Star Trek: Voyager is one of the franchise's most popular series. It ran for seven seasons, from 1995-2001, airing at the same time as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999), which premiered on UPN. Voyager wasn't a companion piece, but it excited fans just the same with its new ship, the concept of found family, and plenty of original characters.
Fast forward to 2021, when 455 Films opened a crowdfunding campaign to create a documentary about Voyager, which would have cinematic screenings and DVD releases at certain donation levels. While the documentary, To the Journey, had a limited release for some backers in 2024, others have been waiting for the physical media that was a backer's award, such as a DVD set. Now, fans are getting an exclusive update courtesy of TrekMovie.com. But many Trekkies continue to play the waiting game.
455 Films releases a statement regarding the delay
After the ST: CHI Star Trek convention in Chicago, 455 Films issued a statement, saying in part, “This has been a long journey, and we truly appreciate your patience and passion,” and there was also the promised "to share updates whenever we have meaningful news to report.” The statement can be read in its entirety on Facebook.
The director of the documentary, David Zappone, appeared at this year's ST: CHI Star Trek convention had this to say about the Voyager documentary's delay: “You can’t go wrong with just being honest."
Zappone continued by saying:
"[Shout! Factory] doesn’t want physical media anymore." Shout! Factory was involved with What We Left Behind, which is a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine documentary. Since then, the company has been trying to find other ways to satisfy the backers of To the Journey.
Zappone does have some news for backers
Fortunately, backers who didn't get their perks do have some good news coming to them, according to Zappone. Fathom Events, which brings special types of media to the big screen all across the country, may strike a deal to bring To the Journey to theatres in a limited release. A streaming release is costly, but Zappone hopes to make that happen eventually.
As someone who has backed special events like this in the past, I can understand the frustration Voyager fans feel, especially those who offered their hard-earned money in 2021. We fans put a great deal of trust and faith in the shows' creators when they ask us to promote or back something, and despite the problems the Voyager documentary team seems to have, their first responsibility should be to those who support them.
What are your thoughts on the delay for these backer perks? Do you think some contributors deserve to feel angry? How would you react? Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.