AxaMonitor

AXACON ADVENTURES In a November 11, 2018, interview on Alpha Waves Radio, AxaMonitor editor Carlos Pedraza recounts his experiences trying to cover Axacon, Axanar’s fan convention, from which he was barred before invited to sit in on a trivia contest. Read more » (Filed 2/9/19)

BETA TESTING has begun, finally giving the troubled Ares Digital 3.0 a launch timeline. Axanar producer Alec Peters predicts launch by end of February. That timeline puts wheels in motion to begin to raise the $200,000 needed for the Axanar short films fans have been waiting years for. Read more » (Filed 2/11/19)

POKEY PATREON In the face of his lagging Patreon, Axanar producer Alec Peters concedes giving up his current warehouse “is the right move,” and is preparing for a move to a much smaller facility nearby to house Axanar and Ares Studios. Read more » (Filed 2/9/19)

DOUBLE DUTY Axanar’s future depends entirely on the troubled software platform, Ares Digital. Its version 3.0b is in public beta testing, and producer Alec Peters says the software will have to manage delivering donor perks and raising money for Axanar. Read more » (Filed 2/8/19)

SOUND AND FURY Bile, bluster and vulgarity on display on Axanar: Confidential results in a short-lived boost to Alec Peters’ flagging Patreon campaign, as new donors and pledges crawl to a halt. Meanwhile, Peter is on track for losing his large “Ares Studios” warehouse in favor of a fan-funded smaller warehouse nearby. Read more » (Filed 2/8/19)

DENOUNCING DETRACTORS PAYS OFF Axanar producer Alec Peters and blogger Jonathan Lane discover bashing “irrelevant” critics sparks an uptick in their moribund effort to keep the warehouse they call Ares Studios. Plus, Axanar’s pricetag goes up even as the films’ delivery moves further away. Read more » (Filed 2/5/19)

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST Axanar Public Relations Director Mike Bawden resigned weeks ago amid litigation threatened by producer Alec Peters against the film’s former director, Robert Meyer Burnett. As is his habit, Peters chose to not disclose this latest departure of key personnel to donors. Read more » (Filed 2/2/19)

PATIENCE FOR PATCHES In his latest Axanar Production Update, producer Alec Peters reveals there’s still several hurdles to jump over before Axanar can go into production; he won’t be raising any money to make the short films until he first delivers Indiegogo contributors the patches they ordered four years ago. Read more » (Filed 1/31/19)

CBS RELAXES GUIDELINES After months of reworking following a brush with CBS over violating its fan film guidelines, British fan film Temporal Anomaly finally debuts, attracting notice for its 51-minute running time thanks to dispensation by Star Trek’s owner. Read more » (Filed 2/3/19)

GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS Jonathan Lane tries to buck up sullen Axanar supporters asked to donate to Alec Peters’ Patreon to keep Ares Studios afloat. Meanwhile, the campaign has slowed dramatically since it launched. Read more » (Filed 1/28/19)

DOESN’T ADD UP Contradictions continue to crop up in Axanar producer Alec Peters’ explanation for how Other World Computing came to end its sponsorship of the Georgia warehouse he’s dubbed Ares Studios. The inconsistencies come amid a slowdown in pledges to the Patreon that Peters is counting on to keep his warehouse afloat. Read more » (Filed 1/27/19)

PLANNING FOR THE WORST? Just when did OWC pull out of supporting Alec Peters’ Georgia studio? What’s threatening the Ares Studios Patreon effort to raise $4,000 a month for the rent? And guess whose warehouse is already listed as available for lease? Read more » (Filed 1/21/19)

PATREON PLEA Having lost his corporate sponsorship from Other World Computing, Axanar producer Alec Peters is making a $4,000 a month funding plea on Patreon to keep his Georgia warehouse afloat as he works to establish the facility as a working studio. Read more » (Filed 1/19/19)

CONTRADICTION After a Star Trek writer was named as a potential link between the Tardigrades videogame on the Steam platform in 2015 and Discovery, AxaMonitor has found records showing the writer wasn’t a member of Steam at the time. Read more » (Filed 1/16/19)

FIRST HURDLE Before the case can move forward, the federal judge in the copyright infringement case by Tardigrades developer Anas Abdin challenged his lawyers to come up with evidence that the creators of Star Trek: Discovery had ever seen his plans for the unpublished game. Read more » (Filed 1/8/19)

UPDATE THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM? Tardigrade lawyers signal they’re preparing to file a third amended legal complaint in the copyright lawsuit against Star Trek: Discovery after CBS attorneys sought to meet with the judge to lay out their grounds for dismissing the case. Read more » (Filed 12/5/18)

BATTLE OF THE BLOGGERS Trekzone’s Matt Miller and Fan Film Factor’s Jonathan Lane square off in the first of three hour-long podcasts. We sum up and analyze their first debate on the impact and history of Axanar. Read more » (Filed 12/12/18)

SECOND DEBATE focuses on AxaMonitor as the cause for Star Trek fans’ rift. Plus, a defense of the Axanar lawsuit. Read more » (Filed 12/18/18)

FUNDAMENTAL FLAWS in the Tardigrades copyright case against Star Trek: Discovery warrant dismissal, argues a CBS/Netflix attorney. Read more » (Filed 12/5/18)

DESTROYING DISCOVERY: The latest on the Tardigrades copyright lawsuit against CBS and Netflix. The game developer suing over Star Trek: Discovery wants all the profits and every copy destroyed, and a federal judge approves a 30-day extension for the networks to respond to the suit. Read more » (Filed 10/31/18)

OPEN RECORDS CLOSED TO CRITICS Responding to continued calls for accountability, OWC Studios head Alec Peters says only Axanar supporters get to examine the ill-fated fan film’s financial records as part of Axacon — but only for two hours. Meanwhile, critics will continue to be shut out, despite offers to pay for an independent audit. Also, read the advice Peters has gotten about how to silence critics. Read more » (Updated 10/30/18)

ANOTHER LAWSUIT OWC Studios head and Axanar producer Alec Peters is being sued for defamation by a Las Vegas prop dealer after he threatened legal action over the disputed sale of the Enterprise-E model. The suit seeks at least $15,000 in damages after Peters allegedly threatened the company for a commission he says he’s owed. Read more » (Filed 10/11/18)

FANS SHUT DOWN Why did CBS issue a cease-and-desist letter to Stage 9, a fan-produced re-creation of the Enterprise D from Star Trek: The Next Generation? A guest analysis by Treksphere offers possible answers, as well as an explanation from the project’s leader, Rob Bryan. Read more » (Filed 9/29/18)

TICKETS SLASHED Faced with Axanar fans’ ticket price complaints, sluggish sales and thousands of dollars in losses, OWC Studios head Alec Peters announced a 40-percent cut in Axacon’s cost of entry in November, the brunt of which hurts proceeds intended for the event’s host, SphinxCon. Meanwhile, Peters can’t commit to whether the bridge set he’s spending thousands more to complete in time for the con will even appear in Axanar Lite. Read more » (Updated 9/26/18)

ROCKY START CBS has been sued by an indie videogame developer who alleges Star Trek: Discovery “willfully and maliciously” stole key features of his videogame, including a space-hopping tardigrade. Read more » (Filed 8/22/18)

UPDATED A STEEP HILL Progress in the $25,000 GoFundMe campaign to raise money for legal expenses in the Dr. Seuss-Star Trek copyright and trademark suit has slowed significantly in its two months. Seuss Enterprises is suing ComicMix and Trek writer/Axanar supporter David Gerrold. Read more » (Filed 6/22/18)

DÉJÀ VU all over again? An ambitious new Star Wars fan film makes an Axanar-like Kickstarter pitch, leading some fans to see disturbing parallels, including how the two projects eschewed the Fan Film label in their crowdfunding appeals. Has the Axanar lawsuit affected donors’ willingness to fund such efforts? Read more » (Filed 7/8/18 )

FAMILIAR AXA-NAMES are among the corporate officers and business partners of The Federal Coffee House outside Atlanta, including the creator of the ill-fated Axanar Coffee. How might OWC Studios head Alec Peters be connected to this new company? Read more » (Filed 7/8/18 )

ASKING FOR TROUBLE? Kickstarter campaign launches for a nearly 200-page, fan-published ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ book. In the wake of the Axanar lawsuit, fans wonder if CBS will clamp down on this publishing project. Read more » (Filed 7/7/18)

LACK OF SUPPORT Just as in Axanar’s failed 2017 Indiegogo campaign to save its beleaguered studio, a poll of its staunchest fans reveals little desire for a monthly subscription to pay for Axanar Lite’s production. Read more » (Filed 6/21/18)

AXACON LIVES Axanar plans to piggyback its fan convention atop the non-Trek related SphinxCon in Atlanta in November 2018, scrambling to get its unfinished bridge set ready in time. Read more » (Filed 6/19/18)

SKIN IN THE GAME A reader wonders about the motivation behind AxaMonitor. Editor Carlos Pedraza answers the criticism, providing an overview of Axanar’s lack of accountability and its treatment of now-former supporters who questioned OWC Studios head Alec Peters’ narrative justifying why $1.7 million later Axanar has yet to be made. Read more » (Filed 5/2/18)

THIRTY DAYS OUT Axanar was famously purported only a month out from production before the CBS/Paramount copyright lawsuit hit. The dubiousness of the claim was first recorded in OWC Studios head Alec Peters’ infamous interview with the TrekZone Spotlight two years ago. Watch this two-year retrospective by AxaMonitor and TrekZone. Watch now » (Filed 4/27/18)

CBS RELENTS, allowing fan production Temporal Anomaly to be released in three parts later this year. The movie’s original trailer had at least four instances where producer Samuel Cockings failed to follow CBS’ fan film guidelines. Read more » (Filed 3/31/18)

THE STATE OF AXANAR At a recent con, OWC Studios head Alec Peters stated Prelude to Axanar proved the Hollywood model is broken. Our story fact-checks that and other claims, along with production news for Axanar Lite. Read more » (Filed 3/5/18)

LAWSUIT FOREWARNING Though Axanar has pushed a narrative in which CBS and Paramount’s copyright infringement lawsuit came as a complete surprise, in fact producer Alec Peters had met with CBS officials just prior to CBS’ public statement, issued four months before the suit, warning him of possible legal action. Read more » (Filed 3/31/18)

AWARDS FACTORIES OWC Studios head Alec Peters lambasted other filmmakers for touting their movies’ awards but AxaMonitor‘s analysis of the 47 awards Peters has boasted about for years shows as many as 42 percent of the “festivals” that conferred honors on Prelude to Axanar appeared to be in the business of selling awards. Read more » (Filed 2/5/18)

io9 GOT IT WRONG The pop culture website’s 10-year retrospective got most things about the Axanar/Star Trek copyright lawsuit wrong. Read more » (Filed 1/18/18)

BIGGEST STORIES What are AxaMonitor’s top Axanar stories from 2017? A year after the copyright infringement lawsuit was settled, Axanar was still making news. We count down the past year’s Top 10 stories. Read more » (Filed 1/1/18)

ROSY PICTURE OWC Studios head Alec Peters sent donors an update describing healthy progress toward making the Axanar short films allowed under the CBS-Paramount lawsuit settlement, gliding over the production’s personnel and financial obstacles. A fact-check of Peters’ claims shows otherwise. Read more » (Filed 12/13/17)

PATTERN OF DECEIT? Bill Hunt (right), co-writer of the never-to-be-produced Axanar feature went public with his resignation in November right after its director did, but he actually left the project in July — news Alec Peters kept from donors. It’s something Peters did before with actor Tony Todd’s departure. Read more » (Filed 11/3/17)

TWO DOWN Director Robert Meyer Burnett has resigned from the Axanar film, bringing to an end another chapter in the beleaguered project, leaving it apparently rudderless. Read more » (Filed 11/2/17)

NEW FAN EDIT of Prelude to Axanar has been released by a pseudonymous editor. The first version was taken down by OWC Studios head Alec Peters, who is completely eliminated from the new edit, which also features new visual and sound effects. Read more » (Filed 11/3/17)

MERCHANDISE PULLED Axanar merchandise, including the Prelude to Axanar soundtrack and a variety of patches, suddenly went ‘Out of Stock’ after a report the online seller appeared to have doctored a promotional image. The Author, Author! website scrubbed nearly every reference to Axanar from its product catalog. Read more » (Filed 11/02/17)

HUNDREDS ABANDON Facebook fan groups controlled by OWC Studios head Alec Peters after he posts unsupported and possibly defamatory allegations of stalking and sexual harassment by an Axanar critic. The accusations came a day after AxaMonitor‘s story about Axanar merchandise sales. Read more » (Filed 10/31/17)

ACTOR’S IMAGE USED TO MOVE MERCH Star Trek actor Tony Todd, who left Axanar citing problems with its financial accountability and repeated production delays, complained about a Dragon*Con fan table selling merchandise using his image that could only have come from Alec Peters. Read more » (Filed 9/2/17)

NONPROFIT NO MORE Axanar abandons its effort to become a charitable organization, and its spokesman admits it could “take years” before supporters ever see the promised two, 15-minute Axanar episodes permitted by the lawsuit settlement. Read more » (Filed 9/1/17)

FAN FILM ACADEMY CBS grants New Voyages’ James Cawley a license to operate a training school for people to make Star Trek fan films on his Original Series sets, an unprecedented move that broadens legitimate usage by fans of Star Trek’s copyrighted property. Read more » (Filed 8/5/17)

CAST A PALL ‘Prelude’ actors cast doubt on Alec Peters’ legal threats over blooper reel. And Peters may have lost actor Gary Graham, who reportedly said he now wants to “stay well clear” of Axanar after it threatened the credibility of his career. Read more » (Filed 7/20/17)

DAILY CRITIQUE In this exclusive AxaMonitor interview, meet pseudonymous blogger Kate Stark, who’s behind the insightful scene-by-scene critiques of the leaked Axanar script at “Axanar: The Sporkings.” Read more » (Filed 7/8/17)

AXANAR SCRIPT LEAKED After producer Alec Peters attacked him on Facebook, Axanar’s former chief technologist retaliated by posting a copy of the script that led to the copyright lawsuit. Then the Internet reacted. Read more » (Filed 6/28/17)

CORRECTION AxaMonitor corrects its report on the location of Axanar’s new headquarters, as CEO Alec Peters prepared to leave the unused California studio into which he had poured three-quarters of a million dollars of fans’ money. ALSO: An editorial about being fooled by Peters’ falsehoods. Read more » (Filed 4/26/17)

PULLING UP STAKES Axanar CEO Alec Peters announces he’s moving operations to a new “studio” near Atlanta, his former base of operations. Also, what does the move portend for its nonprofit goals and effort to secure a federal tax exemption? Read more » (Filed 4/18/17)