This was online a couple of years ago, but has expired. I don't know the exact date, nor for which medium this article was originally intended.

Tuvok Takes to the Street

 [Tim Russ]   Making an indie film is no mean feat, as Star Trek: Voyager's Tim Russ discovered.

"This has been... I suppose 'educational' would be putting it a bit mildly," says Russ, who made his maiden voyage as an independent movie producer with East of Hope Street.

"Making the film, of course, involved a series of headaches," says Russ, who plays Voyager's Mr. Tuvok when he's not doing movies. "But those are the problems you want, the creative challenges. The business end of this process, securing representation and distribution, is... [he pauses] something else."

Gritty, occasionally harrowing but ultimately hopeful, East of Hope Street recently won the Best Urban Drama prize at the New York Underground Film Festival, and has caught the attention of the Sundance Channel, the Independent Film Channel and Black Entertainment Television. But Russ wants the movie to have a chance at a theatrical run before it turns up on TV.

"We want to do what's best for this project," he says. "I want to be sure it's reaching its audience. That's the reason you make a film, so that people will see it." Next stop: the Maine International Film Festival on Fri., July 10.

John Walsh