'Backyard Blockbusters' Trailer: A Documentary About Fan Films

Do you want to see Star Wars, Star Trek, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Lord of the Rings and more, all in the same film? In Hollywood, it's impossible. But in fan films, such a mix is not only possible, but encouraged, and the same can be said about a documentary about fans films.

Directed by John E. Hudgens, Backyard Blockbusters follows the phenomenon of the fan film: normal people spending their hard earned money to make films set in the worlds they love. These are films fueled by passion, which rarely see a profit, and can be viewed by millions and millions of like-minded people who appreciate the fandom of the filmmakers. Unfortunately, sometimes Hollywood doesn't always see it that way and fights back against them.

Hudgens recently completed his documentary and is currently applying to festivals. One of which, a documentary film festival held at Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood, is being programmed based on YouTube views of various trailers. So, after the jump, you can check out a cool trailer for what looks like a great movie, and in doing so vote on getting it seen.

BackyardBlockbusters.net is the official site; thanks to BoingBoing for the heads up.

Here's what Hudgens said about the film and the competition:

Did you ever see that movie where Batman fought a Predator? Or where kids remade "Raiders of the Lost Ark"? What about the fourth season of classic "Star Trek"? If none of these are familiar to you, that's because they're not studio projects, but fan films – and I've just finished and started touring film festivals with a documentary about these kinds of projects called "Backyard Blockbusters" – it looks at the history, influence, and copyright problems these types of projects face, and includes nearly everyone from the most famous, popular, and/or notable fan films, as well as notables from the original properties and production companies.

There's a very cool screening opportunity coming up, but I need public help to get the film into it – the Arclight Cinema in Hollywood is holding a documentary film festival in November, and the selection process is being done online through public voting – and "Backyard Blockbusters" is one of the contenders.

They will be counting both the amount of views the competing trailers for the various films get on YouTube pages, as well as the amount of votes the films receive on a special Facebook page.

That special Facebook page is here and I urge you to go on there and vote for Backyard Blockbusters (which currently is losing), as well as any other film you think has potential.

For more clips from the movie, head to the ZTeam Production YouTube. What did you think of the trailer?