(Video APTN)

A small English village could be on the brink of stardom after residents joined together to make a full-length romantic comedy for a fraction of a Hollywood budget.

The Husband Obedience Trials should have cost around ?2m.

But the people of Kingston Bagpuize in Oxfordshire completed the movie for less than ?150,000.

Writer Guy Browning's script proved hugely popular with his neighbours who immediately offered accommodation and food to the cast and crew.

More than 300 villagers helped out doing everything from acting and assisting camera crews to providing transport.

"It is the recession and there's not much money about, but on the other side there's a huge amount of goodwill and also there's a lot of people who've got a bit more time on their hands. They want to be involved in good things. This is a kind of recession proof film and then it's a feel good story and it's made in a feel good way," says Browning

The plot required the use of a large country estate, something Ginny Grant from Kingston Bagpuize House was happy to help with.

She says when people watch the film in the cinema they will never guess that it was put together mostly by a bunch of hardworking villagers.

"The village community spirit was quite extraordinary and I think it's something which will remain. I think there are people who have made friends who they never would have otherwise, because they didn't go to the gardening club, or they weren't members of the W.I. (Womens Institute)."

Directors used professional actors for the main roles and employed professional camera crews for the six weeks of filming.

Everything else was provided locally for free.

"They had an army of ladies who would go out to locations and also to Kingston House to provide breakfast, lunches, afternoon teas, endless stream of cakes and coffee throughout the day across the whole of the filming," says Hilary Clements from the Women's Institute.

"My fear right from the outset was that we the village would let down the professional actors and the professional production team. In the event the village performed beyond all recognition, beyond their skins, beyond anything we ever asked for them," says project co-ordinator Simon Dando.

Profits from The Husband Obedience Trials will eventually make their way back to the villagers, who now hold a "golden share" in its success.

The film's about Tom, a gardener at the big house, who can talk to plants but not to women. When a beautiful Polish au pair arrives for the summer, Tom falls for her - but is it an impossible dream?

Release dates for the movie have yet to be issued.