Super Geeks 28: Go Boldly Star Trek 50th Celebration


Welcome to Super Geeks Episode 28: Go Boldly
This is a special episode celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek! Join us as we talk about our joy of Trek with special guests.
George and Will and Sunseahl are at the helm with special guests Carlos Pedraza and Adam Ihle joining them. Carlos is a professional writer and the editor of parody/news site Axamonitor. Adam Ihle is a professional artist who designed the Odyssey Class for Star Trek Online.
George introduces our guests and invites them to talk about their experience. Carlos begins with his experience with Star Trek fan series for Star Trek Hidden Frontier. He began simply by submitting a screenplay and moved on to filling the head writer role. Hidden Frontier is a challenge to produce as there is no central studio. Actors film their roles via green screen, allowing people to contribute to the series from across the globe. Writers like Carlos must keep that limitation in mind as they work on each episode.
Carlos continues with his work as a professional producer and director of film. He credits his experience in fan film as the foundation of his career. In addition to film making he talks about the creation and management of Axamonitor, a site focusing on the ongoing lawsuit between CBS and Alec Peters over copywrite infringement.
George turns to Adam Ihle next, asking about his experience in design, art, and his latest projects. Adam begins with a joke for Carlos before continuing on. Five years ago Adam ‘s submission in the Design the Next Enterprise contest was chosen. He describes this as his 15 minutes of fame in Trek Fandom. His Deviantart page is filled with Star Trek and Star Wars artwork but he is much more than that. Adam is a professional artist and works with many production groups.
Originally Adam trained as an effects artist for film and TV in LA. Soon after he graduated he landed a makeup artist gig in New York but was unable to find similar work after that. Next he laments his work in sculpting toys, relating his feelings on seeing his work sitting at the bottom of a bargain bin. That job ended on Sep 11th 2001 when his company went bankrupt in the aftermath. He bounced between jobs across the country including some time with Disney and Universal Studios.
During his time at Universal, Cryptic Studios announced their contest to design the next USS Enterprise for their game, Star Trek Online. Adam decided to enter and created several sketches for the contest and then promptly forgot about it. Winning the contest surprised him at first but he was glad for the instant recognition. He wasn’t glad for the infamy as some loudly responded negatively to his design. This carries on into a discussion on the artistic process, copywrite, and ownership.
Adam and Carlos move into a discussion of collaboration and the necessity of working together in a production. Film and Television production require a degree of collaboration and cooperation unseen in many industries. In some cases the environment may devolve into chaos before righting itself and carrying on normally.
George asks each of the hosts a series of questions: How old were you when you first watched Star Trek? Which series did you start with? Which series is ‘your’ Star Trek?
Will began in the late 70’s with The Original Series weekly reruns at 8 years old when he lived in England. He is fondest of The Original Series because it is the series he grew up with. He enjoys The Next Generation and Deep Space Nice but is not as fond of Voyager and most of Enterprise.
Adam began in 77 at 5 years old with The Original Series. His family was a geeky one and supported his early interests. As a kid he would sit at the TV in the afternoons to watch back to back episodes of Batman followed by Star Trek. He admits that he was more interested in Star Wars at the time. Even now he enjoys TOS most of all.
Sunseahl was in second grade when she first saw Star Trek with TNG’s third season. She enjoys Voyagers most of all thanks to Captain Janeway and the sense of finding yourself in an uncomfortable and alien environment. She was a developing teenager at the time and the theme spoke to her in a deep way.
Carlos saw his first Star Trek at 3 years old with The Corbomite Maneuver and never looked back. He watched consistently and even enjoyed The Animated Series live. He remembers The Theatrical release of The Motion Picture and felt it was slow and self indulgent. Carlos enjoys Trek as a whole but draws inspiration from Deep Space Nine Most of all. The discussion drifts into Enterprise and how elements and history will affect the upcoming Star Trek Discovery series.
Next comes George’s trivia contest, prepared by George and hosted by George. I’ll spare you that in writing, listen to the podcast.

Follow our hosts on Social Media

George Silsby @chooch99a

Sunseahl

Will Holland @intrinsicus

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