A FORMER South Essex College student is in line for an NME Award.

Thomas Davis, from Rayleigh, worked with rapper Rat Boy to produce the music video for the song Get Over It, which is nominated in the Best Video category at this year’s awards, organised by the popular music magazine.

He will join the star-studded guest list at the awards ceremony at the Brixton Academy in London tonight where he will be up against the likes of Beyoncé and Kanye West in the Best Video category.

Thomas studied TV and Film Production at the college’s Southend campus two years ago and had been doing videos for friends and family before his work got noticed online, which led him to being involved with Rat Boy.

The 19-year-old co-wrote the music video with the artist and was also the director and cinematographer on the project.

The video put Thomas’s skills to the test as he had to come up with the initial concept and pitch it to the record company for approval and to get the funds for filming.

Despite the relatively low budget compared to bigger artists’ videos, Thomas wanted to ensure his creation still packed a punch with viewers with a gripping car chase scene, while keeping within budget.

The video shoot was a gruelling experience for Thomas and the crew who spent 14 hours in the sweltering heat in the Spanish desert to film part of the video, but he has no regrets.

He said: “It was a fantastic experience. I’m so proud of what we achieved and to be nominated for an NME Award is something else.

“We’re up against some big names and big budgets, so to just be nominated is amazing.”

He added: “I loved studying at the college. The tutors and facilities were fantastic and really helped me get to where I am today. It just proves if you put effort into something, good things can happen.

“Whatever happens at the awards I’m proud of what’s been achieved.”

Jordan Cardy, 20, known by his stage name Rat Boy, is from Chelmsford and studied art at the Colchester Institute. Despite being dyslexic, he began writing songs in his spare time, releasing songs on SoundCloud under the name “Rat Boy”, a name given to him by his school friends who claimed he looked like a rat.

Since leaving college, Thomas has set up his own company, The Luxurious Film Collective, visit facebook.com/theluxuriousfilmcollective