FILMMAKING is a fine art.

But with technology getting cheaper and easier to use the barriers to entry have never been lower.

All you need is a story and a camera or even a phone or tablet.

Tony Fennell and Myles Winstone have been celebrating that enterprising spirit since 2009 with Longshot Film Festival which encourages budding directors to showcase their work.

Now the pair have joined forces with Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival with a screening of nine short films, which all have a link to the town, at the Pyramid on Saturday.

Tony said: “Our aim is to get people making films and give them the opportunity to bring their work and themselves out into a community.

“Loads of people are making little films now. They are uploading on the internet and you can watch them on the other side of the world in minutes.

“That is good in one way as you get your work shown but you don’t get that same pleasure of sharing the film at an event.

“I think the people who are in the films like to be sat there with other people in a darkened room and see it projected on to a screen.

“It’s as simple as that. It’s the same with music.

“Watching a live band is such a different experience to listening to an album.”

Tony got the idea after making a short film on a Super 8 camera for the Straight 8 film festival in London in 2007.

The Bath Street resident’s film, Down and Out in Love, about a tramp who falls in love, was one of 20 selected to be shown on the big screen.

Tony, whose favourite film as a youngster was King Kong, added: “People had come over from America and Mexico to watch the films. It was the buzz of seeing it up there.

“On the way back on the train we agreed we should do something like this in Warrington.”

‘Having never won any kind of award for my film work it gave me a huge boost of confidence.

I have gone to produce more films and for that I will always be grateful to Longshot’ Simon Plumb from Lymm who won last time for The Heist The first Longshot festival was held at Winmarleigh House in October 2009, with about 80 people.

Usually the audience vote for their favourite film of the night which Simon Plumb, from Lymm, won last time for his film ‘The Heist’ about two incompetent bank robbers.

His sequel called ‘The Trial’ will be shown at the Pyramid this Saturday.

Simon said: “Having never won any kind of award for my film work it gave me a huge boost of confidence.

“I have gone on to produce more films and for that I will be always grateful to Longshot.”

Tony, added: “One of the winners a few years ago was Christine Marshall who has done scripts for Coronation Street.

“We’ve had entries from a company called Fuzzy Duck, who used to be based in Warrington. They’re really slick.

“At the same time we had a young lad from Priestley College. That’s what we like to see. We don’t want to put any barriers up. Just have a go.”

Tony was inspired to make films after starting a media production course at the Crab Lane university college in the early 90s.

He said: “The first thing I did was make a film about the then Manchester music scene which was great.

“We filmed around the Hacienda and made this documentary.”

The former Lymm High School pupil’s favourite directors are the Coen brothers and Shane Meadows but he also admires any filmmaker who starts small.

Tony added: “I like to see the beginnings of a director’s work and how their techniques have developed.

“Peter Jackson, who directed Lord of the Rings, did his first film, Bad Taste, on a little movie camera.

“It started off as a short film with his mates and it just developed from there.

“I love stuff like that.”