Trekstars Unlimited
| Name: | Trekstars Unlimited |
| Date(s): | 1975-1976 |
| Profit/Nonprofit: | profit, for sure |
| Country based in: | San Francisco, CA |
| Focus: | Star Trek celebrities |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Trekstars Unlimited was a booking agency and information clearinghouse in 1975 and 1976. It was owned by Stephen H. Lampen.
While it was a professional organization in the sense it was an "official" conduit to some celebrities, there was an amateur, fannish feel to their publications. In fact, Trekstars Unlimited was the result of a fan to leverage his fannish activities into profit, and likely was an enterprise that did not last very long.
Some fans may have appreciated having a lower-key gatekeeper than some Hollywood operative to contact regarding getting the celebrities who were in lesser demand, for their cons and speaking engagements, but many fans also probably resented the intrusion and middleman, as well as disliking someone breaking the fannish social contract.
In any case, the formation of this company was evidence that, in the mid-1970s, fandom was becoming big bucks, and not the homemade, small town endeavors of fans on the ground.
Some Descriptions of the Company
Our organization is a booking agency and lecture bureau for actors, writers and others who were involved in Star Trek. .. Trekstars was formed at the suggestion of Mr. James Doohan and, later, Miss Arlene Martel. They complained of the difficulties of arranging all the details and maintaining their acting careers at the same time. Trekstars handles all those details.[1]
Trekstars, as mentioned in the original flyer, is the fourth of the 3P businesses. The first was 3P Recording which is a recording studio here in San Francisco, This was my original professional involvment with Star Trek. I recorded James Doohan for some lines in one of the animated episodes and engineered the demonstration tape for Project Communicator, the project supported by the Star Trek Archives to adapt episode soundtracks for the blind by adding dialogue and re-editing. For this Mr. Doohan also did the reading, we are now completing a series of commercials for the Federation Trading Post, a Star Trek store in Berkeley CA, which Arlene Martell read for us. Others are in the works besides our normal recording work. This concern also spawned the Equipment Locator, a publication which is the world's largest list of used professional recording and broadcasting equipment for sale on consignment. This project got me involved in bulk mailing which, in turn, resulted in business #3: 3P Productions, which produces Pitney-Bowes mailing plates for bulk and other mailers who use them for addressing large numbers of letters or catalogs. We also do the actual addressing with a gigantic imprinter. These machines are located in our downtown office at 615 Montgomery St., Suite 211. And then there is Trekstars.... [2]
The Clients
The clients were James Doohan, Theodore Sturgeon, Grace Lee Whitney, Bruce Hyde, Arlene Martell, George Takei, and Walter Koenig.
When a fan asked for the address for William Shatner, they declined, citing privacy concerns (most likely they didn't know it), but were happy to throw other celebrities to the lions: "Can you imagine how any star would be bothered by fans if everyone knew his address? In fact, one of the prime reasons for Trekstars is to preserve their privacy by acting on their behalf. All I can suggest to you is to ... write the Shatner in care of the Screen Actors Guild... We do have fan mail addresses for the stars we do handle, they are: [addresses for Arlene Martel, Walter Koenig, George Takes, James Doohan, and Theodore Sturgeon]. [3]
From a March 1976 issue of Trekstars Times:
RENT THESE STARS
All of the celebrities we represent are available for personal appearances, conventions and other gatherings. All we need to know is who you want, how many people you expect at your gathering, how much you will be charging for admission (if any), an estimate of the time you wish each star to work, how many days the show will run and if you have ever run a similar gathering before. Give us these facts and we'll get an estimate for an appearance from the star(s) you want. However, don't expect any commitment more than three or four months before your convention. ALL our stars have commitments fn Hollywood and these, naturally, take priority.
A Newsletter
The company had a publication called Trekstars Times.
References
- ^ from the first issue of Trekstars Times
- ^ from the first issue of Trekstars Times
- ^ from the first issue of Trekstars Times