Babylon 5 Fan Films

[Republibot 3.0]

Now that B5 is dead, it's annoyed me for a number of years that there are no Babylon 5 Fan Films. Granted, most Fan Films are terrible, and granted they're only-questionably-legal at best (Read: Illegal, but not worth prosecuting or persecuting), but they are kind of fun, there's some vicarious glee that comes from seeing stuff in a universe you already know that you haven't seen before (Particularly if it's well done), and, frankly, given my love for the show I find it more than a little bit unacceptable that Trek and Star Wars get all the love, and my beloved Station gets nothing.

Well, not nothing: Star Wreck: In The Pirkenning *DID* parrody B5, and oh Lord was it fun watching Earthforce whomp on those Starfleet ninnies, but then after that...the sounds of tumbleweeds and crickets. Nothing.

Why should this be? I mean, there's a big unvierse out there that's only scarecely been visited. There's tons of dangling plot threads. There's the whole Drakh Plague thing, the Technomage war, the Telepath war, the Hand, there's lots of stuff to deal with. Sure, the station and Mars have kinda' been done to death, but there's lots of other places to go, right? Lots of places to see, people to meet?

So how come someone hasn't done a Star Trek: Phase 2-styled "Voyages of the Agamemnon" or just picked up where "Legend of the Rangers" left off, or done some other concept?

Anyone got any ideas? Or are there hundreds of 'em, and I'm just somehow missing 'em all?

 

[Jan]

Somebody posted a rumor on a B5 Facebook page recently about some fan films that were supposedly going to be made without JMS' involvement or approval. One of the regulars on the moderated newsgroup posted a question about it to JMS. You can read the entire post here but the bottom line is: Ain't happening. Won't happen because WB owns it and protects its copyrights.

Yeah, Trek has Phase 2 but that's Paramount, not WB. Apples and rutabagas.

Jan

 

[Republibot 3.0]

I recognize that B5 is owned by WB, I totally get that. I also get that fan films are, by their very nature, illegal, so whomever owns it is a little immaterial. Before Paramount decided to embrace the fan films (Very recently), the prosecuted 'em like anyone else did, but they had little effect. If they found out about one in production, they'd shut it down, but there are still dozens of pre-"Tolerane" B5 fan films out there, dating back to the 70s, and varying wildly in quality.

Fox/Lucasfilm attempted to shut down Star Wars fan films for decades, but eventually settled on giving awards (To illegal productions) simply so they could exact some quality control.

Saying "WB doesn't want it to happen" is kinda' like saying "No one will every break in to my house because there are laws against that sort of thing." Well, yeah, there are, but people engaged in criminal acts don't care about the laws, by defnition. Where there's a will, there's a way. Since there's no visible fanfilms (Excepting In The Pirkenning), ergo, there's no desire.

Which brings me back to my original question: Why not?

Thank you for the link, by the way, I hadn't seen it, and it's really interesting!

 

[Jan]

Which brings me back to my original question: Why not?

In large part, I think it may have to do with just how much B5 is one person's vision. Over on another forum I once did a poll and over 50% of respondents said that they wouldn't be interested in Babylon 5 that wasn't by, or at least endorsed by, JMS.

And B5 has a much smaller fan base.

Jan

 

[KoshN]

Now that B5 is dead, it's annoyed me for a number of years that there are no Babylon 5 Fan Films. Granted, most Fan Films are terrible, and granted they're only-questionably-legal at best (Read: Illegal, but not worth prosecuting or persecuting), but they are kind of fun, there's some vicarious glee that comes from seeing stuff in a universe you already know that you haven't seen before (Particularly if it's well done), and, frankly, given my love for the show I find it more than a little bit unacceptable that Trek and Star Wars get all the love, and my beloved Station gets nothing.

Well, not nothing: Star Wreck: In The Pirkenning *DID* parrody B5, and oh Lord was it fun watching Earthforce whomp on those Starfleet ninnies,

Oooh, sounds like something that I'd LOVE to see. :devil: :drool: Yes, I've heard of it and read some things about it online, but I've never SEEN it. Is it available to buy on DVD or is it download only?

...but then after that...the sounds of tumbleweeds and crickets. Nothing.

Yeah, that's the sound I'm all too familiar with as I wait for the Crusade scriptbooks. <chews on rebar and blows bubbles with the steel>

Why should this be? I mean, there's a big unvierse out there that's only scarecely been visited. There's tons of dangling plot threads. There's the whole Drakh Plague thing, the Technomage war, the Telepath war, the Hand, there's lots of stuff to deal with. Sure, the station and Mars have kinda' been done to death, but there's lots of other places to go, right? Lots of places to see, people to meet?

So how come someone hasn't done a Star Trek: Phase 2-styled "Voyages of the Agamemnon"

Because we fear that doing so might nix something Babylon 5 or Crusade related coming out, like a story idea almost prevented one of the B5 episodes from being produced (IIRC "Passing Through Gethsemane")?

....or just picked up where "Legend of the Rangers" left off,

God no!!!

....or done some other concept?

Perhaps we don't consider Babylon 5 dead yet. Rationally, that might be true, but we don't want to bury it yet.

Hope can be a TERRIBLE thing.

 

[B5_Obsessed]

Oooh, sounds like something that I'd LOVE to see. :devil: :drool: Yes, I've heard of it and read some things about it online, but I've never SEEN it. Is it available to buy on DVD or is it download only?

I believe you can buy it on DVD from the guys that made it. The effects are incredbly good and were done on several home pc's connected together (much like the original B5), but in order to sell it on DVD they had to re-do the fx with unofficial ships. So instead of a perfect EA Destroyer, you now have something that looks sort of like an EA Destroyer fighting many ships that look sort of like funhouse mirror versions of Federation ships.

Here's a trailer for the original version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R79JuYdG5KY

 

[Republibot 3.0]

@ Jan: Ok, thank you. That makes more sense. It still doesn't entirely track with me, mind you, I feel like we're overlooking something that I can't quite pin down, but at least that makes a bit more sense to me. (Also, please note that I'm not looking to make a B5 fan film, it's just a glaring omission, and I want to know why it doesn't happen). When I interviewed JMS earlier this year he said >>>I think that by and large, they're happy with where we ended, and are okay to leave it there. If we'd ended the series on a cliffhanger, or been cut off midway, then I think there would be more of an impetus to do more fan fiction and films. But we ended on "full stop," and that makes all the difference.<<<

@ KoshN: (Clever name, by the way!) The downloadable version of "In the Pirkenning" is way better than the purchasable version, and of course it's free. I think they might even be streaming it these days. Check it out here http://www.starwreck.com/

Alas, though hope springs eternal, I do think B5 is dead. We've had three revival attempts, and one failed movie attempt, and JMS is a great big bohonkin' major mojo screenwriter these days who's pretty clearly moved on. I'd love to be proved wrong, I want more, but I really don't think it's gonna' happen.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Alas, though hope springs eternal, I do think B5 is dead. We've had three revival attempts, and one failed movie attempt, and JMS is a great big bohonkin' major mojo screenwriter these days who's pretty clearly moved on. I'd love to be proved wrong, I want more, but I really don't think it's gonna' happen.

What an odd combination -- a scifi fan who's also a realist!

 

[Republibot 3.0]

Yeah, I'm annoyingly iconoclastic that way. <G> Thanks for noticing.

 

[KoshN]

@ KoshN: (Clever name, by the way!)

Caution, yeah but unintentional and a bit regrettable/embarrassing (reminds me of the four panel Far Side cartoon entitled IIRC "How Nature Warns of Danger"). It came to be as a truncation of KoshNaranek, because somebody else on the old scifi.com forums already had KoshNaranek (way back when). I try to use KoshN as my handle everywhere.

The downloadable version of "In the Pirkenning" is way better than the purchasable version,

Sounds like it.

...and of course it's free. I think they might even be streaming it these days. Check it out here http://www.starwreck.com/

I was wanting play it on my portable DVD player, but I'll either have to download it and use it on my new notebook PC instead. That's going to take the place of the current Notebook PC and my portable DVD player. Shopping now. Decisions, decisions.

Alas, though hope springs eternal, I do think B5 is dead.

That's why I said that hope is a TERRIBLE thing. It's like some damned weed that refuses to die.

We've had three revival attempts, and one failed movie attempt, and JMS is a great big bohonkin' major mojo screenwriter these days who's pretty clearly moved on. I'd love to be proved wrong, I want more, but I really don't think it's gonna' happen.

I don't think it's going to happen, either, but pesky hope is still there.

 

[Republibot 3.0]

At this point, I'd settle for a series of crappy new paperbacks with a bit more oversight from JMS. I mean, why not? If you look at Raumpatroille - a german SF show from the early 60s that ran for exactly seven episodes - there've been 145 novels based on the show since it ended, furthering the story!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raumpatrouille_orion

I don't need that many, just a handfull to explain Legend of the Rangers, the Telepath War, the Drakh Plague, and whatever JMS was setting up between the Technomages, and that secret branch of Earthgov that was using shadowtech. And I'd pay through the wazoo for 'em, too, at this point.

 

[Jan]

At this point, I'd settle for a series of crappy new paperbacks with a bit more oversight from JMS. I mean, why not?

(realizing that you may have meant to be rhetorical but...) Money, mostly. First, nobody's looking to publish more B5 books because in today's blockbuster mentality they didn't make enough of it. Second, WB charges a pretty penny to license it and finally, JMS wouldn't come cheap, either.

Have you listened to the Babylon Podcasts where they interviewed JMS, Republibot? It my leave you gnashing your teeth but JMS explains why there's currently no B5 in various forms and the *one* possibility that still exists. Check out http://www.babylonpodcast.com/ and look for shows 161 & 162.

Jan

 

[Republibot 3.0]

Eh. By accident or design, "KoshN" is still pretty clever.

 

[KoshN]

At this point, I'd settle for a series of crappy new paperbacks with a bit more oversight from JMS. I mean, why not?

(realizing that you may have meant to be rhetorical but...) Money, mostly. First, nobody's looking to publish more B5 books because in today's blockbuster mentality they didn't make enough of it. Second, WB charges a pretty penny to license it and finally, JMS wouldn't come cheap, either.

Have you listened to the Babylon Podcasts where they interviewed JMS, Republibot? It my leave you gnashing your teeth but JMS explains why there's currently no B5 in various forms and the *one* possibility that still exists. Check out http://www.babylonpodcast.com/ and look for shows 161 & 162.

Jan

I hate to ask this, but is there any way I could get a Cliff Notes version of what you're referring to in shows 161 & 162? As you know, I'm on lowly dialup :alienblush: , and my download of #161 konked out (ISP terminated the connection.) at 36MB of 60MB. It said it'd take 13 hrs. to DL, so I started it last night, and went to sleep. I figured it'd let me down, but thought what the hell, give it a try. Now, I'm going to install GetRight (something I used to use on the laptop when I used it for the internet, but not the desktop where I tried to DL #161.) to allow a resuming of a DL after losing the conection.

 

[Jan]

I don't think it's anything you don't already know, Mac. Basically he recapped how the different divisions of WB are constantly in competition with each other and how they'd rather go after blockbusters than make the effort to do anything that won't be one.

As for the one hope for anything, it's that JMS owns the feature film rights so whenever he comes up with a story he really burns to tell in the B5 universe, if WB doesn't want to do it he can take it to any other studio he wants to. I don't know if he has to give them first chance at it or not (but I wouldn't be surprised).

Jan

 

[KoshN]

I don't think it's anything you don't already know, Mac. Basically he recapped how the different divisions of WB are constantly in competition with each other and how they'd rather go after blockbusters than make the effort to do anything that won't be one.

As for the one hope for anything, it's that JMS owns the feature film rights so whenever he comes up with a story he really burns to tell in the B5 universe, if WB doesn't want to do it he can take it to any other studio he wants to. I don't know if he has to give them first chance at it or not (but I wouldn't be surprised).

Jan

Thanks! That saves me two ginormous DLs. Whew!

 

[Jan]

If you can, you might want to consider trying to get them anyway. JMS explains it much better and with more personality.

Jan

 

[Republibot 3.0]

Jan,

Thanks. Actually, I hadn't heard that. Pretty fascinating. I knew that WB runs pretty much by interdepartmental competition, and I knew that was pretty much the lion's share of B5's demise, but I didn't know about the movie rights. So assuming my Time Machine doesn't work, and I can't go back to 1999 and change history, it's nice to know there's still one dimly flickering candle of hope in the dark, ugly coal mine of reality. <G>

If anyone's interested, my site just posted an interview with Clive Young, author of "Homemade Hollywood" in which he addresses (Albeit very breifly) why there aren't any B5 fan films, but why there's more likely to be a B5 fanfilm than a Road Warrior fanfilm. He also talks a bit about the subculture. http://www.republibot.com/content/f...w-clive-young-talks-about-fan-film-subculture

 

[Republibot 3.0]

Somebody posted a rumor on a B5 Facebook page recently about some fan films that were supposedly going to be made without JMS' involvement or approval. One of the regulars on the moderated newsgroup posted a question about it to JMS. You can read the entire post here but the bottom line is: Ain't happening. Won't happen because WB owns it and protects its copyrights.

Yeah, Trek has Phase 2 but that's Paramount, not WB. Apples and rutabagas.

Jan

That link didn't lead to anything concerning fanfilms, it was about the Hyperion picking up a signal while in hyperspace.

Anyway, assuming that's roughly the same date as the conversation with JMS about fanfilms, then it's twenty years old. A lotta' lotta' lotta' stuff has changed since then. Warners absolutely positively allows fanfilms. There's a zillion of them out there involving DC characters, which are far more lucrative than B5.

Warners wouldn't sue. In fact, it'd probably help the franchise as a whole get some attention and boost sales.

(Yes, I'm back)

 

[Jan]

Far as I can tell, that link should have been to a Facebook post. 'Fraid I don't think it's likely I'd be able to find it again at this point but since I said it had been a recent post when I was writing it, it probably wasn't more than a couple of months prior to the time of my post in 2009.

Jan