NOTE: This piece was originally written for TrekMovie.com. After they received it they decided to not post it, for reasons I will not detail (reasons which I 100% disagree with). Here is what I wrote, and I again thank Ray and the team at The Neutral Zone for the hospitality they provided for all who attended.
Kingsland Georgia is one of the many small towns in South Georgia. It has a quaint sameness about it. Like neighboring municipalities, it has a charming downtown, filled with diners and antique stores… It also has the (obligatory) chain restaurants and hotels in the part of town just off the interstate. And it has something special, something that exists in only a few places on Earth.
A Star Trek sound-stage.
And not just any sound-stage. it is a stage that houses recreated sets from the original Star Trek – And if you’re a fan, and you can cover the fixed costs to use it, you can shoot your own fan film there.
Welcome to The Neutral Zone, formerly Stage 9 Studios. Over 35 fan productions have shot there, including every episode of the acclaimed fan series Star Trek Continues. Originally built up by Continues head (and star) Vic Mignogna, the sets are now owned by Ray Tesi, who has established regular “open days” so people can visit the sets for free. One such occasion was the weekend of October 18th through 20th, which was a “FAWlloween Trektacular”. With three days of activities, including panels from Mignonga, Bjo and John Trimble, original Trek writer Judy Burns (“The Tholian Web”), and more. Since it also had a costume contest and a silent auction, it was more like a mini-convention than an open house.
“This is the third time we’ve done this, and the first time I was thinking that we may have 100 people, maybe. I didn’t know what to expect. We were opening at two o’clock on that Friday and I figured I’d have five to twelve people waiting for me outside. There was a line down the block. We had over a thousand people walk through that week and that to me was a surprise, because I really didn’t know the impact we were going to have – and continue to try to (have).”
Some of the guests for the event.
Early Voyages
During a Saturday panel at a nearby hotel, Vic Mignogna reflected on how the studio space came to be. “When I first came here it was a slab of concrete. We built this thing from the ground up. We went through and got a can of spray paint and laid out everything… And every time I come back here it’s like coming home.”
Mignogna built on a previously built created by the USS Farragut fan group (based in nearby St Mary’s) to film the first Star Trek Continues and launched crowdfunding campaigns to extend the set and film additional episodes. He also invested over $150,000 of his own money to cover construction and other hard costs. After filming seven episodes, modified fan film guidelines from CBS/Paramount threatened to put a stop to the award-winning fan-favorite series.
“I talked to Paramount, and they asked how many more episodes I had in mind. I said maybe, 13. CBS came back to me with ‘you need to wrap it up faster.'”
Mignogna and team kicked production into high gear, renting an air conditioning unit for the studio so they can shoot in August (which is an incredibly hot and humid time of year in South Georgia). They filmed the final four episodes, including the two-part finale, in six months. “Some fan films take two years!” Vic recalled, impressed with his crew both in front of and behind the camera.
Actor Vic Mignogna regales w/tales of Star Trek Continues at The Neutral Zone Studios..#FAWLOWEENTNZ2019 pic.twitter.com/m8inltPBVp
— Dan Scanlan (@scanlan_dan) October 20, 2019
Taking the Conn
Ray Tesi took over the soundstage in early 2018, but this was not made public until later.
“I’ve been a Star Trek fan since 1966, and since I’ve loved it since. I’m always gonna love it, and since the beginning I always felt I should be part of Star Trek in some way. Back in 2015 or thereabout I did a vignette for a fan film with folks out in Oklahoma City (who started a studio) and I got the bug. In 2013 Star Trek Continues released their first episode, I saw it and… look, I’ve seen every iteration of Star Trek, whether it was fan film or whatever for as long as I could remember and when I saw that first episode I said this guy’s doing Star Trek RIGHT.”
“Later he (Mignogna) was appearing at a convention in Miami and I said to myself ‘I got to go talk to him’. I did and he was very magnanimous. I told him I had a story in mind, blah blah blah… He didn’t know me, and so he gave me his email address and we stayed in touch on and off. I tried to submit some stuff, but he had his own ideas and that’s fine. It’s his show. So, he does Continues for several years. In 2017 while I was planning another fan film, I read that (in February) he had stopped filming with the eleventh episode and CBS asked him to wrap it up because of the (new) guidelines.”
Tesi then detailed how the deal was struck to take of the space. “I remember sitting in my office at work and I sent him (Mignogna) an email and I said, ‘Hey now that you’re done with the sets what do you plan on doing with them?’
“I never expected him to read it. Later that day I got an email back from Vic and all it said was, ‘What do you have in mind?’ So, I’ve been in business a long time and if somebody says that who you know go back with three or four ideas. One of the ones I said was we could just leave it right where it is, rebrand it and open it to the public. He wrote me back and he was, ‘let’s talk, call me.'”
“So, I called and after a long chat (mostly just about Star Trek), he invited me to come see the place. I didn’t even know that the stages were here a here in Georgia! I’m only a few hours away.”
“I flew up and he met me at the studio with all of the guys (that are still associated with the Studio) and he walked me through it. I was completely dumbfounded. I couldn’t really talk. He said, ‘what do you think?’ I said this is great and over the next month we talked dollars and in less than a year l I bought it (January 18, 2018).”
Ray Tesi
“I didn’t announce it until May because I kept writing CBS saying ‘Here’s what I want to do with the studio, here’s the name of the studio, everything. I wanted to make sure that nobody was gonna put the kibosh on it. They’ve got lawyers – lots of lawyers. So, we finally got (everything sorted).”
Many Trek (and non-Trek) actors, including John DeLancie and Lou Ferrigno, have worked on the sets… And many others associated with the franchise has visited the stages. Tesi: “We had Nichelle Nichols here last year, shooting a documentary… A lot of the people from the show have come here, and are here this weekend, because of Vic. He’s been great and continues to support us.”
Mignogna, in the press release announcing the purchase, was clear about said support. “The main priority for me was to see that these beautiful sets remain intact where we built them and know that they would be preserved and well cared for. I’m extremely gratified that Ray Tesi has ensured that these priorities of mine are accomplished…”
Ongoing maintenance and operations
“The sets need some TLC, and we’ve set up a GoFundMe to let people contribute. The studio’s in need of repair, it needs a facelift, and it could use a couple more sets. So, the GoFundMe is to see if we can get enough funding to do the things that we want to do (at this point).” Tesi continued. “It’s (the sets) been used and abused over many years and our goal is to just make it as attractive as possible. To keep it open for as long as we can and keep letting people who want to come and see it (do so.)”
“We also have a Patreon so people can become members, and we do special member-only events (like the cocktail party/meet and greet on Friday). “
Vic, Bjo and John Trimble, and other supporters of The Neutral Zone meet at the Members-only event. Here they are watching episodes of Star Trek Continues.
Looking Ahead: More fan films and “Escape Rooms”
Ray Tesi is planning different ways to use the location, so in addition to renting the facility for fan films and other productions, During the weekend Tesi revealed a new offering they will be trying out. “We have looked at a lot of options, I’ve been trying as hard as I can with the limitations (from CBS/Paramount) to try to monetize the studio. We’ve done Patreon and it’s giving me a bit it’s not all we need.”
“So, I’m working with a group and we’re doing what we call “Galactic Adventures.” Basically, what we’re doing is we’re taking the studio (we’re not changing anything) and turn it into an escape room. “
Tesi continued. “We’re gonna partition it in two, with two puzzles on either side… so maybe I can get four bites of the apple. To be completely transparent, we pitched Star Trek adventures to CBS’s and then we finally decided, you know, we don’t have to call it Star Trek – it’ll be an escape from a starship. So that’s what we’re gonna try to do, more I like the proof-of-concept from January to maybe April – if it works, we’ll decide what we want to do with it.”
The fans (and the pros) express appreciation
All the fans I spoke to at the “FAWlloween” weekend were very excited and happy to be there. Many had visited previous open houses, though there were quite a few first timers (the author included). And a certain someone who’s been there from the beginning was also impressed.
One of the three costume contest winners.
Bjo Trimble, who with her husband John spearheaded the efforts to “Save Star Trek” in 1967, said of the Neutral Zone soundstage (when asked to compare it to the original set) “It’s kind of like old times. There is so much love being put into it. And it’s a working set! Sometimes I have to go in and say, ‘you need to change this’. Cause I was someone on the original set and you were not!”
The Neutral Zone is open semi-regularly – check Neutralzonestudios.com (https://www.neutralzonestudios.com/) for a schedule. You can become a supporting member at that site and additionally you can support their GoFundMe campaign here.( https://www.gofundme.com/f/repair-and-refurbish-neutral-zone-studios)