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G & T Show STLV 2015 Coverage – Frank Zanca Interview
At the 2015 Star Trek Las Vegas convention, we were pleased to be able to sit down and interview Frank Zanca of Renegades and Axanar Unlimited.
He is also the author of Destiny Aurora. It’s about a former CIA agent who fails to defend an Iraqi Senator, and she is killed. He then spends five years tracking down the killer, an alien. He particularly enjoyed putting together the crew, as they are eclectic and have to learn how to work together.
One tip he gives for aspiring writers is to go through a questionnaire with his characters so that he knows them well, even if that information never appears on the page. He also feels that plotting is important, and he makes sure to outline beforehand. He is an award-winning screenwriter, so he often writes what is essentially the screenplay. The main difference is that, for screenwriting, you absolutely have to show and not tell what is going on, on the screen.
He advises to put on the screen only the elements that move the storyline along, and stay on focus.
He is happy that Renegades had a screening at Star Trek Las Vegas 2015, and Terry reported that she’s heard that the screening was very successful. Frank describes it as a bit like Star Trek meets The Dirty Dozen. Of course they hope that the show is picked up, but CBS can’t do anything until Paramount is done for the nonce. Frank and Terry agreed that we won’t see Star Trek back on television for at least five years.
Frank’s work is generally as a line producer. It is an operations type of job on a set, such as financial negotiations with vendors. This kind of coordination is necessary when any film or television program is made. His biggest challenges with Renegades were the lower budget, even though there were a lot of sets. Hence it was a bit of a disconnect, so they needed to cut back on the number of sets and the exterior shots.
The entire production has been a labor of love, supported by Indiegogo campaigns, so the fans are quite literally invested in the process. Frank feels that it is a redemption type of story, where the characters have to trust each other, but they aren’t necessarily trustworthy. The character dynamic is automatically interesting.
Frank is also currently working with Sky Conway on Sci Fi Cosmos, a science fiction pilot, where Cheers meets the Star Wars cantina. Ethan Phillips plays a bartending squid!
Frank is also working on a Destiny Aurora modular board game. He thanks everyone for their kind support!
Please make sure to use the below link on Amazon as the G & T Show receives a small bounty at no added cost to you and no loss of revenue to Frank!
Check out Frank’s works on Amazon. Destiny Aurora is coming!
Follow Destiny Aurora on Facebook
Please be sure to check out Star Trek: Renegades online
Follow Renegades on Facebook
Subscribe to the Renegades YouTube channel
Check out Axanar online
Follow Axanar on Facebook
Head on over to the Axanar YouTube channel
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Janet Gershen-Siegel
She's also a published author (Untrustworthy, published by Riverdale Avenue Books; QSF Discovery 2 Anthology, published by Mischief Corner Books; and The Longest Night Watch Anthology 1 & 2, published by Writers Colony Press), and a prolific fan fiction writer. You can find her adding her fanfiction to our forums, or live tweeting our show.
We understand that she can be bribed with pie.
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