The Bowen Island video store is no longer with us but the island’s Spear sisters are keeping its legacy alive.
Kailey and Sam Spear are profiled this week on YVRScreenScene.com. Vancouver film and television journalist Sabrina Furminger interviewed them about their new film, Alien Ore. The 10-minute film, which can be streamed for free online, celebrates the 40th anniversary of the movie Alien.
The Bowen-raised twin sisters say that when they first became interested in writing and directing their own films, their father Ted told them that part of their education could be found close to home at the local video store.
“You want to be filmmakers, you have to see Alien, and we fell in love with it,” Sam told Furminger. “I remember being aware of how special it was to see a female in the lead.”
Alien Ore, which was primarily filmed at Britannia Mine, marks another achievement for the sisters. Theirs was one of six films that won funding by 20th Century Fox and Tongal.
“We were right in the middle of writing something else when I hopped onto Twitter for a moment and there was this video that caught my eye. It was of Ripley in Alien and I stopped scrolling for a moment to enjoy Ripley being cool, and then I saw what was written above it and it was that they were opening up the Alien universe to filmmakers to pitch original stories. We were like, ‘Oh no! We have to apply!’”
It follows up on their hugely successful Twilight Storytellers: The Mary Alice Brandon File and CC. The latter film earned them the 2019 Leo Award for Best Screenwriting in a Short Drama.
You can read the full Alien Ore interview at YVRScreenScene.com.
