What We Left Behind: Star Trek Deep Space Nine Doc
Created by The DS9 Documentary Team
A documentary looking back at the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Tue Mar 12 '19 Announcement
almost 6 years ago
– Tue, Mar 12, 2019 at 03:42:22 PM
We don't usually let our editor/producer Joe Kornbrodt go in front of the camera. Ira say's it's because... well. You'll see.
But he's here today to bring some you some breaking news on the status of the documentary:
That's right. What We Left Behind has been officially picked up by Shout! Studios, the newly created distribution and production arm of Shout Factory - distributor of a number of classic and contemporary films and series. We're proud to have their incredible belief in the film and support in the wider distribution this year.
After all, you've already been promised a copy of the film back during the campaign. Some of you may even have been lucky enough to see our early previews in LA, NYC or the UK. Distribution doesn't make a difference to you -- right? Well as Joe muses in his video update above, it's all positive news for us, AND for you.
Firstly, it means we're nearing a final release date. We're not allowed to give any more details just yet, but plans are in place to stream the film for you sooner than you might expect.
Secondly, it means a bigger release, and more opportunities for you. And a bigger release means a bigger audience. And a bigger audience means more people talking about DEEP SPACE NINE. And, of course, more people talking about Deep Space nine is a great thing!
If CBS Studios is to ever make the huge leap to remaster the full series of DS9, they're going to want to see that there is an audience, and a market for this large undertaking. We've already sparked their attention through this campaign, and the bigger splash we can make, the better message we can send that Deep Space Nine is still just as relevant today (if not more!) as it was when it first aired.
We hope you'll continue to drive the excitement with your friends and family over the show, and this film, and follow along with us in this final stretch as we head towards the finish.
Keep trekking!
- The #DS9Doc Team
Fri Mar 1 '19 Announcement
almost 6 years ago
– Fri, Mar 01, 2019 at 02:24:36 PM
Yes, we know what you're all thinking...
Where in the world is that Deep Space Nine Documentary?
Well, we can finally share that this week, we're over with our friends at CBS Digital making our clips from Deep Space Nine look even more fantastic in High Definition.
Our very own Ira Steven Behr ventured where few have gone before to give you a special look at the mountains of film (and hard work!) it takes to accomplish even just our limited remastering:
That's right. We're nearly through the heavy research-and-scanning stage of our remaster, and with just a few (hundred) more film rolls ahead of us, we're hard at work replacing the 20+ minutes of new HD sequences -- spanning ALL SEVEN seasons of the original run of Deep Space Nine!
We could spend a whole update simply raving about the look and feel of the new film transfer... but until you see it yourself, words just can't do it justice.
And you WILL see it. Sooner than you may think.
So then, why no official release date yet?
The restoration process alone is a HUGE undertaking -- after all your support in funding this expensive endeavor, it has taken months of work from the CBS Digital team to coordinate, research, find, ship, scan and deliver the original film negatives for us, and more time from our team to clean up, color, and polish the resulting images (and even re-create a handful of effects!).
While we're still waiting on final elements to arrive and distribution details to lock firmly into place, we don't want to promise any deadlines we can't meet with the film not yet entirely complete.
However, that doesn't mean we don't have a plan in place that puts you, our most important supporters and DS9 Ambassadors, right at the forefront. We've got BIG news in the works and expect you'll be hearing much more from us later this month.
In the meantime, keep trekkin' on!
- The #DS9Doc Team
Thu Dec 20 '18 Announcement
about 6 years ago
– Thu, Dec 20, 2018 at 02:25:05 PM
Happy Holidays, Niners!
It’s the last month of 2018, and we know you’re anxious for another update on the #DS9Doc.
Well, consider this our holiday gift to you… a special update from Ira, AND your first sneak peak of an actual remastered high definition clip from DS9!
Check out the video update here:
Yes, yes, we know it’s not all happy thoughts. As Ira explains in his video message, his choice to remaster all of our documentary clips in High Definition is a time-consuming (and costly) one. And a process we are still going to be working on throughout the holidays and into the new year.
While we could have just released the version of the film that was previewed to backers in Los Angeles, New York, and the UK this October, we didn’t think it would be fair to you to release a separate, better version with all our HD just a few months later, in a whole separate disk-set for the public. We want you to receive the best film we can give you, and unfortunately that sometimes means more time.
When we started this campaign, we had NO idea we would be given this opportunity to actually see DS9 in HD for the first time in our documentary, and that’s all thanks to you and your support. Those who participated in the latest #HiDefHero campaign should be receiving their challenge coins shortly, or have already seen them in their mailboxes along with a special note from Ira.
If you still want to show your support for #DS9inHD, there are a number of challenge coins left, available while supplies last, at www.ds9documentary.com.
Rest assured, we’re in the midst of HD remasters, which is our final big step to completion. We want to see this film released just as much as you do, but in the end we trust the opportunity to remaster as much DS9 as possible is well worth a couple months of additional wait.
We believe, when you see the finished product, you’ll agree.
- The #DS9Doc Team
Thu Nov 22 '18 Announcement
about 6 years ago
– Thu, Nov 22, 2018 at 04:06:23 PM
Dear friends,
Today, we’re thankful for YOU -- all 10,000+ of you, and growing!! You’re the ones who have believed in the project from the start, and shown the world that Deep Space Nine deserves the love and attention it’s finally getting.
So we want to say again, from all of us here… THANK YOU!
Recap of October's Indiegogo Events
For those who weren’t among those lucky few to see an early preview of the film last month, our producer Kai de Mello-Folsom did some on-the-street reporting to bring you a review of our Los Angeles premiere event at the Paramount Theater.
Check it out here:
Latest Progress on the Film
For those of you understandably curious about our exact release date and disk shipping estimates — we’re afraid we don't yet have this finalized. While it’s true that the film has been shown in limited screenings, we still have a number of things left to complete (including, most importantly, HD remasters!) and details to lock in with distributors, license holders, and our post-production team before we ship out the final product.
Some of the steps we're still working on, in rough order of timeline, include:
Completing our remastering of DS9 in HD! (This step is an expensive, and lengthy process, and is currently in progress through our partnership with CBS Digital)
Tweaking graphics, color & sound design (anything we didn't have time to complete before the early previews, that is...)
Captioning and translating the film(an important step for our international and hearing-impared fans!)
Finalizing contracts & licenses (for Star Trek content and more)
Preparing our early digital stream (for eligible backers!)
Completing commentary tracks and bonus features (you wouldn't want DVDs to ship without bonus content, right?)
Designing disk menus & packaging (our team's on it!)
Shipping Blu-Ray/DVDs and Posters (yay!)
And those are just the major steps!
Trust us, this has been years of our lives and we're even more eager than YOU are to have this film out and on your screens. And that goal is in sight! We promise we're still hard at work and the moment we're ready to announce our official release dates, you'll be the first ones to know.
Hi-Def Hero Campaign
GREAT NEWS -- our #HiDefHero challenge coins are in, and they’ll be starting to ship soon! (Eligible backers will receive a shipment reminder shortly before mailing, and tracing info once they ship. Please note that our higher-level SPONSORS will receive their coins in a package with signed certificate later on, once all HD remastering has been completed).
For those who haven’t had a chance to support the additional footage remastering goal, this is your last chance to join-in and be part of the legacy! Check it out NOW, while remastering is still in progress, and make a difference at: www.ds9documentary.com.
In the meantime, we hope you’re having a wonderful holiday season, and encourage you to stay tuned in the coming weeks for more.
Happy Thanksgiving!
- The #DS9Doc Team
Wed Oct 3 '18 Announcement
about 6 years ago
– Wed, Oct 03, 2018 at 02:30:44 PM
Dear Supporters;
We’re now just DAYS away from our very first early reveal at our exclusive Indiegogo Friends & Family preview screenings, and suffice to say we’re using every minute we have left to get the film in tip-top shape!
At this very moment, our directors are up at Skywalker Sound (hey, what’s a little franchise-crossover between friends) putting final touches on our music and sound design.
Details at the Skywalker Ranch are highly classified, so we can’t show much…
… but director Ira Steven Behr wanted to give you a little sneak peek and point out the stages from afar anyway.
You’ll have to take our word that the the sound facilities here are world-class. We’re incredibly lucky to have their team of professionals (many of whom are DS9 fans themselves!) attentively looking out for the overall audio quality of the film, and putting their creative efforts into the design of our ANIMATED writers room season 8 sequences.
And because we can't show much from the Skywalker Ranch, instead we're doing to do you one better... give you your VERY FIRST GLIMPSE at that SEASON 8 ANIMATION:
No spoilers, except to say that Captain Ezri is back and certainly in charge of the situation! There's PLENTY MORE in store and we can't wait for you to experience it for yourself in the finished film.
Official Indiegogo Premiere Invites Are Out To All Ticket-Holders!
As a reminder, our upcoming Indiegogo events will be taking place:
Los Angeles on October 12th
New York City on October 14th
Birmingham, UK on October 19th & 20th
If you are eligible to attend (i.e., you selected and purchased a reward with premiere event tickets), then you should have received an email with official invitation and final event details. If you haven’t seen the emails, we encourage you to check your spam folder and add ‘[email protected]’ to your list of approved senders. If you have not yet RSVP’d, please do so immediately to ensure your names are on the list to attend!
And, if you weren’t lucky enough to nab tickets before… we’ve got good news!
LAST-MINUTE PREMIERE TICKETS have just been released!
We’ve got just a handful of seats remaining to our Los Angeles and UK screenings (our apologies, but NYC tickets are currently sold out!). These events are exclusive to our supporters, and fun, early preview screenings with the film team (and talent!).
If you’d like to attend, now’s your chance to grab a last-minute ticket through our website or on the pre-order store at:
Set your sights for DESTINATION: STAR TREK BIRMINGHAM
In addition, as you may have seen in the news, we’re holding a red carpet world premiere at Star Trek Destination BIRMINGHAM. As this is the first time pretty much all DS9 cast will be in attendance together, it’s an opportunity we couldn’t pass up.
We’ll be hosting panels throughout the event, and our first public convention-style screening of the film. This is equivalent to what most films would consider a ‘festival release’ — a NEARLY complete version of the film, and a chance to see it on the big-screen, before we finally release on Video-On-Demand, DVD and other services.
We hope you’ll join us in person or in spirit to celebrate DS9’s 25th Anniversary, and we’ll be posting plenty of updates from the event via our social media.
Tickets for this red carpet event are being handled exclusively by the convention itself, and are still available for purchase on their WEBSITE (...or, if you’re lucky enough to grab one of the remaining tickets to our pre-Indiegogo UK event, you’ll be included in this Saturday screening as well!).
So, what does this mean for the final release of the film?
Well, the film is nearly complete, it’s true… but believe it or not, there’s still a couple of steps left ahead of us.
After our event in Birmingham, we’ll be finishing up the film and preparing it for digital stream. As hard as we’ve tried, not ALL graphics and HD remasters will have been completed in time for the preview events — but we promise it will be well worth the wait for the final full release. This finishing stage also includes captioning and translation for our international backers. We’re doing our best to have this out as soon as we can, so stay tuned for updates after ‘Destination Star Trek: Birmingham!’
In the meantime, we hope you’ll follow along with us on social media this month as we make our first big (early!) splash with the film. We can’t wait for you all to celebrate with us.
