Earlier this year, Kaotica Studios announced a new partnership with Farragut Films to develop Farragut Forward, the continuation of the popular long-running Star Trek fan production.
After several months of pre-production, set-building, props, script polishes, and the creation of practical model kits as a nod to the early days of Industrial Light and Magic, production on the story’s prologue kicked off on October 16, 2021, and with cameras rolling, the USS Farragut has leaped into the iconic “movie era” of Trek.
Actor and producer John Broughton returns as Captain Jack Carter, and the crew of the mighty Farragut likely won’t be far behind. According to the first images published this week on Kaotica Studios’ social media, new faces like William Jay will also be along for the ride, in full Klingon regalia.
“The morning of the shoot I was very excited,” the Klingon actor said. “I’m not used to being on film sets and it helped that it was a group of friends that were working together. At first I felt a little stiff and focused on letting the costume and makeup do the heavy lifting, but as the day went on, between helpful comments from director Johnny K. and feeding off of the other actors, I can’t imagine how the shoot could’ve gone any better.”
Director Johnny K. was brought onboard the project early on to help create a darker cinematic style as a callback to Trek films such as The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock, and The Undiscovered Country. A huge fan of Nicholas Meyer’s Trek movies, the darker tone played well to Johnny’s strengths as a filmmaker and one of his favorite eras of Trek.
“When I first read the script for this prologue,” Johnny said, “I could immediately picture it in the movie era. It has an edge to it, similar to the dark undertones of what was going on in the movie era with the death of Spock, Kirk’s son, etc. And there was none of the campiness that came along with The Original Series, so I jumped at the chance to direct the project. If this Farragut story had been set during the 1960s TOS-era, I wouldn’t be a good fit, but the movie era is right up my alley. Besides, who doesn’t want to shoot a dark, hazy room of Klingons?”
For the last word, actor/producer John Broughton had this to say:
“A lot of preparation and hard work went into last weekend’s shoot which paid off in being well-organized, professional, and successful in best capturing our story. More importantly, the film shoot was FUN, which at the end of the day, is what this is all about, right?
“It was surreal playing Captain Carter again and wearing a Starfleet uniform, but like an old worn glove, it fell right into place, and this time, it was a bit more natural. It’s great working with Johnny K., Kaotica Studios, and all the talented cast and crew in bringing the next chapter of Farragut to life and in in the best ‘light’ (or perhaps ‘low-light’). Thanks again to everyone involved!”
Follow Kaotica Studios and Starship Farragut across all social media for exclusive cast and crew interviews, behind the scenes pictures and more. The Farragut Forward adventure is just beginning!
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