasn’t nearly as impressed as I’d hoped to be. The acting was certainly quite decent, and those VFX shots that had been completed looked spectacular. But it all felt kinda flat and exposition-heavy. I feared that, once the long-anticipated sequels were finally released, fans (especially the more cynical and negative ones) would complain, “We waited twelve years and donated a million and a half dollars for this????”

Oh, me of little faith!

Now that I’ve had a chance to hear the sound mix—a combination of dialog, music, and sound effects—I can truthfully say I was absolutely bowled over! This fan film now feels so ALIVE! Now, granted, I was seeing this on a big screen with 35,000 watts playing through 11 cinema-quality speakers! It felt very much like watching a movie in a theater. And indeed, Mark Lewis (who co-directed, edited, and is doing the sound design) told me he would be creating three different soundtracks for this fan film.

The first sound mix will be intended for the private screenings that Alec is planning at rented theaters in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and ultimately (when the second of the two sequels is released during the summer) at San Diego Comic Con and later at Dragon*Con in Georgia. The second mix will be encoded onto the Blu-Rays distributed to Axanar donors. Those who own decent home entertainment sound systems with quality speakers and sub-woofers will be able to at least get close to a movie theater experience, although still not quite the same richness and range of sound. And finally, there will be a third mix for YouTube, compressing the Empire State Building down to the size of a townhouse in terms of digital sound information conveyed, so the film won’t sound nearly as awesome on YouTube. But Mark is still trying to make that version sound as good as possible. Personally, I’ve now been totally spoiled!

And I will say that the amount of meticulous subtleties that have gone into engineering the sound of this fan film is nothing short of staggering. I mean, of course the subtle “spit clicks” that happen when an actor is speaking have been removed, but that’s just the start. Each character’s voice has certain distinct filters applied. For example, the Klingon voices sound deeper and more gravelly with a slight hint of reverb. Garth (Alec) sounds different than Travis (JG Hertzler) not only because they have different voices but because they also have a certain audio “presence” that distinguishes them from other characters. It’s possible that most fans won’t be able to perceive the differences coming through the standard speakers on their computers, but they are definitely there.

Another example of the attention to detail is the sound of the ships themselves. Obviously, the Klingon engines make different noises than the Federation starships. But as I learned yesterday, each class of starship has its own distinctive sound. There’s one VHX shot where a half dozen starships of different classes are coming out of warp, and each one sounds different as it whooshes to impulse.

It’s these subtle, almost imperceptible sound engineering flourishes on things like voices, engines, weapons fire, explosions, and ambient background noises when people are speaking that will make Axanar not just look like an entirely different kind of fan film but FEEL like one, as well.

So what happens in a sound mixing session? Well, if you’re not the sound engineer sitting at the control console or the mentor advising him, the answer is “not all that much!” There’s a LOT of sitting around quietly (talking distracts the sound guys!) and watching them discuss the same few seconds of film over and over and over and over and over again. You hear the same snippet of music and dialog and sound effects repeated enough times that some (most?) people would start tearing their hair out. Not me, though, as I like to edit video (although I know little about adjusting sound levels), and I’m used to the ridiculous amount of repetition of short clips that’s required. So for me, I found the whole day fascinating!

You, however, might think I’m crazy after watching the following video. Alec told me not to record any of the actors’ faces, as some of them are still secret and will be quite a surprise to many fans when they discover who is in the next two episode sequels. So instead, I recorded a few minutes of Mark working on a VFX sequence. Sadly, my iPhone video can’t really convey the subtle differences in the sound and music as tweaks were made. But if you watch, you’ll at least get a taste of the process…

Granted, not every 10 seconds of film required this much adjustment. But many times, close attention is paid to when certain sounds trigger and end, fade in, fade out, etc. Also, there aren’t simply three sound elements (dialog, music, effects). Often, multiple sound effects are layered over each other, and certain instruments in the music can be increased or decreased in intensity without adjusting others, often allowing a certain word or phrase to be more clearly heard without lowering the volume of the entire piece of music.

The man interacting with and helping Mark in the above video is legendary Hollywood composer and musician MICHAEL BODDICKER, the owner of the Sol 7 Sound Studio that we were in. How legendary is Michael? Well, he has his own Wikipedia page, but take a look at that list of credits—including one of my all-time favorite cult classics, Buckaroo Banzai—and you’ll see he’s had quite a busy Hollywood career!

Ultimately, I was at the studio for around six and a half hours yesterday, including having lunch there with the other guests who’d come: both Axanar composers the Livesay brothers, Mark’s son JOSEPH and brother JOHN-PAUL, Mark’s business partner STERLING, Axanar associate producer DAVE HERNANDEZ (who drove up from San Diego), and JOSH BISHOP, a documentary filmmaker who is planning to make a feature length film about the loooooong and complex history of the Axanar fan film project. There was also Michael Boddicker’s assistant Casper in the room with us as well as Michael’s wife and adult son in the adjacent house. Mark himself flew in from Tennessee and Alec, of course, traveled to L.A. from Georgia. I only had to drive 30 minutes on the 405 and 101 Freeways.

Anyway, folks, it looks like our 12-year mission of waiting is finally nearing its endgame. In the meantime, here’s some more photos that were taken during yesterday’s session…

Yesterday, we began looking back at many of the major (and not-so-major) Star Trek fan films released in 2025—and there were a LOT! So many, if fact, that I felt I needed to divide this Year in Review blog into two parts. Part 1 covered January through June. Now, let’s finish out the final six months and see what Trekkie fan filmmakers had to offer us. There’s some really great stuff on this list…

JULY

WHAT’S NEXT

GLEN L WOLFE and DAN REYOLDS like making sets and making fan films, and that’s why they launched WARP 66 Studios and the fanthology series THE FEDERATION FILES nearly a decade ago. Now they are expanding their TOS sets and jumping into the 24th century with the first TNG./DS9/VOY-era set pieces to be permanently available in America (Europe has had a number of them). They are also expanding into fan films with faster runtimes as they launch SCI-FI SHORTS. This first release, which takes place just prior to the launch of the Enterprise-D, was initially intended as an entry into the TREKS IN 90 SECS contest, but it ran over the 2-minute time limit (hey, it’s a challenge!). Still, this vignette is a great way to pass three minutes and 45 seconds…

AUGUST

RAKTAJINO (a STAR TREK parody of “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter)

Nothing starts a morning off right on Deep Space Nine like that wonderful Klingon coffee beverage Raktajino. And nothing starts August off right like another excellently-edited parody music video from IAN RAMSEY of the STAR REKT YouTube channel….

TRIBBLES ARE TROUBLE

LZB PRODUCTIONS released a total of four Trek-ish fan films during 2025. TRIBBLES ARE TROUBLE was their most recognizable Trek story, focusing on—you guessed it!—tribbles. This outing was shot at Neutral Zone Studios and is an example of fans just having fun creating a film on TOS sets without sweating details like what’s visible in the background or not having enough hands available to slide the sickbay doors open. It’s just a basic Star Trek fan film that felt no pressure to be anything else…

THE GREAT EXPERIMENT

The fourth Trek Shorts release of 2025 was Sam Cockings’ first foray into the Star Trek II-VI movie era, complete with monster maroon uniforms and late 23rd century CGI starship interiors. And then, of course, there are some wonderful shots of the USS Excelsior back when it was still NX-2000, as well as other starship classes from that era. Also notable is the first appearance in a Trek Shorts release of David Cheng of Star Trek Fan Productions International in his admiral’s monster maroon cosplay-quality uniform. David produced Time and Time Again (see previous blog), which came out in June.

STARFLEET COACH

Steve Shives’ third Starfleet Jobs release returned to a more lighthearted tone as he shifted from border guard to coach of a spaceball team. That isn’t to say that this latest release doesn’t have a wee bit of a political slant. But again, just like the best episodes of Star Trek, Starfleet Jobs often uses science fiction to hold up a mirror to our society and culture. And I will always maintain that a good story, told well, that also makes us think is absolutely worth our time. And Starfleet Coach definitely gives us all three of those…

STAR TREK: VENTURE – “A MOMENT’S PEACE”

JED T.E. ROHODES is a composer, actor, podcaster, and fan filmmaker from Yorkshire, England. Most of his fan film work has been in the Doctor Who sub-genre, but starting in 2024, he began producing his own Star Trek fan audio dramas, slowly transitioning into the occasional Trek fan film release as well. With limited resources, Jed’s initial efforts, like the fan film below, are essentially subspace video calls–the kind made famous by VANCE MAJOR and many of his CONSTAR saga fan films. Indeed, actor ROY IVEY, who appeared in several Constar productions, plays a character in Jed’s STAR TREK: VENTURE fans series, as well…

TREKS IN 90 SECS winners announced

It’s quite challenging to produce a Star Trek fan film that’s only 90-120 seconds long—but not impossible! For the second year of the now-annual TREKS IN 90 SECS contest, we had ten submissions voted on by fans and readers of Fan Film Factor. And this year, we saw a tie for second place. You can watch all ten submissions here, and here are the top four vote-getters (all released in 2025)…

SEPTEMBER

LORELEY – “PART III: ERSTKONTAKT” (“FIRST CONTACT”)

September kicked off with a quite a bang as the German wunderkinder from the (relatively) new fan series LORELEY dazzled fans with yet another masterpiece of fan filmmaking. Set in the Kelvin timeline, their releases nonetheless have a very classic TOS feel to them. But more than jus strong writing and acting (even in German, I can still follow what’s happening—although I do turn on English subtitles) is their amazing eye toward professional quality cinematography. For although they shoot primarily in front of a green screen, their CGI and VFX, rendered using the Unreal Engine, make everything look unbelievably realistic! See for yourself…

SECOND STAR TO THE LEFT

This latest offering from THE NEUTRAL ZONE and AVALON UNIVERSE was special for three reasons. First, it was one of the last fan films to ever be shot at the Kingsland, GA location of Neutral Zone Studios. Second, the lead actress, SARA McCARTNEY, is neurodivergent, and her mother, RUTH McCARTNEY, wrote this film as a biography/autobiography of both herself and her daughter’s experiences growing up. And finally, I was the film editor on this project, having been asked by director Josh Irwin to help lighten his editing load. The result is a very different—and emotionally-impactful—fan film than what you might be used to seeing, but definitely worth checking out…

A NEW LOOK FOR AURORA

Although only 35 seconds in runtime, this short vignette created a great deal of excitement amongst Trekkers who have been watching fan films for awhile. Back in 2006, 3D animator and fan filmmaker TIM VINING began working on STAR TREK: AURORA, eventually taking five years to complete the five-episodes of his first story. His second story, MUDD IN YOUR I, took another three years from 2013 to 2016 to complete its two episodes. Now, nearly a decade later, Tim has announced that he’ll be making more Aurora episodes, beginning with this amusing short…

FARRAGUT FORWARD wins the SHOWRUNNER AWARD for Best Fan Film

The fourth annual SHOWRUNNER AWARDS ended up with 24 entries for a total runtime of ten and a half hours of top-notch fan films. And the top notichiest of them all, as determined by 11 fan film showrunners who served as judges, was 2024’s FARRAGUT FORWARD (not to be confused with 2025’s FARRAGUT 2024…see below). This movie-era fan film featured impeccable monster maroons and other costumes, amazing sets, a large cast, some very impressive acting, great VFX, wonderful music, and a revenge story reminiscent of Star Trek II: TWOK. Showrunner JOHN BROUGHTON led the cast, and director JOHNNY K really knocked it out of the park…

OCTOBER

STARSHIP ANTYLLUS – Series Finale

After more than a dozen years, the long-running fan series STARSHIP ANTYLLUS came to a conclusion in September with an 84-minute series finale. So why am I listing it as an October release? Showrunner GEORGE KAYAIAN worked extremely hard writing, starring in, directing, and editing this culmination of his 30-chapter storyline. But when it was first released on September 12, George felt that it wasn’t quite “perfect” yet. So he added in a few scenes he’d left out, tightened others to keep run-time nearly the same (two minutes longer) and released a “director’s cut” on October 26. Take a look…

STALLED TREK: “THE DUMBSDAY MACHINE”

Although originally completed in early November of 2024, creator MARK LARGENT kept his third animated TOS puppet parody off of YouTube for nearly a year, giving it a chance to win eight film festival awards in the meantime. “THE DUMBSDAY MACHINE” then made its Internet premiere on October 20, 2025 to uproarious applause and laughter (well, probably not applause, since most people were just watching it on their computer screens). Mark previously created parodies of TOS fan fave episodes “Amok Time” and “The City on the Edge of Forever”—as well as a parody of the Axanar lawsuit that he co-wrote and co-produced with yours truly. You can watch all of Mark’s Stalled Trek parodies here. And you can watch his latest triumph below…

TIME AND AGAIN – Episode 1: AFTERMATH

In January, Jefferson Kelly appeared as Captain Preston Sisko (great grandfather of Benjamin) in the one-shot fan film The Unmade Mind (see entry in the previous blog). Now in late October, Jefferson transitioned into the role of director, co-writing and co-starring in a fan film of his own making. The story is quite complex, endeavoring to explain the eternal question of Star Trek time travel: why do some incursions back in time “fix” a problem (a la “City on the Edge of Forever”), some not affect time at all (Star Trek IV), while still others create entirely new realities (JJ Trek 2009). STAR TREK: DISCOVERY‘s Director Kovich plays a role in a fan film that WILL leave your head spinning and your brain needing an aspirin. But then again, that’s why Janeway once said, “My advice in making sense of temporal paradoxes is simple: don’t even try.” Well, this fan film tries. Good luck…

TEN FORWARD TEST KITCHEN: PLOMEEK SOUP

AARON VANDERKLEY of the THESE ARE THE VOYAGES fan series, based in Australia, has always had the recipe for some cutting-edge fan film concepts. Aaron’s first series of projects was one of the initial attempts by fans to recreate Star Trek: Enterprise with physical sets and impeccable costumes. His second series of fan films leapfrogged into the 24th century with Voyager-era sets and costumes, followed by three SHORT VOYAGES which were initially intended for the Treks in 90 Secs contest but ended up running a little bit too long. Now Aaron has cooked up a new kind of fan series—the TEN FORWARD TEST KITCHEN—which combines Aaron’s 24th century sets and costumes with original short scenes, Trek clips from various series, and actual recipes intended to teach fans how to make certain traditional Star Trek alien dishes. Up first, the Vulcan Plomeek Soup…

NOVEMBER

FARRAGUT 2024

As you’ll see below, November was a busy month for Star Trek fan films. And it brought with it a “whale” of a project (although one without any actual whales) as the time-traveling FARRAGUT 2024 was released to much acclaim and excitement. This was arguably one of the most technically challenging Trek fan films to be produced since STAR TREK: OF GODS AND MEN back in 2006. It has impeccable costumes, top-notch VFX and music, custom-built sets, and was filmed in several indoor and outdoor locations throughout the Maryland/Virginia/Washington, DC area…including on the National Mall and Goddard Space Flight Center. Several dozen people (including me!) worked both in front of and behind the camera under the guidance of showrunner John Broughton and director Josh Irwin. Clocking in at nearly a full hour, this fan film doesn’t feel nearly that long thanks to tight editing by Josh (and me!), a really wonderful score, and some very nice acting…

STAR TREK: VENTURE – “IN THE AFTERMATH”

Another release from Jed T. E. Rhodes, this episode follows on the heels of the battle with the Phantom Fleet, which happened in a previous audio episode (thereby saving a TON on VFX!). While this episode includes another Starfleet “Zoom” call, Jed does get a little fresh air in the beginning—along with a temporary change of uniform…

MIND LEECH

There are two reasons in particular to watch this latest release from the fanthology series The Federation Files. The first is that director of photography Josh Irwin did a particularly excellent job this time out of lighting everything in a very TOS style. He’s usually quite adept at such things, but this time, the artwork of it all (what Josh calls “painting with light”) was especially well executed. The other reason for giving this fan film a viewing is, sadly, that actor E. WAYNE HAWKINS, who played the character of Doc Bell in this and other Fed Files episodes, passed away a few days after MIND LEECH was originally posted to YouTube. To honor him, showrunners Dan Reynolds and Glen L. Wolfe posted a special Directors Cut to YouTube with a tribute to the beloved fan actor. R.I.P. Doc…

TIME AND AGAIN – Episode 2: VALAGANT

The second episode of this fan series in as many months features the villain (or is he the villain?), General Valagant, as he confronts Director Kovich. Co-writer JASON WEDDELL does a very strong acting job portraying the intriguing general…

TASK FORCE 78: WHERE DO YOU GO?

STEVE “HAIRY” HARRIS releases a whole bunch of fan film-related content on his YouTube channel. Among these are music video compilations (with lyrics written by him and songs created using Ai), short edits, and reviews and discussions about fan film releases from multiple genres. And every so often, as part of his TASK FORCE 78 fan series, he’ll release a more traditional (and bare bones) Star Trek fan film of his own. As the month of November was starting to wrap up, Steve debuted a new film co-produced and co-directed with Steve’s wife LINDA HARRIS as well as long-time No-Budget Films creator VANCE MAJOR. Here ’tis…

DECEMBER

THE CASSANDRA EFFECT

December kicked off with the second release from the fledging Netherlands-based USS Cassandra fan series under the command of showrunner Thomas Argante. Their first release came in April and featured only a very sparse captain’s quarters/office set. THE CASSANDRA EFFECT, however, added a more elaborate TOS-era shuttlecraft interior, allowing for a story involving a scientific experiment outside of the ship and, somewhat expectedly, a major disco hit from the 1970s. Ya kinda have to just watch it…

STARFLEET JOURNALIST

While not all of Steve Shives’ releases in his Starfleet Jobs fan series are overtly political, his fourth and final offering for 2025, STARFLEET JOURNALIST, certainly was—as journalism and its slant, one way or the other, is currently a huge concern on both sides of the political spectrum here in the United States. And apparently, it’s still a concern 300 years in the future. Take a look…

TEN FORWARD TEST KITCHEN: HASPERAT

The second release from the TEN FORWARD TEST KITCHEN came just over a month after the premiere episode and shifted its focus from Vulcan to Bajor for some nice, super-spicy Hasperat. It includes a short skit, canonical history of the dish throughout Star Trek history (both on camera and behind-the-scenes), and a recipe that follows the three golden rules: 1) it must look like it does on screen, 2) be easy to make, and 3) actually taste good. This fan series is also launching another new innovation: vertically-oriented shorts like this one, which are becoming very popular on YouTube lately. Each short takes a brief portion of the full video and releases it as a stand-alone segment. Here’s the whole thing…

DECON GEL (a STAR TREK parody of “Silver Bells” by Dean Martin)

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…at least as we come to the end of 2025. And to celebrate the joyous holiday, Ian Ramsey of Star Rekt released his second yuletide carol parody music video in three years. The previous one was MY BLUE UNDERWEAR (a parody of “Winter Wonderland”) back in December of 2022—featuring many shots of Chief Engineer Charles “Trip” Tucker sneaking around the Enterprise NX-01 corridors in his azure skivvies. This year, Ian has returned to the 22nd century with DECON GEL, a Star Trek-inspired parody of the Dean Martin version of “Silver Bells.” If this doesn’t get you into the holiday spirit, well, I’m sure something else will…

ECHOES OF YESTERDAY

This was the first time any Star Trek fan film used the new RENDER NETWORK to create its CGI effects. If you watch this sequel the 2023 Trek Shorts release THIS SIDE OF MORALITY, this new films looks like a simple enough vignette. But ECHOES OF YESTERDAY is presented at full 4K resolution, which would have taken Samuel Cockings’ poor computer in England months on its own to render out these moving interior and exterior CGI shots with at such high quality. Instead, thanks to the Render Network distributing the processing demands virtually across a series of Nvidia-powered GPUs around the world, this entire complex fan film was shot, fully rendered, and completed in only three weeks. Check it out…

WHEN THE PLOT WORKS AGAINST YOU

Two of the winners of the Treks in 90 Secs contest from August (see above) were created by ADAM SCHWARTZ. But Adam has been quite a busy little fan filmmaker! During 2025, he’s created and released nine different comedy vignettes (watch them all here), each parodying a different aspect of Star Trek lore—whether it be the holodeck, food replicators, exploding consoles, non-main characters, or “minor” missions that really don’t really require the fleet’s flagship to complete. To finish up the year, Adam released WHEN THE PLOT WORKS AGAINST YOU, taking a look at everything that tends to go wrong with otherwise very simple and straightforward missions…

CAPTAIN SIMIAN’S FIRST COMMAND

The fun-loving folks at Nature’s Hunger certainly weren’t monkeying around when they made THIS fan film! Clocking in at over two hours and fifteen minutes(!!!), CAPTAIN SIMIAN’S FIRST COMMAND jumps back and forth from TOS-era into movie-era , uses both the Georgia basement TOS sets of showrunner JOSE CEPEDA as well as the North Carolina bridge set built by FRANK PARKER, JR. for CROSSROADS – PROJECT: GEMINI (see the previous blog’s April releases), and incorporates animated AI sequences. This is also the first-ever Star Trek fan film where the protagonist is a damn, dirty ape. Honestly, you’ll go bananas over Captain Simian’s First Command…!

FIRE IN THE NIGHT

And to round out 2025, Sam Cockings made it back-to-back releases as he premiered a second Trek Shorts during December (scroll up a smidge for Echoes of Yesterday). This time, Sam shifted his focus to late DS9/TNG-movie era with a focus on the Enterprise-E and crewman Sam Harriman, played by trained actor MARCUS CHURCHILL. It’s a very ambitious story involving the AI “villain” Grathar and Species 8472. Also appearing were NICK COOK as Daniel Hunter (both commander and captain) and also the voice of Grathar, NIMRAN SAUND in a brief cameo, and MARIE-LOUISE SVALENG as Starfleet historian Louise Nilsson. It’s definitely worth watching…

And speaking of Marie-Louise, 2025 ended on a particularly exciting note for her when long-time boyfriend Sam Cockings finally proposed (and she said “yes,” of course!). Nick Cook was also there to take the following photo of the newly-engaged couple…

We wish Sam and Marie-Louise all the happiness, long-living, and prospering that the galaxy can provide. I am certain they will make beautiful Trek Shorts together!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

It’s the end of another year, and I’m still here, you’re still here, and so are Star Trek fan films! Admittedly, I’ve been less prolific in 2025 than I have in past years because I’ve gotten involved with mentoring my sons Jayden’s high school robotics team, The Bagel Bytes (named after their first sponsor back in 2001, Noah’s Bagels). And I’ve kinda gone all-in, assisting the team with marketing materials and e-mail communication, finding sponsors (including RODDENBERRY ENTERTAINMENT!), filming and editing team videos, helping them set up a Patreon campaign, and a whole lot more. I’m with the team 2-3 times a week, helping out the coach, and just marveling at these amazingly talented teens! But putting in all of those free volunteer hours is leaving me with much less time and energy for this blog.

That being said, I’m still organizing the annual SHOWRUNNER AWARDS, interviewing many Star Trek fan filmmakers, and even assisting some of them with their fan films (as I did twice this past year!). And of course, my regular YEAR IN REVIEW blogs have been an annual tradition since my first one back in 2017. And each year, I remind my readers who predicted back in 2016 that CBS/Paramount’s fan film guidelines would utterly destroy Star Trek fan films that our little sub-sub-sub-genre is still very much alive and kicking.

And indeed, even nearly a decade later, Trek fan films continue to be produced and posted to YouTube—quite a lot of them! Buy, hey, don’t just take my word for it. Check it out for yourself below. In fact, there were so many to cover that I’ve split this year’s compilation blog into TWO parts!

Many of the following fan films were ones that I had intended to cover here on Fan Film Factor, but life and robotics got in the way. So instead, I’ll be spotlighting them here with short blurbs for each one. There’s probably at least a few you haven’t seen, and I strongly recommend that you check out any that intrigue you—and possibly some that don’t, as you might be pleasantly surprised. Let’s dive in…

JANUARY

RED SHIRTS (a STAR TREK parody of “Starships” by Nicki Minaj)

What better way to kick off the year than with a new Star Trek parody music video from the hilariously creative IAN RAMSEY of the STAR REKT YouTube channel? Ian has been creating and releasing a few of these funny little gems each year since his first one back in 2021. This latest effort was a masterpiece, recounting the deaths of every redshirt (and some yellow and blue shirts) during the three seasons of TOS—all to the awesome melody of “Starships” by Nicki Minaj…

WYLDE SPACE: “Chickens of Terror – Part 1”

January saw the debut of a quirky new animated fan series called WYLDE SPACE from creator WADE WHITE, who also stars as the voice of Captain Wylde. This is a Trek parody where all of the characters are paper doll animals with acerbic attitudes. The first short episode premiered on January 6 and was pretty funny…

Wade produces a number of different genre parodies in this style, and you can view them all here. A second part of Wylde Space debuted in February, with another three episodes announced.

THE UNMADE MIND

On January 19, VANCE MAJOR released yet another installment in the CONSTAR saga, this time writing and directing the story of how the USS Constar came to be a museum ship moored at Wolf 359. Shot primarily on the TOS bridge set at WARP 66 STUDIOS in Harrison, Arkansas, this short fan film stars JEFFERSON KELLEY (who also provided the story), a Trekker who has interviewed many fan producers on his numerous podcasts. Over the years, a number of friends commented that Jefferson looked enough like actor AVERY BROOKS that he should play Benjamin Sisko in a fan film, but Jefferson was never comfortable trying to fill that role. So instead, Vance created the character of Preston Sisko, a 23rd century ancestor of the legendary Deep Space 9 commander. Also appearing in cameos in this release are a bunch of other fan film showrunners playing their established characters, including STEVE “HAIRY” HARRIS, JOSE CEPEDA, RANDY WRENN, GEORGE KAYAIAN, and JOSH IRWIN…along with donor and all-around awesome cool guy RAY MEYERS.

THROUGH THE IRON VEIL

It was inevitable that eventually someone would create a Star Trek fan film entirely using AI, and that someone was ELVIS DEANE of Hyperbolic Films on YouTube. He’s been creating digital short films for 15 years, and he has recently begun pushing the envelope with AI. All of his images were generated using the AI generator known as Midjourney and edited in Photoshop. Then he made the video with a combination of Kling AI, Runway, and Minimax (here is a webpage comparing the AI three tools). The dialogue and music also appear to be AI. And while some of the quirks of AI, like inconsistent clothing elements, are evident in this short fan film, they are very minor and easily ignored. And of course, AI generation is only going to improve in the future, and it’s off to a surprisingly strong start with this early release…

FEBRUARY

February brought the third “period” style Star Trek fan film from showrunner JEFF NORD. His first production in 2022, COMMANDERS OF STARFLEET, reimagined Star Trek as a 1930’s/40’s sci-fi matinee serial, presented entirely in black and white with cheesy costumes, sets, and purposefully-cheap VFX. Two years later, Jeff’s second release, DEFENDERS OF THE FEDERATION, took the concept into 1970’s sci-fi, complete with physical spaceship models, pastel costumes, and slightly more elaborate set backgrounds. And in 2025, Jeff took his third project into the 1980’s with a fan film that feels like a cross between Star Trek II and Alien, with the Borg as adversaries. It’s a very unique take on Trek fan films, and definitely worth checking out…

TO KNOW THINE ENEMY

The first (of six!) Trek Shorts releases of 2025 saw the first collaboration of showrunner SAMUEL COCKINGS with a new writing and acting partner, KRIS HANSEN, who supplied the voice of a Klingon adversary named Mersa. In this fan film, Mersa is going up against Captain Daniel Hunter, played by long-time showrunner and star of the Scottish fan series INTREPID, NICK COOK, and the crew of the USS Intrepid. And although Sam has dabbled with digital recreations of characters in some of his previous fan films, this one takes a big step forward by having all scenes of Mersa and her crew on the Klingon bridge be CGI-generated. And while Nick Cook appears on camera for much of the film, there are a few inserted shots of him on the viewscreen that were also digital. Check it out…

STARFLEET SAFETY INSPECTOR

Oh, what would the fan film world be like without a new STARFLEET JOBS video from our friend STEVE SHIVES every few months? Steve released his the first of these fun and funny looks “under the Starfleet hood” back in early 2023 and has made four per year since then. I did a video interview with Steve last year that’s worth watching. But what’s even more worth watching is STARFLEET SAFETY INSPECTOR because it’s hilarious…

MARCH

BATAVIA: “WHERE WE LEFT OFF” (trailer)

I don’t usually include trailers for fan films, but in this case, I’m making a small exception. STAR TREK: DARK ARMADA from the Netherlands was releasing its swan song episode just as I was launching Fan Film Factor in 2016. At the time, plans were in the works for a new fan series from showrunner and star ROBIN HIERT, but nothing solid materialized until the release of the following trailer this psst March. And wow, do things look impressive!

SMOKE AND MIRRORS – A WARBIRD VALDORE FILM

It’s rare that you see a storyline crossover from one Trek fan series to another, although it has happened a few times. But the folks at DOMINION MEDIA decided to take things one step farther and create a trilogy spanning three different fan series. Granted, they are three fan series from Dominion Media, so it’s at least a little easier, but it’s still a challenge. Smoke and Mirrors is the second installment in the saga, continuing from 2024’s IT’S ALL DONE WITH MIRRORS from PROJECT: RUNABOUT. Let’s see what’s been going on with the Romulans…

APRIL

POLITICS OF VIOLENCE

April 5 is affectionately known by Trekkers as “First Contact Day.” And so it’s not surprising that a lot of activity happened in our community on that particular day. The first fan film to lay claim to that coveted release date in 2025 was the second Trek Shorts for the year, POLITICS OF VIOLENCE. This production featured Samuel Cockings’ long-time TREKYARDS co-podcaster, STUART FOLEY playing Captain Foley of the USS Foley. And yes, there’s a story behind that multi-Foley naming, but I don’t know what that story is. Anyway, take a look…

STARCHILD

One of the final fan films to ever be filmed at the Kingsland, GA location of NEUTRAL ZONE STUDIOS (now being re-constructed in Sandusky, OH), this episode of the fanthology series TALES FROM THE NEUTRAL ZONE initially seemed like just another “Mary Sue” fan story. But you can’t always judge by first impressions! The actress who starred in Starchild, GRACE FLORES-ARBOLAY, absolutely knocked it out of the park playing the main character. It’s actually worth watching this livestream interview she did with director/cinematographer Josh Irwin to learn more about what went into her amazing performance. But definitely check out the short film first…

WELCOME ABOARD

April also welcomed a brand new fan production team from the Netherlands, USS CASSANDRA, the work of showrunner THOMAS ARGANTE. Thomas had previously appeared in a bunch of American-made fan films, including THE PASSENGER WITH BAGGAGE, PROJECT: RUNABOUT, and MOM from Dominion Media, and SINKING IN THE SWAMP from Vance Major. Now, in “WELCOME ABOARD,” Thomas leads a new cast of Dutch Trekkers in what is planned to be the first fan series to shoot on TOS set recreations located in Europe…

CROSSROADS – PROJECT GEMINI: “ROMULAN AILS, Part 1”

FRANK PARKER, JR. worked on creating STARSHIP FARRAGUT‘s TOS sets before launching DREADNOUGHT DOMINION in 2015. His most recent fan series is CROSSROADS – PROJECT GEMINI, and like any dedicated Trekker blessed with skills in design and construction, Frank turned his mother-in-law’s North Carolina garage into an elaborate Star Trek-style bridge set! Of course, that’s nothing compared to the extensive basement TOS sets under the home of JOSE CEPEDA (of the fan series NATURE’S HUNGER) in Atlanta, Georgia . But imagine getting both of these do-it-yourself home studios together for one fan film! And that’s exactly what Frank did. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you “ROMULAN AILS, Part 1“…

LORELEY wins “Best in Fest” for 2024 in the DIRECTORS CHOICE AWARDS

For the past four years, there have been two annual awards shows spotlighting the best in fan films as judged by a panel of fan filmmakers themselves: the DIRECTORS CHOICE AWARDS and the SHOWRUNNER AWARDS. And while the latter is open only to Star Trek fan films, the former extends eligibility to fan films from any genre. As such, Trek fan films aren’t always the top winners. In fact, no Star Trek fan film had won the “Best in Fest” top category in the Directors Choice awards since SQUADRON in 2022…until now. You can view all of this winners here, but “Best in Fest” was won this year by the German fan series LORELY with “PRELUDE TO PART III – KOBAYASHI MARU.” And even though it’s a 2024 release, I’m including it here because it’s really good…

MAY

DAEDALUS (an AXANAR-related fan film)

The big story in May for Star Trek fan films was what was removed from YouTube. As also happened in March 2024 when CBS’s attorneys contacted YouTube to pull down the AXANAR-related fan film THE ICARUS MANEUVER (now available only on the Axanar website) shortly after its release, history repeated itself in early May of 2025 for a similar short film: DAEDALUS. Apparently, after settling their 2016 lawsuit, CBS remains quite serious about limiting ALEC PETERS and AXANAR PRODUCTIONS to only two 15-minute sequels and nothing more. That said, now that Skydance has acquired both Paramount and the rights to Star Trek, it’s unclear whether studio relations with Axanar will continue to be quite so antagonistic.

In the meantime, Alec did finally enjoy a major legal victory in October when a lawsuit that had been working its way through the Georgia courts for more than five years made it in front of a jury. Fired Axanar director PAUL JENKINS had sued Alec for defamation, fraud, and use of image likeness without permission. Alec had countersued for breach of contract (dropping a concurrent defamation claim just before trial). After an unusually-long nine-day trial (most civil trials take only a few days at most), the judge tossed out Jenkins’ two defamation claims, and the jury ruled against his other two complaints. Alec, on the other hand, was awarded a $60,000 judgement for damages in his breach of contract claim plus an additional $182,281.11 for attorneys fees…for a total jury verdict of more than $242,000.

Meanwhile, I have been invited to a professional mix session at a sound studio in Encino, CA on January 6 and7 where the audio for the first of the two Axanar sequels will be finalized. Only two more composites of green screen talking head footage need to be completed, plus insertions of a few remaining tactical readout animations. Then episode four: “The Gathering Storm” (the first of the two 15-minute sequels) will be finished…with a likely release during the first quarter of next year. Fingers obviously crossed for that

The second and final Axanar sequel is still being planned to debut at a private screening near San Diego ComicCon in 2026. Fingers crossed on that, too, of course. Then I can finally release both my alt-Axanar script (written during a sleepless all-nighter back in 2017) plus my Axanar sequel novella, “Why We Explore” (a semi-biography of Kelvar Garth), which includes spoilers from the two unreleased episodes and has to wait until after they both premiere before I can share it.

And finally, below is the fan film Daedalus, now accessible only on the Axanar website…

FLIGHT OF THE PEGASUS

Teachers and their students can make Star Trek fan films, too! In fact, it’s a great way to engage young adults in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). In 2024, the educators at Spacegate Station in Jacksonville, FL shot a 38-minute Trek fan film titled THE PATH OF HONOR at Neutral Zone Studios in nearby Kingsland, GA starring a number of their junior high and high school students from the Lavilla School of the Arts. A year later, they ventured to several area locations, including the USS Orleck Naval Museum. The kids from the Duvall County Public School District are obviously not trained actors with years of experience and study, but they obviously tried hard, put in a lot of work, and it looks as though the had fun doing so…

STARFLEET BORDER GUARD

It’d been three months, so it was obviously time for another installment of Starfleet Jobs from Steve Shives. However, unlike the more whimsical Starfleet Safety inspector who provided a bunch of fun chuckles, the STARFLEET BORDER GUARD was a pretty obvious commentary on what’s been happening in America this year with ICE deportations and increased border security. Steve never shrinks away from political hot-topics on his YouTube channel, and sometimes those editorials cross over into the realm of Star Trek—just like many classic episodes of the various Trek TV series. Such stories are more likely to make you tear up at the end (I’ll just leave it at that)…

JUNE

FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE

June brought with it the third release from Trek Shorts, a STAR TREK: PRODIGY quasi-tie-in titled FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE. Part of Samuel Cockings’ (and others’) #SaveStarTrekProdigy campaign, which is facing a serious uphill battle, this 22-minute film features a large cast including Sam himself, his father STEVEN COCKINGS, his girlfriend MARIE-LOISE SVALENG reprising her recurring role of Starfleet historian Dr. Louise Nilson, NIMRAN SAUND returning as Commander Anna Keeley, RHEA KEEHN supplying the voice of the Starfleet computer, and yet another appearance of NICK COOK as Daniel Hunter, this time of the Galaxy-class starship USS Gallant in the timeframe just after the destruction of Romulus. It’s a very strong production and worth watching…

TIME AND TIME AGAIN

With much of the footage shot at the Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas during August 2019, the latest fan film from STAR TREK FAN PRODUCTIONS INTERNATIONAL wasn’t completed and released until June 22, 2025 for reasons explained by showrunner DAVID CHENG in this interview I did with him. TIME AND AGAIN features a hotel full of cosplayers in elegant monster maroons and other assorted costumes, plus a number of familiar faces to folks who like to attend American Star Trek cons. Take a look…

BROKEN MIRROR

June finished off with a DREADNOUGHT DOMINION fan film that completed the crossover trilogy that began with Project: Runabout and continued in Warbird Valdore (see entry in March above). Unlike the two prequels which teased a connection to the classic Mirror Universe, the conclusion actually took members of the crew on board the ISS Dominion, where we got to see showrunner GARY DAVIS play a truly evil version of his Captain Brusseau character. Also making his first fan film appearance on American soil at Neutral Zone Studios was Thomas Argante, who had recently launched his new USS Casandra fan series in the Netherlands (see entry in April above). This was a really fun fan film…

Okay, take a breath. We’re halfway through the year, and Star Trek fan films are only just hitting their stride. Come back tomorrow for releases from July through December as we wrap up 2025 on a high note!

They say nice guys finish last. Well, one very nice guy just finished a fan film journey that started 12 years ago…at last! However, that’s only his most recent fan film journey. For GEORGE KAYAIAN, his very first Star Trek fan film dates all the way back to the 1990s with THE INFINITE CHAIN, filmed literally in his parents’ basement and featuring his MOM as the captain! Now George himself is the father of a 16-year-old daughter.

The first of what would become 30 episodes (actually more than that, as several episodes were two-parters) of George’s latest magnum opus, STARSHIP ANTYLLUS, premiered on YouTube in September of 2013. It was never intended to look sleek or dazzling. The budget was barely enough to buy a Happy Meal, and the sets were constructed mostly of materials you would find in a typical crafting shop. But the actors all had experience, and George himself led the cast as Captain Holt Allen, a troubled but skilled starship commander who begins dying in the very first episode.

Yes, you read that right. Antyllus is the saga of one man’s race with his own mortality. As such, you can probably imagine that the feel and style of this fan series is pretty unique, focusing mainly on a single character. However, there is an extensive supporting cast, including George’s daughter Anya, who started working with her dad behind the scenes on his Antyllus at the age of four and began appearing as an alien crew member in the series six years later. With the Kayaians, Star Trek fan films is definitely a family thing.

While I invite you to watch the entire series (here is a YouTube playlist with every episode), please be aware that Antyllus is not for everyone’s taste. As I said, it doesn’t have many bells and whistles. And the episodes don’t move particularly fast. But the overall story is complex and engaging with fan actors and a writer/director who are truly committed to providing the best film-watching experience that they can. Like so many fan series, Antyllus‘ true strength lies in its heart and the love and dedication of the people who made it. If that’s not your thing, there are certainly plenty more Star Trek fan films and series out there for you to enjoy!

Below is the director’s cut of the Starship Antyllus finale…

As I alluded to at the beginning of this blog entry, George is one of the nicest guys in all of Star Trek fan films, and I always enjoy chatting with him. So I was looking very much forward to doing a video interview with George and Anya to discuss the end of this particular fan film journey for them both. Unfortunately, Anya wasn’t feeling well that night, and Christmas was rapidly approaching—making rescheduling problematic. So instead I had a lovely discussion with just “Captain Allen” himsrlf, and I am happy to share that with you now…

Returning for an impressive FIFTH consecutive year, the Fan Film DIRECTORS CHOICE AWARDS are accepting submissions here:

https://thefederationfiles.com/?page_id=1407

Organized by DAN REYNOLDS and GLEN L, WOLFE (co-owners of WARP 66 STUDIOS in northern Arkansas), the call for entries began on November 1, 2025 and continues through January 11, 2026. Fan filmmakers can submit their film(s)—a maximum of three fan films per director—for a cost of $10 per film entered.

The Directors Choice Awards are open to any fan film from any genre (NOT limited to only Star Trek) that was released onto YouTube or any public media for the first time in calendar year 2025. The $10 entry fee includes submitting the film for consideration in up to seven of the following specialty categories in addition to being considered for Best in Fest (which carries a $250 cash prize). The categories are…

Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Director
Best Original Costuming
Best Make-up/Hairstyling
Best Cinematography
Best Original Music
Best Audio Mixing
Best Lighting
Best FX Make-Up
Best CGI FX
Best Green Screen
Best Composite Shot
Best Screenplay
Best Parody/Comedy
Best Portrayal of an Existing Character
Best Animated Fan Film
Best Editing
Most Canon Award
Best Ensemble
Best On-Location Scene
Best Plot Twist
Best Sets
Best Choreography
Best Trailer
Best Poster
Best Horror Film

The last category is brand new for this year’s awards. Also, I’ve been asked to mention that the poster must be for a fan film that premiered in calendar year 2025. However, the trailer can be for a fan film that hasn’t been released yet. The only requirement is that the trailer itself must have been publicly posted for the first time during 2025.

As with the four previous years (and in line with the name of the contest), the fan films will be judged by the directors themselves. Each director will be e-mailed a ballot for each film they submitted . A director cannot vote for any fan film they themselves directed, and all ballots will be due no later than March 15. If a judge fails to return their completed ballot in time, their film submission(s) will be disqualified.

Once again, here is the link to enter, with the final deadline for submissions being January 11, 2026…

https://thefederationfiles.com/?page_id=1407

Winners will be announced on First Contact Day: April 5, 2026.