'Starship Exeter' beams into Austin Studios

By Joe O'Connell
Special to the American-Statesman

Posted: June 4, 2004


Mike Judge's big-budget comedy continues to crowd three hangars at
Austin Studios, but next month the fourth will be crawling with "Star
Trek" fans gone out of control.

"Starship Exeter" has set a July start date to film the second and part
of a third episode of its ongoing fan films. Think bright and shiny
1960s "Star Trek," not the later drabber versions, says Jimm Johnson,
who with his brother Josh started reworking the old show with new
characters and new plots in late 1995.

"The 1960s 'Star Trek' was more interesting and unique in its vision of
the future than any of the follow-ups or even any of the science fiction
that came after," says Johnson, a stay-at-home dad who works on the
project at night. "The others were too dark."

The first film, "The Savage Empire," came together in 2002 when the
brothers moved to Austin, hooked up with Joel Sarchet and played with
Final Cut Pro software on a Mac to splice together 30 minutes of
footage. They decided it wasn't enough — they filmed fight scenes in
Pease Park, and some green screen shots of the ship in their back yard.

Because Paramount owns the "Star Trek" concept, they can hold no hopes
of theatrical or in-store sales. Instead, a making-of movie is given out
for donations through the Web site Exeterstudio.com. The first film can
be viewed at homepage.mac.com/starshipexeter/.

With about $7,500 in cash, they are setting out to make "The Tressaurian
Intersection" and "The Atlantis Invaders" with miniature work from
Thomas Sasser — an Alabaman who designed the latest "Star Trek" model
kit — a touch of computer-generated animation and a lot of help from a
large group of writers and crew.

Sarchet, who is in charge of set design and construction, is puzzling
over re-creating the original 1960s ship's bridge through repeated
viewings of the show. And they're still seeking a creative effects
artist.

Why do a film that will only end up on the Internet? Why not?, Johnson
says.

"I don't think this is something I'll do for the rest of my life, but
it's a fun thing to do for now," he says.

And he's not alone. With the advent of video and computer editing,
anyone can be a self-made Robert Rodriquez, and many are making fans
films in honor of "Star Trek," "Star Wars" and even "The Matrix."

Austin Studios as part of its mission tries to bring in smaller projects
like "Exeter," says Suzanne Quinn, Austin Studios director.

"That's what keeps our industry vital," Quinn says.

Wag the dog: When "Exeter" closes shop in August, the team behind the
television pilot "Poodle Dog Lounge" will take up residence. Writer
Bonnie Orr calls the one-hour drama a mix of "Cheers," "The Sopranos"
and "Northern Exposure," about an ordinary place where extraordinary
things happen. And, yes, it is based on the real Poodle Dog on Burnet
Road.


Filmmakers will have a battle of the bands June 20 at Red's Scoot Inn to
find a local music group that will perform in the pilot.

Casting call: Benicio Del Toro and Clive Owen are set to join Brittany
Murphy in the last of three story arcs, "The Big Fat Kill," in Robert
Rodriguez's adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel "Sin City," now
lensing here. Quentin Tarantino is now expected to direct only one scene
of the final story, spending no more than a day on the green-screen set.

Joining Luke Wilson on the set of Judge's futuristic and nameless comedy
now shooting in Austin is Sara Rue (television's "Less Than Perfect").
She was last in town in '98 to film "A Slipping-Down Life." This time
she plays the attorney general. Terry Crews ("Starsky & Hutch") is the
future president of the United States. Judge is said to be very involved
in selection of background extras to fit the film's homogenized,
dumbed-down future.

Good news, bad news: Yes, Austin-shot pilot "Jack and Bobby" was picked
up by the WB, and Dallas-shot pilot "HUB" got the thumbs-up from NBC for
its fall schedule. But both series will be shot in Los Angeles, with the
latter renamed "LAX."

Texas, their Texas: CBS telepic "Suburban Madness" stars Sela Ward and
Elizabeth Peña and tells of the Houston woman who ran over her cheating
husband with her car. Filming is under way in, gulp, Toronto.

Filming in California is "Only the Brave," the World War II tale of a
Japanese American regiment that fought through German lines in France to
save 211 soldiers from the Texas 141st.

Arizona, our Texas: Paramount Pictures has signed on for "A Rhinestone
Alibi," about a Texas college student who provides friends with alibis
for a fee. It's based on the true story of a University of Arizona
student in the 1980s. No word on a filming locale.

Austin stories: "Master of the Game," the Austin Studios-shot feature
that took the audience award at the 2002 Austin Film Festival, has been
picked up for theatrical distribution by Sunn Classic Pictures. . . . UT
film grad Scott Rice is a double finalist in the Student Academy Awards
competition for his documentary "The Adventures of Mad Matt" and his
feature "Perils in Nude Modeling." . . . Austin joins London and New
York as the only cities to have two Guggenheim fellows in the same
category. Congrats to Ellen Spiro and Mitko Panov for their filmmaking
nods. . . . Kingsly Martin directs "Faith and Bullets," a one-location
film that started shooting this week locally. It's the tale of a
suicidal divorce lawyer who takes a door-to-door evangelist hostage. . .
. Gary Walker of TexFX reports that the Austin visual effects studio
recently worked on three episodes of Stephen King's "Kingdom Hospital"
before it was canceled. . . . Austin rapper Smokey Smoke is planning to
shoot and star in "Makin' Da Paper Stack," about a street hustler trying
to make it big. . . . The Austin Film Society is upping the ante on its
Texas Filmmakers' Production Fund by $10,000 this year to a cool
$75,000. Since 1996, the fund has given $403,000 to 140 projects. That
includes Jacob Vaughan and Bryan Poyser's "Dear Pillow," which was
recently named best feature at the Boston Underground Film Festival and
screens later this month at the Atlanta Film Festival after showings in
March at South by Southwest.

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