Shane Meadows image

Shane Meadows

The culture and diversity of the Heart of the Midlands is celebrated in Shane Meadows work

Shane Meadows

Shane Meadows was born on 26 December 1972 and moved to Nottingham when he was 20. The Nottingham based film director, screenwriter and actor is best known for his work in independent film. Most notably the cult film This Is England (2006) and its three sequels (2010–2015).

 

Shane Meadows is a Nottingham legend

With big name actors queuing up to star in his films, perhaps the most refreshing thing about Shane, is his willingness to film in local locations. You're more likely to see them on East Midlands today, than any other cinematic masterpiece. Coupled with his eagerness to work with local untrained actors. Before Shane, the streets of and people of Nottingham had not appeared so prominently in British cinema since Albert Finney starred in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, by Nottingham author Alan Sillitoe.

 

Nottingham based Intermedia Film and Video Ltd

In 1994, Shane's first step into the world of film making was to volunteer his services at the Nottingham based Intermedia Film and Video Ltd.  The arrangement was that he would be allowed to borrow camcorders and use editing equipment in return for working there for free. Shane asked friends and family to get involved in his video experiments, but they were understandably quite wary at first.

 

Shane Meadows explains how it all started, with a job as a volunteer, then making a series of short films.

After Shane had put together a couple of short videos that he had made entirely on his own (with the only actor in the films also being himself), many of his friends watched them and became sufficiently impressed to want to become involved in future video shorts.  As their enthusiasm for film-making grew, they were soon making nearly one new short film every month.

 

Small Time

Ready to steal anything, Jumbo (Shane Meadows) and his friends drink, dance and plan their biggest heist yet, a raid on the local Snienton hippies. 

Small Time is a 1996 film directed Shane Meadows. His first feature film, it was written, produced and directed by Meadows. The film follows a group of friends that are small-time criminals in Sneinton, a suburb of Nottingham. The main protagonists are best friends, Jumbo and Malc. At the beginning of the film we hear Jumbo narrating, "We're not into anything heavy. We just rob from the rich and sell it to the poor for half price. We're just small time."

As 'the lads' gear up for the big heist, Malc and Kate are trying to break free from this world of petty theft and dodgy deals.  Kate is keen to make a fresh start away from Sneinton, but can she get Malc to leave his long term friends behind?

 

Once Upon a Time in the Midlands (2002)

Once Upon a Time in the Midlands is a 2002 British romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Shane Meadows, starring Robert Carlyle, Rhys Ifans, Kathy Burke, Ricky Tomlinson and Shirley Henderson. It is set in Nottingham, in the East Midlands region of England.

When small-time crook Jimmy (Robert Carlyle) sees Dek (Rhys Ifans) unsuccessfully propose to his ex-girlfriend Shirley (Shirley Henderson) on live TV, he returns to his East Midlands hometown to try and win her back.

Set in Nottinghamshire, Dek (Rhys Ifans) proposes to his girlfriend Shirley (Shirley Henderson) on TV. When Jimmy (Robert Carlyle), "the great love of her life" and father of her daughter Marlene (Finn Atkins), sees this, he returns in an attempt to win back her heart. However, after deserting his friends in Scotland during an unsuccessful robbery of some clowns, his friends turn against him and come to the Midlands to try to track him down. In the end, Shirley refuses to go with Jimmy and professes her love for Dek; likewise, Marlene refuses to have anything to do with Jimmy, and accepts Dek as her father figure.

 

Paddy Considine talking about Shane Meadows and 'Dead Man's Shoes'

Dead Man's Shoes is a 2004 British psychological thriller film written and directed by Shane Meadows, and co-written by Paddy Considine, who also starred in the lead role.  The story details the return of Richard to his home town of Matlock, Derbyshire in the Peak District, England, after serving as a paratrooper in the British Army. Richard and his younger, mentally-impaired brother Anthony, camp at an abandoned farm near the town. Flashbacks reveal Anthony's abuse by a group of drug dealers in the town; Richard vows to take revenge.

 

Paddy Considine talking about how he met Shane Meadows and the film "Dead Man's Shoes"

 

This Is England

A coming of age masterpiece by Shane Meadows was filmed in and around Nottingham, although the film is set in an unidentified town in the Midlands. It tells the story of 13-year-old loner Shaun (Thomas Turgoose), who lost his father in the Falklands War. He earns the respect of skinheads when he stands up to their teasing. He becomes part of the gang and enjoys hanging out with his new friends. Trouble starts with the return of Combo (Stephen Graham), a racist ex-convict. With the gang divided into two factions, Shaun sides with Combo and, unfortunately, finds in him a father figure.

 

This is England - Official Trailer (2006)

 

Making of the movie "This Is England" directed by Shane Meadows.

 

Shane Meadows Interviewed on the making of "This Is England"

Shane Meadows set out to tell the story of his childhood – and ended up making one of the most powerful TV dramas of our times.

"It's my own story, basically.  Nineteen-eighty-three was the year I became a skinhead myself.  I shaved my head, put on a pair of Doc Martens and visited a tattoo parlour.  It's a tragedy that 95% of people associate skinheads with racism.  The whole cult was born out of a love for black music and it was originally a very left-wing, socialist movement.  It was only later that the National Front took the anger and frustration of its members and directed it towards minorities."

"I came from a white, working-class background, and I was constantly told that the Asians were nicking all our jobs.  For a three-to-four-week period I believed it.  But then I witnessed some appalling violence, and realised it was all bullshit."

The film is also known for spring-boarding many local Nottingham actors into the limelight including Danielle Watson (Trev), Chanel Cresswell (Kelly), Ros Hanson (Smell), Michael Socha (Harvey), Perry Fitzpatrick (Flip), Vicky McClure (Lol) and Andrew Shim (Milky).

 

Shane Meadows and the documentary on The Stone Roses

Jon Snow talks to film-maker Shane Meadows about "Made of Stone", his upcoming documentary on The Stone Roses' reunion.

 

Somers Town - Directed by Shane Meadows

BAFTA award-winning director Shane Meadows sees him reunited with Thomas Turgoose, the young star of the internationally acclaimed This Is England. Turgoose plays Tommo, a troubled young lad who's run away to London. There he meets Marek, a shy Polish teenager who shares a small flat with his labourer father in a rundown area. When Marek agrees to let Tommo stay with them, unbeknownst to his father, the pair form a strong bond as they work odd jobs for an eccentric neighbour and compete for the attention of Maria, a beautiful French waitress, and try to avoid discovery by Marek's father. Somers Town is a heart-warming tale of how life-changing friendships can be found in the most unlikely of places.

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