Kailey and Sam Spear, the twin directors behind Alien: Ore, collectively known as the ‘Spear Sisters,’ have always had a shared passion for sci-fi and the supernatural. With a short film about an AI nanny currently on the festival circuit and a Twilight prequel from a previous Tongal project under their belts, it’s no surprise that when they heard the call for the Alien 40th Anniversary Shorts Project, they immediately got to work on their pitch.
To celebrate the franchise’s 40th anniversary, 20th Century Fox teamed up with Tongal to give filmmakers the opportunity to create new and original short films based on the distinctive world of Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien. In a span of one week, we received over 550 pitches, more than any other production project on Tongal to date, and ultimately greenlit 6 filmmaking teams, providing them each with a budget of $35,000. For the Spear Sisters, this seemed like a tailor-made opportunity to delve deeper into the sci-fi horror genre and add their voices to this iconic franchise.
Conceived as taking place at the same time Ripley escapes Nostromo, on a planet not too far away, Alien: Ore stays true to the 70’s retro-futuristic vibes and presents us with an equally dynamic ensemble cast. The stakes are higher, however, as a group of miners is forced to decide between their own survival and protecting their human colony from contamination. The Spear Sisters’ choice to shoot in a mine is a perfect example of how they paid tribute to the original, while also building on its distinctive world, creating a similar sense of claustrophobia and isolation, but allowing the audience to experience those feelings in a completely new and different way. You can watch the film now on IGN’s YouTube channel!
On March 31st, IGN began releasing one Alien short a week on their digital network. To coincide with this release schedule, we’ll be publishing one interview a week with our Alien filmmakers.
As expected of sibling creators, and even more so of twins, the Spear Sisters tackled Alien: Ore with unusual synergy. On set, they kept their roles fluid, changing hats when needed. Read on in our interview to get a glimpse into how the Spear Sisters worked together to bring Alien: Ore to life.
Maddie Mindling: With over 550 Pitch Qualifications submitted, the Alien 40th Anniversary Shorts Project was the most competitive filmmaking project on Tongal to date. How did it feel when you learned you were one of the 6 filmmakers that got the greenlight from 20th Century Fox?
Spear Sisters: We felt amazing! Then nervous. Then excited. Then daunted. We ran through a whole range of emotions then landed on feeling determined. Determined to make this film something that the Alien fans could be proud of.
MM: Holy smokes, you shot in a mine! How did you get that location and what were the challenges of shooting there?
SS: Yeah! What an amazing location, eh? We knew of the location while we were planning on stories to pitch. We thought a mine would be an excellent place to set an Alien film. The mine, Britannia Mine just outside of Vancouver, was an old copper mine but has now been transformed into a mining museum. Because it is a working museum we could only shoot during the nights outside of their working hours (it was cheaper than buying out the museum for the day!). Our mine was supposed to be a hot mine, but we were shooting nights in Canada in October…so I guess we could say that the cold was a bit of a challenge. (Laughs).
MM: This being the 40th anniversary of Alien, how did your short film pay homage to the original - and how did it bring something entirely new to the Alien universe?
SS: Because this film was made to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Alien, we did want to make sure we were paying homage to the original film. Keep your eyes peeled; we snuck a lot of easter eggs into the film! With Ore we wanted our audience to experience what they loved about the first film in a new way. We knew we were going to include claustrophobic spaces, a dynamic ensemble, sweat, slime, grit, screams, and of course, the alien. All those things that made Alien so great. But we also wanted to give everyone a new part of the universe to explore. New characters to meet. With our lead character Lorraine, we didn’t want to deliver another Ripley (there is only one Ripley, and she is amazing!). We wanted to bring a completely new hero to screen.
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See more behind-the-scenes action on Instagram at @kaileyspear, @samsspear, 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.
