Many moons ago, whipper snapper Luke Snellin walked away from Virgin Media Shorts with a shiny new trophy and £30,000 film funding, aged just 23. His entry Mixtape was a warm and fuzzy short about a young boy with a crush (played by Bill Milner of Son of Rambow,  Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll  and X-Men: First Class fame) making the girl next door a tape from his dad’s 70’s music collection.

Mixtape went on to be nominated for a 'Best Short Film' BAFTA and picked up awards at Landcrab and Purbeck Film Festivals. High on the success of his debut film, Luke didn't waste any time getting his next short made with the UK Film Council. A sort-of sequel to Mixtape, his 15 minute masterpiece Disco again stars Bill Milner along side the adorable Izzy Meikle Small (Never Let Me Go) and Charlie Rowe (The Golden Compass, Never Let Me Go). Oh, and cheeky chappy Bradley Ford from the Cadbury's 'eyebrows' advert.

Disco went down a storm on the festival circuit, being selected to screen in London, Berlin, Miami, Cleveland and Nashville among others, and snapped up an award for best screenplay at thr LA New Wave International Film Festival. It also hit music festivals Latitude, Reading and Leeds in the summer. Not bad for his second fim, eh?

Since then, Luke hasn't stopped. He's directed music videos for Young Rebel Set and Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly, and directed commercials for Wrigley’s, LG and a couple for Google to come soon. He also made the short film, Jess//Jim. Starring Toby Kebbell and exec produced by Kevin Spacey, it was the first of the Old Vic’s New Voices programme and was conceived, shot, cut and finished all in just 24 hours. Oh, and he made the 2011 Virgin Media Shorts launch film, Charlie, about a Chaplin lookalike.

Currently, Luke is in post production on an original drama entitled Sink or Swim - part of Channel 4’s ‘Coming Up’ Season. Starring Mixtape’s own Charlotte Beaumont, Una Stubbs (Sherlock) and Sarah Hoare (The Powder Room), the film will air sometime this year.

Most excitingly however, Luke is gearing up to shoot his debut feature film, The Wanderers, this coming summer. Billed as a ‘non conventional Brit pop musical' and set during the summer holidays of 1996 in Colchester, it tells the story of Jonny Bowen (played once again by Bill Milner), a 16-year-old who strives for his band, The Wanderers, to be the next big Brit pop sensation. With original music written by Tim Wheeler from Ash, Emmy The Great from Austenland, and Graham Coxon from Blur, it’s safe to say we here at Shorts can't wait to see the finished product.