A DIRECTOR from Billericay has started making his first short film after beating 400 others to secure funding from Sky.

Ben Robins, 22, from Perry Street has been commissioned to make his first short film, Losing It, after being one of five applicants to receive funding for their project.

Ben, a former pupil of Mayflower High School in Stock Road is still amazed at the opportunity, which will be his first project as a director.

He said: “I’ll be honest, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the whole thing and I’ve known since the summer.

“It’s not something I think I’m ever going to get used to, but I just feel totally blessed that they took a chance on me and gave someone completely untested a chance to tell their incredibly strange story.

“It’s not often someone as big as Sky is willing to champion the underdog.”

Ben was given the opportunity through ShortFLIX, a scheme created by Creative England which helps young filmmakers who have no formal training in the industry.

He said: “It all started with just an application form, where I included my idea, and a semi-brief summary of the film.

“I then had to pitch a few times, one of which was at Sky HQ in Isleworth, which was terrifying and incredible and just slap-yourself-in-the-face amazing all in one go.”

The film which guaranteed Sky’s backing, Losing It, is about a one-night stand between two very different characters who experience a whole host of twists and turns.

Ben said he could not give too much away, but one character is loosely based on himself.

He said: “I have been asked so many times if it is about me that I kind of ended up saying ‘yes’ a lot. I thought it was funny, but the reality is, the events themselves are totally fictional.

“The main character, Chris is semi-based on some of my own awkwardness though.

“He has a lot of the same ticks. But the movie-world is very different to our own, and when you see the film, you’ll understand the heightened-reality aspect a little more, I’m sure.”

Film has always been a part of Ben’s life and his love for the industry saw him take Film Studies at University of Southampton.

He said that he had written a lot of scripts, but had not pick up a camera at all during his degree.

Ben added: “The closest thing I’ve come to directing before was at school, when some friends and I would make comedy sketches in our back gardens.

So, walking onto set and having like 30-odd people staring at me was pretty daunting.”

“It’s not easy and you’re not going to be Spielberg on the first try, but just watch a lot of movies and shorts for inspiration, and keep creating things that only you could, and you will get there. The film has already been shot and Ben is just waiting for the date to be set for his directorial debut to appear on Sky Arts.

He said: “The film is, as they say in Hollywood, ‘in the can’. We shot mid-November in Peckham over two days, and now I’m just waiting on the go-ahead to sit down with my editor and start messing around with the footage.

Losing It will be appearing on Sky next Spring.