Inspired by a near-death experience, a 24-year-old filmmaker from New Malden has shot a short film examining how a split second decision can change the course of someone's life for ever.

Self-confessed film geek Adam Morse said a near-death experience visiting relatives in Dubai, which saw a truck travelling at 180mph miss his car by a metre, got him thinking about how every second in life counts.

'The Window' follows two friends, Sam and Danny, who crash an exclusive house party in a Richmond mansion with separate objectives.

Sam's goal is to get back together with his girlfriend, while Danny's aim is to get with the first girl he meets.

As they enter the party, we see how a single coin flip separates them from each other and their destinies.

The film, which has just won the Audience Award for Best Short Film at the London Indepenedent Film Festial 2014, is set be screened in Wimbledon this summer.

The cast includes Wimbledon's Mabel Clements, who has just finished performing a run of 'A Doll's House' on New York's Broadway and plays Amy, a distressed young girl going through heartbreak.

Morse said: "I travelled around Europe, North America and the Middle East where I underwent some unforgettable experiences that inspired me to start writing screenplays.

"I had a script and no money so I decided to return to Las Vegas in May 2012 and take my chances in the casinos.

"After three weeks playing cards in Sin City, my fortunes were favoured and I had the finances I needed to return to London and shoot my script."

The young director, who has now set up his own film company, Hollyfield Productions, decided against the traditional route of paying for a filmmaking degree.

Instead he went to Dubai to work as a production assistant on his cousin, Ali Mustafa's award-winning feature film, City of Life.

He said: "I was just a production assistant, making coffee and delivering messages, but because I was the director's cousin I had access to all areas and wasn't shy about asking questions."

Morse said he grew up acting and teaching himself about film production.

When he recognised a director's work he liked, he would buy all their films and take down notes on visuals, sound, pace, lighting and all production techniques, to help him develop his own methods.

He has just finished writing the script for his first feature film, about a 25-year-old man, Zed, who lives alone in East London and suffers from Asperger's syndrome.

Zed goes to a workshop about lucid dreaming and the audience watches him attempt to reinvent himself and sees who he wants to be.

The Window, Wimbledon International Short Film Festival, Polka Theatre, The Broadway, Wimbledon.7.30pm July 5, ticket prices to be announced.