HAPPIER DAYS Prelude to Axanar director Christian Gossett poses with his cast of scifi and Star Trek alumni. Pictured from left: Kate Vernon, J.G. Hertzler, Gary Graham, Gossett, producer Alec Peters and Richard Hatch. (Photo/Axanar Productions)

‘Prelude’ Director's Deposition Raises Big Issues

Axanar Attorney Sought to Represent Witnesses Subpoenaed by Plaintiffs

Table of Contents

By Carlos Pedraza

UPDATE Christian Gossett, director Prelude to Axanar, was deposed October 22, 2016, revealing a trove of emails exchanged with producer Alec Peters, who had not disclosed their existence, and prompting an emergency motion by attorneys for CBS and Paramount.

Gossett’s deposition in the copyright infringement lawsuit against Axanar had previously been postponed from September 16.

Prelude director Christian Gossett.

See also: Plaintiffs: Peters Withheld Trove of Email

Lawyers from Loeb & Loeb informed Gossett his deposition would be rescheduled to October. Gossett did not say whether the attorneys gave a reason for the delay.

Gossett, who left Axanar in May 2015 after a dispute with producer and defendant Alec Peters has become an outspoken critic of Peters’ management.

See also: Former Axanar Officer Served with Subpoena

Gossett’s subpoena is the second to become public, following the one served to former Axanar chief technologist Terry McIntosh. Both subpoenas were for depositions to be led by the studios’ lawyers from Loeb & Loeb.

Terry McIntosh

McIntosh Deposition Postponed Again

Former Axanar CTO Terry McIntosh said October 7, 2016, that he asked for his deposition, now to be conducted in Seattle, to be moved to October 28, after an earlier amended subpoena had rescheduled it to October 14:

Since I’m rather looking forward to participating in the process, and have already collected the majority of the requested materials that I’ll be submitting for review — over 3TB worth, so far, and I’m still gathering — this makes things more manageable.1)

McIntosh had earlier protested he would not travel to Los Angeles at his own expense for the deposition.2)

Represented by Axanar Attorney?

In a curious development, Axanar defense attorney Erin Ranahan appeared to be reaching out to witnesses being deposed by Loeb to offer her services at depositions. McIntosh revealed she had phoned him September 13 with the offer:

I was contacted by the counsel for the defense, Erin Ranahan — very nice lady — and she offered to represent me, as an individual, pro bono at the deposition. I accepted. I very likely also will have additional counsel present, at my expense, which is my right, too.3)

McIntosh later turned down the offer after his own counsel expressed concerns.

Meanwhile, Gossett disclosed to AxaMonitor that Ranahan had contacted him as well, but on his attorney’s advice did not return the call. He planned to have his own counsel at the deposition that was to be held at Loeb’s California office.

According to court documents, Ranahan represented Axanar director Robert Meyer Burnett, co-writer Bill Hunt and fulfillment director Diana Kingsbury.

CURIOUSLY, Axanar attorney Erin Ranahan, of the firm Winston & Strawn, represented several Axanar figures who were to be deposed by the plaintiffs attorneys from Loeb & Loeb.

Conflict of Interest

Legal observers were surprised by Ranahan’s offer since it carries the possibility of a conflict between McIntosh’s interests and those of defendants she represents in the same case, Peters and Axanar Productions. The American Bar Association defines such a conflict like this:

According to the Restatement of the Law Governing Lawyers, a conflict of interest exists “if there is a substantial risk that the lawyer’s representation of the client would be materially and adversely affected by the lawyer’s own interests or by the lawyer’s duties to another current client, a former client, or a third person.”4)

Though the defense is already allowed to observe depositions, formally representing McIntosh gives Ranahan the opportunity to object on the record to questions asked of him. The admissibility of testimony objected to by Ranahan is ruled upon later by Judge R. Gary Klausner.

Phone calls to Ranahan’s office by AxaMonitor for comment were not returned.

Terms of the Subpoena

Gossett’s subpoena requires him to testify and to submit a wide variety of documents and communications in his possession, including relevant social media postings, texts and private messages. The lengthy list of items requested in the subpoena may provide clues as to avenues the plaintiffs may pursue in the case.

Axanar, Prelude and the Axanar Works
To avoid confusion, the generic term Axanar in this article refers to what the subpoena describes as “the Axanar Works,” which encompass both Prelude to Axanar and Axanar. Specific references to the feature film by itself use the italicized title, Axanar.

Documents, Records Sought

In the subpoena, the plaintiffs specifically sought:

The plaintiffs seek all records, communication and business plans about the studio Alec Peters built with donor funds.

Persons of Interest

The subpoena identified specific individuals in which plaintiffs sought Gossett’s Axanar-related communications, including:

Of the two subpoenas so far made public, Serafine appeared only in Gossett’s. His name did not appear on Terry McIntosh's subpoena.

Keywords

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1)
Terry Mcintosh post, CBS/Paramount vs. Axanar Facebook group, 10/7/16.
2)
Terry McIntosh post, CBS/Paramount vs. Axanar Facebook group, 9/2/16.
3)
Terry McIntosh post, CBS/Paramount vs. Axanar Facebook group, 9/13/16.
4)
Ellen Yankiver Suni, "Conflicts of Interest," GPSolo Magazine, American Bar Association, October-November 2005.
5)
Alec Peters, Captain's Log, Axanar Productions website, 5/7/16.