Port Henry, NY – July 2006

One of the hottest summers on record, and the old, repurposed car dealership had no air conditioning.

Nevertheless, history was being made there. A group of Star Trek fans and industry professionals were shooting what would become the first independent streaming Star Trek feature film. 

Household names like Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, Alan Ruck, Tim Russ, Gary Graham, Grace Lee Whitney, Garrett Wang, Chase Masterson, Ethan Phillips and J.G. Hertzler moved about the perfectly recreated NCC-1701 bridge set, creating what would become an award-winning internet sensation. 

They were also trying to stay cool.

Star Trek: Of Gods and Men was conceived as a 40th anniversary celebration of the Original Series.  The brainchild behind Of Gods and Men was Sky Conway, who produced and co-wrote the script, and has since gone on to produce award-winning films such as Star Trek: Renegades, Walter Koenig’s InAlienable, Roddenberry on Patrol, and Renegades: The Requiem.

Released in 2008, Of Gods and Men was directed by Trek veteran Tim Russ (Tuvok, Voyager), and was written by Ethan H. Calk, Jack Trevino and Sky Conway.  Between them, Ethan and Jack contributed four stories for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes.

L-R: Writer Jack Trevino, Producer/Writer Sky Conway, Director Tim Russ, Writer Ethan H. Calk

“Star Trek: Of Gods and Men is a major motion picture that bestows upon the fans something that hasn’t been delivered in the past couple of Star Trek movie sequels.  This movie combines the cast of all Star Trek series into a potpourri of action, excitement, drama, intrigue, gut-wrenching space battles and political back-stabbing with he familiar faces that we all know and love.  It truly is amazing how well the writers, actors and production crew tie everything together.  Their effort has truly made this a seamless and extraordinary production.  The actors step back into their roles as if no time at all has passed… and it’s a treat for all Star Trek fans to revisit each and every one of them” – New York Post

“Star Trek: Of Gods and Men is a noteworthy movie in so many ways.. and exceeds some of the big budget Star Trek films Paramount Pictures has released.  In fact, executives at Paramount should look at this film as the blueprint of future Star Trek endeavors” – Scott Rubens, WUSAS News, DC

“Star Trek: Of Gods and Men,” a unique feature-length production sporting an impressive cast of former Star Trek luminaries and regulars” – NY Daily News

“…good acting, a science fiction narrative that has both action and metaphor, a social theme, and a discussion of modern events utilizing futuristic notions… excellent action-packed conclusion, replete with Trekkie nods and a great starship battle.” – Trekmovie.com

It was also voted Best Web Production of 2008 by the Genre Awards, ranked by hard core Trek fans as better than some of the big budget theatrical films, and ranked by Vanity Fair as one of the most important events to happen because of Star Trek.

With a paltry budget of just $150,000 (only 0.1% of Paramount’s 2009 Star Trek Feature film!), our band of Renegade filmmakers and actors conspired together to create the first independent Star Trek feature length film. Despite knowing we might be sued by CBS and Paramount, we still managed to gather 3 Original Series regulars and 14 other Trek alumni to accomplish the unthinkable. 

It was released free to the public, with combined downloads and streams exceeding 20 million views to date!

It was historic. 

And only Renegades who passionately adored Star Trek could pull it off.

From the creative team who brought you “Of Gods and Men,” and Academy Award winning director Michael Korolenko and Academy Award winning editor Loren Miller, comes a rare look behind the scenes at how this innovative film was made!

The majority of the film was shot on the incredibly detailed sets created by actor, Elvis impersonator and Trek superfan James Cawley and his dedicated crew of volunteers. The accuracy of the construction impressed even Walter Koenig and Nichelle Nichols.

Other locations included the familiar Vasquez Rocks Natural Area, the former home of a Disney Imagineer, and the foreboding spaceship sets at Laurel Canyon Stages, all near Los Angeles.

Our goal is to create a distribution deal with one of the major streaming services.

Our documentary will feature interviews with key cast and crew members, Trek and media experts, plus an intimate look at the cast and crew during the production, compiled from over 8 hours of footage and nearly 5000 digital images.  You can’t get any closer to the production unless you were actually there on the sets! 

Here are just a few samples of what’s in store for you if you help us get this produced:

Our film will also be full of never-before-revealed facts about the production. Did you know that Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were slated to play Admirals in Of Gods and Men? Learn for the first time why they weren’t in the film. Also, did you know that the official Star Trek website (startrek.com) was on location with us during our Los Angeles shoots? And did you know that CBS and Paramount home video wanted to release Of Gods and Men on DVD? Find out why this didn’t happen and many more fascinating facts!

Michael Korelenko – Director.  Michael is an Academy Award winning documentary director.  He received his Masters of Science degree for his thesis film, “SINCE ’45,” a documentary on recent American history and the media. The film, featuring  Isaac Asimov & Art Buchwald, went on to win a student Academy Award for Best Documentary as well as the Focus Competition Award.

Loren Miller – Editor.  Loren has edited one Oscar winner, two nominees, and three Student Oscar winners in the short live action or documentary category. He is currently working with  Michael Korolenko on the extended version of Michael’s student Oscar winner “SINCE ’45.”

Sky Conway – Producer. Sky was the brains and inspiration behind Star Trek: Of Gods and Men, acting both as creator, co-writer and producer.  Gene Roddenberry was Sky’s mentor, and he has been close friends with both Nichelle Nichols and Walter Koenig for decades.

Ethan H. Calk – Producer.  In addition to being the co-writer and associate producer of Star Trek: Of Gods and Men, he also wrote the stories for two Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes – “Visionary” and “Children of Time.”  Ethan was also the co-writer and co-producer for Star Trek: Renegades, Cozmo’s Thirsty Tentacle Bar and Grill (an unaired pilot) and Renegades: The Requiem.

The bulk of the money we raise will be going into the key elements of what it takes to make a film like this one.   Some of these elements include paying the actor’s fees for their interview time, hiring a crew and securing a studio to shoot the interviews, video upscaling software to enhance the behind the scenes and film footage, director, editor, music, post-production, color correction and possible licensing fees for original series clips (since Of Gods and Men brought in elements from several of those episodes).  

• 10% Indiegogo fees and taxes
• 15% Rewards/Fulfillment
• 75% Production and Post-Production costs

As our loyal fans and supporters of the film, we’re happy to offer Indiegogo backers with rewards and perks not available anywhere else.

Here’s a little extra detail on some of the Rewards, some cool add-ons, plus an extra special FREE perk!

IMPORTANT NOTE: The timeline for the distribution of the DVDs or Blu-rays may depend on whether or not we are able to work out a distribution deal with a streaming service – this could cause delays, but we will get your DVD/Blu-ray to you as quickly as humanly possible.

The reward level at $250 will receive the cast photo with 2 autographs only (not 2 autographed photos)

Reward levels $500 and above will receive the cast photo with 4 autographs only (not all 3 autographed photos)

EXTRA EXTRA SPECIAL PERK – INCREDIBLE AUTOGRAPH PACKAGE INCLUDING NICHELLE NICHOLS!!!

In preparation for her Farewell Convention at the LA Comic Con in December of 2021, Nichelle signed a stack of these awesome “then and now” photos.  Not all of them were distributed, so this means YOU have this final once-in-a-lifetime chance to obtain her autograph! You won’t find these anywhere else, so show your support for Nichelle and one of her favorite projects (Of Gods and Men) with this incredible signed photo!  With this perk, you also get the cast photo personally signed by four of the main actors!

PROP REPLICAS!

We have several limited-edition prop replicas available as rewards or add-ons!  They will be hand-made exclusively for this campaign by our very own Property Master Scott Nakada, who painstakingly created every one of the props for Of Gods and Men.  While these particular props did not appear on screen, they will be exact replicas of those props created from Scott’s original molds!

Scott and all his props in Port Henry, NY!

Galactic Order Communicator replica – just like the one “evil” Harriman (Alan Ruck) wore!  This is an add-on perk that you can get no matter what reward level you choose!

At the $1500 level, get this incredible Galactic Order phaser weapon replica — hand-crafted for this documentary project – just like the all the bad guys used!

EXTRA SPECIAL EARLY BIRD REWARD – AND IT’S ABSOLUTELY FREE! 

If we reach our goal of $75,000 within the first 20 days of the campaign, we will provide all those early donors who got us there a FREE download of Star Trek: Of Gods and Men!  Donate early and get your very own free copy of the film!