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TheStargatefandom is the community of fans of themilitary science fiction filmStargate and itsspinofftelevision andweb series includingStargate SG-1 (SG1),Stargate Infinity (SGI),Stargate Atlantis (SGA), andStargate Universe (SGU).
While panned by critics, the 1994 filmStargate drew much attention, grossing close to 200 millionUSD. The film was praised for itsspecial effects and eventually gathered its owncult following over the years.[1] The follow-upStargate television franchise built a solidfanbase, which has been known for its loyal fans.Stargate SG-1 has established many of its ownconventions, such as Wolfcon inEurope,Gatecon inCanada, among others. Thefranchise contains many unofficial conventions such as MediaWest Con and Vividcon established and run by fans of the franchise. Since its early years,Stargate has grown in popularity inGreat Britain,France, andGermany among otherEuropean countries. The American-written book,Reading Stargate SG-1 noted that the franchise was strong with female fans because of itsfeminist approach to certain characters, most notablySamantha Carter (portrayed byAmanda Tapping).[2]
Brad Wright used the term "Gaters" to refer to fans ofStargate SG-1 in 2001,[3] but the term was never fully adopted. Some fans believe that there was a real Stargate device under Cheyenne Mountain that inspired writers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie to come up with their own conspiracy story for season 4's "Point of No Return".[3] The fansiteGateWorld became a major franchise news site with special arrangements with MGM; GateWorld's founder Darren Sumner was later hired to serve as a news editor for the officialStargate SG-1 magazine and to checkStargate comic books for continuity errors with the TV shows before publication.[4]Late Night with Conan O'Brien graphic designerPierre Bernard gained notoriety amongStargate fans for devoting several of his "Recliner of Rage"Late Night segments toSG-1. The producers invited him to make cameo appearances in the episodes "Zero Hour" and "200".[5]
Gatecon is an annualfan convention which centers around theStargate television franchise. Gatecon was conceived in 2000 to provide a place for fans of the showStargate SG-1 to meet members of the cast and crew, and to get to know their fellow fans. The original organizers met due to an interactiveStargate-themed site run by Ryan Peters underShowtime's umbrella. Since its inception, Gatecon has raised money for theMake-a-Wish Foundation through a series of auction evenings.Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer (MGM) andBridge Studios donated props and costumes. Because of thefinancial crisis, Gatecon decided to not hold any convention until 2010 inVancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Gatecon's founder Allan Gowen said, "With the current world economic status it is making it harder and harder for people to attend conventions," as the reason why there is not going to be any Gatecon in 2009.[6]
Until 2005, Gatecon was the mainStargate SG-1 fan convention. It was held in the Vancouver area, with more actor and crew member participation than other conventions.SG-1 conventions byCreation Entertainment were also marketed as "The OfficialStargate SG-1 andStargate Atlantis Tour", which mostly took place in the United States until Creation Entertainment acquired the license for Vancouver conventions in 2005. Wolf Events organized manySG-1 conventions in Europe, particularly in the UK and Germany.[7]
 | |
Type of site | Fan-news site |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Owner | Darren Sumner |
| URL | www |
| Launched | October 22, 1999; 26 years ago (1999-10-22) |
| Current status | Active |
Content license | Copyright |
GateWorld (also known asGateWorld.net and abbreviated toGW) is an English-languagefan-news site-basedwebpage for British-Canadian Americanscience fiction shows but lays most its weight on theStargate franchise. It was started in 1999 byStargate SG-1 fan Darren Sumner, to be anonline community for fans of the show. Through its relationship withMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), GateWorld occasionally offers exclusivenews reports such as the recurring appearance ofClaudia Black inseason nine ofStargate SG-1 and the announcement of the thirdStargate live-action television series being in development and the casting ofBrian J. Smith in this new show.
GateWorld has an extensive show encyclopedia, cast interviews, an online store,forum, articles, reviews as well as a large episode guides, with transcripts and pictures. The site also features up-to-date news. The GateWorld forum has more than 44,000 members and 9,100,000 posts. The record number of users online at the same time was 2,770 as of 10 May 2011, the day after the last episode ofStargate Universe aired.[8]
GateWorld was inaugurated on October 22, 1999 as "Starguide," a fan site that has changed addresses andservers many times since then. The site was developed by Darren Sumner, anSG-1 fan, to be an online community for the showStargate SG-1, similar to web sites for otherscience fiction shows. Though the site focused onStargate, other parts of the site were devoted to other sci-fi series in the form of episode guides. It was during this time that Starguide was given the new name GateWorld.[9][10] The main site was completely redesigned in 2006 to coincide with the broadcast ofStargate SG-1's milestone200th episode.[11] With the cancellation ofStargate SG-1, Gateworld announced its support for SaveStargateSG1,[12] a fan run campaign to get international networks and executives to show support forStargate SG-1 and to help get it back on the air.
Although the webpage focuses on news coverage and the episode guides, it includes a largeencyclopedia, reviews, and a store. Now, even the cast and producers ofStargate have contributed to the site with extensive multimedia interviews, blogs, spoilers, and live chats. The GateWorldAlpha Site is a site made by the creators of GateWorld. It was made in case of system problems with GateWorld that would stop fans from connecting to it. The site provides news on problems and updates on-site maintenance.
In 2007, GateWorld launched its Creation Storefrontmerchandise section, which includesDVDs,Stargateglassware,apparel,jewelry,photographs,autographs, keychains, andcalendars available for purchase.
On January 4, 2008, GateWorld launched a new service called GateWorld Play, aStargate video service similar toYouTube. Plans were to update this new channel "seven days per week for the foreseeable future".[13][14]
On June 9, 2006Entertainment Weekly became the first major publication to recognize GateWorld.[15]The Province called GateWorld "amazingly detailed".[16] GateWorld was the winner of the 2007SyFy Genre Awards for "Best Web Site".[17] It was also nominated in 2006.[18] The producers of theStargate franchise are in good contact with GateWorld and have mentioned the website favorably in several audio commentaries. In 2004, Darren Sumner was invited to tour through the sets ofStargate Atlantis and to interview the members of the series' crew. Since then, he and partner David Read make an annual pilgrimage toVancouver, where the franchise is filmed, to visit the studio and interview the casts and crews of both shows for publication on GateWorld. ProducerJoseph Mallozzi stated in his blog:
"I have always been a supporter of GateWorld and consider it the premiere site for Stargate fans online. In fact, I was the one who suggested to MGM Marketing several years back, that they look toward establishing some sort of working relationship with Darren and GateWorld."
— Joseph Mallozzi's, weblog[19]
Looking back on producingSG-1' season 5, Joseph Mallozzi also stated in 2011:
"And, when we weren't writing or producing, we were checking out Gateworld which was fast becoming THE one stop shop for everythingStargate. In fact, Gateworld was so impressive in its scope and detail that we eventually abandoned updating the show's massive bible [...] in favor of directing prospective freelancers to the site. It blew all otherStargate-related sites, even the studio's which paled by comparison. Over the years, Gateworld evolved alongside the franchise, growing and improving. In later years, I would roll my eyes and fans on other forums would accuse Darren and David – "the Gateworld guys" as we called them – of simply being a PR arm of the franchise. The truth is, as incredible as they've been in the amount of support they’ve shown, there have also been incidents in which we've strongly disagreed with some of the decisions they've taken. Nothing that couldn't be talked through but, still, enough to remind everyone that Gateworld was and would remain a strong and independent online entity."
— Joseph Mallozzi's, weblog[20]
