HIS film about nuclear weapons is very relevant to the world of today with escalating tensions between America and North Korea.

But Golborne resident Thomas Houston said he actually got the idea for Now I Am Become Death, which was featured at the Cannes Film Festival, after being disappointed with 2014’s Godzilla movie.

Thomas, who created the short film with his business partner Dane Jones and thoroughly enjoyed his Cannes debut, said: “I am a big fan of the original 1954 film.

"It was released nine years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed and it is entirely a metaphor for nuclear weapons.

“All the other Godzilla films have been ‘big monster destroys city’ with nothing else to them.

"I remember very early on when the trailers were starting to come out the producers were talking about how they were going back to a more realistic approach.

“But I didn’t see any link going back to that metaphor against nuclear weapons.

"Because there is no Cold War and no arms race now it is almost like nuclear weapons have gone under the radar a little bit.

"It’s just this idea that these weapons could still destroy the entire planet.

“So it went from the Godzilla movie not doing what I thought it should do to me wanting to create something to address and bring to light the fact that these things still exist.”

Thomas and Dane’s main goal is to release their post-apocalyptic feature film called Anathema, which they have been working on since 2009.

Meanwhile they have been working on a series of short films in a bid to get financial backing from the big players in the film industry.

Now I Am Become Death was one of 1,000 short films selected out of around 10,000 submitted to be showcased at Cannes Film Festival’s marketplace.

Self funded with a £3,000 production budget and shot over four days at Salford University’s Thinklab, Thomas and Dane made the film with six cast members and a crew of 20.

It is set in 2040 when the world has split into East and West and is at the height of a second Cold War.

An oil crisis drives tensions between the two sides as both seek the upper hand.

Western leaders stand divided over what course of action is best, war or appeasement.

Thomas, a former media tutor at Priestley College, added: “Cannes was fantastic. It was overwhelming and pretty intense, but very educational in terms of the business side of how films work.

“We met the producer of Taken. In an interview he was talking about how he cast Liam Neeson.

"He was great – he gave me some advice about actors that I will take on board.

“We also saw Roman Polanski’s new film and saw him and Eva Green at a distance, and we got to do the red carpet walk while we were there, which was quite nice.

"It wasn’t so much the famous people we were meeting but the powerful people who make the films happen.

“We were having a few business dinners and I remember in one restaurant they opened a bottle of Cristal worth 960 Euros. We looked at each other thinking 'we are not going to be able to afford this’.

“Thankfully this gentleman and his business colleagues picked up the bill.”

Thomas and Dane are set to start shooting their next short film called Deceived in Manchester in October and have a script written for a horror short.

They will also be submitting Now I Am Become Death for more festivals, including BFI London, Leeds International Film Festival, Kinofilm Festival in Manchester, Berlin International Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival.

Thomas, 29, said: “It has been sent off to Atlanta as well, which is linked to the Academy Awards. If you win anything there you are automatically up for consideration for an Oscar.

“I am not saying we are going to do that well, it’s just the right people are going to watch it – those who have the financial capability to get you up and running with your next film.”