{{::peters_hunt.jpg|}}
<wrap lo>//OWC Studios head Alec Peters photographed with //Axanar// co-writer Bill Hunt (pictured right) on the day Hunt now says he left Peters' project.// <wrap indent><wrap lo>Photo/Axanar Productions</wrap></wrap></wrap>

====== Axanar Co-Writer Announces Departure ======

//**Bill Hunt's Resignation Actually Came July 29; Peters Didn't Inform Donors**//

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//**__ __**// <wrap lo>**By [[user>cpedraza|Carlos Pedraza]]**</wrap>
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The co-writer of the //Axanar// feature film, whose screenplay was at the center of the copyright lawsuit against producer Alec Peters, announced November 3, 2017, he'd "parted ways" with the project months before — a fact Peters failed to reveal to his donors.

<wrap lo>//See also: [[burnett_resigns|Director Burnett Resigns from Axanar]]// and //[[hunt_peters|'Axanar' Co-Writer Says Peters Lacked Producer Experience]]//</wrap>

===== Actual Departure in July =====

Screenwriter Bill Hunt's statement on Facebook came on the heels of a [[burnett_resigns|similar resignation]] the day before by //Axanar//'s director [[Robert Meyer Burnett]]. Hunt posted on Facebook:

> Since my friend and collaborator Robert Meyer Burnett announced his departure from Axanar last night, I’ve had many people ask if I’m still involved as the project’s co-writer. In fact, I parted ways with Axanar back on July 29th.(([[face>billhuntbits/posts/10156600756294573|Bill Hunt post on Facebook]], 11/3/17.))

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//**__<wrap lo>« Those two [Burnett and Hunt] leaving at basically the same time looks bad. Them announcing it instead of YOU first looks REALLY bad. »</wrap>__**// <wrap indent>— //Axanar fan 'Omega'//</wrap>
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==== Peters Withholds Information ====

Peters sat on that information, however. On that day, he instead posted on social media that he and Hunt had "a writing session … working on the final version of the //Axanar// script and buffing the 30-minute script for episodes IV and V of The Four Years War."(([[https://web.archive.org/web/20171103223251/http://www.axanarproductions.com/captains-log-july-28th-2017/|Archive.org capture of Axanar Captain's blog]], 7/29/17.))

===== Hunt's Critique of Peters =====

Hunt's departure caps a troubled position he held in the Axanar project. In his deposition during Axanar's copyright infringement [[lawsuit]], Hunt admitted that Peters didn’t really know what he was doing:

> Everybody on the production who was creative was falling into those traditional film roles, and [Peters] wasn’t familiar with how that process worked. … It was just – <wrap hi>Alec didn’t really know what a film producer</wrap> – he had an idea what a film producer did, but it wasn’t an experienced idea of what a film producer did. So it caused some conflict all throughout the project.((Transcript, Confidential Videotaped Deposition of Bill Hunt (10/25/16), Docket 181.1, p. 87, 1/6/17.))

[{{ :locked-script.jpg?direct&300|**PROUD DISPLAY** Alec Peters (center) celebrates what he called the “fully revised and locked” final draft of Axanar with co-writer Bill Hunt (left) and director Robert Burnett.}}]

==== Fraught with Conflict ====

In his deposition, Hunt described a script development process fraught with conflict between Peters and Burnett, with Hunt often caught in the middle. Hunt said:

> So we were talking to [Peters] about, “Listen, this is how the process works. The script isn’t ready.” Mostly, I think it was Rob and Alec having these conversations, but to the extent that I was kind of in the middle between the two of them, talking them all off —<wrap hi> talking them down off a ledge a lot of times</wrap>.

===== Which Script? =====

Peters' July 29 post created the impression Hunt was continuing to work, "buffing" a 30-minute script for the //Axanar// short films. Peters had announced completion of a first draft of that script on June 26. According to Hunt, however, that wasn't the script he was working on before his departure.

==== Reason for Resignation ====

Hunt said his work was confined to revising the original //Axanar// feature script. His resignation statement discussed no involvement in the 30-minute script, only in preparing the original feature-length screenplay as one of Axanar's promised — and still undelivered — [[perks]].

> The result was a finished [feature] script I’m very proud of and that we all hoped to bring to the screen for the donors and fans. However, when it became clear that this would not happen, and that the project was moving in a different direction, I ultimately decided that there was little more for me to contribute.(([[face>billhuntbits/posts/10156600756294573|Bill Hunt post on Facebook]], 11/3/17.))

Almost a month later, Hunt was gone.

[{{ :captain-peters-1.jpg|**Alec Peters**}}]

==== No Word ====

Meanwhile, that was news Peters did not see fit to share for months. He chose instead to create the impression Hunt was still on board.

=== 'Not Important' ===

When asked on Facebook why he kept Hunt's resignation quiet, he dismissed the notion, saying it simply wasn't important:

> People come and go on a production all the time, especially writers. Bill did a great job and moved on. Writers don't stay on through the end of a production. They do their job and get another job. We stayed in touch with Bill and he remains my friend.(([[face>Axanarfilm/posts/1458743747573477?comment_id=1458993207548531&reply_comment_id=1459056437542208&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R9%22%7D|Comment by Alec Peters on Axanar Facebook page]], 11/3/17.))

=== Minimizing Hunt's Resignation ===
 
Hunt, however, chafed under Peters' attempt to minimize the resignation:

> I would take a bit of issue on the matter of importance. On a traditional professional production, writers "come and go" as part of a work for hire situation. That was not the case here, which means I retain a portion of ownership of the drafts I produced.(([[face>Axanarfilm/posts/1458743747573477?comment_id=1458993207548531&reply_comment_id=1459884657459386&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R9%22%7D|Bill Hunt comment on post in Axanar Facebook group,]] 11/4/17.))

=== 'Looks Really Bad' ===

But the optics of Peters' omission were challenged by an Axanar fan:

> Why not just announce [Hunt's resignation]? Why wait? Those two [Burnett and Hunt] leaving at basically the same time looks bad. Them announcing it instead of YOU first looks REALLY bad. How long until you start bashing them like [[gossett-subpoena|Christian [Gossett]]]/[[Tony Todd]]/ and [[terry_mcintosh|Terry Macintosh]]? Who all used to be really good friends with you until they quit?(([[face>Axanarfilm/posts/1458743747573477?comment_id=1458993207548531&reply_comment_id=1459191377528714&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R9%22%7D|Omega comment on Axanar Facebook group]], 11/3/17.))

Indeed, in the case of Todd, the actor was one of the stars of //Prelude// [[tony_todd|who left]] //Axanar// in September 2015 amid concerns about Peters' mismanagement of crowdfunding dollars. Peters did not disclose Todd's departure for three months, and only when challenged by an Axanar fan. {{:axamonitor-ico.gif?nolink|}}

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<wrap em>COMMENTS</wrap> \\
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**Keywords** {{tag>cast crew screenplay fact_check}}