Shane Meadows
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Shady" Shane Meadows (born 26 December 1972) is a film director and screenwriter, from Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England.
He grew up in Uttoxeter but moved to Nottingham when he was about 20. He made about 30 short films with the friends he made in the Sneinton area of Nottingham, using his unemployment benefit money as funding. All of his films are set in the Nottingham area, except Dead Man's Shoes which was shot in Matlock, Derbyshire. His films recall the kitchen sink realism of filmmakers such as Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, with a post-modern twist. His second feature length film, Twenty Four Seven, won several awards at film festivals, including the Douglas Hickox award at the British Independent Film Awards and Best Screenplay at the Thessaloniki Film Festival. Dead Man's Shoes, his fifth film, and second starring Paddy Considine, was nominated for a BAFTA for Best British Film.
Meadows enrolled on a Performing Arts course at Burton Technical College, where he first met Paddy Considine. Amongst other things, they formed the band She Talks To Angels (inspired by a Black Crowes song of the same name), with Shane as vocalist and Paddy as drummer. Lead guitarist in She Talks To Angels was Nick Hemming, who was also a member of The Telescopes. The band also included the talents of Marc Cieslak, who went on to become a TV presenter on .tv, Gamer.tv and the BBC's technology show Click.
Much of the content of his films are autobiographical and based on his experiences in Uttoxeter. Twenty Four Seven was inspired by his youth, both at a boxing club, and also playing in a local football club. Despite some huge losses, the club's coach never lost faith in them. A Room for Romeo Brass was also inspired by his youth. After his best friend and neighbour (and later writing partner) Paul Fraser had a very bad accident and was bound to his bed for 2 years, Shane instead hung around with some of the town's more undesirable characters. Dead Man's Shoes was inspired by the more unpleasant side of his youth in Uttoxeter. It was inspired by a close friend who had been bullied, developed a drug problem and then committed suicide. He said "I couldn't believe that, going back ten years later, he had been totally forgotten in the town - it was as if he had never existed. I was filled with anger against the people who had bullied and pushed the drugs on him, and with despair at what drugs had done to that small community".
He has a relaxed directing style, encouraging the actors to ad lib in order to create a better sense of reality. He is known as one of the rising stars of British cinema.
Contents |
[edit] Filmography
- Small Time (1996)(60mins)
- Cherubic Meekus: The Czechs Return (1996)(82mins)
- Where's the Money, Ronnie? (1996)(12mins)
- 24 7: Twenty Four Seven (1997)(96mins)
- A Room for Romeo Brass (1999)(90mins)
- Once Upon a Time in the Midlands (2002)(104mins)
- Dead Man's Shoes (2004)(90mins)
- Northern Soul (2004)(30mins)
- The Stairwell (2005) (15 seconds)
- This Is England (2006) (100mins)
[edit] Trivia
- His most recent work,The Stairwell, was apparently filmed on a mobile phone and is just 15 seconds long.
- He is related to Gary Barlow.
[edit] External links
- Shane Meadows on IMDb
- Shane Meadows Official fan-created site
- Radio Interview with Shane Meadows from FBi 94.5 Sydney Australia
- Telegraph article (10/2004)
- Guardian article (08/2002)
- Interview
- Homecoming interview with LeftLion Magazine
