Pic: Feride Sahin

A Deptford actor who acted in, filmed, produced and edited a short film entirely on his own in his living room has been nominated for four awards.

Josh Burton, 23, discovered his quadruple BEFFTA (black entertainment film, fashion and arts) nominations last week while jogging.

His film The Dead Truth, in which he plays three brothers, garnered him nominations for best lead actor, producer, director and short film. He is up against actors such as Kevin Hart and Noel Clarke.

Derby-born Burton said: “My mum called me while I was on the jog as I was two minutes into a song and told me I was nominated for the awards. I wasn’t taking it in properly as I was trying to beat my time, which I managed to do. It was after I got home when I looked it up and saw who I was nominated against. That was the promising point for me as an actor.

“Of course I was honoured, but the big shock was being nominated for my own project against people from big-budget projects.”

Burton wrote, filmed, directed, edited and starred in the 15-minute short called The Dead Truth. The film was premiered at Deptford Cinema on July 26 this year.

“I was going to premiere it somewhere central initially but my friend told me about Deptford cinema,” he said. “I went there and said ‘This is the place and where it needs to start from’. It made sense to have it premiered from my home town because it gave it such a special meaning.”

The film tells the tale of three brothers; a doctor, a supermarket manager and ex-convict, who come together for the first time in six years after their mother’s death. The whole drama unfolds in one room where secrets between the brothers get exposed.

Burton used his living room as a set and said the film took “one month and four days” to write, produce, act and edit.

He said he was inspired by the film Legend, in which Tom Hardy plays the Kray twins Reggie and Ronnie.

“I was thinking if I was going to do the exact same thing, so that’s why I decided to go with three brothers as opposed to two.”

Burton said he ended up making the film on his own by default. He added: “I did try and seek out people naturally. Not online or post a job that was going. And I did meet directors and producers but the only issue was people’s work commitments. I booked the premiere before I started the film. Because of this, I did everything myself.”

The Deptford actor practiced how to work behind and in front of a camera after filming and editing comical videos and music videos with his friends.

Burton said: “I want to be one of the greatest actors to have ever lived and also open schools or academies. Also the Robert De Niro or Will Smith of the future generation – I’ll be best friends with all of them and I’ll invite them to talk at some classes.

“By the time I get to where I want to get to, I think I would’ve inspired enough people that they would find that other belief in themselves to do that. If there’s anything I’ve done with this film is to leave a mark of inspiration to it. I didn’t have the skills and had to learn along the way.”

Burton is currently working on another project called String Theory and said that he could well make this one alone too.

Winners will be announced for the BEFFTA awards 2016 on October 27 and 28.