Film writer's debut script premieres at major festival (VIDEO)
The 27-year-old, born and bred in Stoke-on-Trent, spent three years working on the script for City Rats.
Last night, the 96-minute film starring Danny Dyer was premiered as part of the East End Film Festival.
Nearly 50,000 copies of the film have been ordered ahead of its DVD release on Monday.
Simon, who grew up in Burslem and went to Haywood High School, said he was shocked at the success of the film.
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Watch the trailer for City Rats
Speaking ahead of the premiere, he said: "I've written quite a lot of short films but this is my first feature-length film.
"Danny Dyer's agent rang the producer to say that Danny had seen the script and he was really interested in being involved with the film, regardless of the money.
"From there on in the whole thing just snowballed and more and more actors wanted to get involved."
The film, shot in London, looks at loneliness and despair in the lives of eight people.
As well as Football Factory star Danny Dyer, the film also features Tamar Hassan, who has appeared in Casualty, The Bill and EastEnders, as well as various films; and James Lance, who played Ben in the first series of I'm Alan Partridge.
Simon moved to London five years ago but first got interested in film making when he was living in the Potteries.
He started out as an actor at the age of 14, playing roles in two short films, Thursday and Ben Trolley, but soon wanted to be behind the camera and won a local script writing competition.
He went on to study film studies, media studies and English at Newcastle College and moved to London, where he achieved a first class BA (Hons) in media production, followed by an MA in audio and visual media production at London Metropolitan University.
And it was living in London that gave him the inspiration for City Rats.
He said: "When I first moved to London I did a lot of wandering around.
"You meet all types of people and characters, and a lot of those I met have given me inspiration for this film.
"It focuses on four intertwining stories of different people who are lonely in London and coming to the end of their tether. They all end up meeting and find some reason to carry on living.
"Working with Danny Dyer has been great. He's one of the nicest people you could meet."
Simon is now busy working on a television series, which is due to be aired by a Swedish production company.
He is also working on a second feature film and says the script has attracted the attention of a number of producers.
Simon's parents, Paul and Karen, who live in Burslem, are travelling to London today to watch a screening of the film at London's Apollo Theatre in Soho tonight.
Paul, aged 50, a customer service adviser at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said: "We're very proud of what he has achieved in such a short space of time.
"If this film is successful then who knows what could be next."
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