Star Trek: Lexington in 2005

Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA
Website: http://www.starshiplexington.com
Forum: http://www.starshiplexington.com/final_lexington_site/phpBB2/index.php

The concept for Lexington has been around for a while, in fact the Lexington series turned the big "20" in June, 2005! When ST: New Voyages' released "In Harm's Way" last year however, Joseph Bonice and Dave Osborne (co-executive producers for the pilot episode) decided the time was right to go with the Lexington as a fan film project.

In common with most groups just starting up, they have had to struggle with balancing the scarcity of money and manpower with their vision of a "Movie Era" Trek fan film. Based in Columbus, Ohio, from August to September they advertised for a director and producer and evidently they were successful, for the latest news is that they have announced cast for a pre-series short film, "Just Passing Through". Originally scheduled to start filming on November 18, in both Columbus and Grove City, Ohio, it has had to be postponed for technical reasons until until the beginning of 2006.

The 'short' gives an insight into the early life of two of the main characters, and they hope to release it on their website for early 2006, perhaps preceded by a new trailer. In an innovative new twist, they are hoping to make it available for free download over Bit Torrent as a "Special Edition DVD" in a simple-to-burn ISO format shortly after the initial release. From their press release …

The Special Edition DVD tentatively features cast and crew commentary, behind the scenes footage, and outtakes. In addition to these extras, original opening and ending musical scores have been written by cast member Mr. Cobaugh for the series and a special lyrical performance by Mrs. Cronebach will be released on the DVD and the website. The short film is being produced in conjunction with Spare Time Productions, BCB Productions, and X Fleet LTD Productions.

The main website will go down for a major overhaul in December just prior to the short's release. The new site will come on-line just prior to "Passing"s release on WMV."

The latest news on their first full episode, "All in the Appearances", is that it will be in two, 45 minute parts - part one is in pre-production already - which are "slated for filming in late January, 2006 with a website release in April to May". There are plans for a Special Edition DVD to be made available for free on BitTorrent about 30 days after that (barring any technical difficulties).

If you still can't wait though, the Lexington crew have been busy keeping their production in the news, for example you can download audio clips right now from Episode #101 and #102. They have two trailers available on their website already, "In the Drydock" and "Intruder Flyby", both of which feature their beautiful CGI mesh of the Lexington, a movie era Constitution class ship.

The plot of their series revolves around the voyages of the USS Lexington starting in 2287 when the Cetacean Probe crisis has blown over. The decommissioned Lexington is re-activated and brought back into service, with a new crew under her old captain Cpt Alex McKnight, due to a heating up of the Cold War between the Federation and the Klingons.

Interestingly the Lexington fan series shares a common timeline with "Tales of the Seventh Fleet" and "USS Hathaway", two other Trek 'Fanchises' that are currently in production. Whilst there don't seem to be any plans at the moment for plot crossovers, they are making sure that their separate fictional universes mesh with each other. This bodes well for fans of the movie era that has given us what many think of as the best Trek movies - "The Wrath of Khan" and "The Undiscovered Country".

A tough act to follow? Mr. Bonice sounds quietly confident …

"We have a good cast and crew here and I'm proud to have them along. We've already received some fan mail prior to anything being released, which is always a good sign. I'm happy that we seem to have a fan base and it is my hope that we do not disappoint them."