Martial arts movie makers have secured £1 million funding at the Cannes Film Festival to make two feature films.

Phil Hobden and Ross Boyask shot their first film, Left For Dead, in Sussex on a budget of just £10,000.

But the surprise smash has been lapped-up by film distributors in America, where there is a huge market for straight-to-DVD martial arts action flicks.

Mr Hobden, 28, from Pevensey Bay, near Eastbourne, has just returned from Cannes where he finalised the American release of Left For Dead this August.

He also had meetings with about 30 movie moguls from all over the world and has been given the go-ahead to shoot two new £500,000 films.

He said: "Everyone we met was familiar with Left For Dead and knew what we can do and they were very excited about the two new scripts we have.

"Even Dead Men Die is an action horror flick and Brutal is a straight-up action film. They will be shot in Prague and Romania.

"All 30 meetings were fruitful and two American and one French company are particularly keen. All this takes time and in the meantime we are shooting another low-budget film in and around Brighton called 152Life."

Mr Hobden, whose production company is called Modern Life?, said: "We are really the first UK martial arts film makers so there is a huge amount of interest and we are using the best talent in the country."

Mr Hobden and Mr Boyask first met as film students at Brighton Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College, where they realised they had similar tastes in horror and martial arts movies. They have worked together on more than 60 short films over the past decade Scenes in Left For Dead were shot at the Sky Gym in Melbourne Street, Brighton, the Upper Beeding cement works and the King Alfred Leisure Centre in Hove.

When one of their short films was shown at Cannes three years ago, the BBC's movie reviewer Jonathan Ross was impressed enough to say: "Give these guys some real money to make a film."

Mr Hobden said his company was up against snobbery in the British film industry, which is known for producing quirky, arty, comedy films rather than the high-octane, all-action thrillers he is making.

He said: "We have had to look further afield for funding which is a shame but as long as we are getting plenty of interest overseas that is where we will go."