As with most things in life, there is always change. After three wonderful years bringing life to Ro Nevin,
Bobby Rice has decided to move on from Odyssey to pursue other opportunities. We support him in his
decision and wish him the best on his acting career.
We want to thank Bobby for jumping into the character of Ro with no reservations and helping to bring something new to the character, building on what Arthur Bosserman had begun. Bobby has earned a place in history with JT Tepnapa, and Adam Browne playing the first gay characters in
Star Trek.
As with many of Trek's most beloved characters, Ro Nevin has become an iconic character that can be
played by any number of exceptional actors. It is our hope that this will happen again.
After an exaustive auditioning process, we settled on Brandon McConnell to portray Lt. Cmdr. Ro Nevin
going forward with Odyssey.
Areakt and Hidden Frontier Productions welcomes aboard Brandon McConnell, who will be taking on the lead role of Lt. Commander Ro Nevin in the Hidden Frontier spinoff, "Star Trek: Odyssey". McConnell replaces Bobby Rice who portrayed Ro for three years in Hidden Frontier and Odyssey's first episode.
Brandon is the third actor to portray Ro, following Rice and Arthur Bosserman - who originated the role at the start of Hidden Frontier. Brandon joins the crew of Odyssey starting with episode 2, "The Wine Dark Sea", which wrapped shooting in September.
At his first shoot, JT Tepnapa (Aster) interviewed Brandon for an introductory piece. (link) This short video contains the interview, as well as insights into the makeup process. A preview for "The Wine Dark Sea" will be available on October 24th featuring Brandon as Ro.
So far test audiences have been positive about Brandon's portrayal of Ro. He's had some big shoes to fill, but we're all confident the audience will enjoy what Brandon brings to the character and to the show. We believe Ro is an iconic character that can be portrayed by any number of qualified actors. Ro's journey resonated with so many people, and his new struggles in Andromeda will hopefully bring more insight into the human condition along with more exciting adventures. Long live RO NEVIN! You can learn more about Brandon in the Meet Ro Mk. III video by following this link. Welcome aboard!
Star Trek: Odyssey's pilot episode, "Iliad" is now in wide release! A thread for review, questions, and comments has been created on the Hidden Frontier Forums. The soundtrack, by Dex Craig, along with jewel case artwork, has also been released for free download. With Ro and his crew stranded in the Andromeda Galaxy, speculation abounds about what comes next, with two new related shows already in production (Orphans of War, and The Helena Chronicles).
Episode 2 of Odyssey, entitled "The Wine Dark Sea," is now in post-production and is being scored by
one of our staff composers, Patrick Vogler. The episode was written and directed by first time Director, Beo
Fraser. This next episode of Odyssey will feature the crew of the Odyssey, who having initially escaped from the clutches of the Archein after destroying their wormhole generator, are now trying to survive as they look
for resources and continued safe haven from the Archein... and a way back home.
Guest cast in The Wind Dark Sea includes Ross King (of KTLA
Los Angeles’ Morning News and Britain‘s GMTV show). Ross spent a
day with the Areakt Production team to film a story about the filming of
the episode, which on GMTV in August and is available on our
website. While on the set, Ross played one of Dr. Vaughan's (Matthew
Montgomery) medical team members trying to save the life of an injured crewman.
The second episode of Odyssey will be released after the "Orphans of War" short film comes out in
November (for storyline reasons), but the preview trailer is available now. "The Wine Dark Sea" clocks in at 35 minutes and will be available in
multiple file sizes and screen resolutions for Quicktime and Divx.
Veteran HF director and producer Jennifer Cole
piloted Star Trek: The Helena Chronicles out of dock
as the director of the first episode, entitled, "Sanctuary
Lost". The Helena Chronicles is the sister series of
Star Trek: Odyssey, and sees the return of some
familar faces from Star Trek: Hidden Frontier It stars
Sharon Savene returning in the role of Captain Theresa
Faisal and Adam Browne reprising his role as Commander
Jorian Dao.
"Sanctuary Lost" was penned by staff writer, Brian Matthews and picks up after the U.S.S. Odyssey is lost in
the Andromeda Galaxy, shortly after the events to be seen in "Orphans of War." Notable guest cast in
“Sanctuary Lost” include: Joanne Busch as Robin Lefler; David W. Dial as Admiral Knapp; and a regular role for Beau Christian Williams, who will return as Artim. As more of the episode is filmed, we'll get to meet more of
the new cast and get our first look at a preview of the episode. Keep an eye on HiddenFrontier.com as this
develops.
Several Odyssey cast and crew travelled to Atlanta, Georgia the first weekend in October to take part in
Gaylaxicon 2007 and screen Odyssey's pilot episode "Iliad" on the big screen. The convention, sponsored by the Gaylactic Network, attracts several hundred visitors each year, many of whom found out about Star Trek:
Odyssey and Hidden Frontier for the very first time. On hand were JT Tepnapa (Cory Aster), Adam Browne
(Jorian Dao, Caecus), and Andrew Foster (Vedek, Chief Bixx). They participated in panels, and answered
questions after the "Iliad" screening. Odyssey magnets and other souvenirs were also given out to celebrate
the premiere. For a full report on the event, check out the Hidden Frontier Forums.
“Orphans of War” was a very special Star Trek moment already – we had two fan film crews from two different
continents meeting in Los Angeles for just one day to make a Star Trek fan film that would help bridge Hidden Frontier, Odyssey, and Intrepid shows, make new friends, and be an experience we would remember fondly for
a long time.
But it was made even more special by a visit from Rod Roddenberry who came out to
visit us as we filmed this history-making event! Rod has kept busy in the Star Trek
community his father created and has started doing podcasts on his website
(www.roddenberry.com). He's already done podcasts on a couple of productions, but
wanted to visit Hidden Frontier (and Odyssey) because of our groundbreaking
portrayal of gay characters in Trek, something he said his father wanted to do, but
couldn’t during Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Rod interviewed Rob Caves and did a virtual tour of the studio for his podcast; he also shot an introduction
from the bridge of the USS Intrepid. We had a nice lunch break on the patio, enjoying the LA weather talking with Rod about his projects, which
include a diving club and his online Trek merchandise store. He is positive about the future of fan films, and
we are thrilled to have him as an advocate. Thanks, Rod!
Keep an eye on roddenberry.com for more information about his visit, and to watch the video blog entry!
The one day marathon "Orphans of War" shoot
wrapped an hour early on Wednesday October 10th
in Los Angeles. The short film was a chance for USS Intrepid, and Hidden Frontier cast and crew to
work together on a project that merged both casts
and bridged the storylines of Intrepid, Hidden Frontier,
and Odyssey. The story fills in important events
that occured after Odyssey's pilot episode, "Iliad".
The preview of "Orphans of War" is now available for download. Additionally production stills from the
shoot are available in the Hidden Frontier photo gallery. As more photos become available, they will be
added and also at Intrepid's website. The episode's bloopers are scheduled for release soon with
a projected internet release of the finished episode sometime in November 2007.
