End of an Era: Drex Files Blog is gone

I recently discovered something sad – Doug Drexler's excellent "Drex Files" blog is no more. As Trek fans know, Doug worked on Star Trek productions beginning with TNG and going through to Enterprise. Arguably, his most famous contribution to Star Trek was his design of the NX-01 Enterprise. He later worked on the incredible Battlestar Galactica and is currently working on Defiance for SyFy.

Doug dressed as an extra for Enterprise

Doug was a rare bird in Star Trek production – he was actually a die-hard fan before he ever started working on NextGen. That's a VERY unusual thing, especially back then. Doug's fervent fandom-fired passion was evident in his work. From doing make-up on TNG (he won an oscar for being part of the Dick Tracy make-up team) right up through to his CGI work on Enterprise, Doug's work was excellent. As a designer myself, I have a special appreciation for what he brought to the mix.

When he began "Drex Files" several years ago, I was ecstatic. Doug used his Blog to tell the world about his behind-the-scenes experiences in the world of Star Trek and I, for one, couldn't get enough. We got great stories ranging from doing make-up touch-ups on Jonathan Frakes and working with legendary Trek contributors like Herman Zimmerman and Andy Probert to rummaging through the Star Trek costume warehouse and finding all sorts of amazing pieces going back to the Original Series. In short, his blog brought a unique wealth of fascinating insider information to his readers. And we dug it!

Over the years, Doug met just about everyone who ever worked on Star Trek, going back to the Original Series. He told us emotional stories about being friends with the great Bob Justman and working with Michael Westmore and Patrick Stewart. He became friends with TOS actors Michael Forest and Barbara Luna. It was like a pipeline to the past. And importantly, while telling us about these Trek greats, he never EVER came across as boastful or egotistic. He was honored to know these people and was pleased to tell readers a bit about the experience.

New Drex Files entries were becoming more and more rare as Doug's career no doubt took more and more of his time. Because of that, I was not surprised that he gave it up all together. (NOTE: see addendum, below). But Trek fans are poorer for it. Luckily, Doug is still doing intermittent Drex Files posts at StarTrek.com, but not with the frequency of his old blog postings. Plus, all of his wonderful old posts are apparently gone as the old URL is no longer working at all.

A couple of years ago I had the pleasure to work with Doug in a small way. He was the art director for the "Star Trek Ships of the Line" calendar series and was kind enough to engage me for the 2011 version (I'm November!). It was a lot of fun and Doug let me go with whatever I wanted to do. That kind of creative freedom is rare in my business, and was much appreciated.

So Doug, whatever the future holds, I wish you well and thank you for all the great stories you shared with us over the years.

To you I definitely say Live Long and Prosper!

Don

ADDENDUM: Doug has told me that his reason for ceasing Drex Files is due some of his VFX colleagues taking exception to his "Drex Files" watermark that Doug put on each image he posted in his blog. Apparently they felt Doug was taking unfair credit for other's work. Let me just say that as an avid reader I could NOT disagree more. Doug always went out of his way to give credit where credit was due. Rather than taking credit for other's work, I felt he CELEBRATED the great work of his fellow creatives in an open and honest way by showing it off for all the world to see. If ever a credit was missed, I'm sure Doug would have fixed it instantly had it been brought to his attention.

He doesn't NEED to steal other's thunder. He has enough of his own. At least, that's the way I see it.

He's considering how to address the concerns of his colleagues and possibly resume the Blog. I and many others sure hope that happens!

D