Shifty by Evan Creevy

Shifty

Shifty is a 2008 British independent urban thriller about a drug-dealer and his old friend re-kindling their friendship after an incident that separated them 4 years earlier.

Based on the director's experiences from his teenage years, this film had a total film schedule of 18 days.

Cast and Crew

Evan Creevy:- The director of Shifty. He is known for his work in Shifty, Welcome to the Punch, Wimbledon, Autobahn (upcoming in 2014), etc.

Riz Ahmed:- A famous actor known for his work in Shifty, Four Lions, Road to Guantanamo, Ill Manors, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, etc. In Shifty, he plays the titular character, a drug-dealer called "Shifty".

Daniel Mays:- A famous actor known his roles in Shifty, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, The Bank Job, Atonement, Vera Drake, etc. In Shifty, he plays Shifty's old and best friend who decides to pay him a visit after he left his hometown 4 years earlier.

Jason Flemyng:- A famous actor known for his work in Shifty, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Snatch., X-Men: First Class, Primeval (TV series), etc. In Shifty, he plays the middleman for the local drug-dealers and Shifty's supplier, Glen.

Production

At this point in the Film Industry and to this day, production budgets for British films had been falling. It was formerly £2-3 million. Now, it is £1-2 million. Therefore, there was a large boom in films produced with "micro-budgets" (films with a very low budget).

Shifty was made in 2008 under the Microwave scheme. The Microwave scheme was set up by the UK Film Council to make participation and access to making films more available to young London-based filmmakers. The scheme offers to help make films in 18 days and with a budget of under £100,000.

Shifty was the 2nd film to be made under the Microwave scheme. The film was released on 24th April 2009 to the public in the UK but a preview showing was released on 24th October 2008 at the London Film Festival. 51 prints of the film were distributed through the independent distributor, Metrodome.