When Los Angeles-based filmmaker Kelsey Taylor heard 20th Century Fox’s call to pitch a new entirely original short film set in the distinctive world of the 1979 Alien, she knew she had to go for it. Only problem was, time was running short and she needed to zero in on a story concept. So Kelsey smartly turned to Tongal’s Crew Finder Forum to connect with writers with whom she could collaborate.
Ultimately, Kelsey would go on to become one of only 6 filmmakers given the greenlight to produce their original short for a budget of $35,000 each. That was no small feat, especially considering that the Alien 40th Anniversary Shorts Project amassed over 550 pitches in one week, more than any other production project on Tongal to date.
After months of meticulous planning and production, the films are finally here! Each one is a testament to the kind of magic made only by talented and resourceful film crews. Since screening at Emerald City Comic Con and WonderCon, fans have been fawning over each of the shorts’ authenticity and what they add to the story world of the original.
Since March 31st, IGN has been releasing one Alien short a week on their digital network, and to coincide with this release schedule, we’ll be publishing interviews with the Tongal directors who had the amazing opportunity to bring their vision to life. Read on to learn more about the making of Alien: Specimen!
Marissa Nystrom: This being the 40th anniversary of Alien, how did Alien: Specimen pay homage to the original - and how did it bring something entirely new to the Alien universe?
Kelsey Taylor: Our team really committed to making our short feel as though it was made in a similar era as the original. We really strived for our production design to be analog, the wardrobe to have similar textures to the original, the addition of grain to the image. You'll notice the classic white Alien shoes that make an appearance in several of the shorts! We have some specific gimmicks-- acetone burning through styrofoam-- that were taken straight from the original. We also wanted to embrace the situational aspects of Alien-- someone just trying to do their job and finding themselves in the midst of a terrible situation forced to choose between hiding out or facing the monster head on.
Federico Fracchia, our writer, must take all credit for his brilliant idea to set this in a greenhouse -- it's an incredible location and I always love to see the new worlds Alien takes us to. Without giving away too much, one other unique piece to our film is that we played around with the boundaries of what role synthetics play in the franchise…
MN: We were excited to see that you collaborated with another Tongal community member, Federico Fracchia, to write the script. Can you tell us how you connected and what it was like working together?
KT: I wish that my connection with Federico had begun from a more creative need, but in actuality this project came to my attention very late in the game and I reached out to a number of writers on the Tongal forum who were hoping to connect with a director/producer and I asked all of them if they would be open to submitting a script with me at the helm. They ALL sent a script to me and there were so many great ideas! I wish I could have made all the concepts I submitted, but I will say the Greenhouse location made this script incredibly unique.
It was a new experience for me working with a writer and I think the process yielded a better result working together. Federico is a director as well and so he has really great cinematic instincts. It was a collaborative effort and I feel that we both built off each other's ideas. I hope he's proud of the final product -- it's hard to hand off your work to someone else to execute!
MN: Both the lead actress and the dog gave standout performances! What were you looking for in both of the roles during the casting process? And did you screentest the chemistry between Jolene Anderson (Julie) and Goose (Maggie the dog)?
KT: I wish we had the time to screen test the chemistry between Jolene and Goose, but it just wasn't possible. We got so lucky with Goose's owner April Vaillancourt who is a magnificent trainer and breeder of Doberman's. Goose came to set totally prepared and just hit it off with Jolene (and everyone else, she's a sweetie). Our first shot was the first shot of the movie and it was smooth sailing with both Jolene and Goose the rest of the shoot!
In the role of Maggie we wanted a dog that could do serious damage to a facehugger but at the same time be lovable. We thought Goose's coloring softened the typical Doberman stereotype. For Julie, we needed someone who could sell the punk-rock botanist. Not a simple task... Jolene is young at heart and slipped into the role with such ease! Her look, her attitude-- she's a kickass lady.
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See more behind-the-scenes action on Instagram at @kelseytaylorhasnoinsta and @alienanthology, and be sure to keep your eyes glued to IGN where new Alien 40th anniversary short films will be released every week leading up to Alien Day on April 26th.
