Fan Created And Independent Video Content Grows In Popularity

The beautiful thing about technology is that it can enhance the possibilities of what creative people can do.  A great example of this can be seen with fan created internet video content.  If you have a creative mind, the basic tools required and even a simple budget, you can do quite a bit.  Of course, the more ambitious you are with your ideas, the more it may cost you.

Content creators have taken a couple of different routes.  One is to take existing Hollywood owned intellectual property and tells their own stories with it.  This has resulted in hours of entertaining videos from just a few minutes long to feature movie length.  The fan created content from IP they don't own has produced some very good results as well as some cringe worthy efforts.  It has also resulted in legal issues.

Content owners can be very protective of their property.  Back in the 1990's, when the internet was in its infancy, fans of the game Dungeons & Dragons started sharing their whole campaigns and posting them on their web pages.  You might think this would be considered a good thing for the IP owners, but they started shutting down these pages and cracking down on the fans.  It was not a smart public relations move, but they were within their rights to do what they did.

Some of the more popular fan created efforts have come using the Star Trek and Star Wars IP.  Creative minds have used other shows from multiple genres.  One of the more interesting efforts was a show called Adult Wednesday Adams.  Melissa Hunter did a spot on performance of how the Addams Family character might be as an adult.  Her show was very popular, and she was promptly shut down by the IP owners.  While not a popular decision, they were within their rights.  To be clear, she was not trying to get rich off of other people's IP.  She just used it as a vehicle to show what she could do as an actress.

Star Trek fans are passionate about their show, and there is a divide over what is happening with the franchise since the more recent movies.  Some say the J.J. Abrams vision is too far removed from what Gene Roddenberry created.  With the internet and technology being what it is, fans have been able to make better and better episodes of Star Trek based in various eras of the Trek universe.  The original Star Trek is one of the more popular choices.

One reason for that is because the original series wasn't known for having the greatest special effects or the biggest budget when it aired in the 1960's.  That is one of the show's charms.  The most recent and perhaps the best ever fan production is Star Trek Continues.  With money from his own pockets and fan donations, Vic Mignogna created a spot on replica set of The Enterprise.  The look and feel of what has been filmed is what you might have seen when the original show aired.  The writing is impressive.  Only the actors in the iconic roles have changed, but their performances are spot on.

With each new fan created effort, they seem to take it up a notch, and Prelude To Axanar finally drew the attention of CBS and Paramount, owners of the IP.  Axanar was a 20 minute piece made in documentary style that talks about the Four Years War between The Federation and The Klingons.  It was so well done that they raised over $600,000 to make a full length movie and more money to build a studio.  CBS and Paramount stepped in with their lawyers and shut it down, causing more outrage from long time Trek fans who felt that this effort was more in line with the Roddenberry vision.

They furthermore set restrictive guidelines on what a fan created film can and can't be that forced Mignogna to bring an earlier than planned end to Star Trek Continues.  Vic has been respectful of the IP owners and has always maintained that what he does is a love letter to the old show and an attempt to fill the gap between where the old series ended and the movies began.  When the 11th Trek Continues episode is released in November, he will have accomplished his goal.  Vic says he holds no ill feelings towards the IP holders, supports their decision and has been in touch with them while creating his show.  Vic has also been vocal in speaking out against those trying to make money off of other people's IP, which he maintains is something he's never done with his show.

The nice thing about fan created content is that you get things like Star Trek Continues or Born Of Hope, which is based in Middle Earth at the time of Aragorn's birth.  The Tolkien Estate has actually shut down a few fan efforts that have attempted to tell stories based in Middle Earth.  This is the risk you take when entering worlds created by others and attempting to tell a story.  With the tools the average person has at their disposal, they could step in and tell stories in worlds laid out by The Matrix, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Back To The Future or the iconic Godfather Series.

There is a thriving market for all new content created by independent film makers.  If you are a fan of time travel, for instance, there are some entertaining movies available on YouTube for free.  The fantasy genre is a popular one, and there are some good efforts.  There's shows like Standard Action, Space Janitors, Voyage Trekkers, The Guild, Journey Quest and The Gamers, for instance.  The company Zombie Orpheus produces the latter two shows and more.  They started out taking fan donations and putting that content out for free, and now they are subscription based.  The writing is good.  As the actors have worked with each other more and more, their performances have gotten better as well.

As the internet evolves, there is a market for this fan created or independently produced content.  People will pay money if it's something they find entertaining.  You don't even need somebody else's IP to create something good.  You just need a good imagination, writing skills and some money for the necessary equipment.  What might be interesting to see would be the owner of a popular IP officially sanctioning the fans to be creative.  Fans want to be more engaged in these worlds that have inspired their imaginations, and sometimes what they create can rival the official product.  More and more people are starting to believe that the entertainment world is in need of change and fresh ideas.  Perhaps they can benefit from what is happening in the independent entertainment industry.