A major fan of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, spent six years and her entire life savings creating a prequel to the films.

Kate Madison, 31, spent $39,000 (£25,000) on the film, Born of Hope, which has already been watched by more than half a million people on YouTube.

The story was inspired by just a couple of paragraphs written by JRR Tolkein in the appendices of The Lord of The Rings.

The film has gone down really well with the fans and some say it is even better than the Peter Jackson movies which is amazing, the actress from Cambridge told the Telegraph.

They have all been very supportive and would love us to make more films. We are all really pleased with the results and feel it can sit proudly alongside the trilogy, she added.

Madison entered a competition that wanted fans to create a five-minute film in the style of Peter Jackson's trilogy.

Watch the trailer below:

YouTube