The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine documentary What We Left Behind continues to traverse the Badlands of post-production, but a new announcement today brings the film’s finished project closer to the Alpha Quadrant as the long-gestating project has found a global distributor.
Shout! Studios, the young distribution wing of Shout! Factory, has acquired the worldwide release rights to What We Left Behind, with plans to bring the nearly-finished film to fans across “multiple platforms” including a theatrical release, as Deadline reported today.
“Deep Space Nine has a passionate fanbase,” said Shout! Studios’ vice-president Michael Ribas, “As shown by the successful crowdfunding campaign that brought this movie to life and we’re thrilled share their love of and dedication to the show by bringing the What We Left Behind to an even wider audience.”
Putting in more late night hours this week on @DS9doc. We’re so close! A pleasure to have #DS9 Director of Photography Jonathan West overseeing the color sessions for our HD remastering… pic.twitter.com/cqERjyKrp5
— Kai De Mello-Folsom (@TipsyAstronaut) March 12, 2019
Meanwhile, high-def conversion of the Deep Space Nine episodic footage continues apace at CBS Digital in Los Angeles, with a photo from a late editing session was released on social media from documentary producer Kai De Mello-Folsom last night, with original Trek director of photography Jonathan West present for review of an HD scene from “What You Leave Behind,” the series finale — Quark’s farewell to a departing Odo.
De Mello-Folsom also noted in a follow-up tweet that the team had already HD-ified a full 20 minutes of episodic footage, along with “other minor graphics, music, and editorial tweaks” on the final film since last fall’s public premiere events.
In later seasons, director of photography Jonathan West specifically directed camera team to frame “safe” for possible 16×9. Meaning, they were future-proofing so could still translate well to widescreen presentation! And we’re lucky to have his guidance in coloring & reframing.
— Kai De Mello-Folsom (@TipsyAstronaut) March 12, 2019
While no specific release date has yet been announced, today’s announcement specifies that Shout! Studios plans to have the documentary to wide audiences “by year’s end” — and to backers ahead of the public release, as noted in today’s update sent to IndieGogo backers.
You’ve already been promised a copy of the film back during the campaign. Some of you may even have been lucky enough to see our early previews in LA, NYC or the UK. Distribution doesn’t make a difference to you — right? Well as Joe muses in his video update above, it’s all positive news for us, AND for you.
Firstly, it means we’re nearing a final release date. We’re not allowed to give any more details just yet, but plans are in place to stream the film for you sooner than you might expect.
Secondly, it means a bigger release, and more opportunities for you. And a bigger release means a bigger audience. And a bigger audience means more people talking about DEEP SPACE NINE. And, of course, more people talking about Deep Space nine is a great thing!
If CBS Studios is to ever make the huge leap to remaster the full series of DS9, they’re going to want to see that there is an audience, and a market for this large undertaking. We’ve already sparked their attention through this campaign, and the bigger splash we can make, the better message we can send that Deep Space Nine is still just as relevant today (if not more!) as it was when it first aired.
Now that a formal distribution deal is in place, we’re that much closer to seeing this multi-year voyage finally come to a conclusion.
We’ll bring you more updates as they beam down!