'Star Trek' event goes back to the future with an eye on design

For more than four decades, the "Star Trek" universe has boldly gone where no production designers have gone before. And this Sunday at 5 p.m. at the Egyptian Theatre, the Art Directors Guild Film Society and the American Cinematheque are honoring these visionaries who have vividly created the future with the program: "Star Trek: 45 years of Designing the Future."

Production illustrator Daren R. Dochterman will moderate a panel discussion featuring four of the "Star Trek" production designers — John Jeffries, Joseph R. Jennings, Herman Zimmerman and Scott Chambliss — which also features clips from the first two seasons of the first "Star Trek" series, scenes from "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," which panelist Jennings designed, clips from "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Deep Space Nine" and "Enterprise," all designed by panelist Zimmerman and a trailer for this year's hit feature, "Star Trek," designed by panelist Chambliss. The photo above shows the briidge from "Next Generation," for instance, which recalls the original show's command center but takes it into sleek new directions.

Rounding out the event will be a screening of Robert Wise's director's cut of 1979's "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" and clips of its late production designer, Harold Michelson. There are details about the entrire program here. And here's the trailer for Wise's space opera, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year...

Pulls PluWith No Studio Support, Creation g On L.A. Trek Con

Finding a role. any role, in the Star Trek universe is enough to get you invited to some type of convention for the rest of your life.

But for the cast of the recent blockbuster film "Star Trek," you can just forget it.
Creation Entertainment has canceled its November Grand Slam convention in Los Angeles, according to TrekMovie, blaming its inability to get a single member of the "Star Trek" cast to attend, despite the fact that the movie premieres on DVD that same weekend.

With no light at the end of that turbolift shaft, Creation chose instead to take the convention off life support.

Don't. however, think Creation is taking a break from this whole convention thing. Far from it.

Creation has announced it will expand into three more cities in 2010: Vancouver, San Francisco and Chicago.

"For many months, we've been trying to develop a great guest lineup for this convention consisting of cast members from the new 'Star Trek' movie," Creation said in a statement. "Unfortunately, to date we have been unable to lock any of these guests contracts down, and we do not want to present an event that would be less than what our audience expects of us. Therefore, we have made the decision to postpone this convention until such time we can successfully present some of the new 'Star Trek' stars in Los Angeles."

This is the first time a Star Trek convention has been held in any of these cities since 2006. The San Francisco event is planned for January with Patrick Stewart from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fame as the headliner. The Vancouver convention will come just months after the city plays host to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.