Despite ‘No Shenanigans,’ Questions Arise from Review Process

Axanar cinematographer Milton Santiago recused himself January 13, 2017, from the independent financial review committee tasked with examining the beleaguered production’s books after the studios suing producer Alec Peters claimed he spent tens of thousands on personal expenses.

Peters had been under fire for weeks since court documents revealed his spending on such personal expenses as cellphone bills, restaurants, new tires and car maintenance, health insurance and gasoline for his girlfriend’s car.

He appointed “an Independent Financial Review Committee, a group of industry professionals and donors, to review the financials and report back to the entire donor base.”¹⁾

AxaMonitor learned who the committee members were and obtained comments from all three, raising new questions about Axanar’s financials and its avowed transparency. Peters’ messages were provided by a source only by under condition of anonymity.

Milton Santiago Photo/Facebook

Peters had touted the independence and expertise of the committee members, whom he had refused to publicly name until he learned AxaMonitor had communicated with all three earlier in the week. All three were closer to Axanar than the term independent generally implies:

• Santiago was director of photography on Peters’ short film, Prelude to Axanar, and was slated to fill the role in the feature-length followup, Axanar.

  

  

  Kevin Rubio Photo/LinkedIn

  DISCLOSURE Rubio and AxaMonitor‘s Carlos Pedraza collaborated for a short time on the Star Trek New Voyages episode, “Enemy Starfleet,” shot in 2008. Rubio resigned as director of the episode; Pedraza was first assistant director.

• Writer-producer Kevin Rubio was a vocal defender of Axanar. He is well known for his 1997 Star Wars parody fan film, TROOPS. He went on to a career including credits such as Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Ben 10: Omniverse and Power Rangers: Samurai.
• New York-based financial services professional and Broadway producer Cedric Yau, who donated $10,000 directly to Axanar, an amount not included in the funds raised via Kickstarter and Indiegogo.

Cedric Yau Photo/LinkedIn

All three members of the committee responded to AxaMonitor‘s interview requests under the constraints of non-disclosure agreements they had signed with regard to Axanar’s finances.

The formation of the committee was announced on Axanar’s website on November 18, 2015.

Peters went on to describe Santiago’s as “[Axanar’s] amazing director of photography, [who] was to be the third on the committee,” indicating Santiago had recused himself prior to the committee commencing work.

In fact, in private messages obtained by AxaMonitor, Peters described the committee’s work as nearly done when he was pressed for a date when the committee’s report would be released.