I worked for many years on this large utility business. Latterly, with the deregulation of the energy markets, they were permitted to supply customers with gas as well. Northern Electric became Northern Electric & Gas, and I got the job of launching the new offering to the public.

I love the way ideas can strike you when you’re not even trying to have one.

It’s all about letting your logical left brain take a step back and allowing the intuitive, creative right brain to take the lead. Anyway, I was on the running machine at the gym, just trying to get through the torture, when my mind drifted. The image of ET and his glowing finger popped into my mind.

Then, like some AI trawl of my brain’s database, up popped a sequence from the Laurel and Hardy movie Way Out West. In the scene, the hapless duo are standing at the bar. Oliver can’t find a light for his cigar, so Stan flicks his thumb up to produce a flame, which is used to light the cigar. Talk about a lightbulb moment! The result was the TV ad with the biggest budget I ever made—

feature film Director Laurence Dunmore, Smoke and Mirrors, editing and effects, Asylum modelmakers and Agency producer Steve Hunneysett, all insured a fabulously successful production.

Shown here is my original sketched storyboard and script, as well as some shots of our three foot tall Alien being developed.