What started as a joke, in a Paraparaumu College classroom, has led to a film project applauded by Hollywood director Wes Ball and American novelist James Dashner, and a sequel to their original film.

The group of teenagers, mostly Year 13s, produced Low Budget Maze Runner, an hour-long comedic adaptation of the 2014 sci-fi original late last year.

After the project was uploaded to YouTube, writer and director Liz Wyatt​ caught the attention of Ball, the original film’s director, and Dashner, writer of the novel series, through Twitter.

“I literally jumped up and down, then we were spamming our group chat, we were so just in awe that it happened,” said Wyatt. “It was amazing.”

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After being contacted by the Hollywood heavyweights in March, they decided to produce a sequel, Low Budget Scorch Trials, which is now being filmed across the Kāpiti region. It will be released in June or July.

The original Maze Runner featured actor Blake Cooper who played Chuck. They contacted him via Cameo, an online platform allowing people to request videos from celebrities.

Rather than sending a message of support, Cooper went a step further and acted out a scene which was used for the film.

On top of writing and directing, Wyatt, who is originally from England, also played character Newt.

“I kind of felt like the British Taika Waititi, because he stars in things he directs,” Wyatt said. “It was really easy because we had a lot of respect for each other already, we’re all friends.”

The group used social media to build hype for the project. “We did several days of just commenting on fan accounts being like, ‘oh, you should check this out’,” Wyatt said.

“And then through that, it kind of got talked about.”

The YouTube video has been watched more than 4000 times by people as far away as Brazil and Ukraine.

The film was shot at Paraparaumu College, and the only expenses were a few costume and prop items.

Media studies teacher Matt Cowens​, who Wyatt described as a massive support during the project, said the group initially kept their work under wraps.

“They didn’t want to tell me why they wanted to borrow cameras and microphones and tripods every week and what they were doing exactly,” Cowens said. “They eventually revealed they had a goal to get a certain number of followers for their [Instagram] account before they announced to me what their project was.”

The students were all very supportive of each other, he said.

“I’m incredibly proud of the whole team. It’s taken a lot of commitment, time and creativity and the final product is very, very funny.”

Wyatt and Amy Morris are studying film at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington, and Cowens said it was delightful to see them following their passion.

“It’s lovely to have played a little part in that journey,” he said.

• In 2018 James Dashner was accused of sexual harassment in anonymous online claims. He issued an apology for being “part of the problem” and said he will “seek counselling and guidance”.