TWO teenagers watched the premiere of their animated film when it was screened at the University of Teesside.

Macmillan College student Terry Pickering, 16, and Matthew Holland, 15, of Acklam Grange School, saw their film Friends of Carter Park on Monday night.

The five-minute movie by is part of a collaboration with seven young people and ten adults, Tees Film, the New Deal for Communities and the Youth Inclusion Project.

Friends of Carter Park uses non-stop action techniques similar to those employed by Oscar-winning animator Nick Park, whose work includes the Wallace and Gromit series. Young people got involved with making the film while taking part in the Youth Improvement Project, a scheme set up in west Middlesbrough to encourage teenagers to get involved in positive activities.

Paul Smith, who is researching the effectiveness of the programme, said: "The project aims to demonstrate that young people and adults can work together positively to regenerate their community."

It is hoped the film will promote the regeneration project by attracting further funding and organisers hope there will be further showings in west Middlesbrough in the future.