Shane Meadows is a self-taught film maker from the Midlands, UK. He dropped out of school before reaching his O-Levels originally shane set out to be a infamous criminal master mind of legendary proportions, although this did not go quite to plan and after being humiliated in court when his chargers for theft of a breast pump from Boots Chemist were read out Shane decided to put his criminal ways behind him and put his energy in to film making.
In 1994 Shane began working as a volunteer to the Nottingham based Intermedia Film and Video Ltd., of which he was able to camcorders and the use of editing equipment in exchange for working there for free. Shane's family go involved and helped him shoot his first video experiments understandably they were quite wary at first though.
After making quite a few short films, Shane created an event called Six of the Best'. Where anyone could bring along their short films and for a small fee have them screened to a small audience. This event was due to Shane's frustration of not having any real film festivals or venues to screen his films. This event grew in popularity and now is an international video festival called 'Flip Side'.
In 1994 'Where's the money, Ronnie' was made by Shane Meadows which was the first film to attracts the attention of the film industry. The acclaim won by this short lead Shane to be given the opportunity of making a documentary for Channel 4's 'Battered Britain' series. The film was called 'King of the Gypsies' (which can be watched if you follow this link )- 'King Of The Gypsies'
From this opportunity Shane made enough money to make 'Smalltime', It was a prime example of Shane's philosophy for aspiring film makers- 'Stick to what you know, and you won't go far wrong'. 'Smalltime' was written on Shane's lunch breaks whilst volunteering at the Nottingham based Intermedia Film and Video Ltd. and was written and the basis to be improvised. 'Smalltime' won acclaim at many European film festivals, it was so favorable to potential investors and distributors, Shane soon had the chance to make his first full length feature film. 'Twentyfour Seven'.
From 'Twentyfour Seven' to the 2006 film 'This is England', Shane has progressed to making heartfelt films that attract an ever growing collection of fans.
No comments:
Post a Comment