In 1998 a group of young Northern Irish film makers set out to make a short film with a very different approach to most shorts being made here. Instead of the gritty realism that was the standard, they brought a wry comic tale of 50s dance halls, alien invaders and of course… rock n’ roll.

 Director Enda Hughes and his co-writer Mik Duffy gathered together a group of passionate misfits to help their vision become a reality. The film is packed to the brim with recognisable faces from the Northern Irish acting scene… and at the forefront two Irish comedians at the top of their game. Ardal O’Hanlon was riding high with the success of Father Ted and brought with him one of the show’s guest stars Joe Rooney (Fr. Damo) to round off the cast.

But one of the areas they really struck gold was with the hiring of a young up and coming cinematographer Seamus McGarvey. Seamus would later go on to be the director of photography on such films as Avengers Assemble, The Hours, Atonement, Godzilla, We Need To Talk About Kevin and The Greatest Showman.

The Ones To Watch team were delighted to get the chance to sit down and chat with Enda and Seamus about the making of this bold iconic and hilarious Northern Irish short.

 We chatted about how the short came together, the scope and ambition of the piece and what it was like bringing flying saucers to the screen on a shoestring budget… and sometimes literally on a shoestring.