Director Jon Scotcher could be the next Quentin Tarantino if television presenter Cat Deeley agrees to be in his next film.

Jon, 32, of Brunswick Road, Brighton, is a seasoned movie-maker and has just had his first novel published.

He is in talks with Ms Deeley about playing a lead role in a film based around the National Lottery.

He said: "She sounds pretty enthusiastic about it and we plan to shoot it in a Brighton hotel, although we are still looking for funding. I'm also planning to write another book but it's not going to be a sequel.

"I like what Quentin Tarantino does where he links films by peripheral characters."

Jon said his experiences working on about 50 fillms prepared him for writing the book.

Extras is a romantic comedy which follows the exploits of Neil, a film extra who gets involved in a drug heist with his hapless mates while falling for the leading lady on the set of a gangster movie.

Jon, who moved to Brighton from Maidenhead to work at a film studio in Henfield, West Sussex, said: "It's weird it turned out as a love story - I always wrote action stories when I was at school.

"But as well as my film background, I had also, like Neil, just split up with my girlfriend.

"The book gave me the chance to say some of the things that I hadn't been able to say to her."

Jon also said the book's characters were loosely based on his own friends and on people he had met in the industry.

He said: "The leading lady, Jessica, who Neil falls in love with, is based on a model I worked with."

The combination of film and writing is a perfect marriage for Jon, who said they complimented different sides of his character.

He said: "Working on a film is more of a group process, while writing is much more personal and you get to play God with the characters.

"It's like extrovert versus introvert."

He might have realised he was destined for a life behind the camera when he was still at school.

He said: "We used to play Star Wars at infant school but we used to play making it instead of actually being the characters. I was always the director."

In Extras Jon is scathing about London bars with their standardised decor and overpriced drinks but thinks differently about his new home.

He said: "Brighton has got a lot of life to it. It's got more character and the bars are a lot more interesting. It's also a good base if you want to be in the film industry and I can't see myself ever leaving unless I'm forced to."

Jon is not resting on his laurels, despite having accomplished so much.

He said: "Praise is always nice but I don't want it to stall me. As soon as you've done something, I find it spurs you on to improve on it."

Extras is published by Vanguard Press and copies can be ordered through all leading bookshops or online at sales@pegasuspublishers.com.