Today, Ira Steven Behr launched his Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine documentary we’ve been hearing about since last summer.
Adam Nimoy, who did such a beautiful job with For the Love of Spock, is directing, Behr is producing, and the finished doc will feature interviews from the main cast as well as guest stars, behind-the-scenes production people, and a gathering of five of the writers who talk about what they’d do if DS9 had an eighth season.
Cast members Terry Farrell, Nana Visitor, Armin Shimerman, Max Grodénchik, Casey Biggs, Jeffrey Combs, and Chase Masterson all showed up for the video with Behr to screen a bit of the footage and talk about why they need help from the fans. Costs include everything from post-production to licensing, as every clip from the show they include comes with a price tag.
Fans who signed up for email updates got a sneak peak last night and a chance to be among the first contributors to the campaign, with perks ranging from DVDs, pins, and website mentions to on-screen credits and personal experiences (dinner at Nana Visitor’s! Hang out in Vegas with the whole team! Studio tour from Ira Behr!). To be fair, Behr insisted that the cast cough up a little money to help as well.
Watch the video below, and if you’re interested in helping fund the documentary, head over to the Indiegogo page to learn more about it and check out the perks.
Sweet!
I love DS9. Its my favorite series after TOS. Looking forward to seeing the documentary!
He’s a genius but that blue goatee is horrible.
Agreed. Trademarks are great, but time to let it go. Or at least a salt and pepper — er — blueberries and cream look?
It’s is way too much!
If he went to school at 9.00am like that, he’d not be coming back out at 3pm!
Just from the clips, that doc looks like it’ll be everything I always wanted from a DS9 doc. It’s my favorite of the Trek shows tied with TOS actually I think because for me, it’s the most human of the shows. TOS has the hope of where we could be in the future whereas DS9 felt more like where we would actually be in our future. So much is better while still remaining the same. It dealt with some very powerful real world issues a lot of which tended to lean towards military life (being a single parent and living on a “base” while raising a young child, ptsd, war and its effects on both sides and on both types of people both military and civilian alike, how we handle loss, getting your hands dirty for the sake of “good” and whether or not that changes the “good” that we fight for, how we reconcile who we are with who we’d like to see ourselves as, and the big thing that this show handled more than any other Trek: religion). It was just such a great show and I’ve been wanting to hear more from fans, actors, and writers/creators. I hope this makes it through and is released much sooner than later. Btw, Adam did an AMAZING job with For the Love of Spock. If you haven’t watch it, you should really do yourself a favor and check it out. Should be on Netflix.
Agreed, For The Love Of Spock was absolutely wonderful.
Of course I will help but; Shouldn’t the question be; why didn’t Paramount or CBS do anything like this last year for the 50th Anniversary? After the virtual extravaganza the BBC laid on for Doctor Who’s 50th I expected even more from the Americans (you have a reputation in the UK for doing everything bigger and better) ;0) I was truly stunned to find ——–nothing. Just nothing. It seems they would rather leave it and let us do it ourselves and pay for it too. Just my view, don’t hate me. ;0)
Paramount’s handling of Star Trek’s 50th anniversary was a complete and utter disaster and representative of the current state of the studio and their brand name.
I totally agree. I felt awkward watching “Beyond”. Not one minute of new Star Trek footage on TV for the 50th anniversary. Only some interviews with the stars on german TV: http://www.tele5.de/star-trek-jubilaeum/interviews
The 50th was a mess because its basically two separate companies running Star Trek now and they don’t seem to be on the same page like the Rick Berman things where Star Trek felt like one big family.
I mean you would never know the KT films and Discovery were under the same franchise. Beyond was even odder because that was the film to actually represent the 50th anniversary but Paramount doesn’t have control of TOS and the other shows which people consider is the heart of Star Trek, CBS does. So you had a film, the only real product out there that represented Trek’s 50th but the problem was it never felt connected, at least through marketing, of all the Star Trek that came before it.
So thats why it was so bad, there is no one person in charge anymore. The two studios running Trek almost feel more in competition with each other instead of united. Sadly this is what happens in a corporation when everyone has different agendas.
Uh Rick Berman days I meant.
Comment of the day: Why not do a foundraiser for DS9 HD conversion? Or 4k if we are at it!
That would probably cost at least a hundred times as much money as they are asking for the documentary. Plus you would have to get CBS onboard because they own the rights to the show.
“..every clip from the show..comes with a price tag.”
I never knew that. I would think if you’re doing non-commercial work, or aren’t making money from your prompt, you wouldn’t have to pay to show clips.
The DS9 finale was quite a finale and the journey getting there was full of twists and turns. The dark path that Dukat and Kai Wynn took was something I never expected. The part where Wynn’s personal secretary gets killed and the blood spills on the book and reveals its secrets adds even more ‘darkness’ to the Pa Wraiths. Louise Fletcher is great as Wynn. Another great sci-fi role she plays is as the work obsessed, but driven scientist in ‘Brainstorm.’
Honestly, I expected an ending more like TNG’s with more sci-fi flavor.
I felt badly for the Jake character since he’s pretty much left alone. And that long stretched shot of him gazing out the station window to the end was a sad goodbye.
Then there were the unanswered questions. The obvious being what happens to Sisko. Does he come back as a spirit or normal human. Odo, too. You’d think he’d cure his people in a few years and return back. Garak returns home to find his people exterminated, or so he is led to believe that. I suspect there are a few survivors.
Overall, it was a great way to end the series. You have those dangling questions that are good for discussion groups, but I think to continue a Season 8 would just spoil it. There would always be that group who would not like the direction the show would take with the characters. They pretty much were at their journeys end.
They’re going to be making money from any and all distribution deals they secure, including direct to viewer sales.
I’m not usually one to be critical of networks, but why not offer to give the footage for free in exchange for making it an exclusive on CBS All Access. They DO need more exclusive content…
But “For the Love of Spock” was excellent, so i’m definitely excited about this. Chaos on the Bridge was also great… cool to see so many great Trek documentaries coming our way recently.
Nice! I may have to contribute to this one.
This is great. Maybe they should also crowd source a DS9 remastering project so that maybe we’d actually get one.
I thought For the Love of Spock could have been MUCH better. Spock is a character with so many layers and so much richness, and the documentary was pretty superficial. Except for Adam’s whining about how much his father worked; we got lots of depth about THAT. *rolls eyes*
So I’m not thrilled to see that Adam Nimoy is the director of this new documentary. If you want a director with a Trek affiliation, how about Frakes?
What is people’s obsession with Frakes? He’s a decent director, but he’s never done a documentary. I am fine with Adam Nimoy. For the Love of Spock was a passion project about his father, in the wake of his death, so hard to really fault him for a focus on their relationship.
As for it being superficial, Adam Nimoy mentioned very specifically at the opening of FTLOS that after his dad’s death the focus of the documentary shifted from Spock the character, to Leonard Nimoy, the man.
I also imagine they hired Nimoy not only for his Trek affiliation, but because he’s got a) experience working with documentaries, and b) probably willing to work for next to nothing. They were probably seeking volunteers, or at least someone willing to shoot some footage for free up-front ahead of the indigogo campaign, and be paid contingent on the success of the funds raised.
Adam Nimoy also isn’t that busy, whereas Frakes is an active director, and still even does some voicework for animation these days.
And became a producer on The Librarians last season. Like you said, busy.
I guess you don’t understand what For the Love of Spock was. Yes it started out being a documentary about the character but quickly became a documentary about the man as well from the perspective of his son. It was incredibly moving and spoke to the relationship that father’s have with their sons (in this case a famous father who for a very large group of fans was and always will be this particular character). It’s sad that you have to take shots at a documentary that solely was not a Trek documentary. Make no mistake, this is Ira’s baby. I’m sure it will cover all aspects of DS9 and not stray. I’m sure if you had Frakes directing it, you’d get lots of TNG bits here and there and seeing him be attached to this would take me out of the idea that this is strictly a DS9 focused production. Just my opinion though.
Couldn’t disagree more. Thought it was really beautifully directed. Expected a fan-pleasing film about Spock and instead got a nuanced, poignant, rich documentary about a fascinating man and some insight into Hollywood life–the non-glamorous kind–at the same time. Thought his directing was excellent. It was a very moving film.
How hard is it to write out the word “documentary”? Can we stop shortening words please?
my question is, would you fans like to see DS9 on Blu Ray or have another season if possible of ds9?
I take more seasons!
here too!
Have you read the recent article detailing why DS9/VOY will probably never be released on Blu-Ray? A real shame. But the short of it is, the process to convert those old shows is so high, and too time consuming, for them to do it.
Basically, even TNG was a money-loser because by the time it was finally released (after 5-6 years making it) physical DVD sales were plummeting thanks to streaming.
Still, I think for their “crown jewel” they might be smart to do it anyway, and think of it as a long term investment for HD streaming. At least, that’s my gut emotional side talking…
In the longer term CBS should make the money back on TNG remastering. But it has obviously taken long time. For that reason DS9 and VOY will only likely happen when the tech. to do it is cheap enough and the company can be confident of a good return investment in a reasonanble timeframe.
Look how fast the funding poured in on a single independent documentary. Demonstrates once again how little Paramount/CBS understands the value of it’s customer base.
This kind of comment demonstrates once again how little fans understand how a multi billion dollar company works.
Yeah… mind boggling…
tvnewscheck dot com/article/92273/cbs-stations-revenue-down-11-in-4q
Guess who’s revenue *won’t* be down in 2017…. Ira Steven Behr…
More proof that you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Nice to see this goal achieved so quickly – http://www.io9.gizmodo.com/deep-space-9-fans-donate-150=000-to-documentary-in-les-1792217217
This might be a stupid question, but can someone care to speculate as to why Avery Brooks isn’t involved? Thanks in advance.
There never really was an Avery Brooks.
It was all a dream in the minds of The Prophets.
I feel like he probably just wasn’t involved in this group crowdfunding video but I’m SURE he had to be involved in the actual doc, just as it looks Cirroc was and others. I always love to hear what this cast has to say about their characters and stories. I was binging DS9 over the weekend and episodes like The Visitor, Way of the Warrior, In the Pale Moonlight, Far Beyond the Stars, For the Uniform, Nor the Battle to the Strong, The Siege of AR-558…SO MANY incredible stories from that series that deal with some very serious issues. It really speaks to how good of a show it was and how groundbreaking it was in the family of Trek shows.
The doc is a great idea, but I hope they don’t get tempted to actually do a Season 8. Come-back seasons almost never turn out well. We’ve got the classic-7 seasons of DS9 now, preserved for posterity as in a time capsule. Best to let it be.
I actually gave this some thought, and I think if they were ever to do any kind of sequel/reunion episode, movie or miniseries, it should revolve around a new set of characters, with 3-4 originals in supporting roles.
It could start 20 years later, with Bajor finally getting admittance into the Federation, and Kira, the station’s commander, becoming Ambassador to Bajor. A new commander, a young Starfleet officer, and the current members of the station’s crew (along, say, Doctor Bashir). The thrust of the story could revolve around a new Dominion threat, with Worf commanding the Defiant. Odo could re-appear in the climax of the action, but generally the story would revolve around Kira, Worf, and a new cast of starfleet and bajoran officers.
Because, frankly, i’m not sure I’m really interested in watching aging– and in a few cases elderly– versions of these characters. As good as ST6 was (my favorite of the series), the cast’s age stretched the bounds of fan interest. Some scenes, given their age, were awkward to sit through, but their charisma and our fondness for them kept us as fans interested.
Do the characters on DS9 have the same charisma? I’m not convinced.
The only thing that felt unresolved with DS9 was Sisko. I never liked the idea of him defeating Dukat and then just disappearing to be with The Prophets. I thought we dealt with something similar in The Visitor. Let Sisko be with his family and his newborn. They could tie in a Dominion threat with why he was pulled away. There was, if I remember, training or learning from the Prophets that had to take place at that point. What where they preparing him for? It’d be nice to get some kind of resolution. I felt the same way about Voyager. They needed one episode or at least half of an episode to deal with the crew returning to earth and seeing exactly what that meant for them. So much had changed and after all of the excitement around getting home, I have a feeling being home and figuring out what’s next would be their hardest mission yet. Oh well, just random Trek thoughts for the day. Oh and I thought somewhere that it was said the funding for the doc has reached its goal.
Donated.
DS9 was indeed the best written of all Trek series. I for one would love to see a mini series follow up on CBS ALL Access. If they can get all the returning players, that would be great.
You know what I love about DS9 is the fact that four out of the three actors who showed up in this clip aren’t even series regulars but they were all used so much and given great character arcs they feel just as much as the regular cast. DS9 really was the GOT of Star Trek. Yeah maybe thats going a bit far lol but it did felt that way at times with so many different characters and factions.