A PRUDHOE film-maker has been named best director at an international film festival following over two years of awards success.

Steven J. R. Lawson, who has won numerous awards at film festivals over the last few years, has now won the ‘best director’ title for his fan film Westin Hills.

The 37-year-old found out he had won the award at the Azure Lorica FanFilm Awards 2019 on Sunday, following the event held in California on Saturday night.

The film’s story is based on the Avengers film series, but with a horror twist. It features iconic horror characters such as Freddy Krueger, Jason, Chucky, Pennywise and Michael Myers, and it also won an award last year – an award of recognition – at the Best Shorts Awards.

While Steven has won awards in the past at various fan film festivals, he called this “the big one”.

Judges chose winners in just six categories, and Steven had competition from all over the world. Steven said: “It was a massive surprise because it felt like it wasn’t the best film I had made. I felt like I had kind of rushed it a little bit, so I was over the moon to have won.”

He is hoping that his success on an international stage will eventually lead to a career in film-making.

In the meantime, he has recently held a masterclass at his old school, Prudhoe Community High School, to share his skills with the younger generation.