It’s time for trekkies everywhere to grab a bottle of Klingon bloodwine or Romulan ale and get ready to toast because Paramount+ is going to celebrate “First Contact Day” (a follow up to “Star Trek Day” on September 8) with a host of panels, marathons, and exciting Star Trek news.
According to the official press release Paramount+ wanted to honor April 5 (April 5, 2063 being the day that humans first made contact with Vulcans) because it marks “a pivotal moment of exploration and acceptance in Star Trek history. The virtual event will honor and commemorate this future date by providing Star Trek fans exclusive programming, including themed panels with the cast and creatives from classic and current Star Trek television series and cast from Star Trek: First Contact, exclusive news from the Star Trek Universe on Paramount+, curated episode marathons, the return of the #StarTrekUnitedGives initiative and more.”
Fans will also be encouraged to share their point of “first contact” with the Star Trek Universe. “Whether it’s a memory from when they first connected with a series or film or the moment they felt represented on screen.” Use the hashtags #StarTrek, #FirstContactDay and #FirstContact for a chance to be retweeted by the official “Star Trek” Twitter handles!
Check out the trailer for “First Contact Day” below!
FIRST CONTACT DAY GLOBAL PANELS (12:00-2:45 PM, PT/3:00-5:45 PM, ET)
Wil Wheaton and Mica Burton will host almost three hours of themed virtual panels and programming that will feature cast members and creative minds from Star Trek. They will discuss “exploration, unity through diversity and new frontiers in the franchise, while offering exclusive sneak peeks into what’s next in the Star Trek Universe on Paramount+.”
The First Contact Day themed panels and panelists are as follows:
- Star Trek: First Contact 25th Anniversary Panel, featuring cast members Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner and Alice Krige as they discuss behind-the-scenes memories and the film’s importance 25 years after its premiere.
- “Creating First Contacts” Panel, Costume Designer Gersha Phillips (Star Trek: Discovery), Senior Concept Designer Neville Page, VFX Supervisor Jason Zimmerman and Make-up & Prosthetics Department Head James Mackinnon (Star Trek: Picard) come together in conversation about creating the incredible worlds of Star Trek, as seen in Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard.
- “Women In Motion” Panel, featuring Star Trek: Discovery’s Sonequa Martin-Green, Star Trek: Picard’s Michelle Hurd and Isa Briones, and Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Dawnn Lewis as they look back at how Star Trek: The Original Series actress Nichelle Nichols helped pave the way for women of color on television and overall, her lasting impact on not only Star Trek, but science and culture.
- “Second Contact” Panel, Mike McMahan, the creator of Star Trek: Lower Decks, Paul F. Tompkins, the co-host of Star Trek: The Pod Directive and Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes of Star Trek: The Next Generation discuss how some of the hilarious B-stories from past series like Star Trek: The Next Generation paved the way for new iterations of Star Trek, including Star Trek: Lower Decks, the Star Trek franchise’s first animated comedy.
- STAR TREK: PRODIGY Panel, series executive producers Kevin and Dan Hageman are joined by Captain Kathryn Janeway herself of Star Trek: Voyager and Kate Mulgrew, who is reprising her role in animated form in Prodigy, as they talk about the highly anticipated upcoming CG-animated kids series from Nickelodeon and CBS Studios.
Fans worldwide will be able to livestream the First Contact Day panels for free at StarTrek.com/FirstContact. The panels will also be available to stream for free in the U.S. on PlutoTV and Paramount+’s Twitch page.
After their initial airing, the panels will be available on-demand on Paramount+’s YouTube Channel and on Paramount+.
