On Monday's show, journalist Declan Cashin was in studio discussing fan films.
'The Hunt For Gollum'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H09xnhlCQU
'The Hunt For Gollum' is a 40-minute fan-film. Since its internet release in May 2009, Gollum, put together by a team of amateurs on a budget of just £3,000, has been seen by 3.5 million people. In May it was the fourth most watched release in the
'Troops'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc5IqD0QibY
Fan filmmakers generally give credit for the current interest in fan films to 'Troops', the well-received parody film that crossed 'Star Wars' with reality TV show 'Cops'. Produced in 1997, 'Troops' was distributed as large video files downloaded from websites.
What was striking about 'Troops' was the effects. Here was a film, produced on a home PC, that does a not-half-bad job of mimicking the kinds of million-dollar bells and whistles George Lucas brought to the screen in 'Star Wars'.
'Star Trek Phase II'
http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/
'Star Trek: Phase II' (2004) was named after an aborted 1970's ST episode, which picks up where Shatner's series left off. It largely looks and sounds like the 1960's series. It's basically how they imagine the show would have panned out had it not been cancelled. Each episode costs about $45,000 to make. They are constantly looking for money without making any.
It has since had over 30m downloads. Eugene Rodenberry Jr - son of ST creator Gene - loved it, and now acts as "consulting producer". Even actors from the original series appeared. Walter Koenig (Chekov), George Takei (Sulu) all appeared in episodes. In fact, Takei's episode, entitled 'World Enough and Time' was nominated for a Hugo (sci-fi Oscars) alongside Battlestar Galactica and Doctor Who.
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Also, on the show, Kate Connolly was on the phone from Germany about the long running rivalry between Adidas and Puma.
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Playlist:
Kings of Leon - Closer
White Stripes - Icky Thump
The Bees - Chicken Payback
Beck - New Pollution
Elvis Costello - Mystery Dance