View source for Alec Peters

{{real world}}
{{sidebar crew
|name       = Alec Peters
|image      = Alec Peters.jpg
|birth name = Alec Peters, Jr.
|birthday   = {{d|3|September|1960}}
|birthplace = New York City, New York, USA
|roles      = [[:Category:Exhibit and attraction staff|Exhibit and attraction staff]]
}}
'''Alec Peters, Jr.''' {{born|3|September|1960}} was founder of [[Propworx]], which contracted with [[CBS Consumer Products]] from 2010-2012 to auction off ''Star Trek'' memorabilia, and assisted CBS Consumer Products in a third-party capacity from 2011-2012 as archivist for their ''[[Star Trek]]'' archive.

He is executive producer of the [[fan film]] projects {{wt|Prelude to Axanar|Star Trek: Prelude to Axanar}} and ''Axanar'', which notably raised over one million dollars in crowdfunding, private donations, and sale of merchandise between 2014 and 2016. In December 2015, Axanar Productions and Peters were jointly sued by [[CBS Studios]] and [[Paramount Pictures]] for copyright infringement. A settlement agreement was entered in 2017 allowing Peters to make two more fifteen minute episodes. These episodes are to released in summer 2024.

==Early life==
Alec grew up in New York, received a BA in political science from Adelphi University and graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Law, passing that state's bar exam in 1988. He was sworn in to the North Carolina bar in 1988 but decided to accept a job coaching men's volleyball at USC, where he was assistant coach on the 1990 NCAA Championship team. He coached the 1989 USAV National Champion 17 and under boys' team and served as an assistant coach with the USA National Team, winning a bronze medal at the 1990 World Championships. He left coaching to start his first business, AMG, a sports management company in 1993. {{bl|propworx.com/about-propworx/our-team}} 

Later, he founded Marketworks, an eBay auction management provider, which was sold for US$16 million in 2008. 

==Collecting and auctions==
Peters' memorabilia blog, {{el|startrekauction.blogspot.com|''The Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Blog''}} and accompanying forum became a nexus for original screen-used prop and costume collectors of the ''Star Trek'' franchise. 

In 2008, Peters founded his own auction company, [[Propworx]], and won a contract from NBC/Universal to conduct the liquidation of assets from [[Ronald D. Moore]]'s incarnation of ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]''. Peters was contracted by former ''Star Trek'' staffers [[Doug Drexler]], [[Michael Okuda]], and [[Rick Sternbach]] to auction off their personal collections in his official ''Star Trek'' auctions. Peters appeared in a 2 May 2012 episode of the television series ''Auction Kings'', where he was called in to authenticate the [[Steve Diamond]]-worn, screen-used {{film|7}} command uniform.

Peters' expertise regarding ''Star Trek'' memorabilia he acquired over the years led to various adjustments in several [[Profiles in History]] auction listings, as he pointed out inaccuracies, which became instrumental though to his eventual appointment as CBS' ''Star Trek'' archivist. As archivist, Peters worked on the various ''Star Trek'' [[Star Trek exhibitions|exhibition]] tours, the last one being the 2012 Pacific National Exhibition, Vancouver, Canada leg of the ''[[Star Trek The Exhibition]]'' tour exhibit. His responsibilities were the care of the screen-used props and [[studio model]]s that were still in the possession of the studio and which were featured in the tour's exhibits from 2006 onward.

Peters located and assisted in the restoration of the original [[Class F shuttlecraft model#Full scale exterior mock-up|''Galileo'' Class F shuttle full scale mock-up]] with [[Adam Schneider]]. Schneider's efforts lead to the ''Galileo'' artifact's rebuild and subsequent donation to Houston's NASA Johnson Spaceflight Center, where it became a major attraction, linking science fiction visions of space travel to the actual space program. {{bl|galileorestoration.com}}

==Fan films==
In 2013, Peters portrayed [[Garth of Izar]] in the fan series ''[[w:c:stexpanded:Star Trek: Phase II|Star Trek: Phase II]]'' and was to reprise the role in the fan film ''[[w:c:stexpanded:Star Trek: Axanar|Star Trek: Axanar]]'' (co-written and produced by Peters), which chronicled the engagement that made Garth famous. The introductory twenty-minute teaser featurette to the movie, ''Prelude to Axanar'' (starring [[J.G. Hertzler]], [[Tony Todd]], [[Gary Graham]], [[Kate Vernon]], and ''Battlestar Galactica'' actor {{bsg|Richard Hatch}}), premiered in 2014.

In late 2015, CBS and [[Paramount Pictures]] filed a joint lawsuit suit against Peters and the ''Axanar'' production alleging copyright infringement. {{el|variety.com/2015/film/news/star-trek-crowdfunded-movie-axanar-sued-1201669522}} {{film|13}} director [[Justin Lin]] and producer [[J.J. Abrams]] expressed support for ''Axanar'' and stated in May 2016 that the lawsuit would be "going away" in a few weeks, {{TrekMovie.com|2016/05/20/jj-abrams-announces-paramountcbs-has-agreed-to-drop-axanar-lawsuit}} though litigation continued. {{el|axamonitor.com/doku.php?id{{=}}settlement-progress}}

In January 2017, CBS and Peters entered into a settlement, provided Peters adhered to stipulations of the fan film that CBS had published the year prior. While the settlement was originally confidential, it has since been made public in the light of tangential litigation connected to Peters. {{el|engadget.com/2017/01/21/cbs-and-paramount-settle-lawsuit-with-star-trek-fan-film}} {{el|arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/01/star-trek-fanfic-creator-to-make-substantial-changes-to-settle-copyright-case}} {{st.com|fan-films}}{{el|axanar.tinfedora.com/documents-cbs-paramount-lawsuit/6_settlement/Final_Settlement_Agreement.pdf}} {{el|plagiarismtoday.com/2023/10/23/axanar-creator-faces-new-legal-threat}}

==Appendices==
===Propworx's specialized ''Star Trek'' auctions===
* "STAR TREK: THE EXPERIENCE Warehouse Sale" &ndash; 10 April 2010, sale of assets from the Las Vegas ''[[Star Trek: The Experience]]'' exhibition
* "[[The official STAR TREK prop and costume auction]]" &ndash; 8 August 2010, sale of assets from former ''Star Trek'' production staffers
* "[[STAR TREK auction]]" &ndash; 4 June 2011, sale of assets partly originating from former ''Star Trek'' production staffers
* "[[STAR TREK auction III]]" &ndash; 24 March 2012, sale of assets partly originating from former ''Star Trek'' production staffers

===''Star Trek'' interview===
* [[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Blu-ray)|''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'' (Blu-ray)]] special feature, "Collecting ''Star Trek''{{'}}s Movie Relics" (2009)

=== External links ===
* {{bl|propworx.com|Propworx.com}} &ndash; archived official site
* {{el|startrekauction.blogspot.com|The ''Star Trek'' Prop, Costume and Auction Blog}} &ndash; Alec Peter's blog
* {{imdb|name/nm5754507||external}}
* {{el|axanarproductions.com|Anaxar}} &ndash; official ''Star Trek: Axanar'' site
* {{el|stage32.com/profile/54748/alec-peters|Alec Peters|stage32.com|Stage32.com}}
* {{bl|gateworld.net/interviews/king_of_props.shtml|2010 Interview with Peters|gateworld.net/index.shtml|GateWorld.net}}

{{DEFAULTSORT|Peters, Alec}}
[[Category:Exhibit and attraction staff]]