Clinging on to Trek

Alicia Robinson

Even people who don’t watch “Star Trek” -- or would never admit they

do -- know the late-1960s TV series and its offshoots have one of the

largest and most devoted contingents of fans of any TV show, ever.

Some of those fans made the trek to Newport Beach Tuesday night to

see the world premiere of “Trekkies II,” director Roger Nygard’s

sequel to his 1999 documentary about devotees of “Star Trek” in all

its incarnations.

“We saw the original one,” said Andrew Carlson, who came from

Huntington Beach to see the film with some friends. “We watch it

every now and then because it cracks us up.”

Newport Beach Film Festival organizers wanted to screen “Trekkies

II” because they’d worked with Nygard before and thought it would be

appealing to the audience they expected, said Keiko Beatie, director

of program development for the festival.

“We seemed to have a lot of people who come to our festival who

are attracted to the whole ‘Star Trek’ culture, and when we found we

could have the opportunity to have the film here we knew we would

have a great, appreciative crowd,” she said.

The first “Trekkies” came about when actress Denise Crosby, who

had been on “Star Trek: the Next Generation” and in Nygard’s first

movie, approached the filmmaker with the idea.

“When she pitched me that I said, ‘I can’t believe no one’s done

this yet. It’s so obvious, so colorful and interesting,’” Nygard

said.

The documentary looks at a wide variety of Trek fans, from the

juror in the Whitewater case who wore her “Star Trek” uniform during

the trial andthe dentist with a “Star Trek”-themed office to families

who attend Trek conventions together and a teen who makes elaborate

fan movies on his computer. It also features some of the actors from

various “Star Trek” series’ talking about the shows and fan response.

Made over the course of nine months for about $375,000, “Trekkies”

elicited a variety of responses.

“I think the film was a little bit of a Rorschach test,” Nygard

said. “Some people see it and think it’s very positive, and there’s a

minority that see it and think it’s mockery.”

The stacks of letters and e-mail messages he got from people who

wanted to be included in a sequel were part of what launched

“Trekkies II.”

The new film looks at “Star Trek” tribute bands, several of which

are based in Sacramento, and it visits Trek enthusiasts overseas in

countries including Germany, Italy, Australia and Serbia.

Nygard also checks up on fans who were featured in the first film,

all of whom are still into “Star Trek.”

The sequel cost about as much as the original and took about a

year to make. Nygard said it was easy to shoot but hard to edit

because he got about five times as much footage as he did for

“Trekkies.”

“It’s very easy to get Star Trek fans to talk about their

passion,” he said. “What’s hard is to get them to shut up because

they love to talk about it. The same was true about all the actors.”

Nary a pointed Vulcan ear or phaser could be found in the crowd

gathered outside the theater before the showing of “Trekkies II,” but

the crowd itself indicated “Star Trek” is still a cultural

institution.

“I think most people who watch ‘Star Trek’ are not necessarily

people who would turn ‘Star Trek’ into a religion,” Tygart said.

While he wouldn’t dress in Klingon regalia himself, he said, “I

sort of admire people who do because they don’t care what people

think, and that’s a very attractive characteristic.”

While the Trek phenomenon may not be growing by leaps and bounds,

it doesn’t seem to be fading. Both the positive future vision of the

shows and the inclusive nature of their fan bases have given Trek

culture a lasting popularity.

Nygard must believe that enthusiasm for “Star Trek” will never

die, because he’s planning to take it where no Trekumentary has gone

before.

“We’ve already sort of tossed the idea out to Paramount for

‘Trekkies III,’ because we still have Asia, Africa, and the Middle

East and Antarctica as virgin territories for us,” he said. “It’s all

about the trilogy these days.”