Star Trek: Axanar’s Kickstarter hits goal in 14 hours

Star Trek: Axanar’s Kickstarter launched Saturday to raise funds for the planned short film, Prelude to Axanar. They had set the goal at a conservative $10,000. Given that it was a 30-day fundraiser, they expected that they would likely meet their needed numbers during the month.

Little did they know that it would be reached in just 14 hours.

By now, both the $15,000 and $20,000 stretch goals have been met (and that’s just in the first two days).

The Axanar in the title is a reference to the planet at the border of the Federation and Klingon space where the Battle of Axanar (which is mentioned in TOS) takes place. Garth of Izar, the legendary Starfleet captain who was Captain Kirk’s hero, is captain of the USS Ares and is the central figure for both Prelude as well as the forthcoming feature film.

Prelude to Axanar will be a short film that will give a historical look at the events leading up to the Battle of Axanar, the central event of the film Axanar, scheduled to be filmed later this year.  Shot like a History Channel special, Prelude to Axanar will show the central characters giving both a historical and personal account of the war.  How did Starfleet build its fleet?  How did they hold off a Klingon fleet that had been conquering star systems for centuries?  How did Garth of Izar come to be regarded as the greatest Starfleet Captain of his time, and Captain Kirk’s personal hero.

Developed by Alec Peters, the film has brought together an amazing cast, including Richard Hatch, Michael Hogan, JG Hertzler, and Gary Graham. It would seem that Axanar, along with Star Trek Continues and other non-studio projects, have continued to set the bar for the next generation of narrative filmmaking. It had long been the very rare exception that independent/small budget films that weren’t documentary projects could have the level of quality that these are demonstrating. Beyond the quality, the fact that not one but multiple series based on a network-owned property are being allowed to be developed should be an amazing thrill to fans of the original material. In the future there may be more and more opportunities for fandoms to be able to revive, continue, or expound on the shows and universes that they have a passion for (Browncoats, I’m looking at you).

[Star Trek: Axanar Kickstarter Campaign]