A BUDDING movie-maker from Sidmouth will see his first flick premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

A BUDDING movie-maker from Sidmouth will see his first flick premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

Luke Osbond, 23, of Convent Road, will have the chance to mingle with Hollywood heavyweights in May but has vowed: “I won’t get star-struck.”

The second year film studies scholar hopes The Gamble, a short film created with fellow students and alumni at Oxford Brookes University, will be the key to opening a door to bigger budgets and better distribution for future productions.

The Brit crime caper was selected by Cannes Short Film Corner judges and will debut at the world-famous festival in France.

“We just went for it,” said Luke, pictured left, who acted in, and was a second unit director of The Gamble.

“I class it as more of a flick than an art film, so we didn’t have high hopes for the festival. It was a bit of a surprise. When we found out I was ecstatic- it’s really exciting. I’ve never done anything like this before- I’m revved up to get out there and to try to sell the film the best I can.

“I’ve got an all-access pass, but I don’t want to get star struck.

“Rather than this being an experience, we’re going to try and use it as an opportunity.

“It’s a new door we can go through- we don’t know what’s on the other side.

“Ultimately, we are trying to spread the word and get distribution and bigger budgets for films we hope to do in the future.”

Luke and his fellow filmmakers had to whittle down The Gamble from its original 40-minute cut to a running time of just ten minutes. The short film was made between September and November last year at a cost of �1,000.

Luke has co-written and will direct his next, feature length, project called Mask of Sanity.