Top Gong For Wong

A Cambridge film maker who blagged an £18million F15 fighter jet for his 60 second remake of Top Gun celebrated winning a top film award at home last night.

Mark Wong, 35, beat 5000 budding directors from around the world to win the Jameson Empire ‘Done in 60 Seconds Award’ at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, on Sunday.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FNUKi27zEw

Wong borrowed the 1900 mph US Air Force jet to film his shoestring budget production, snappily entitled ‘Top Gun Done in 60 Seconds’

Mark wrote, directed, produced and edited the short film and even starred as Maverick – played by Tom Cruise in the original.

His co-producer Chris Slaughter, a soldier in the US Army, was able to arrange filming on location with the F15 jet for Mark and his cast of six plus an extra.

The team filmed parts of the 60 seconds at RAF Alconbury, Cambridgeshire.

Dad-of-two Mark shared the stage with Christopher Waltz who won best actor and Jude Law, who won the Empire Hero Award.

The accountant said he “wouldn’t have it any other way” and was “very proud” to have won the competition which was judged by acclaimed film faces.

He said “I’ve always loved Top Gun and it was amazing to get the type of military access we did for a small production. Hollywood directors would be proud”.

“To be able to come away and say I have made the best 60 second version in the entire world is absolutely fantastic.”

The panel of judges included actor Jason Issacs, Hot Fuzz director Edgar Wright, Soloman Kane director Michael J Bassett and Empire’s UK editor-in-chief Mark Dinning.

In 2009, Mark built a life-size aeroplane cockpit in his garden to recreate Pearl Harbour and the year before recreated 1994 action thriller Speed.