Director Guy Ritchie grew up in London and started his film career as a runner in 1993. He quickly progressed and by 1995 was directing music promos for bands and commercials. A severe dyslexic and self confessed movie buff; Ritchie had always been passionate about making films, having been inspired after watching Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid as a child. With the profits banked from directing music videos and commercials, Ritchie invested them into writing and making a twenty-minute short film, The Hard Case (1995), a prequel to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998).

The Hard Case (1995) attracted the notice of Trudie Styler, who invested in Ritchie’s next project and triggered a snowball effect of interest. This led to Ritchie writing a ..[Full version]