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William Shatner in conversation with Kevin Smith at Comic con is the thing that Trekkies love to see. It’s been two years since he’s been on the comic con stage and Hall H is packed to the brim with fans.
Shatner’s career spans decades, but most know him for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise. Starting in 1966, he starred as the captain of the Enterprise for the first Star Trek television series; his reign started on television for three seasons until the show was axed in 1969. He would reprise his role in seven Star Trek feature films with the first film Star Trek: The Motion Picture, released in 1979, to the last Star Trek Generations in 1994. After a 24-year stint as one of the most popular characters in science fiction, it’s no wonder the man is a part of the pop-culture lexicon.
First, Kevin Smith takes the stage to moderate and give a bit of information about the documentary project Legion M has been brewing with Shatner’s involvement. The project which will chronicle his 70-year career as an actor.
Smith starts with an anecdote about an experience with the actor while Shatner is recording voice-over for Smith’s animated Netflix show Masters of the universe. When the director tried to offer notes to the actor while reading lines, Shatner said, “You will soon have the honor of directing me, but let me work through the script for now.”
Smith then introduces the panelists which include Jeff Anniston, David Baxter from Legion M, Kerry Deignan Roy, and director Alexandre O. Philippe from Exhibit A Pictures, and William Shatner.
Shatner came to comic-con at a time when San Diego wasn’t as cosmopolitan, but according to him, “It’s time to shout!” Due to the current size of the con, which gets well over 100k visitors.
He did discuss one of his first fan meet ups that happened in NYC in the late 1970s where a woman approached him, asking him to come to “a meeting” of Star Trek fans. He was initially turned off by thr idea until he learned 15k people would be in attendance. Then he started to worry about saying the wrong thing to large crowds of people.
“The jeopardy in talking to all of you and listening intently, not only is the fear you may not be intelligent as you think, but you don’t want a Freudian slip and drop the F word. So there is fear in speaking to a spontaneous audience.
Smith then asks the question on everyone’s mind: “Why did it take 91 years to make a documentary? Why now? Why this team?” Shatner had a macabre answer to the question.
I’m 91 years old and my breath is short. I and this wonderful gentleman (referring to Legion H President Jeff Anniston), came in the nick of time. When I die, autographs are gonna sell like crazy. Imagine everyone’s good fortune if I died right here.”
Smith added, “That would be amazing on the comic con stage! He died like the legend he is.”
Smith is curious about how Shatner interacts with fans. The actor had this to say. “Everyone here has an interesting story, and asking questions is a matter of eliciting said story. I love to talk to people because there is always a story because I’m generally interested.”
Legion M is a six-year-old entertainment company that’s owned by the fans who essentially are shareholders. So far, they have 35K investors. They have worked with and produced content for the likes of Anne Hathaway, George R.R. Martin, Elijah Wood, Kevin Smith, Bill Duke, Simon Pegg, and others.
Jeff Anniston, founder of Legion M, mentions that his biggest break for the company was with StanLee who was an early supporter of the company. He claims Lee said “I wish I came up with the idea himself.”
What the panelist revealed is that Shatner is on the advisory board of Legion M. This is what he said when asked why he joined, “This is a group of vital, youngish, intelligent, and creative people, so I put my two cents in to ride with them as an advisor.”
Alexander O. Phillipe wanted to make a documentary about Shatner and Legion M just went with it. The two were introduced and when Phillipe met him, Shatner was extremely open to the idea.
Phillipe elaborated in this saying, I am a fan of Bill the human, and a fan of his observations of life, nature, the universe, and the connection of it all. I really thought about what the best way was to go about this film. I structured the doc around a number of his autobiographical songs and built on those themes. The film is a celebration of his life.”
They then showed a sneak peek of footage from the documentary. In it he discusses a dog that died when he was 10 years old and how he first understood the concept of death then. Then he talks about the overall connection of heaven and Earth and how everything communicates with each other. This is Juxtaposed with images of nature and the universe. The clip ends with him stating, “We need to look at the miracle of what we’re living in!”
This documentary will take an up-close, intimate exploration of Shatner’s personal journey over his nine decades on Earth. Philippe, Legion M’s Jeff Annison and David Baxter, producer Kerry Deignan Roy of Exhibit A Pictures are working together to make this happen.
Legion M did not provide a release date during the panel.
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