A visit to Retro Film Studios during the filming of "Kitumba" found celebrities Andrew Probert and Gil Gerard both donning Starfleet uniforms for a stint in front of the camera.

Probert, a designer/illustrator, is a life-long-Star Trek fan and is best known in fandom for his work as a major design contributor for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", and as the designer of the Enterprise-D while Senior Illustrator for "Star Trek: The Next Generation".  "Andy offered us the use of a new Klingon fighter he's designed," said Senior Executive Producer James Cawley. "We're really excited to have him aboard for "Kitumba"." While visiting the sets in June, Probert donned a Starfleet command uniform to appear in a cameo as the heard-but-never-seen Commodore Probert from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". 

Gil Gerard, however, was never a "Star Trek" fan. The star of the 1979-1981 Larson/Mantley Production television series "Buck Rogers in the 25^th Century", Gerard stopped by Retro Film Studios to meet the newest "Buck Rogers", Bobby Quinn Rice, and to chat with several senior production company staff about the upcoming CEC/RFS series. While visiting the studio the warm, gregarious man was impressed by, and became enamored with, the "Phase II" production "family". Within hours Gerard found himself joining the festivities and was wrangled into a uniform to take on the role of Admiral Jack Sheehan - the man who sends James T. Kirk and the Enterprise on their mission into the Klingon Empire. One look at himself in Starfleet uniform and Gil Gerard proudly, and happily, admitted defeat at the hands of the die-hard Star Trek fans. "Damn you! You've brought me over to the dark side!"  

07-23-2009