The Ore

Filmmakers Sam Balcomb & Jesse Soff established their successful working relationship in 2005, with a short film titled Texas Fortune. This film won the grand prize in the horror-themed DVXfest, and was later invited to screen in Park City during the Sundance Film Festival.

For their next project, Sam & Jesse decided to tackle a genre notoriously difficult for short films, science fiction. Their goal was to create a unique, living, breathing world with a strong storyline and characters — enough to propel potential interest in developing a franchise. Although this process sometimes proves expensive, they have spent years developing a roster of in-house talent, equipment, and skillsets to accomplish high concept work on a miniscule budget.

The Ore is the result of their scripting, which began in January of 2006. They immediately commenced pre-production in Los Angeles, scouting locations, designing costumes, and creating preliminary CGI shots. Using these materials, they were able to assemble an incredibly talented team of cast and crew, and began a one-week shoot schedule at the end of March.

Once filming was complete, Sam & Jesse created TheOre.net, a website where fans of the genre (and of independent filmmaking) could watch the progress of post production. Since then, The Ore has garnered a steady and passionate following; to keep the fanbase interested during the final stages, video podcasts were recorded, showing up-to-date developments. A special DVD giveaway contest ran on CHUD.com, which attracted more attention than any of their previous contests this year. Currently, The Ore has been invited to premiere at various film festivals and genre conventions around the globe.

The Sci-Fi Channel has devoted an entire video podcast to The Ore, which features over six minutes of behind-the-scenes clips. You can subscribe to the SciFi 360 podcast on iTunes (free for Mac and PC). Also, the current issue of High Definition Magazine (pdf link) has a two-page article/interview of Sam and Jesse discussing their film. AND... for a limited time you can see the film in its entirety on theOre.net website.

SPECIAL FOR READERS OF THESCREAMONLINE: The Special Edition DVD, which normally sells for $14.99 US, and contains over two hours of extra material, including making-of featurettes, interviews, and tutorials, is now available for only $10.99. Be sure to use the coupon code "scream" to get the discounted price. Then visit TheOre.net to learn more about the world of The Ore.