Two friends have turned a basement into a studio and are ready to unveil a new 'Star Trek' fan production, set after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis.

As reported by The Detroit News, Jay Miller and his friend Todd Adams are hard at work on Star Trek: Osiris, a new Internet fan series. Miller and Adams write, produce, direct and star in the show; which began filming this summer and will appear online this fall.

Star Trek: Osiris is set several months after the time of Star Trek: Nemesis and features brand new characters. Miller plays Kieran Bale, the captain of the starship Osiris. Adams plays Alaric Thorrson, his first officer. The story begins with Osiris setting off on its maiden voyage. Meanwhile, forces from within Starfleet rise up and threaten the Federation.

Miller chose to create Star Trek episodes because he is a fan. "It's for the love of the series," he said. "There's been a huge lapse as far as keeping stuff out there for the fans to latch onto that's new and fresh." And with affordable video equipment and computers, it became feasible to move from imagining a story to creating one. "It made for great conversation until we realized, 'Yeah, we can do this,'" said Adams. "It doesn't have to be just a conversational topic anymore."

In other fan film news, Bobby Rice, who acted in Star Trek: Hidden Frontier as Ro Nevin and is now playing Peter Kirk in Star Trek: Phase II, spoke with Richard Miles, editor of Trekkie-Central online magazine, as reported by Trekweb. Rice admitted that he was not very familiar with Star Trek when he first became involved with Hidden Frontier. "I've always been a big sci-fi fan but prior to 'Hidden Frontier' did not have a lot of Trek knowledge. As a kid when 'Next Gen' started it was like MASH coming on, a message from the TV gods that cartoons were over and it was time to go to bed. I actually enjoy the show now. When I came aboard HF I did some research and got into the show, especially the original series."

Rice did not know what he was getting into when he showed up for his first audition. "When I wound up in Pasadena in front of a pretty little yellow house I thought I was either in the wrong place or walking into a 'to catch a predator' situation," he said. "I came in, read, met some wonderful people and about four days later I got a call and was offered the role. My friends got a kick out of seeing me with a big gun, uniform, and Bajoran nose as the new kid on the website. I remember hearing 'Dude, that's gonna be someone's wallpaper!' Smiling it off, I didn't understand the enormity or commitment of Trek fans."

Playing a gay character proved to be no problem for Rice. "I was asked if I would be comfortable playing a gay character," he explained. "I really didn't have a problem with it, I was told it was a subplot in the series and given a bit of background into the relationship between Ro and Cory."

To read more, head to the articles located here and here. The Star Trek: Osiris website is located here.

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