Avalon Universe: A Star Trek Fan Production 2021
Donation protected
THE AVALON UNIVERSE IS BACK – WITH NEW ADVENTURES AND NEW CHARACTERS!
Since 2018, the Avalon Universe has released SIX high-quality Star Trek fan films. And in that time we have only ever had one other crowdfunding campaign.
Now, it’s time for us to reach out to you, our supporters and fans, for help once again in the form of your generous donations. With these funds, we will be able to complete production on several fan films this year and begin production next year on an exciting new chapter in the Avalon saga: “Crisis On Infinite Excaliburs.”
Yes, this is a crowd-funding campaign for multiple Avalon Universe fan films. The reason is that we consolidate our resources and do things like shooting scenes for multiple productions over the same weekend. In this way, we can keep expenditures for things like equipment rental fees, travel and (when necessary) lodging, food for the cast and crew, make-up and hair supplies, costumes and uniforms, and other items and as low as possible.
We use your donations carefully and frugally, watching our budgets just like any Hollywood production would.
WHAT IS THE AVALON UNIVERSE?
Our fan films are set in the alternate “Avalon Universe,” a parallel Star Trek timeline like the Kelvin-verse or Mirror Universe or the universe where Picard has a full head of hair, Riker plays electric guitar, and Data has a pet dog named Mittens.
Having our own universe to “play” in allows us the unique opportunity to tell stories slightly outside of the established Star Trek canon—with different uniforms, technologies, even aliens—yet still with a familiar Star Trek look and feel.
And the best part is, now that we’ve established our own little “pocket” of the Star Trek multi-verse, we can visit and interact with the other Trek universes whenever we want to. And in fact, that’s just what we plan to do in our upcoming multi-film storyline “Crisis On Infinite Excaliburs”!
This is what we’re trying to fund now. The newest chapter of our saga will see the crew of the USS Excalibur in the Avalon Universe come face-to-face with their Prime Universe and Mirror Universe counterparts, along with many more doppelgängers from across the gamut of science fiction. Our premise makes it possible to tell many interesting stories, and there are several exciting reasons why you should help us make this possible.
WHY YOU SHOULD DONATE
Reason #1: Make Jakande LIVE!
Warren Hawk was a big hit playing Captain Imari Jakande in the recently-released fan film “Interlude,” which has racked up more that 100K views across two YouTube channels since its premiere back in April 2021. But as soon as fans came to love the character, he was gone, making the ultimate sacrifice at the end of the film.
Now, YOU can help bring Jakande back…in the Avalon Universe. Our story will not only feature him alive and well but will revisit his time during the Four Years War, and we will learn how he survived. As a starship captain, Jakande exudes a strong and commanding presence that will lead our characters into the next phase of their adventure.
Warren Hawk LOVES Star Trek and brings a fun and creative energy to the Avalon set. Even behind the scenes, Warren is always making jokes and has a wonderful smile on his face. His hero is Avery Brooks (DS9’s Benjamin Sisko), and Warren feels a tremendous excitement to honor his hero by continuing to portray a noble and bold starship captain.
Reason #2: The Quantity of Our Product
Avalon Universe isn’t a “one-and-done” project. We’re here for the long-term. So if you like our stories and our characters, you know there’s a lot more where that came from! And we’re not afraid to put our own money and resources where our mouth is. We’ve released six (soon to be SEVEN!) top-notch, completed fan films with only one previous crowdfunding campaign. But now we need to “reload” for our next series of releases, and that’s where you come in to help us keep the Avalon Universe going.
Reason #3: The Quality of Our Product
Our goal is to produce the best films we can and always make them better than before. We work hard to focus on every detail—from acting and production design to cinematography and music, visual effects, and most importantly, the story. When you donate to Avalon, you know you’ll be rewarded with some of the highest quality Star Trek fan films being produced today!
Reason #4: Our Cast
The Avalon Universe has always distinguished ourselves by presenting compelling and relatable characters. But without solid performances by our amazing cast members, these wonderful characters would feel flat and uninteresting. But instead, our actors provide performances that ensure that the adventures of these characters are something that fans are invested in.
With our new chapter, “Crisis on Infinite Excaliburs,” we will be bringing back some familiar characters whom our fans have loved in the past. But with a jump forward in our fictional timeline of two and a half years, we are also making room for a crew full of original, new characters. We are so excited about these colorful additions to our cast that will bring an exciting new energy to our films…
Illia “Pixi” Nereid - Lt. Commander Mikaela Allenby
Victoria Archer - Lt. Commander Jamie Archer
Tyler Dunivan - Captain Derek Mason
Warren Hawk - Captain Imari Jakande
Vance Major - Captain Eric Minard
Alec Peters - Admiral Kelvar Garth
Caitlyn Bailey - Commander Dereka Mason (Mason's Prime Universe Doppelgänger)
Reilly Principe - Shruvh (Andorian Helm Officer)
Ashley Wyles - Lt. Lilos (Orion Comm Officer)
And there will also be two other new roles that will soon be filled:
Ahyoka - A Native American starship design expert
Zemok - An alien helmsman from an unknown race.
Reason #5: Our Shooting Locations
One of the reasons that Avalon Universe fan films look so amazing is that we’re blessed to be able to film on not one but two incredibly detailed Star Trek sets recreating the original series.
WARP 66 Studios:
Constructed and operated by Glen Wolfe and Dan Reynolds, WARP 66 is a unique studio that is located in close proximity to our Arkansas-based team. This allows us to save donation dollars that would otherwise be spent for long-distance travel for large production crews. It also keeps costs minimal if we ever need to film reshoots and pick-up scenes, requiring only a few hours drive for our team.
The close working relationship that we have with WARP 66 also gives us the opportunity to customize their sets to create our Avalon Universe look and feel. Additionally, WARP 66 builds custom sets for each of our productions, including an exciting “planet hell” cave set that we will see in our next film.
Neutral Zone Studios:
Neutral Zone contains a full-scale suite of TOS starship sets including the bridge, transporter room, engineering, sickbay, briefing room, captain’s quarters, auxiliary control, a 100 foot-long corridor, and much more! The name may be new, but these incredible and detailed sets are very familiar to the fan film community, having been used to shoot such legendary fan series as “Star Trek Continues” and “Starship Farragut,” among many others. The sets are well worth the trip for us all the way to Kingsland, GA when we need them. Studio owner Ray Tesi and his team played a big role in the success of our very first fan film, “Ghost Ship,” and we are excited to be returning there as we release many more films in the future!
WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?
Travel Expenses - Since our crew comes from many different locations, it costs a lot to bring them in and give them a place to stay while production is ongoing.
Make-up Supplies - The unfortunate deaths of so many characters in previous stories has left the USS Excalibur a “cursed ship” in the eyes of many human Starfleet officers. We therefore intend to show many more alien crew members.
Food - Feeding a hardworking crew becomes expensive fast. And for actors and crew to be at their best, we have to give them high quality fuel.
The Big Things – camera equipment, lights, sound equipment, hard drives to store all of our footage for editing, rental of high-end equipment that is impractical for us to buy, uniforms, set construction materials…all of these things and more cost money for any quality production, and we pride ourselves on being a quality production.
The Little Things - The big things are easy to account for, but all the small stuff—from hair spray and clothing steamers to AA batteries and memory cards—makes a big impact on the budgetary needs of a film.
OUR TEAM BELIEVES IN AVALON UNIVERSE
Why should you believe in Team Avalon? Because Team Avalon believes in our project! One of the most exciting aspects of the next phase of our production is that not only has our cast grown, but our behind-the-scenes production team has grown, as well, with skilled and experienced “new blood” joining our already-impressive ranks! We now have a group of dedicated creatives who are each ready to bring a new energy and new life to the project:
Joshua Irwin - Executive Producer/Director
The creator of Avalon Universe, Josh has been with the project since the beginning. He was the Writer/Director of the first release, “Ghost Ship” (with half a million views on YouTube in less than three years!), and worked as Writer, Director of Photography, and Editor on all the other installments of the Avalon Universe fan films. He will direct the next phase of our saga, returning our stories to a lighthearted and fun adventure story format.
Illia “Pixi” Nereid Executive Producer - Lt. Commander Mikaela Allenby
A life-long Star Trek fan, Illia is named for the character of Lt. Ilia from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. We simply call her “Pixi.” She first appeared on our set working as Production Assistant and Lighting Technician during the filming of “Cosmic Stream.” But it became immediately clear that she was destined for so much more! Her positive energy, or “Pixi Dust” as we call it, lifts up everyone around her, creating an environment where creativity and fun rise to a new level. Pixi will portray Lt. Commander Mikaela Allenby, a Starfleet officer who is always looking for adventure in all the wrong places and will get more than she bargains for when she finally finds it!
Pixi believes in Avalon Universe so much that she funded a large portion of the production of “Agent of New Worlds” (currently in production) herself. Like her, we ask you to believe in us, too!
Glen Wolfe - Producer/ First Assistant Director
Glen is truly the “Where’s Waldo” of Star Trek fan films. You can spot him somewhere in so many releases! He even wears a red and white striped Waldo shirt many times while on set. His experience with fan films is quite extensive. In addition to working with Dan Reynolds to produce their own fan film anthology series “The Federation Files,” Glen has worked on “Star Trek: New Voyages/Phase II,” “Star Trek Continues,” “Pacific 201,” “Star Trek: Secret Voyage,” “Starship Valiant,” “Star Trek: Renegades,” the upcoming “Yorktown: A Time to Heal,” as well as several other high-profile projects. Like others on our team, Glen wears many hats, everything from set design and construction to props, costumes, and so much more.
As a producer, he works hard to help us plan out our shoots. As 1st AD, he spends all day keeping the wheels turning so that our production schedule stays on time.
Neal Bilbe - Director of Photography
A graduate of film school at Full Sail University, Neal is a technical and engineering genius who built a state-of-the-art production studio from the ground up prior to joining our team. Neal and Josh have worked together for many years, and Neal knows and understands the visual style of Avalon Universe, working hard to add a layer of creativity to our new productions.
Samuel Cockings - CG Visual Effects Supervisor
Sam is without a doubt the Guru of CG in Star Trek fan films. He is the genius behind the look of our VFX for the past 3 years and has raised the bar on every project he has worked on. Sam's vision is to created an updated look, that doesn't loose the feel of classic Star Trek. Now with an uncounted number of fan films under his belt, Sam has grown as an artist. Sporting a creative attitude, along with recent breakthroughs in CG technology, expect Sam to bring images we never even thought possible to our fan films.
Adam Mullen - Composer
Adam is one of the most talented people in Fan Films. He is a two time graduate from the School of Music at the University of Oregon, with a MMP agree in Multiple Bass Performance and a BME in Music Education. In addition to creating the new theme music for Avalon Universe, he most recently composed the sound tracks to both of our two most recent films "Air and Darkness" and "Cosmic Stream". Adam has also composed music for other fan films, including creating the amazing theme music for the Constar Chronicles.
Other Team Members:
- Matthew Fujan: Associate Producer
- Aaron McNeil: Unit Production Manager
- Jonathan Lane: Creative Consultant
- Beck Hale: Production Sound Mixer
- Earl Hale: Visual Effects Editor
- Reilly Principe: Production Assistant
WHY DONATE?
Well, we’ll be sure to list your name in our credits with a big THANK YOU above it. But aside from that, the main reason to support our production is because that’s what the heart of Star Trek fandom is all about…those three words that Edith Keeler said to James Kirk: “Let me help.”
Please help us today, and in the months and years to come, we will keep delivering to you some of the best, highest-quality, most compelling, and most fun Star Trek fan films that you would ever want to see!
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
Seriously, we totally appreciate you reading until the very end of this page (unless you skipped to the bottom), but if we haven’t convinced you to donate by now, we can’t think of anything else to say.
We aren’t offering cool perks like posters and T-shirts and action figures customized to look like you (although those do sound pretty cool!) because 1) we’re being really careful to follow the VCBS fan film guidelines as best we can, and 2) perks cost money to make and to mail out, and we want to spend every donated dollar on production.
Sure, we can create digital assets for download that don’t cost us anything to produce or ship, but we’d rather make those available to every fan who wants one and not exclude anybody just because they can’t afford to back us.
“Star Trek and all related marks, logos and characters are solely owned by CBS Studios Inc. This fan production is not endorsed by, sponsored by, nor affiliated with CBS, Paramount Pictures, or any other Star Trek franchise, and is a non-commercial fan-made film intended for recreational use. No commercial exhibition or distribution is permitted. No alleged independent rights will be asserted against CBS or Paramount Pictures.”
Since 2018, the Avalon Universe has released SIX high-quality Star Trek fan films. And in that time we have only ever had one other crowdfunding campaign.
Now, it’s time for us to reach out to you, our supporters and fans, for help once again in the form of your generous donations. With these funds, we will be able to complete production on several fan films this year and begin production next year on an exciting new chapter in the Avalon saga: “Crisis On Infinite Excaliburs.”
Yes, this is a crowd-funding campaign for multiple Avalon Universe fan films. The reason is that we consolidate our resources and do things like shooting scenes for multiple productions over the same weekend. In this way, we can keep expenditures for things like equipment rental fees, travel and (when necessary) lodging, food for the cast and crew, make-up and hair supplies, costumes and uniforms, and other items and as low as possible.
We use your donations carefully and frugally, watching our budgets just like any Hollywood production would.
WHAT IS THE AVALON UNIVERSE?
Our fan films are set in the alternate “Avalon Universe,” a parallel Star Trek timeline like the Kelvin-verse or Mirror Universe or the universe where Picard has a full head of hair, Riker plays electric guitar, and Data has a pet dog named Mittens.
Having our own universe to “play” in allows us the unique opportunity to tell stories slightly outside of the established Star Trek canon—with different uniforms, technologies, even aliens—yet still with a familiar Star Trek look and feel.
And the best part is, now that we’ve established our own little “pocket” of the Star Trek multi-verse, we can visit and interact with the other Trek universes whenever we want to. And in fact, that’s just what we plan to do in our upcoming multi-film storyline “Crisis On Infinite Excaliburs”!
This is what we’re trying to fund now. The newest chapter of our saga will see the crew of the USS Excalibur in the Avalon Universe come face-to-face with their Prime Universe and Mirror Universe counterparts, along with many more doppelgängers from across the gamut of science fiction. Our premise makes it possible to tell many interesting stories, and there are several exciting reasons why you should help us make this possible.
WHY YOU SHOULD DONATE
Reason #1: Make Jakande LIVE!
Warren Hawk was a big hit playing Captain Imari Jakande in the recently-released fan film “Interlude,” which has racked up more that 100K views across two YouTube channels since its premiere back in April 2021. But as soon as fans came to love the character, he was gone, making the ultimate sacrifice at the end of the film.
Now, YOU can help bring Jakande back…in the Avalon Universe. Our story will not only feature him alive and well but will revisit his time during the Four Years War, and we will learn how he survived. As a starship captain, Jakande exudes a strong and commanding presence that will lead our characters into the next phase of their adventure.
Warren Hawk LOVES Star Trek and brings a fun and creative energy to the Avalon set. Even behind the scenes, Warren is always making jokes and has a wonderful smile on his face. His hero is Avery Brooks (DS9’s Benjamin Sisko), and Warren feels a tremendous excitement to honor his hero by continuing to portray a noble and bold starship captain.
Reason #2: The Quantity of Our Product
Avalon Universe isn’t a “one-and-done” project. We’re here for the long-term. So if you like our stories and our characters, you know there’s a lot more where that came from! And we’re not afraid to put our own money and resources where our mouth is. We’ve released six (soon to be SEVEN!) top-notch, completed fan films with only one previous crowdfunding campaign. But now we need to “reload” for our next series of releases, and that’s where you come in to help us keep the Avalon Universe going.Reason #3: The Quality of Our Product
Our goal is to produce the best films we can and always make them better than before. We work hard to focus on every detail—from acting and production design to cinematography and music, visual effects, and most importantly, the story. When you donate to Avalon, you know you’ll be rewarded with some of the highest quality Star Trek fan films being produced today!
Reason #4: Our Cast
The Avalon Universe has always distinguished ourselves by presenting compelling and relatable characters. But without solid performances by our amazing cast members, these wonderful characters would feel flat and uninteresting. But instead, our actors provide performances that ensure that the adventures of these characters are something that fans are invested in.
With our new chapter, “Crisis on Infinite Excaliburs,” we will be bringing back some familiar characters whom our fans have loved in the past. But with a jump forward in our fictional timeline of two and a half years, we are also making room for a crew full of original, new characters. We are so excited about these colorful additions to our cast that will bring an exciting new energy to our films…
Illia “Pixi” Nereid - Lt. Commander Mikaela Allenby
Victoria Archer - Lt. Commander Jamie Archer
Tyler Dunivan - Captain Derek Mason
Warren Hawk - Captain Imari Jakande
Vance Major - Captain Eric Minard
Alec Peters - Admiral Kelvar Garth
Caitlyn Bailey - Commander Dereka Mason (Mason's Prime Universe Doppelgänger)
Reilly Principe - Shruvh (Andorian Helm Officer)
Ashley Wyles - Lt. Lilos (Orion Comm Officer)
And there will also be two other new roles that will soon be filled:
Ahyoka - A Native American starship design expert
Zemok - An alien helmsman from an unknown race.
Reason #5: Our Shooting Locations
One of the reasons that Avalon Universe fan films look so amazing is that we’re blessed to be able to film on not one but two incredibly detailed Star Trek sets recreating the original series.
WARP 66 Studios:
Constructed and operated by Glen Wolfe and Dan Reynolds, WARP 66 is a unique studio that is located in close proximity to our Arkansas-based team. This allows us to save donation dollars that would otherwise be spent for long-distance travel for large production crews. It also keeps costs minimal if we ever need to film reshoots and pick-up scenes, requiring only a few hours drive for our team.
The close working relationship that we have with WARP 66 also gives us the opportunity to customize their sets to create our Avalon Universe look and feel. Additionally, WARP 66 builds custom sets for each of our productions, including an exciting “planet hell” cave set that we will see in our next film.
Neutral Zone Studios:
Neutral Zone contains a full-scale suite of TOS starship sets including the bridge, transporter room, engineering, sickbay, briefing room, captain’s quarters, auxiliary control, a 100 foot-long corridor, and much more! The name may be new, but these incredible and detailed sets are very familiar to the fan film community, having been used to shoot such legendary fan series as “Star Trek Continues” and “Starship Farragut,” among many others. The sets are well worth the trip for us all the way to Kingsland, GA when we need them. Studio owner Ray Tesi and his team played a big role in the success of our very first fan film, “Ghost Ship,” and we are excited to be returning there as we release many more films in the future!
WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?
Travel Expenses - Since our crew comes from many different locations, it costs a lot to bring them in and give them a place to stay while production is ongoing.
Make-up Supplies - The unfortunate deaths of so many characters in previous stories has left the USS Excalibur a “cursed ship” in the eyes of many human Starfleet officers. We therefore intend to show many more alien crew members.
Food - Feeding a hardworking crew becomes expensive fast. And for actors and crew to be at their best, we have to give them high quality fuel.
The Big Things – camera equipment, lights, sound equipment, hard drives to store all of our footage for editing, rental of high-end equipment that is impractical for us to buy, uniforms, set construction materials…all of these things and more cost money for any quality production, and we pride ourselves on being a quality production.
The Little Things - The big things are easy to account for, but all the small stuff—from hair spray and clothing steamers to AA batteries and memory cards—makes a big impact on the budgetary needs of a film.
OUR TEAM BELIEVES IN AVALON UNIVERSE
Why should you believe in Team Avalon? Because Team Avalon believes in our project! One of the most exciting aspects of the next phase of our production is that not only has our cast grown, but our behind-the-scenes production team has grown, as well, with skilled and experienced “new blood” joining our already-impressive ranks! We now have a group of dedicated creatives who are each ready to bring a new energy and new life to the project: Joshua Irwin - Executive Producer/Director
The creator of Avalon Universe, Josh has been with the project since the beginning. He was the Writer/Director of the first release, “Ghost Ship” (with half a million views on YouTube in less than three years!), and worked as Writer, Director of Photography, and Editor on all the other installments of the Avalon Universe fan films. He will direct the next phase of our saga, returning our stories to a lighthearted and fun adventure story format. Illia “Pixi” Nereid Executive Producer - Lt. Commander Mikaela Allenby
A life-long Star Trek fan, Illia is named for the character of Lt. Ilia from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. We simply call her “Pixi.” She first appeared on our set working as Production Assistant and Lighting Technician during the filming of “Cosmic Stream.” But it became immediately clear that she was destined for so much more! Her positive energy, or “Pixi Dust” as we call it, lifts up everyone around her, creating an environment where creativity and fun rise to a new level. Pixi will portray Lt. Commander Mikaela Allenby, a Starfleet officer who is always looking for adventure in all the wrong places and will get more than she bargains for when she finally finds it!Pixi believes in Avalon Universe so much that she funded a large portion of the production of “Agent of New Worlds” (currently in production) herself. Like her, we ask you to believe in us, too!
Glen Wolfe - Producer/ First Assistant Director
Glen is truly the “Where’s Waldo” of Star Trek fan films. You can spot him somewhere in so many releases! He even wears a red and white striped Waldo shirt many times while on set. His experience with fan films is quite extensive. In addition to working with Dan Reynolds to produce their own fan film anthology series “The Federation Files,” Glen has worked on “Star Trek: New Voyages/Phase II,” “Star Trek Continues,” “Pacific 201,” “Star Trek: Secret Voyage,” “Starship Valiant,” “Star Trek: Renegades,” the upcoming “Yorktown: A Time to Heal,” as well as several other high-profile projects. Like others on our team, Glen wears many hats, everything from set design and construction to props, costumes, and so much more. As a producer, he works hard to help us plan out our shoots. As 1st AD, he spends all day keeping the wheels turning so that our production schedule stays on time.
Neal Bilbe - Director of Photography
A graduate of film school at Full Sail University, Neal is a technical and engineering genius who built a state-of-the-art production studio from the ground up prior to joining our team. Neal and Josh have worked together for many years, and Neal knows and understands the visual style of Avalon Universe, working hard to add a layer of creativity to our new productions. Samuel Cockings - CG Visual Effects Supervisor
Sam is without a doubt the Guru of CG in Star Trek fan films. He is the genius behind the look of our VFX for the past 3 years and has raised the bar on every project he has worked on. Sam's vision is to created an updated look, that doesn't loose the feel of classic Star Trek. Now with an uncounted number of fan films under his belt, Sam has grown as an artist. Sporting a creative attitude, along with recent breakthroughs in CG technology, expect Sam to bring images we never even thought possible to our fan films. Adam Mullen - Composer
Adam is one of the most talented people in Fan Films. He is a two time graduate from the School of Music at the University of Oregon, with a MMP agree in Multiple Bass Performance and a BME in Music Education. In addition to creating the new theme music for Avalon Universe, he most recently composed the sound tracks to both of our two most recent films "Air and Darkness" and "Cosmic Stream". Adam has also composed music for other fan films, including creating the amazing theme music for the Constar Chronicles.Other Team Members:
- Matthew Fujan: Associate Producer
- Aaron McNeil: Unit Production Manager
- Jonathan Lane: Creative Consultant
- Beck Hale: Production Sound Mixer
- Earl Hale: Visual Effects Editor
- Reilly Principe: Production Assistant
WHY DONATE?
Well, we’ll be sure to list your name in our credits with a big THANK YOU above it. But aside from that, the main reason to support our production is because that’s what the heart of Star Trek fandom is all about…those three words that Edith Keeler said to James Kirk: “Let me help.”
Please help us today, and in the months and years to come, we will keep delivering to you some of the best, highest-quality, most compelling, and most fun Star Trek fan films that you would ever want to see!
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
Seriously, we totally appreciate you reading until the very end of this page (unless you skipped to the bottom), but if we haven’t convinced you to donate by now, we can’t think of anything else to say.
We aren’t offering cool perks like posters and T-shirts and action figures customized to look like you (although those do sound pretty cool!) because 1) we’re being really careful to follow the VCBS fan film guidelines as best we can, and 2) perks cost money to make and to mail out, and we want to spend every donated dollar on production.
Sure, we can create digital assets for download that don’t cost us anything to produce or ship, but we’d rather make those available to every fan who wants one and not exclude anybody just because they can’t afford to back us.
“Star Trek and all related marks, logos and characters are solely owned by CBS Studios Inc. This fan production is not endorsed by, sponsored by, nor affiliated with CBS, Paramount Pictures, or any other Star Trek franchise, and is a non-commercial fan-made film intended for recreational use. No commercial exhibition or distribution is permitted. No alleged independent rights will be asserted against CBS or Paramount Pictures.”
Organizer
Joshua Michael Irwin
Organizer
Bentonville, AR