While he flirted with the wrong side of the law as a teenager, Shane Meadows found his true calling when he borrowed a camcorder and started making short films with his friends as actors. After producing some 30 shorts, he was tapped to helm the TV documentary "The Gypsy's Tale" in 1995. Meadows also wrote, produced, directed, edited and co-starred in the 60-minute film "Small Time" (1996), about a group of twentysomethings who survive by petty theft and their girlfriends who pass the time watching TV. Later that year, a retrospective of his work was featured at the Toronto Film Festival and
