made in scotland TV by stephen mcewan

made in

SCOTLAND

made in scotlanD TV

scotland makesgreat

made in scotlanD TV

From Mountain to the Ooglies, Hope Springs to Shrink Rap, Gary Tank Commander to One Night in Emergency: comedy, drama, factual, entertainment, children’s …. all great programmes, all made in Scotland. Production companies like RDF Scotland, TernTV, Wellpark, Finestripe, Skyline, Shed Media, MTP and Super Umami – all successful, all based in Scotland. They are all profiled here, along with Scotland’s great individual talent – producers, writers, actors and directors, like Simon Donald, Bill Paterson, Bryan Elsley, Dawn Steele and Gregory Burke. Together they make Scotland the best place to make the best TV.

equipping the next generation of creative and technical talent. And Scotland’s cities, towns and amazing land and seascapes act as a magnet for UK and international producers looking for that perfect location. We have the best talent, the most innovative businesses, state of the art facilities, world class locations and a ‘can do’ approach to doing business. This brochure gives you a flavour of what Scotland has to offer. If you want to know more, then get in touch with Scottish Screen at www.scottishscreen.com. Welcome to Scotland.

With a new channel in BBC ALBA, a reborn stv and a significant increase in network production through the BBC, Scotland is presenting even more opportunities to make great television. And through 4iP and the Digital Media IP Fund, RSAMD and the New Entrants Training Scheme, Scotland is at the forefront of the digital revolution, creating opportunities for telling stories in different formats on different platforms and

Ken Hay Chief Executive Scottish Screen August 2009

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Bill Paterson F

rom Crown Court to Law and Order, Bill Paterson is one of Scotland’s best loved and most adaptable performers. The Glasgow-born actor’s film CV is highly impressive, including roles in The Killing Fields, A Private Function, Truly Madly Deeply and Miss Potter, right up to Simon Pegg’s 2008 comedy How To Lose Friends & Alienate People. Yet it’s his track record for television that’s makes him a household name. Auf Wiedersehen Pet, The Singing Detective, Traffik and The Crow Road have all gone down in the annals of TV history and with recent work in Sea of Souls, Little Dorrit and the 2009 BAFTA winner Criminal Justice, Paterson has maintained his reputation as one of Scotland hardest-working performers. “Some previewers were quite snooty about Law and Order when it first went out, only to reassess it when the public embraced it.” says Paterson of the hit series in which he plays the role of George Castle. “I’d dipped in and out of the American version, and my instinct was that the format would work this side of the Atlantic if it was given a chance.” “The real strength of the show is that they tell you a complete story in one sitting. And I think Bradley Walsh has not only re-invented the stoical cop, he’s surprised the critics. But that’s not unusual. I remember when The Singing Detective started, it took a few episodes before word really got out, mainly thanks to Mary Whitehouse. And when they did a press preview for the very

first series of Auf Wiedersehen Pet, only one journalist turned up. It was word of mouth that made that series” Paterson has proved his ability to carry a show on many occasions, but he’s also a master of the smaller role, with his recent experience as Clement Atlee in Into The Storm as a good example. “It’s really just a vignette in the context of the piece; the programme is a followup to The Gathering Storm. This one was directed by Thaddeus O’Sullivan, with Brendan Gleeson superb as Churchill forming his war government in 1940. At first, I didn’t know why they’d asked me - I thought, ‘I don’t look or sound like Attlee’ - yet the result is, at least pretty physically accurate. I surprised myself. I might even have surprised Clement Attlee!” Paterson has also added a few more strings to his bow with the publication of his bestselling memoir Tales From The Back Green, and writing Astonishing Archie, a radio play performed on BBC radio with Stanley Baxter. “The book came about almost by accident as a result of radio broadcasts I’d made looking back on my childhood and youth. People heard them and asked if they were published, so they were collected together in a book,” says Paterson. “With the play, it was very much about a memory I had of the culture clash of music in the 1950’s when Elvis arrived. Stanley recognised that, and it was a joy to record it with him. We ended up on Radio 4’s ‘Pick of the Week’ though I think it might have

been a quiet week.” But perhaps Paterson’s best loved role was as Dickie Bird in Bill Forsyth’s Comfort and Joy, as a local disk-jockey who finds his true calling as a mediator in a turf-war between rival ice-cream manufacturers. “We had the 25th anniversary celebrations recently, and lots of people told me how much they loved the film, but when it came out, it was far from being Bill’s most popular film. It opened in the same weeks as the news broke of the deaths in an ice cream gang feud in Glasgow long after we had filmed. But understandably it seemed that the film was an ill judged response to people being torched to death. It was a tragic coincidence. In fact, it was really a very personal film about loneliness and relationships, and I think it was very much an autobiographical piece for Bill Forsyth. So to be criticised for not being about the realities of life in Glasgow, was like criticising The Ladykillers for not being an accurate account of organised crime. I think people can see the film much more clearly now.” Paterson recently worked on a BBC drama, teaming up with Mark Gatiss for Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen, which looks at the 1918 flu pandemic and its affect on Manchester. It’s now over three decades since Paterson was honing his craft on TV dramas like Crown Court, but he’s lost none of his enthusiasm for the medium. “On Spanish Flu, we were working pretty much non-stop on a very tight

made in scotlanD TV

production budget; it was tough but engrossing and that’s how a lot of TV is made these days. There’s no fat on those schedules! With Crown Court, we had to rehearse several different endings, and then play the one the live jury chose. The scripts were open-ended, so that the jury, made up of members of the public, would be able to judge each case for themselves, then we played out the appropriate ending.” “That was a high-pressure way to learn about TV acting, because if you forgot your lines and had to busk it from the witness box. It was easy for the barristers. All these bits of paper in their hand were usually the script! But the witnesses were on their own. Actors loved doing it, and it was a plum job at the time,” he says. “Over the years I’ve been lucky and film and TV have served me well. Even though its got more and more unpredictable, it’s still a wonderful privilege and only way I know to pay the mortgage.”

“Film and TV have served me well.” - Bill Paterson Gone Fishing

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Wild at Heart

Monarch of the Glen

DawnSTEELE D

awn Steele has become one of Scotland’s most popular actresses on shows like Monarch of The Glen and Sea of Souls, and she’s now continuing her successful run with her role as Alice Collins in ITV’s Wild At Heart. Swapping the highland romps of Glenbogle for a location shoot in South Africa, she’s enjoying the change of scene that the Wild at Heart shoot provides. “This is my second year on Wild at Heart, so my character Alice is fairly settled at Leopards Den by now. She’s a vet with a ten-year-old daughter and now she’s the girlfriend of Danny Travanion (Stephen Tomkinson). This year sees Alice and Danny struggling with their working life and their love life; it’s never easy for her, particularly as her brother Rowan turned up last year and now works at the opposing Game Park,” says Steele. “The shoot is going well, it’s great to be back on the show, I love being part of it! I’ve already moved a herd of elephants, bottle-fed a baby leopard and saved a white lion, and its only week two! There’s not a lot of down time but at the weekends I go to the gym and we all meet up and eat,” she says. “Obviously if I have friends and family around, and I have the weekend off, we try and see more of this amazing country; last year I was lucky enough to get the time to go to Mozambique and Cape Town.” Steele’s African adventures don’t mean that she’s forsaken her homeland; as an accomplished stage actress, she also had a number of successes on-stage, treading the boards in high-profile productions

like David Harrower’s Olivier-winning play Blackbird, and revitalising the role of Suzy Kettles in the National Theatre of Scotland’s production of John Byrne’s Tutti Frutti.

“Theatre and television are two totally different mediums; I find theatre to be physically harder, but it’s great that you get four weeks rehearsal exploring the play and your character. TV is all very technical and on Wild at Heart, it is all about the animals!” she says. “I nearly didn’t do the role of Una in Blackbird as I thought I would never be able to learn all the lines. But it is such a fantastic piece of writing that I really had to do it. I found the role difficult emotionally every night, but such a buzz for me knowing that I had achieved a goal at the end of the play. We really made people think with this piece; I was very proud of it and I loved working with Robert Daws and our director David Grindley, and perhaps oddly given the nature of the piece, we had a good laugh too whilst doing it!” With the BBC’s Tutti Frutti just released on video for the first time, the series’ many fans can now compare Emma Thompson’s version of Suzy Kettles with the one that Steele brought to the stage. Taking on an iconic role is always a tough assignment, but Steele won rave reviews for her part in the touring production. “I had a blast doing Tutti Frutti! It was such a great experience. A great cast, a fantastic script and great music too,” says Steele. “I tried not to feel too daunted about playing such a well known role, and tried to approach it as a new

character in a new play, which it was in a sense, in that it was the first time it had been done on the stage.” Steele recently added another string to her bow with a stint as a guest presenter on stv’s The Hour, but although she adapted well to the change of medium, Steele has no plans to reinvent herself as an armchair interviewer. “Actually, my friend is the producer on The Hour so I did it as a favour! I enjoyed the experience, and although it was good fun, it was a little scary. It’s a bit weird just being ‘you’!” she says. “I enjoy doing all of these different kinds of jobs as it keeps you on your toes.” Steele has a long stint on Wild At Heart ahead. “I’m saving animals in South Africa until December, so I’ve no plans for 2010.... yet,” she says.” But with a succession of varied roles under her belt, Steele feels that she’s put her role as Lexie in Monarch of the Glen well behind her. “Yes, people do still shout out at Lexie in the street, but I don’t mind that; I did do that show for a while!” says Steele. “I think I have done a lot of different work since leaving Monarch of the Glen over five years ago, but I will always have a soft spot for Lexie!”

Zig Zag Love

Mary Morris

The first drama commission from BBC Scotland and Scottish Screen’s partnership to produce independent films for BBC One was Zig Zag Love, a no-holds-barred look at an adolescent love affair. Writer Mary Morris created a tender story about Ziggy (Cara Readle) and Peter (Anthony Martin) for the 60-minute production which was directed by Gillies MacKinnon for Machine Productions, and broadcast in spring 2009 on BBC Scotland.

“I was born and raised in the Highlands and one of the most powerful memories I have was about being young and desperately wanting to dance and fall in love and ride on the back of boys’ motorbikes with total disregard for the Scottish weather and terrain!” recalls Mary. “When I heard BBC Scotland and Scottish Screen were looking for one-off dramas, I grabbed at the chance to pitch an idea using that memory.” While working as a writer on CBBC’s The Story of Tracy Beaker, Mary met Cara Readle, a young actor with cerebral palsy, and was very impressed by her. They met again a couple of years later by which time Cara was a teenager. “I found I couldn’t keep my eyes off her beautiful face - I just knew the camera would love her and I knew she was talented and I swore there and then I would one day write for her,” says Mary. “It was only a small jump to

realising she should be the star of Zig Zag Love.”

It was important to Morris that this show shouldn’t be about disability but be about love and sex. Teenage sex is often treated as a taboo or a problem in our society and rarely is it looked upon as just another part of growing up. And Morris contends, “Most people do have sex in their early to mid teens- and always have done, so I wanted to tell the truth about that and wanted to present it as something positive and natural. However, drama rightly demands that character journeys should never be easy, so I matched the character of Ziggy with someone who had almost overwhelming difficulties but who also had an overwhelming desire to get himself laid before it’s too late.” So Morris gave her Peter, a boy with testicular cancer, weighed down with the grief of losing his best friend, Elliot, to leukemia. Peter and Elliot had made a pact to get themselves f****d as soon as possible. Now it was left up to Peter... “Then,” adds Morris, “I threw in a couple of problematic fathers - one over-protective and terrified that his daughter might have sex and one under-protective one, cheering his son on - to complicate things further. When the producers sent me a CD of Anthony and Kevin’s audition as Peter and Elliot, I knew we had our dream teenage cast.

Discovering that Robert Carlyle and Mark Lewis Jones were keen to play the fathers and Joe McFadden would play a young doctor was a real gift.” Adding a comical-but-wise performance as the ‘willing lassie’ Peter’s father offers as a solution to Peter’s needs was the brilliant Debbie Welsh. The producer and Morris met with Cara and her mother to ensure that Cara had no concerns regarding the content of the piece and were delighted to receive nothing but enthusiasm and dedication from this most professional actor. Morris claims she did very little research, only checking a few facts about testicular cancer and consulting with Cara that she would be physically able to do what the script demanded. She needn’t have worried. Even though the Scottish weather and the terrain tried its best to daunt the shoot by flooding the location and upending her bum-first into a small torrent of freezing water, Cara was always full of energy and commitment. Morris could be considered a late starter as she only began writing in her 40s but has since written a great deal for children and adults, both in television and theatre and has received many awards and nominations for her work.

made in scotlanD TV

Peter

McDougall

eter McDougall has more than a few points to make, about his craft, his celebrated collaborations with John McKenzie, his peers, the demise of television drama, and more. Yet despite his reputation as one of Scotland’s greatest writers, McDougall hasn’t had a piece of work produced for television in over 15 years; his passion for writing, however, is clearly undimmed, as anyone who saw his recent plays at Glasgow’s Oran Mor venue will attest (and he has two screenplays in the pipeline). He’s not short of explanations for his apparent silence on the small screen. “I’ve fought with everyone. I have, I’ll admit it, I’m relentless about what I do. I work on the assumption that if I’m asked to write something, I’ll be allowed to write the piece I want to write. It’s a system that’s worked well for me in the past, and resulted in some not bad dramas.” The Prix Italia jury obviously agreed, McDougall being one of the few British dramatists ever to be honoured with this award. “I want to have final control of my writing, but that kind of control scares today’s producers. If you’re working with people you trust, who understand the creative process, it shouldn’t be an issue. These days you get an avalanche of script editors talking daft jargon about ‘narrative arcs’ and ‘reversals’, who know virtually nothing about the craft of writing. They want everything spelt out and simplified. Bland and predictable. They work on the assumption that the audience is stupid. So it’s not that I don’t want to write for television, I don’t get asked anymore.” Sentiments that chime with a recently widely circulated article by veteran producer Tony Garnett on the state of TV drama. There’s no shortage of recent recognition for McDougall’s work. A boxed set of his work for the BBC’s Play for Today strand, Just Another Saturday, Just A Boy’s Game, The Elephant’s Graveyard and Down Among The Big Boys, was recently pressed. And together with director John McKenzie, a retrospective of his work took place at the 2009 Edinburgh International Film Festival, including McDougall’s highly influential powerhouse of a film about Jimmy Boyle, A Sense of Freedom. “That was an stv production. I think they had their licence coming up and wanted a drama done. At first I wasn’t sure about doing it, because there was the issue of glamorising violence; I was very aware

of that. Jeremy Isaacs spoke to me about doing something on Jimmy Boyle and then came back and said, ‘OK Peter, John McKenzie will direct it if you write it.’ That’s how these things should be done - no committee meetings, no outlines, no nothing,” says McDougall. “Watching it again in Edinburgh this year, there’s the odd line I’d like to change, but not much. McKenzie did some good work on it. You don’t get to see pieces like that anymore; it’s not just a question of the subject, it’s about the vibrancy of the piece - the system doesn’t allow for it now.” While he applauds McKenzie’s work, McDougall is also wary of the auteur theory, and fiercely protective of the authorship of his work; his plays begin and end with his own, solo credit, and that’s not by accident. “I’ve never been interested in directing; a director interprets and that’s his job. And John McKenzie is one of the best. But it’s not like John came to me and said, ‘Let’s do something on the Orange Walks.’ I was brought up in that world. I knew it intimately; I swung a stick in Belfast. Before Just Another Saturday, I wrote Just Your Luck, which was about a Catholic/Protestant wedding based on my own family (interestingly directed by Mike Newall of Four Weddings fame). Every word of Just Another Saturday was on the page long before a director clapped eyes on it.” McDougall could never be accused of ‘phoning it in’. The language of his scripts is powerful, visceral and real, and his description of his on-set experiences would whiten the hair of any health and safety inspector. “On one film, McKenzie came over to me and said he could no longer work with actor Ken Hutchison, so could I tell him he was fired. This was after Ken had made Straw Dogs for Sam Peckinpah and he’d just done a film called Wrath of God with Robert Mitchum and Victor Bueno. This was no easy thing to ask me to do, so I asked John why and he said because Ken’s wearing a suit with cowboy boots and he refuses to take them off. I went to Ken and told him and it didn’t go down well. The boots were staying. ‘They stay, you go’. Ken gets angry and eventually he starts saying, ‘Go on, hit me, hit me, you want to punch me, don’t you’. By this time I did, but I’m thinking if I hit him in the face it could hold up the shoot. So I go up close to him and give him a big kiss. We ended up falling into a single bed and sleeping together. We were emotionally exhausted,” says McDougall. “Ken

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“ I work on the assumption that if I’m asked to write something, I’ll be allowed to write the piece I want to write” Peter McDougall thanks to EIFF for photo

whispers in my ear, ‘John uses you to do his dirty work’, but to me it was about getting the best from your cast. Minus cowboy boots!” McDougall offers a tantalising glimpse into a recent project which he’s been writing but which he fears has fallen into development hell due to his uncompromising approach. “It’s a drama about a doctor and his wife. I’d become aware of supposed cancer drugs coming into the country illegally that were actually little more than placebos. The doctor realises what’s going on and wants to blow the whistle on the whole operation. The fallout from this puts great strain on the doctor’s marriage. That was at the heart of the drama. The people I was dealing with seemed to want to turn this into a thriller about the Russian mafia. But then by the next day it’d be, ‘No, we see it more as a piece about contemporary

Glasgow, could it have more comedy d’you think?’ Or, ‘we no longer have two-hour slots so could you cut it in half and add some ethnic minorities?’ ‘Once we’ve had our pre-meeting meeting about meetings we’ll get back to you.’ And they wonder why the quality of drama has deteriorated.” Despite such trials, McDougall doesn’t seem bitter about his work; if anything, he seems to be delighted that audiences are still interested. “I’m amazed I managed to write what I did,” he admits. “I’m not frustrated, I just don’t want to sit hand-polishing an outline for months, that’s not the way I write.” You sense that McDougall has lost none of his self-belief, and that it’s only a matter of time before some gifted producer manages to harness the restless energy that made McDougall one of the greats of TV drama. He’s not only a great writer, but also a skilled raconteur, whose tales of the madness of filming would make

good dramas in themselves. “Harvey Keitel came over to Dunoon before we started shooting Down Where the Buffalo Go. He wanted to get a feel for the place, the people, the Holy Loch. We’d got our arrangements mixed up, so Harvey phones my mother in Greenock, and says ‘Mrs McDougall, could I speak with your son, Peter?’ and my maw says, ‘He’s not here’. Then they got talking and Harvey says, ‘You know ma’am, your son is a wonderful writer.’ And she says, ‘Aw son, you don’t believe anything he tells you, do you?” Harvey called Peter a Scottish Scorsese and has said he would work on anything Peter wrote. So could that be the key to the next McDougall TV drama? “For HBO, no problem. Here? We’d never get past the ‘narrative arc.’”

made in scotlanD TV

Neville Kidd on

A history of

Scotland

he award-winning BBC Scotland programme, A history of Scotland, presented by Neil Oliver, returns to our television screens in early November 2009. Co-produced with the Open University, it’s the flagship television series of the broadcaster’s Scotland’s History project and in Scotland a third of the audience - 1.6million - tuned in across the first five parts. 10

With the second five parts promising 300 years of dramatic storylines, getting the right look and feel to the programmes is a vital part of the remit, and experienced cameraman Neville Kidd was delighted to step up to the plate again. “It was an ideal situation in that I was brought on-board early, so was involved in the planning of what kind of look we’d be going for. I work as a cameraman for both documentary and drama, so I hope to be able to provide the best of both worlds. I used prime lenses which is what we use in drama where you change lenses for each individual scene. Richard Downes (Series Producer) wanted to make sure that different historical periods had

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“It’s a remarkable story, so we have gone to great lengths to make sure the programmes reflect that visually.” - Neville Kidd

Neville Kidd at the Television Craft BAFTAs Copyright BAFTA/Richard Kendal

different looks, so I used all kinds of lenses, as I would on a drama.”

avoid things which were too modern and might wrench the audience out of the programme.

The latest five-part series, taking the story on from the mid 1600s to the modern day, resumes on BBC One Scotland in the autumn, with transmission at a later point on network BBC Two. Ground covered includes the battle of Culloden, the Enlightenment, and our role in forging the British Empire as Scotland rose to become a major industrial player on a worldwide scale. As director of photography, the challenges involved in such a wideranging project were non-stop.

“Having gone right back to the Romans and Picts, part of the attraction of A history of Scotland is finding out more about what actually happened; there were many Scots, for example, who went on to start a new life in America. Over a third of those who signed the Declaration of independence were Scots or have Scots descent,” says Kidd. “It’s a remarkable story, so we have gone to great lengths to make sure the programmes reflect that visually. We tried to film as much as possible during the golden hour, in the early morning or evening, making sure that the visuals were inspiring rather than grey or drab; the primes really give it a trademark look.”

“We went to Jamaica to look at the migration of Jacobites there after Culloden, as part of the programme that deals with the slave trade. I worked closely on the script with the director and producer to get the right visual style for each segment,” says Kidd. “We want people to be sucked into the visuals, so it wouldn’t be jarring to mix location work with studio scenes; we want to keep the audience in the world of the film we evoke. Using the prime lenses helped us to keep certain things out of focus when filming on 21st century locations, helping us to

Having also worked on the drama series Rome, and the Japanese history of Shogun, Kidd has made a career out of evoking different senses of time and place. It was a career which was nearly ended prematurely on A history of Scotland by an exotic creature which attempted to make its way into showbusiness up Kidd’s trouser-leg. “When we were filming in Jamaica, I woke up on the day I was meant to be flying home with a two-inch black spot on my ankle. The veins started to turn black, like something from a horror movie, and I started to get nauseous, watching another inch of my leg turn black every ten minutes,” he says. “I didn’t know it, but I’d been bitten by a deadly caterpillar, and the venom was spreading up my leg. Fortunately I got to a doctor, and he was able to give me an antidote injection. It was pretty lucky that I had clocked the bite; if I had got on that flight without spotting it, I would have been in dead trouble.” As it was Neville was able to get the antidote, make his flight and two days later was in London collecting a BAFTA for his work on A history of Scotland, trumping Ross Kemp in Afghanistan, Amazon with Bruce Parry, and The Victorian Sex Explorer which had Rupert Everett in Africa.

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Lonely Sprout and Stuart Tomato, The OOglies

Nick Hopkin on

ne critic noted, of the nation’s most beloved pooch, Gromit, that despite having no mouth, his eyes alone made him “the most expressive silent star since Buster Keaton”. For animators around the world, there’s nothing like a pair of googly eyes to grab the attention. And anyone entranced by creatures with larger-than-life ocular capacity is likely to be engaged by The OOglies, a major new project from BBC Scotland’s Children’s Department, and the brain-child of BBC Scotland’s Nick Hopkin, voice-over artist Tim Dann and writer Austin Low. “Basically in 2008 the CBBC Development Department, which I was heading up at the time, got together a list of projects to pitch, and one of them was OOglies, a comedy sketch-show for kids. We wanted to make a show which was funny without being patronising, while using all the production values and expertise we could muster,” says Hopkin. “The pitch for OOglies demanded that we have the speed of delivery and visual appeal for younger kids, without alienating grown-ups. It’s

very much in the Wylie Coyote genre of build-ups and calamity falls.” With over 65 individual characters and over five and a half hours of programming to fill, and the series playing as two blocks of 13 x15 minute episodes, creating OOglies was a huge undertaking. “OOglies are basically household objects who come alive; their world is one that only comes to life when our backs are turned. We’ve created 750 stand-alone sketches in our studio in Maryhill, Glasgow. We took over an empty warehouse to set up twelve animation pods, with a range of top animators coming from places like Aardman, HOT Animation, Ko Lik and Cosgrove Hall,” says Hopkin. “Each animator was aiming to create up to 25 seconds of animation a day, about double what would usually be attempted. The animation could be done quicker than usual because they have no mouths, so it’s really just the limbs and eyes that have to be moved. We created a massive 29 different eye expressions for the characters which enabled them to show their emotions at any one time, clearly to the audience

- sometimes happiness, sometimes shock, sometimes even love! There were probably about 40 or so different household environments which were created by our impressive design team and then the sketches were shot entirely as a series of still photos and imported into our animation computers. For the first time ever in the UK, at such a scale, the animators used a brand new animation software created in the US.” Animated characters have a universal appeal, but creating The OOglies meant attention to the detail of each character, from the drawing board onwards. “Lonely Sprout is one of our Ooglies stars; he’s always trying to make friends, but everyone seems to be trying to avoid him. We had to audition a number of supermarket sprouts to find just the right one to model him on; the folds in his leaves give him exactly the right kind of droopy face. Then there’s Stunt Tomato, a kind of Evel Knievel/Nacho Libre type of character, who is always trying to impress the vine tomatoes with his stunts. There are meatballs that want to be Olympic

Nick Hopkin, Producermade and Austinin Low,scotlanD Writer The OOglies TV

“We wanted to make a show which was funny without being patronising, while using all the production values and expertise we could muster.” - Nick Hopkin

athletes but usually end up becoming pasta sauce, and Mr Magnetic, who wears a medallion, which seems to attract all metal objects. Or Whistling Walnut, who plays a dried banana guitar and sings a little song, just before an anvil gets dropped on his head!” says Hopkin. “We worked on a low budget and a tight schedule to make OOglies work, with over a quarter of a million individual frames to render! Many were complicated in that when a character flies through the air, they have metal rigs to hold them in place, which then have to be painted out in post-production. The new technology we have makes things possible, but at the same time, it’s painstaking work.” Another facet of OOglies is the soundtrack which features no actual dialogue, recalling the whistlelanguage of the beloved children’s series The Clangers. The entire OOglies soundtrack is composed of various squeaks, vocal exclamations and groans that the creatures make as they slip, slide and splat across the screen.

Conkers, The OOglies Doughnuts, The OOglies

“We agreed early on they would have no language, which is good because it widens the opportunities for international sales,” says Hopkin. The series is broadcast on CBBC every weekday at 5.45pm (repeated 9.15am). 13

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“I thought it would never fly, but the execs snapped it up, I think they immediately saw there was a gap in the market.” - Bryan Elsley

under the skin of

Bryan Elsley I

t’s big over here, now it’s heading over there. Skins is heading Stateside, as creator Bryan Elsley prepares to head off to the US to work on the American edition of the popular E4 and Channel 4 show. Elsley worked his way up through theatre, followed by stints on Casualty and Hamish Macbeth to his celebrated adaptation of Iain Banks’s The Crow Road. But Skins is his biggest hit to date, albeit one with humble origins. “I’d taken all my brilliant, original ideas for the series and was pitching them to my teenage son. Unfortunately, he thought they were all terrible, boring: ‘a middle-aged load of crap,’ I think were his exact words. He said I should make something clever about teens, and I should do it with him. I thought it would never fly, but the execs snapped

it up, I think they immediately saw there was a gap in the market,” says Elsley. “I’d initially wanted something that was about teenagers’ lives and loves, and sex and drugs, so it wasn’t until much later that the series got more serious; that’s something of a sub text which has grown as the programme has become more developed.” “What was remarkable about Skins was the way it grew; it changed as a number of young people came to work on the show, all arrogant and lippy, writing and formulating ideas, they’re what makes the programme what it is now. Skins is funny and serious at the same time, sometimes even stupid and ridiculous, but also in deadly earnest. We’d have all of our young people together, planning the series in one big room; there’s nothing magic about that kind

Bryan Elsley

of process, we’d just have to hash the ideas backwards and forwards until we got it right.” “Now I’m heading over to the US to get involved with their version. I produced Skins myself because we don’t expect teenagers to behave like professional filmmakers, so there’s a bit of unconventional management required on my part to get the show out. It’s not my own story; I’m 48, and I think of the programme as being about the teenage life I didn’t have. In a way, it makes up for my own dull teenage years; growing up in Dalkeith in 1975, I didn’t get to do the things we show on Skins myself. We’re showing how much better teenage life is now.” The route to Skins was a long and sometimes painful one for Elsley, who

Skins

admits to having spent some time in the wilderness (“We’re not talking about years, but decades,” he says). Elsley honed his craft working on other people’s series, a process he feels could teach any aspiring writer a few tricks. “I’d say that TV screenwriting is the only exact form of play writing, working to a programme length of 45 minutes and 30 seconds. Anyone who wants to be a TV screenwriter has to learn how that kind of writing works, to control the story and make things function,” he says. “I’d started out by working for all the major Scottish theatre companies like Wildcat, The Traverse, Borderline, The Lyceum, and it saddens me that theatre writers don’t often get the kind of opportunities I did. People like Bill Bryden and Peter Broughan were

running BBC Scotland’s drama output at the time, and they showed a lot of faith in me as a writer. To me, there’s a big question mark about why the depth of talent we have now in theatre doesn’t get the chance to translate to television and film. I originally went to the BBC with half an idea written on the back of an envelope, and people don’t get the chance to work like that anymore.” The television landmark drama The Crow Road made Elsley a respected television writer, an experience he looks back on fondly as he prepares to work on the US Skins revamp.

dramatisation, and although I made a big deal at the time about how difficult it was to write, the strength of the novel made it easy, and Iain Banks was very supportive,” says Elsley. “I’ve just finished another project, a film script set in Brazil in the 1920’s. It’s the only thing I’ve written in the last three years other than Skins, but I’m not too worried about being typecast; it’s taken a long time for me to get a successful show, so I’m always going to be happy to be associated with it.”

“That was a dream job for me; The Crow Road was probably my favourite novel at the time, and when my agent offered it to me, I jumped at the chance. It’s structurally perfect for 15

made in scotlanD TV

Gregory Burke on

One Night in Emergency A

one-off drama for BBC Scotland and Silver River Productions, One Night in Emergency marks the small-screen debut of one of Scotland’s most acclaimed writers, Gregory Burke. Burke’s Black Watch won him an Olivier award and made him the toast of theatres worldwide through this National Theatre of Scotland production. Starring Kevin McKidd and Michelle Ryan, Burke’s TV debut is a star-studded piece featuring Ewen Bremner, Jamie Sives, David Hayman, James Cosmo, Gary Lewis and Tam Dean Burn. But while the story of One Night in Emergency takes inspiration from Homer’s The Odyssey, the germ of the idea came from Burke’s own unhappy experience of a London hospital. “My partner was taken into hospital. I went to meet her and found she hadn’t yet received any treatment. It was a chaotic scene, as A & E departments often are on a Saturday night, and I, perhaps unwisely, expressed my frustration to the hard pressed staff about the delay,” says Burke. “As we waited, there was this feeling of helplessness that occurs when a loved one is suffering and you can do nothing to help. It’s something I’ve never forgotten but I didn’t immediately see how it could be dramatised.”

like The Odyssey, which is one man’s quest to get home before calamity befalls him, so I used the myth of Odysseus to hang the structure on,” says Burke. “But it’s definitely not an adaptation, more of a pillaging, really. Peter (Kevin McKidd) comes up against a number of obstacles, including his nemesis, a one-eyed security guard (Yigal Naor), who represents the Cyclops in many ways. I wanted the character of Peter to be a young, urban professional, who has rejected religion, who doesn’t rely on others, who thinks his life is all his own creation, and that everything would disappear in a puff of smoke without him. What he discovers is that he’s not immune, and what breaks down his arrogance is his experience of a casualty ward.”

Encouraged by Dan Hine of Silver River, and by watching the Romanian film The Death of Mr Lazarescu, Burke set about creating One Night in Emergency, although he’s quick to point out that it’s in no way a criticism of the NHS: “I didn’t want to do that at all. It’s about a man who is lost, and can’t get to the person he loves, and I thought of it

“Michael Offer came on board to direct, and asked me about the elements of mythology and how important they were; he was keen to make sure that the transition to reality from this mythic, otherworldly place would work smoothly. He’s got a lot of experience, and was able to help tweak the hospitalgenre rules to create something new.”

“I do have more ambitions to write for television.” - Gregory Burke

Crossing over from theatre to television has proved a substantial obstacle for many writers, but Burke feels that the support he got from Silver River made this easier to achieve, despite the high expectations that work like Gargarin Way, Black Watch and his recent play Hoors has created.

It might surprise many to know that Burke never set out to be a theatre writer, but feels that he happened into it by happy accident. When One Night in Emergency goes out, he’s hoping that it’ll help pave the way for other nontheatre work. “I never set out to be a theatre writer, because to be honest, most of my influences were people like Alan Clarke, Alan Bleasdale and people who wrote for Play for Today. If it hadn’t been for the success of Gagarin Way, I’m not sure I’d have continued writing plays. I feel totally comfortable watching rushes on-set or watching the first rough-cut. I have a tiny role in the piece and I found that being on set helped me understand a lot more about how a television programme is made. So yes, I do have more ambitions to write for television, I’ve done well from theatre, but I’m open to offers as to where I go next.”

made in scotlanD TV

Simon Donald

ust coming off the back of writing for the highly successful Wallander detective series with Kenneth Branagh, writer Simon Donald is carving a niche for himself in both television and film. Arguably his breakthrough came with Low Winter Sun, the Channel 4 drama that teamed him with director Adrian Shergold. Although the central character was a policeman, Frank Agnew, played by Mark Strong, Donald doesn’t see Low Winter Sun as an ordinary detective story.

“Low Winter Sun wasn’t really about the law - the starting point was two men arguing about the morality of killing lobsters while standing over a bathful of them. Then it became what are they really talking about? Then who are they? Then who are they really talking about killing?” says Donald. “This evolved into a story about a man who murders to avenge his love. Then discovers he’s been lied to and she’s not dead - and has to investigate the murder he committed in order to try and find his love. Agnew being a policeman was necessary, but secondary.” Working with Adrian Shergold, who directed Timothy Spall in the awardwinning hangman drama Pierrepoint, was also a positive experience for

Donald, who appreciates that good directors aren’t always easy to find, and he was keen to reacquaint himself with someone with whom he’d worked with on-stage.

“I worked very closely with Adrian - I’d worked with him previously when I was an actor. He loved the moral complexity of the script so he was very faithful to its every twist and turn. And it was through the research I did on the project that found me the ‘bad meat scam’ which is the crime that underpins all the venality in the story.” Low Winter Sun took five years to reach the screen, including a period during which the project was cancelled. The transition from Donald’s stage work to working in film and television wasn’t always a happy one; the film version of his play The Life of Stuff didn’t turn out as he’d hoped, and television gave him the opportunity to reverse the setback. “I never felt that I was making a transition - stage and screen formats are so fundamentally different that you approach them each afresh. To see what happens if you don’t - compare the stage version of The Life of Stuff with the screen version,” says Donald. “On stage, it was glorious - the screen

version is a hellish version of the stage version. The stage version racked up awards - the screen version was heaped with opprobrium.” Donald can look back on a long learning curve as a television writer, one that is now blooming in terms of new opportunities and projects. “Doing Doctor Finlay for stv was my first TV work and it was extremely satisfying - everybody has an affinity with Finlay, Janet and Cameron - I used to watch the Bill Simpson, Andrew Cruickshank, Barbara Mullen series with my granny. And with Murphy’s Law - the brief was to re-invent the character which was satisfying but hard,” says Donald. “We’ve just had the green-light from the BBC for The Deep - a five hour primetime thriller set under the Arctic ice-cap. That’ll take me the rest of this year to write. There’s a Film 4 horror screenplay, which is almost done and ready to go off and find its finance. Then there’s another big BBC project in the queue behind The Deep - so everything’s sort of accounted for at the moment.”

made in scotlanD TV

Paul Murray @

STV

The new head of entertainment and factual programming at stv is Paul Murray, who comes to Alan Clements’ content team with a remit to develop and deliver a range of innovative projects for both STV and other broadcasters . As an ex-director of Endemol Scotland, and with a notable track record at Wark Clements, Murray is well equipped for the task.

“

I’ve been in TV for 15 years now, working on network cookery, property and celebrity series as well as history and science docs, so I’d hope to have retained some useful stuff along the way,” he says. “I’m still really excited about television and I think that’s half the battle. It’s a privilege to be able to work on such a diverse range of shows and each one always has something about it that’s fun and unique.” “The business here is totally dedicated to content revival. The senior management team were clear about the fact that content would help drive the future fortunes of stv, so no pressure there then!” he says. “What we do in the content team is twofold: first we look for shows that will appeal to our Scottish audience and at the same time we develop and make programmes for other broadcasters and other platforms. The aim in both cases is to make original programmes that audiences love.” Looking back at recent STV output, Murray highlights a number of specific shows that he feels reflect the broadcaster’s commitment to quality, while also reaching the large audience that keeps advertisers happy.

“In terms of what we make and broadcast at STV, I’m particularly happy with some of our quick turnaround pop docs like Susan Boyle - Two Weeks That Shook Showbusiness. That was a programme which really captured a moment in time, and the audience came to it in very large numbers,” he says. “In factual, we’re very proud of our new blue chip series Made in Scotland and have high hopes for a two-part series on Scots who fought in the Spanish Civil War, The Scots Who Fought Franco. We’re also making our first ever series for BBC daytime, which everyone’s excited about and if that goes well it could be entertaining audiences, and employing staff in Scotland for quite a while. And for high adrenalin escapism there’s always the new Jack Osborne series coming to ITV2.” As well as a worldwide recession there’s a changing media landscape driven by digital technology and Murray acknowledges that these aren’t the easiest of times, but given the skills that he and his colleagues bring to the table, he isn’t worried about what the future might bring. “It may not be very original of me to say so, but in these times we’re fighting on two fronts. There is no doubt that

the recession has hit commercial broadcasters hard; there is quite simply less money around so less shows are being commissioned and every decision is now under intense scrutiny. It’s also true that as a format, television itself is now competing with a whole host of other entertainment platforms, but it doesn’t make me Nostradamus for pointing that out!” says Murray. ”TV will remain relevant to audiences as long as it remains original, exciting and entertaining, and as content providers, we have to be able to adapt to the changing environment; that’s nothing new, in fact, it’s always been the case,” he says. “Talkies superseded silent movies, TV offered an alternative to the cinema, and so on. We just have

made in scotlanD TV

”TV will remain relevant to audiences as long as it remains original, exciting and entertaining.” - Paul Murray

Lorraine Kelly, Made in Scotland

to keep on our toes, embrace change, come up with good ideas and make them well. We’re now producing content across all platforms, and our growing online presence is evidence of that.” Change is one of the inevitable factors in any broadcaster’s life, and Murray identifies such factors as the digital switchover, the changing face of Channel 4, the volatile advertising market, changing viewing patterns, and competition with hand held devices all having an impact on stv’s future thinking.

Ronnie Corbert, Made in Scotland

“The company has had to make some tough decisions in recent years to be ‘fit for purpose’, and it’s now up to the content team to keep a clear head and focus on what we need to deliver to our audience. We constantly need to look at what we’re producing to make sure it’s relevant to Scotland and UK broadcasting in general. As far as specific changes in the market are concerned, I could list ten and all or none of might come to fruition,” says Murray. “A few years ago the general consensus was that Saturday nights were dead and that only squares sat around to watch telly together any more - well tell that to the makers of Britain’s Got Talent, Dr Who and Harry Hill’s TV Burp! That’s what’s so great about TV.”

19 Jack Osbourne

Jack Osbourne

made in scotlanD TV

developments ensuring there’s more choice around than ever before. Tyler’s responsibility is to make sure the BBC moves with the times and rises to the challenge of making the right kind of programming for the digital age.

When Alan Tyler took to the stage as part of a double act with Harry Enfield at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1987, little did he realise he was embarking on a career in the entertainment world that would see him make just as sizeable a contribution as his illustrious co-star. Two decades later, Tyler has gone from Head of Comedy and Entertainment at BBC Scotland to Executive Editor of Entertainment Commissioning, responsible for developing a strategic overview of the independent sector for Entertainment in Scotland and Northern Ireland, forging and managing relationships with independent production companies in the two nations. “The programmes I’m responsible for are a real mix; I’m very proud of No Holds Bard, a 60 minute comedy drama we produced for Burns Night in Scotland, which now looks like it’s also going to play nationally as well. I’m also happy to see How Not to Live Your Life going on to a second series, as well as the continuing success of Comedy Connections. We’re also bringing back Hole in the Wall, and there’s a new entity, in the Saturday night Lottery shows tradition called Guestimation. So there’s comedy, drama and factual, all making up a diverse package of entertainment.” “I think there’s a fresh realisation, not just at the BBC but in Scottish indies, that the key to long term production is returning brands. Something like the Saturday night Lottery slot is a rock in terms of building up a regular returning show. I think companies have learned that it’s not a question of living hand-to-mouth and then asking ‘Can I get a commission?,’ but coming up with ideas that could sustain several series,” he says. “ In terms of creating comedy shows, it’s all about good writing; we wouldn’t have been able to bring back talents like Ashley Jensen to work on No Holds Bard, or Bill Paterson and Dennis Lawson, unless the writing was good enough. With The Old Guys, that programme was written to feature well loved faces like Roger Lloyd Pack and Jane Asher. We’re constantly searching for the best package of entertainment, making sure that we’ve got programming that audiences want to spend their Saturday night with.” How people spend their evenings is a changing state of affairs, with games consoles, the internet and other

“There’s a recent statistic that says that one in four families in the UK have a Wii, so we’re looking at how that rise in casual gaming affects the kind of product they watch. We know from our work on events like T in the Park that there’s a huge interest in ‘red button’ content, but we have to make sure when people press that red button, they see the kind of content they want to see, it mustn’t just repeat the experience of the initial transmission.” says Tyler. “ If you look at the most successful viral videos, most of them are based around humour, they’re inherently funny; just because we’re talking about a different kind of platform doesn’t mean that entertainment isn’t the key thing. The trick is to be authoring the right kind of material at the right time, and being able to accurately tailor it to the needs to the audience.” “We’re not limited to red button content; the BBC is particularly successful as an online broadcaster, with a crucial role to play in people’s lives in terms of news and current affairs. So we need to go to where story is evolving and give people a reason to come to our website rather than anyone else’s because of what we provide on each individual story. And anyone who uses You Tube will know that in terms of repeated viewings, comedy is king; whether you’re a Monty Python fan, or of the Horne and Corden generation, comedy more than any other genre drives what people view. We can learn from the way the internet suggests other material a viewer might like; if someone likes The League of Gentlemen, then there’s also plenty of other programmes they might enjoy just as well.” Seeing programmes like The Old Guys or The Life of Riley re-commissioned is significant to Tyler in that it indicates that the programmes the BBC makes are finding an audience. That’s the main target of his role as executive editor of entertainment commissioning, and he’s looking forward to working with Scottish indies to provide more. “We’re hoping to work with stv, The Comedy Unit, Green Ink, Wild Rover, Talkback, Endemol and RDF; they are the kind of companies we’re seeking to build for the future with. But it’s important that as well as large established companies, we also go with small one-man ventures; it’s the quality of the idea that we’re most interested in,” says Tyler. “The best shows aren’t created overnight, but can take two or three years from the initial discussions. It’s time well spent, because there’s no automatic recipe for success; when it comes to entertaining, the rigorous development process is the key to making a great idea into a great show.” www.bbc.co.uk/scotland

made in scotlanD TV

Channel 4 A

s Channel 4’s Director of Nations and Regions, Stuart Cosgrove is also involved in the creation of the broadcaster’s 4iP Fund, a forward looking initiative to create a future-proof strategy for activity outside London, as part of the Next on 4 manifesto. “4iP emerged from conversation between our CEO Andy Duncan and me ; my role was to shape the idea, raise financial partnership and take it to launch,” says Cosgrove. “That happened in 2009 when we launched with a fund value of £50m to be spent in key regions in the UK in non-broadcast digital media. Like all big ideas, it has been a mountain to climb, but Scotland is an important part of the story.”

“4iP was underlined as a key component in the Digital Britain report and will feature more importantly in the future. For me it is a case of full-circle, as I originally went to Channel 4 from the Scottish indie sector to manage the visionary Film and Video Department, so you could say that 4iP is its post-web 2.0 equivalent,” he says. “This summer Channel 4’s remit will redrafted and it’s no secret that many key public service genres are expected to have an online dynamic. I’m glad that one of Channel 4’s biggest arts projects ever, Central Station will be based in Scotland, with ISO.” While Channel 4’s role may be changing, Cosgrove is keen to stress that the broadcaster’s role in providing financially successful and culturally relevant programming remains the same, and highlights two shows which he feels illustrates how Channel 4’s programming can still create a sizable impact. “I offer two very different examples, one for economic impact the other for Scottish cultural value. Kirsty’s Home Made Home has been a huge hit for Channel 4 in 2009, and will return in the future. That’s a show which emerged out of the same IWC Media stable which produces our property shows including Location, Location, Location, now in its tenth series. Without question, these shows have employed more people in Scotland over ten years than any other shows and they are rarely given the respect they deserve,” says Cosgrove. “The other stand out for me, although much more modest in scale, was Clarity Production’s The Estate - sixteen short films screened in prime time, all set in and around the Sighthill area in Glasgow as it faces demolition. It was a phenomenal portrait of multi-cultural Scotland, produced by Sarah Tierney and beautifully filmed by Ruth Carslaw.” The holy grail for television creatives is, of course, the returning drama or factual series and while Cosgrove admits that the recession has stifled developments in this area, he does see examples of how such programmes can work. “We have not had any great progress with drama. English regional cities have had more measurable success but even there this is a thin year; drama is expensive and has borne some of the brunt of the recession,” he says. “That still remains our trickiest area, largely because it’s so competitive, but also because the recession has taken £30m from the Channel 4 budget. But we do have two pilots that are very promising, and one show recently commissioned, Three Hungry Boys from KEO’s office in Govan, has every chance of returning. It plays to the strengths of the company and to Scotland, as is set among the food and foraging landscape of the west coast.”

Recession always brings out accusations that major broadcasters are using financial instability to retrench to their London base, only commissioning regional programmes on a ‘tokenistic’ basis but Cosgove suggests that such opinions are more to do with anxious, ‘panic-button’ thinking than the realities of regional programming. “Since I’ve been at Channel 4, we have moved over £4.5 billion worth of programming outside of London, and this year alone our spend will be £115m. That is no illusory figure, but a fiscal reality which pays the wages of literally hundreds of people in Glasgow alone,” says Cosgrove. “What you have to differentiate is two things: firstly, if people have a pitch rejected, it’s an easy option to claim commissioning out of London is ‘tokenistic.’ But more importantly, there is a Scottish dimension to this; as a nation we are not always clear whether the ambition for ‘out of London commissioning’ is important for greater economic value to Scotland, or culturally reflecting Scotland’s diversity. I’m more focussed on the first although I can see the importance of the second. But the two are not in absolute harmony; returning series with factual formats intended for a pan-UK market will not necessarily reflect Scotland, with Location Location Location being a prime example.” All forms of media, particularly those that depend on advertising to survive, face a rocky road when money is tight, and the shifting emphasis highlighting digital media has led to much discussion about what the best financial models are. But Cosgrove isn’t one to jump on the bandwagon that sees the internet as a quick-fix solution to the problem. “There is no question, in my mind that in the midst of recession most advertising and marketing budgets are down, which affects Channel 4. But unlike our competitors, Channel 4 is not losing share or any ground in its key markets. The only advertising sector that is actually up year-on-year is government spend, so ironically swine flu has been good for business, as government departments publish health warnings via TV,” he says. “It’s hilarious watching the next generation of micro-blogging sites trying to find a revenue model as they are air-kissed all the way by the diger-ati, yet eventually they all come back to trying to sell ads in some form or other. This year’s particular darling, Twitter, is the latest no-income brand trying to navigate selling ads without appearing to do so.” “Social networks are unquestionably part of the new interactive era, but like all previous media eras fads will rise and fade,” he says. ”Twitter is clearly a fad and has all the euphoric processes of a fad, but micro-blogging and real time communication are not fads, they are part of a technological revolution from which everyone will benefit creatively.” www.channel4.com

made in scotlanD TV

MG ALBA I

t’s 15 minutes into a Champions’ League qualifier, and while Celtic and Dinamo Moscow are battling it out on the pitch at Parkhead, interviews are already taking place pitchside. The name on the base of the microphone is, perhaps surprisingly, MG ALBA, formerly the Gaelic Media Service. Funded directly by the Scottish Government, MG ALBA works in partnership with the BBC to deliver BBC ALBA, making Gaelic language programming with a unique, crossshared media vision that reaches hundreds of thousands of Scots, not all of whom are Gaelic speakers. “Sport is something which has worked particularly well for us in the nine months or so since BBC ALBA went on the air,” says Chief Executive of MG ALBA Donald Campbell. “Having a broadcast exclusive on the Celtic game is the kind of event which gives us a summer impact in terms of commanding a sizable audience, much

as the same way covering an Andy Murray match at Wimbledon does for the BBC. It’s pleasing to be covering a big match like this, one in which many people have an interest. We have had good audiences for SPL games, as well as rugby, shinty and other sports. Sport at a national level is an ideal way for us to get Gaelic broadcasting into the consciousness of viewers.” “We’re also very proud of the work we’ve created in terms of our documentary strands; in the past, most documentaries have been in a half hour format so that they can form part of a regional opt-out. But the Gaelic production sector has worked hard with us to create a series of first class documentaries for the weekday 9 to 10pm slot. These are stories which we believe are of compelling interest to Scottish audiences. Most of them are fresh work but some are acquisitions from the international markets. So

viewers tuning in to Soillse might see a show about a Tibetian monk, Zinedine Zidane, or a German-made film about Polynesian bungee jumpers. We have a contract with a production company who help us make sure the programmes we buy fit our remit,” says Campbell. “One film we commissioned was about a lady in her 90’s who was born on Eilean nan Ròn off Sutherland, then settled near Norwich after the island was evacuated in the 1930’s. We took her back to where she came from by helicopter and it made for a tremendous film. She was a great subject to cover, and she was delighted when people recognised her in the street afterwards.” With regular weekly ratings of 200,000 to 222,000 and with a core staff base of fewer than 30 employees, BBC ALBA’s productions, helped by their

Cuide ri Cathy

Còcaire nan Còcairean

Cuide ri Cathy

partnership with production companies such as mneMedia and Mac TV, have rapidly won a place in the hearts and minds of many Scots. “I think we’ve done well from a standing start, and because our funding is known in advance, we have been able to make commitments that alleviate some of the anxieties that individual production companies may have during a recession. I think we provide a good variety of entertainment, such as cookery show Còcaire nan Còcairean, and we have a Top Gear-style show for petrol-heads, Air An Rathad, as well as programmes for kids, as we’re able to revoice cartoons into the Gaelic language.” “Current affairs is another important strand of our programming, and it’s important that what we do is as inclusive as possible; after all, for every Gaelic speaker in our audience, research shows there are three or four nonGaelic speakers watching because they’re interested in the programmes. We’re always trying to stretch our core audience; for Cuide ri Cathy, we’ve had Cathy MacDonald doing interviews with well known Scots like Chick Young, Jackie Stewart and Hardeep Singh Kohli looking into a day in their life, and I think Cathy has been successful in getting

things from them that other interviewers haven’t managed. We may be a Gaelic channel, but it’s not just for Gaelic speakers.” As he prepares for the September launch of the Autumn schedule, Campbell is looking forward to consolidating BBC ALBA’s initial impact, and pushing on with plans to reach even more households with fresh and innovative programming. “BBC ALBA is a working proposition now. Before we started, there was something of a credibility gap: many people questioned whether the initial launch would be successful, and we didn’t know whether people would think what we were doing was any good. That’s not a concern now. The task now is to ensure that our standards are maintained and that cable and Freeview audiences in Scotland get access to the channel as soon as possible.” says Campbell. “We got a backhanded compliment from one of the Ofcom partners, who said he was ‘pleasantly surprised’ by the quality of our programmes. We aim to keep on surprising people!” www.mgalba.com

“We may be a Gaelic channel, but it’s not just for Gaelic speakers.” - Donald Campbell

Air An Rathad

made in scotlanD TV Rab C Nesbitt

RDF Scotlan F

ounded in 1993, RDF Media Group bestrides the television industry like the proverbial colossus; through its Group members RDF Television, RDF USA, IWC Media, Touchpaper Television, Presentable, The Foundation & The Comedy Unit, the Group makes television programmes for all the UK terrestrial broadcasters, a number of secondary UK channels as well as several US network and cable broadcasters. It also sells programmes and formats to broadcasters worldwide and exploits secondary rights such as DVDs and merchandising through RDF Rights & RDF Kids. The Group has an awardwinning roster of returnable series including Wife Swap and Location, Location, Location. This summer RDF Media Group created RDF Scotland, the biggest independent producer north of the border. RDF Scotland brings together all of the RDF Media Group’s production businesses in Scotland: IWC

Media, The Comedy Unit, Touchpaper Scotland, RDF Entertainment Scotland and The Foundation Scotland. Ensuring that the Group continues its upward path in Scotland is the responsibility of RDF Scotland Group Director Hamish Barbour and Chief Operating Officer April Chamberlain. “You can never predict what’s going to work on television, that’s one of the continually fascinating things about it,” says Barbour. “When the idea of Robson Green’s Extreme Fishing came about, fishing had never really broken through on terrestrial TV; but with Robson on board, the audience has been large and enthusiastic, and it’s become a returning hit series. It highlights that it’s not just about finding the ‘celeb du jour’; it’s about tapping into a celebrity’s passion for a subject, whether it’s Stephen Hawkins, James Dyson or Richard Dawkins, (all of whom IWC is working with on The Genius of

Britain series for Channel 4), JK Rowling or Robbie Coltrane.” Another source of interest for Barbour is the constant reinvention of the programmes that RDF Scotland makes. “Just when you think you’ve worked out how to do it, a new commission comes along with a whole new set of parameters - and you’re back to being a beginner again. If you compared television to playing football, every commission means a different size of pitch, different teams, different goals, and usually an entirely different crowd, even though you’re roughly playing the same game,” he says. Key to the success of an idea is to work closely with the commissioning editor, and bring them into the creative process; they have usually been programme makers themselves, with the bonus of real inside knowledge into their target audience.”

made in scotlanD TV Murderland

Robson Green’s Extreme Fishing

“There’s never been a better time to think big, and to create surprises.“ - Hamish Barbour

With a long running series, there are different demands. “With series like Location, Location, Location, and Relocation Relocation (IWC Media, for Channel 4, now in their 12th and 6th series) we’re constantly looking at ways to refresh the brand so they feel exciting and new for the viewers. With an ever-changing property market, some of the creative thinking is done for us - but nonetheless at the start of each series the teams interrogate the formats to give them a new lease of life. It would be a big mistake to sit back, relax and see them go out of date,” says Barbour. But IWC Media’s factual hits are just part of the RDF Scotland roster. “We’re in the cutting room with our new drama serial Murderland, starring Robbie Coltrane (Touchpaper Scotland, for ITV1). The Comedy Unit is busy making the new series of Rab C Nesbitt (BBC Two), and The Foundation Scotland is

going to be filming another 50 episodes of the CBeebies landmark series Waybuloo (100 episodes were filmed in Glasgow in 2008). “The plan is to keep these companies as distinct brands within the group, like a department store, rather than expect one big company to be all things to all genres. The credibility of each individual brand – from editors to executive producers is crucial to winning and delivering each commission,’’ says Barbour. On that note, IWC Media has recently hired Adam MacDonald from ITV daytime as Creative Director to develop factual formats; MacDonald was responsible for commissioning the hit series Deal or no Deal, Come Dine with Me and Dickinson’s Real Deal. MacDonald’s first hire is Ian Lamarra, who will head up the development team in this exciting new area for the company. “It’s all about making formatted programmes that can work

on a worldwide scale. The RDF series Wife Swap is a great example of a British factual format that has gone on to become a global hit. They’re very tough to develop, but when you crack them they can transform a company.” Whilst some broadcasters are hoping to sit out the recession with tried and tested material, Barbour feels that RDF Scotland’s future rests with a more dynamic strategy. “There’s never been a better time to think big, and to create surprises. Despite these tough times, there are always slots and budgets to be found for really strong and exciting ideas. The bar has definitely got higher recently, but it would be impossible not to want to rise to the challenge.” www.iwcmedia.co.uk www.comedyunit.co.uk www.touchpapertv.com www.foundationtv.co.uk

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thecomedyunit Burnistoun

Limmy

Gary Tank Commander

nce part of BBC Scotland, The Comedy Unit has managed to strike out as an independent production company, furnishing Channel 4 and others with products that enshrine the reputation of Scots for good humour. Head of Comedy Rab Christie and Head of Development Gavin Smith work out of their Bothwell Street office in Glasgow, overseeing a mix of fresh new stars and household names, with their current slate ranging from debutant stand-ups to institutions like Rab C Nesbitt. “The thing about our recent commissions, Burnistoun for instance, is that the writers, Robert Florence and Ian Connell, have practically done an apprenticeship in Scottish TV comedy, working for ten years on programmes like Chewin’ The Fat, radio shows, sitcoms like Empty or Legit. The latest Gary Tank Commander has come directly from the world of stand-up and Limmy from the internet,” says Christie. “People often talk about cross-collaborating over different channels of disciplines, and some take it with a pinch of salt, but all three of these shows demonstrate how it can work.” “The one thing we really pride ourselves on is talent development; we’re very happy to be doing programmes with big names like Ian (Pattinson) or Gregor (Fisher) doing Rab

C again, or bringing Frankie Boyle back to Scotland, but these things are only happening for us because we’ve built up a relationship with the talent over the years,” adds Smith. “Both the BBC and Channel 4 seem to have more power to do things in Scotland so it’s still a big deal to get a network commission out of London. It’s been a successful time, and we’re hoping to bed it in.” Comedy is a tricky business, and the makers of any Hollywood comedy know that it’s not enough to throw money at ideas and hope that they stick. For The Comedy Unit, the process by which each project is developed is a carefully thought out and unique process, tailored to the needs of the talent. “It was great hearing Mark Thompson talking about bringing back The Old Guys, Rab C and The Life of Riley; that’s three major shows and it shows there’s a lot going on in Scotland on the comedy front,” says Christie. “We’re always looking for ways of indentifying talent, then finding the right production model for each individual. Each show we make is developed differently, and over the years we’ve got better at spotting the right development pattern,” says Smith. “I think that’s because most of the team are writers, comedy creatives, or have come from the stand-up world, so we’re able to match the team

made in scotlanD TV

“If it makes us laugh, that’s what we want, you can’t underestimate the importance of that.” - Rab Christie

Tommy and the Weeks

Other talents, like Frankie Boyle or Gregor Fisher, are already established names, but again, The Comedy Unit have the same responsibility: making sure that their programmes are tailored to making the star shine.

Rab C Nesbitt

and spot early on the right way to develop the talent.” One talent that Gavin and Rab are particularly proud of is Limmy, an internet sensation through his highly individual on-camera rants which won him a huge online following. Smith says, “After the pilot went out, I went online to look for reviews. There were over a thousand comments on his blog; it’s the first time I’ve been able to have so many chances to gauge reaction.” “Translating Limmy to television was an interesting one; at times, it meant the costume designer buying him the same trainers he was actually wearing or recreating his bedroom to get that DIY approach,” says Christie. “He’s very proud of a sketch where he fires a gun at a car, but that’s not so easy to do on your own, so we we’re able to give him the chance to develop his ideas on a larger scale too. The internet used to scare commissioners, but Limmy shows that talent can transfer successfully.”

“Frankie did his first panel show with us way back on Caledonian MacBrains as a gag writer, then he did a stint on the panel. That’s not necessarily the platform which made him the star he is now, but there are a lot of people that tune in for him, and it’s great that he wants to do his show with The Comedy Unit,” says Christie. “Rab C has been off our screens for nine years, but when Iain Pattison was watching the jeep crashing into Glasgow airport, he thought, ‘What would Rab say about this?” He then wrote a monologue, that turned into a script, then a Christmas special, and now, once again, a series. It makes you realise how strong a character and a commentator Rab is; he makes salient points about life. Right now, there’s a recession on, unemployment and misery, and Rab C Nesbitt flourishes in that environment.” Identifying the Frankie Boyles and Rac Cs of tomorrow is just as important for The Comedy Unit as working with established acts; there’s a new range of talent-spotting initiatives, and The Comedy Unit is involved in several. “There’s a Comedy Extra site on the BBC and we’ve always followed the talent coming through at the Roughcuts night at The Stand. Radio can also be a path, we also commission content for online pieces, which opens us up to talent from across the network, not just Scotland,” says Smith. “So new talent like, say, Tommy and the Weeks, you can see on comedy extra.” “And we just did a Stand-up Photobooth with Kevin Bridges; it’s great to have someone like that to work with in a small spot then finding the potential to develop it,” adds Christie. ”We’re one of the few companies that still accept unsolicited scripts; the reason we do is that we’re always looking for things that work for us. If it makes us laugh, that’s what we want - you can’t underestimate the importance of that.” www.comedyunit.co.uk

made in scotlanD TV

hile war is no laughing matter, for as long as there’s been conflict, there’s always been humour, from Dad’s Army to MASH. Gary Tank Commander is a new sitcom from the The Comedy Unit, and features Greg McHugh as Gary McLintoch, a soldier on leave from the Iraq war. For McHugh, seeing Gary in his own sitcom is the latest stage in the development of a character that’s taken years to perfect. “Gary really started off back in 2005 when I was doing a show at the Edinburgh Festival with Will Andrews; I think we might just have been reeling from a one star review in a major newspaper,” says McHugh. “Will was already working at The Comedy Unit as a developer for characters and asked me if I had any ideas for him. The Iraq War was very much in the news at the time, and I thought that a sketch about a tank commander in the army might be funny.” “We put it on at a night called Roughcuts that The Comedy Unit managed at The Stand comedy club in Glasgow. Shane Allen, who is the commissioning editor for comedy on Channel 4, saw it and commissioned it for an E4 Funny Cut. The character was used again for an E4 show called Blowout which won a Scottish BAFTA in 2007. Then it became a show called Gary’s War on More 4, winning a Scottish BAFTA in 2008 before featuring in The Will and Greg Sketch Show. By then, the BBC had taken an interest and Ewan Angus decided to take a punt on it and asked for six episodes.” While admitting that the Scottish BAFTA award for Gary made a big difference, Greg puts Gary’s success down to finding the right niche in the market and exploiting it, together with a bit of luck along the way.

“Comedy is like any other business, you’re looking for the gaps; you have to ask yourself, ‘What are people talking about?” There’s lots of chav or ned characters, but with the Iraq war, there was a big political thing going on, although not much actually being said about what was happening in Iraq itself,” says McHugh. “Trying to get laughs out of something this serious is hard, but when we improvised, we did find comedy in Gary’s situation. And the award really helped; a little encouragement goes a long way.” McHugh’s comic heroes include Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge, Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse, particularly The Fast Show, and Simon Pegg, and he’d love to see Gary Tank Commander go on to reach the same comedy heights. “When I look back on the first ten minute show we did for E4, the character wasn’t entirely formed, but he’s more three dimensional now. Gary is an unlikely hero, but from what I hear, real squaddies love it.”

made in scotlanD TV

“Comedy is like any other business, you’re looking for the gaps.” - Greg McHugh

made in scotlanD TV

BURNISTOUN

“

Ian Connell and Robert Florence as Sonny & Rico

It was originally called something else, I can’t remember what it was now. But the original idea was always ‘a Scottish place, full of funny people,’ says Robert Florence of The Comedy Unit series Burnistuon, which he co-wrote with Ian Connell. “Originally it was about an English documentary-maker, making a film about his father’s home town, going round meeting lots of different characters,” adds Connell. “But when it came to TV we felt like the documentary element was going to get in the way and be too restrictive for a sketch show, so we ditched that element.”

“Ideally we want the show to be loose enough that we can experiment with the format if we want to, so we felt it would be better to tear down anything that might limit our ability to do that,” adds Florence. “There are a few wee devices we want to use in the series that will give it its own look and feel, I think. There’s just no point shackling ourselves with a format that could get in the way of laughs.” The Burnistoun project didn’t come out of nowhere; Connell and Florence cut their teeth working with the experienced hands of The Comedy Unit, via Chewin’ The Fat, Velvet Soup, Legit and Empty. “It’s just a very positive place, with good people who really do care about comedy. They care about being funny and giving the punter in the living room a reason to laugh,” says Florence. “And they’re just very supportive of performers and writers. Niall Clark, who is script editor on most of our stuff, was the guy who gave us our break in writing, so the relationship goes back to the very beginning.” 30

Florence lists a number of classic TV shows which he and Connell have admired, including A Bit Of Fry & Laurie, The Smell Of Reeves & Mortimer, Mr Show, Monty Python and Spike Milligan’s Q. “There are some sketches I could watch a million times, like Mr Show’s The Story of Everest and The Audition. We’d love to turn out stuff as good as that - clever ideas taken to their funniest extremes,” adds Florence. “Thus far in our careers we’ve been two guys stuck away in a room. We want to be more than the writers that managed to wangle their way into performing in a sketch show. We want to establish ourselves as a proper comedy double act,” says Connell, and Florence feels much the same way. “I’d hope that Burnistoun does well enough to be welcomed back. We’ve got enough ideas to fill that town twice over.”

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“I can still do experimental and weird things on the telly, but I can’t get away with it looking a bit rubbish like it does online.” - Brian Limmond

Limmy I nternet sensation Limmy built up his fanbase on the strength of videos he made himself, often in his own bedroom with a camcorder. His sideways view of life soon brought him to the attention of The Comedy Unit, which commissioned a pilot Limmy’s Show that won a Scottish BAFTA nomination, and now he has his own series. Making the leap from self-produced videos to working as part of The Comedy Unit team hasn’t phased him in the least, or softened the abrasive, but also wickedly acerbic style of comedy he’s made his trademark.

“The telly stuff has to be more professional, obviously. I can still do experimental and weird things on the telly, but I can’t get away with it looking a bit rubbish like it does online. The upside of that is that you get something really professional looking, but the downside is that it takes ten times longer to make,” says Limmy. “My online stuff tends to be just me, so it was good to actually have other people in the same shot at the same time. There are other sketches in the show that I could have done myself, but it would have looked homemade - in a bad way.” Limmy admits to being surprised at

the way his career has taken off, but acknowledges the show-business truism that even an overnight sensation takes a lot of hard graft to achieve. “Whenever I’ve wanted to spread something around, like my podcast, news of my live shows, etc, I’ve always put a bit of work in to do it. So when people pay my site a visit, I normally know why,” he says. “The pilot’s pretty much a sample episode, but I’ll be trying to make each episode a bit different from the one before, rather than the same characters each episode for six episodes. I’ve not had to rethink much, just think more about getting my humour across rather than thinking - if they get it they get it - and if they don’t, they don’t.” And with Limmy’s next goal to get another series, he’s prepared to let go of the DIY aesthetic and embrace the higher production values that will give his comic creations full reign. “Ultimately, the DIY thing isn’t that important,” he says. “I don’t think it would have looked right if everything looked like it was done on my wee camcorder. It would maybe have looked fake and pretentious.”

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TernTV

rowing upwards and outwards since their initial grounding with the hardy perennial TV show The Beechgrove Garden, Tern TV has gone on to become one of the UK’s most prolific indies, providing a wealth of factual and documentary-based programming to various channels. With a self-styled remit for genre-bending programming, from Britannia to The Spa of Embarrassing Illnesses to KNTV, Tern TV’s Harry Bell looks at a slate of projects that are finding places on the schedules of several major broadcasters. “I think there’s something very counterintuitive about the Tern TV style, we’re always looking for new ways of reworking television genres and finding new platforms to put them on,” says Bell as he takes time out for a quick sandwich in Tern TV ’s Glasgow office. “We’re working on another landscape-twist idea for BBC Two with Nick Crane, with whom we coined the mantra ‘geography is the new history,’ and pioneered that whole new genre of landscape TV – from Map Man to Coast. We felt history on TV had become mostly dusty bookish men who never left their ivory towers and it needed a blast of fresh air. Finding a contemporary explorer who could tell history stories through how people live on the land today took us outside – and that re-invigorated a whole genre.” “We’re also very proud of a new programme were making for Sky One, called Celebrity Parents SOS, with the acronym standing for Strictly Old School. On the face of it, the show looks a bit like a home-makeover show, but it’s really what we’re calling a mend-over show! We take celebrity parents like Shirley Clarkson, mother of Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson, or the parents of Jonathan Ross, Charlotte Church or Vinnie Jones: people from a generation who have a certain kind of ‘back to basics’ thriftiness at heart, and transplant them into modern families who can’t cook and don’t know how to mend,” says Bell. “The celebrity parent then teaches them

skills to do things for themselves. It’s not about bringing back national service it’s about finding out things, like putting Allen keys into radiators to bleed them, or changing a plug; it’s amazing how many families under 35 can’t do these things. Unlike many make-over shows in the property genre, it’s not about spending huge amounts of money, it’s about learning practical skills. There’s obviously also a clever spin on celebrity – just what are the Mums and Dads of Britain’s household name stars like?”

Although Bell is keen to avoid using the well worn Reithian phrase “educate, entertain and inform,” there’s a positive undercurrent to Tern TV’s choice of projects which seek to entertain but often provide an entry point into cerebral subject-matter. “We’re doing a couple of big series with the BBC, one is a science series looked at from an arts perspective, taking iconic moments in science and seeing them through a different lens. For example, we might take Leonardo da Vinci’s Vetruvian man, one of the world’s greatest and most iconic images, and examine it as a work of art; it’s an image that makes sense to people in a way that a quadratic equation never could. The DNA double helix spiral staircase is another; we’re not afraid to address really difficult scientific subjects, but we want to do it with a new twist rather than going down the route of an academic presenter who would lecture you on camera.” The same spirit of innovation goes into one of Tern TV’s other projects; as well as making television programming, they’re always keen to branch out into other fields, including the development of iPhone applications. “We’re working on a joint venture with Channel 4 on an IPhone game application called Guts; the premise is an exploration into the human body, looking into diseases and illnesses, with two animated cartoon characters who start in the mouth of a character called The General. From there they travel right on

through the human body, to the bottom until they get chased through the colonic region. It’s game-playing, but it’s also a useful way to teach about how the body works and for Tern TV, it’s a really big, brave experiment into a new platform, a new commercial content stream. I reckon the iPhone games market is going to be enormous, and we’re making it with Tag Games in Dundee, who are global leaders in the field.” Another recent success for Tern TV was their film The Father, The Son and The Housekeeper that looked at one of the most popular and controversial figures in Ireland, Father Michael Cleary. “We don’t often do single films, but this one just landed on our lap. When Alison Millar was clearing out her attic she came across the original footage she’d shot of Father Michael, when she was a film student many years ago. We traced his son, who is this handsome young man who looks like Brad Pitt, and mixed his current story with his father’s, whom many people believe was the inspiration for Father Ted,” says Bell. “He was an amazingly funny man, you see him taking off his jumper without taking his cigarette out of his mouth, which can’t have been easy, but he also represented a huge historic bridge from which to tell the story of Catholic Ireland as it was then and it is now. The film was a hit for RTE and BBC Storyville and much to our surprise also managed to win one of the world’s top documentary awards – a Prix Italia.” Tern TV can also look back on high-profile successes like Channel 4’s Slabovia TV and KNTV Sex, which won a BAFTA nomination and two Royal Television Society awards. ”We did have complaints but then you can’t put people in bondage masks on TV at 10am without offending someone. Although it was Ofcom’s most complained about programme for the quarter, the award confirmed to us that again we were being pioneering,” says Bell.

made in scotlanD TV

And for the future? “It’s a tricky time for the industry; there are points when it feels like the Gobi desert out there,” says Bell. “But times are changing, and I think we now find it easier to talk to commissioners and controllers because they’re the same generation as us and people whom we know well and trust. We’re a factual company, so content is crucial and it has to be rich and clever. Yes, we are BBC facing - traditionally that’s where a lot of work is: there are times when commercial markets appears to be freefalling so the competition is intense, but we’ve held our own. We’d still like to have that huge kind of Supernanny hit, but it does feels like we’re fishing in the right water.” www.terntv.co.uk

“I think there’s something very counter-intuitive about the Tern TV style, we’re always looking for new ways of reworking television genres and finding new platforms to put them on.” - Harry Bell

made in scotlanD TV

SUPER UMAMI Set up in 2006, Super Umami is an independent animation studio based just outside Stirling, creating not only animation but also concept design, art direction and development. The name comes from ‘umami’ a Japanese word, which first appeared in the late 1960’s and suggests something truly tasty. “My name is Gary Marshall, and I just happen to have a name that’s extremely common; you only have to Google it to find out that there’s plenty of others, including Gary Marshall, director of Pretty Woman,” says Super Umami’s Managing Director. “So the name Super Umami works well in providing a sense of our originality and helps us stand out from the crowd.” “I’d been working as a commercial artist in London and laterally as a freelance animation director in Scotland for several years and thought setting up my own studio made sense, because the technological advances in 3D software meant that there was a potential increase in the speed of animated production. I got involved in the making of a very successful animated short called Rogue Farm and that led to a 65 x one-minute TV series for Red Kite Animation called The Imp. The studio was based in Edinburgh for six months, but I decided to move out to Stirling because it is an area I know well. There’s even a fantastic café just up the road, and working in the country is a nice change from the hectic nature of city life.” Marshall’s animation influences range from the classic UPA shorts of the 1960’s to the wondrous output of the Japanese Studio Ghibli brand, but Super Umami has built up its own distinctive style and approach to animation; Marshall might not have the reputation of Ghibli’s Hayao Miyazaki just yet, but he’s certainly carved out his own successful niche in the field of UK animation.

The unique and ambitious nature of Rogue Farm and The Imp soon caught the eye of other industry professionals who might previously have thought that making animated programmes in the UK was beyond their capacity. “Our work on the KNTV series (KNTV Science – 2006, KNTV Philosophy – 2007, KNTV Sex – 2008) came about when I was asked to submit some designs for a TV show brief by Tern TV. I only had time to do one drawing, but fortunately for me, that was the one that got picked. KNTV was a great project for Super Umami, both creatively and commercially. It’s really helpful to be in the kind of situation where you’re involved from the start, so you can work towards what the client requires, whilst designing characters and locations with the production pipeline in mind. The greater level of creative freedom saves time and money and ultimately provides the best results for the project,” says Marshall. “Super Umami’s production pipeline suited the remit for KNTV. It was, for the most part, a set-presented TV show, and the subject matter was a lot of fun. We were able to do a lot on a limited budget and as well as winning the Royal Television Society award two years in a row, we were nominated for a British Animation Award, up against Aardman and Collingwood O’Hare, which was a great honour for us.” “In the old days, making a series like KNTV in the UK, or this year’s animated sitcom pilot One Star would have been an impossibility. Tern TV’s David Murdoch doesn’t think like that, and together with Murray Hunter of TV show Absolutely, came up with this idea for a B&B that’s the worst in all of space, and that’s what became One Star. I think we really raised the bar on what we could do technically on that one, going from only a handful of characters and one main location on KNTV to ten

characters and half a dozen locations for One Star. And One Star was 29 minutes, rather than 10, a big difference in production terms. So we were pleased to see One Star go on to gain recognition at the Annecy Animation Festival, one of only 50 TV projects to be selected from a field of 400, and it was one of the most watched shows there.’’ “Now we really can think big with the projects we have in the pipeline; it’s possible to visualise animation in a much more rapid and complex way than we did with, say, The Imp. We’re developing a feature film with Michael Rose, Executive Producer of Aardman’s Chicken Run, and there are several other possibilities for the future in terms of doing sitcom animation or longer format children’s shows,” says Marshall. “And the great thing about creating and working with animated characters is that they’re always willing to work with you again!” www.superumami.com

One Star

made in scotlanD TV

KNTV Sex

One Star

“The great thing about creating and working with animated characters is that they’re always willing to work with you again!”

- Gary Marshall

KNTV

One Star

made in scotlanD TV

Sue Bourne

Joan & Irene from Wellpark Production’s latest documentary Red Lion

Wellpark Pro

ue Bourne named her production company after the street she was brought up in Alloway, Ayr. Since the company’s formation eight years ago Bourne has made a name for herself as the author of a series of highly individual, high profile documentaries, including My Street, Wedding Days, Mum and Me, and Love, Life and Death in a Day. As she contemplates her own homecoming for 2009, opening an office north of the border, Bourne hopes to capitalise on her growing reputation for accomplished and award winning television work. “I like to think I’ve ploughed a quiet little furrow for myself. I think these days people probably do now recognise my style of filmmaking, my voice, the way I approach my subjects. The films are high profile because I spend six months making each film and I like getting big audiences so I choose subjects that I think will appeal to lots of people. The evolution of My Street for instance was born out of my belief 36

that there’s a story behind every door. So where better to test that theory than in my own back yard. I think if I were to describe my most recent films they would all be a celebration of ordinary people, explorations of how we live our lives today. And what I enjoy doing more than anything is finding the extraordinary in the apparently ordinary. Like many of my films My Street was a very simple idea. But it worked - it struck a chord with everyone who saw it and ignited a debate about isolation, neighbourliness… and indeed, how we all lead our lives these days.“ Wellpark isn’t a huge enterprise. In fact Bourne reckons it’s probably the smallest production company in the country. Much of the time it’s just her working on ideas in the front room. Only when she has a commission, or development money, can she take on someone else to work alongside her. But this lack of overheads allows Bourne to spend time looking for ideas that appeal to her. And then once she gets the commission she works with the smallest possible production team to ensure that the budget goes in front of the camera and nowhere else. Apart from very careful accounting Bourne also has a very personal approach to filmmaking and is involved minutely

in each stage of the process. Not much delegation goes on at Wellpark. “Wellpark isn’t a business empire, it’s a little big company, whose main purpose is to allow me to make my own films. To survive, you obviously have to build good relationships with your commissioners. But really the key to survival is to make very good films that audiences enjoy and remember. Above all I try to make films I personally find fascinating, so I try and stick to what I believe in and what I am good at.” Emphasising the need for personal involvement in her work, Bourne recently turned the cameras onto herself and her own family for Mum And Me, a documentary that explored how her own family were coping with her mother’s Alzheimer’s.

“It was certainly a huge and difficult decision to make this film because it was exposing my mother, my daughter, myself and my family. It’s not something you do lightly but I felt we had something important to say. Any documentaries I’d seen about Alzheimer’s were grim beyond belief, yet our experience, because of how fantastic Mum is, had been different. My mother taught us to laugh and to have fun, in spite of the disease and the

made in scotlanD TV

Sue on location for Red Lion

Robert in Red Lion

oductions confusion that came in its wake. And that is why I wanted to make the film – even at the cost of exposing myself and my family. I am glad we did the film but because of its rather brutal honesty it did polarise people. I think perhaps with a subject like this you are almost bound to get wildly different responses. And it was a film that people either loved. Or hated.” Mum and Me won several awards and was swamped with praise, described by many as inspirational. But Bourne was also vilified and even got sent hate mail. “The level of vitriol rather took me by surprise but on balance I am glad we made the film. Apart from anything else Holly and I have a wonderful record of our time with my mother. And Mum is also now something of a minor celebrity in Ayr when we go out with her and that is rather lovely because she just loves the attention.” Whether looking at her own family, her neighbours or other people and stories, Bourne reckons trust is a key element in ensuring that her films get under the surface of the subjects they tackle. “Probably what distinguishes

all the work that I do is the intimacy. I think I am quite good at interviewing people because I am curious – about them, about their stories, about the lives we all lead. I want to find out about everything. But you will only get people to open up to you if they trust you. And to get that degree of trust on camera you not only have to give a lot of yourself, you also have to ensure that you look after people who give you their trust. So you have to protect them, from all manner of things. I think filmmaking is about choices, it is about how you want to live your own life,” she says. “In the present climate, it’s important to have a strong moral code, and to form honest relationships, whether with your commissioning editors or with the people who are taking part in your films.” Another recent Wellpark project was Love, Life and Death In A Day. Again, another simple idea examining the way we live now – take one day and tell the story of all the births, deaths and marriages that happened on that one day. Bourne this time had far less control than usual in terms of

Mum and Me is nominated for a Grierson award 2009 in the catagory Best Documentary on a Contemporary subject, winners announced in autumn 2009.

who or what she found – she had to make a film out of the people who happened to be getting married, giving birth, or being buried in one random twenty four hour period. And it is the randomness, the not knowing what you are going to find that she found particularly exciting about this film. “To survive and make good films you have to take risks, you have to try different things, think of new ways of telling stories. It’s an endlessly fascinating business and for me that challenge just makes filmmaking more and more exciting. I cannot think of a better, more interesting, fun way of making a living… And now, as Wellpark Scotland opens its doors for business who knows what stories and what films now lie ahead for me back in my home country.” Bourne’s latest documentary Red Lion will screen in Cutting Edge on Channel 4 in October 2009. wellparkproductions@yahoo.com

made in scotlanD TV

SKYLINE

PRODUCTIONS A

s one of the longest surviving independents in Scotland, Edinburgh-based company Skyline Productions has a track record for groundbreaking feature documentaries like Touch the Sound - a Sound Journey with Evelyn Glennie and Alison Watt - A Painter’s Eye. For Skyline’s Leslie Hills, a key element in the company’s success has been their ability to adapt, with the focus less on the quantity of programmes made, than on maintaining the high quality that Skyline’s international reputation demands. “Skyline has grown, contracted, divided and collaborated as the changing markets dictate and as our own particular interests and aspirations led us. Looking back, there was one year in the 1980s when we made more hours for Channel 4 than any other company. We’ve made current affairs, comedy, drama series, political documentaries, arts documentaries, magazine programmes and more, but now, we make a few hours per year, and that’s our choice,” says Hills. “At the moment what we concentrate on specifically is international co-production of documentaries for theatrical release. We’ve been co-producing internationally since the early 1990s and have especially benefited from the opening up of the German film industry after re-unification. The new governments, both federal and in the Lander, found themselves heir to a film industry that was on the one hand marooned in the past and on the other practically non-existent. Their answer was to kick start initiatives by injecting cash and, just as enthusiastically, by welcoming international collaboration and co-production. The Lander have their

Auld Lang Syne

own funds on top of which there are federal funds, and a fund that guarantees towards the budget, the percentage of that budget spent in Germany.” Looking beyond domestic markets and thinking about making programmes on a world-wide scale is a key facet of Skyline’s future plans, and Hills points out that the company’s success in Germany has also provided them with a platform to kick-start their future production slate. “The thinking behind it is, that if you have managed to raise most of the budget then this success should be recognised, and we’ve found the German industry is good at rewarding success. The German Government also funds the enormous annual shindig that is the German Film Prize, run by the German Film Academy. It’s very glitzy and the champagne runs free all night,” says Hills. “But in more practical terms, the best thing about it are the large cash prizes attached to the Lola awards presented on the night. In the finance plan for the next co-production is the money we won for Touch the Sound - a Sound Journey with Evelyn Glennie, and also money awarded to us after the number of seats sold in Germany reached a certain threshold. The German funds also provide a generous recoupment corridor to producers. All these factors mean it is easier for us to undertake our next project.” Skyline look not only to Europe but the US for funding, although their next project takes them even further afield: to Japan. Continuing the Skyline strategy of working with world-renowned artists, their next film features Susumu Shingu, famed for his sculptures and installations.

Auld Lang Syne

Susumu Shingu

made in scotlanD TV

“Scotland’s always punched above our weight by operating outside our own boundaries.” - Leslie Hills

Alison Watt

“Breathing Earth - Susumu Shingu working with the Wind starts shooting in the autumn in Japan, following Shingu as he moves around the globe looking for the place to build his creative village. We’ll be in the Ruhr, formerly the industrial heartland of Europe where on the derelict bings (waste tips) he’ll be erecting windmills of corton steel,” says Hills. “We’ll also be filming in Matera on the tip of Italy on the cliffs which catch the wind from Africa, and also in Paris, and on the west coast of Scotland where Shingu will work with the Mackintosh School of Art on a fascinating and innovative project. We already have the Franco-German TV network arte and Finnish broadcasting service YLE on board along with several Lander funds, federal funds and of course, the crucial assistance of Scottish Screen without which we could not co-produce. It’s a long-term project, two years in the conception and probably almost as long in the making and we’ll be working across languages and cultures. That’s just what we like at Skyline.” But Skyline’s plans also include projects which are specifically Scottish in nature and content; one programme scheduled for a domestic broadcast in the next few months focuses on the origins and influence of one of Scotland’s best-known and loved songs, Auld Lang Syne.

Alison Watt

“It’s important to Skyline to have these international connections but, in my opinion, the connection to Scotland is just

as important. Yes, you could say we’re a wee country at the far end of a wee island, offshore to an old continent, but it would also be true to say we’ve always punched above our weight by operating outside our own boundaries,” says Hills. “The Artworks programme, Alison Watt - A Painter’s Eye, is a case in point. Artworks lets independent producers work in the arts within Scotland. And towards the end of the year BBC will broadcast our programme on Auld Lang Syne which is a celebration of the spirit of a song that has travelled the world and been adopted by diverse peoples. It has a central, universal message, and we’ve tried to reflect that in the programme.” It’s a busy slate of productions, but one that Hills is keen to keep moving on an international stage. “As result of all our international work, we have also been developing our research, copy-writing, translation and transcription service which operates out of Paris using German, Spanish, French and English, plus an associate web design and solutions business operating out of Madrid,” says Hills. “We have a couple of projects on the horizon - but nothing certain at the moment - and this is the joy of the business and to an extent of working across Europe. Things are happening all the time internationally, so there’s always something new on the horizon.” www.skyline.uk.com 39

made in scotlanD TV

Central Station An artist downs his tools and picks up a megaphone to tell the world about what heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s created. The image suggested by ISO to promote their Central Station project is a succinct distillation of what the project is designed to do: give the artistic community a practical means of trumpeting what it can do. This ambitious multiplatform project launches in September, using digital technology to help artists get the word out about what theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re creating.

made in scotlanD TV

“

Central Station is an online project for the art, design and film community,” says ISO’s Director Damien Smith. “The project will build one of the largest social networks for artists in the country by providing a space for them to focus their digital activity and new work. It will use popular digital technologies and techniques to combine online activity with a series of new commissions, access to rich digital archives, live events and learning resources.” Billed as: ‘A creative space. Bringing together people, projects, collections and events’, the project’s online home will be at thisiscentralstation.com. It’s not about cash prizes, or working exclusively with Scottish artists; Central Station is conceived from the need to provide a platform that can work on an international and inclusive scale. “We see contemporary creative practice as not being limited to regional or national borders or to specific industries - the new creative landscape is about cross-disciplinary relationships, connecting communities and audiences; the synergy that occurs when real world experience is combined with the potential of digital connectivity,” says Smith. “We are exploring how best to aggregate this type of activity across social media networks, where access to collaborators, means of distribution and production are available to all. These are powerful new tools and ways of working. Ultimately we are looking to create a channel for new voices to showcase their work to the world and for established practitioners to explore new creative spaces.” ISO have already established themselves as one of Scotland’s foremost and most innovative industry practitioners, and the Central Station project sees them working hand-in-glove with DigiCult, whose track record on developing digital shorts makes them the ideal partner. “ISO are a team of award-winning designers, filmmakers and software developers working across television, interactive installations and multiplatform development. We are winners of the Royal Television Society Award for Graphics; we’re designers of the interface for the BBC iPlayer; and we’ve worked on many pioneering digital projects taking film and television content online, including the Channel 4 / Nesta MESH scheme for animators and the long-running digital film project DigiCult,” says Smith. “ISO and Central Station’s relationship with DigiCult will help connect the site to the largest network of active filmmakers in Scotland, a network built on eight years of development and production with the most exciting new and emergent talent in the country’s moving-image community. To date, DigiCult’s talent pool has produced dozens of award-winning shorts, features and independent work, securing numerous commissions from the BBC, Channel Four, Film Four, and financiers nationally and internationally. All this experience will help to shape the Central Station platform.”

Smith and DigiCult’s Paul Welsh have looked into the models provided by existing online projects, ensuring that Central Station is a step ahead in providing a hub that’s not just an online presence. “Sometimes a name attaches itself to a project. The Central Station title was early shorthand for something that symbolised a point of connection, of transitory relationships, of motion and new experiences. We also liked the fact it had universality. All great cities have a Central Station,” says Smith. “We are fans of a number of online projects, such as the Behance network ArtReview, Brooklyn Museum, FormFiftyFive, or Tate Online, but many are too industry specific - just for artists, or TV people or filmmakers. They don’t recognise the flow of people and ideas between different sectors. Also a lot of these projects exist solely online - we are programming a year of live events, talks, happenings and commissions to feed activity and stimulate the members in the first phase of the project. Many traditional social media projects are actually quite solitary experiences - we want to provide as many opportunities for collaboration as possible.” “Probably the biggest challenge will be building and maintaining the community. Unlike one of our traditional TV or digital projects Central Station is an ongoing, living project. It needs to respond to the community, offer them space to grow and develop new work and relationships. We are hopeful that the combination of online / offline activity, rich archives, and the range of leading artists we are working with will help sustain this in the early days beyond that it passes to the membership who will shape it’s direction,” says Smith. “The success criteria are varied - we have targets for the number of events, levels and types of engagement, number of new works created and so on, but ultimately if we can foster new creative networks, enable some great work and introduce a new wave of people to explore online activity, we will be happy.” www.thisiscentralstation.com

“We see contemporary creative practice as not being limited to regional or national borders or to specific industries.” - Damien Smith 41

made in scotlanD TV

Savalas

“Since relocating, the collaborative nature

Kahl Henderson

Film City Glasgow

One of the first Film City residents was Savalas, which proudly boasts its status as ‘Scotland’s largest sound post-production facility, from feature films to games, television, radio, music, commercials and online content.’ Savalas was founded in 1998 by Kahl Henderson, Giles Lamb and Michael Mackinnon, all of whom started as dubbing mixers before going into business as a full-size facility.

made in scotlanD TV Voice Over in Dolby Premier mix theatre

of our work has really flourished.”- Kahl Henderson “Film City as both an organisation and a building has given us space. We had outgrown our old place, but were happy to make do. It wasn’t until we moved here that we realised how cramped we were both physically and creatively. It sounds a little pretentious, but when you’re given your own space, it makes the creative part of the job so much easier. Since relocating, the collaborative nature of our work has really flourished,” says Henderson. “Before moving to Film City, we had to go to another studio to complete film projects. There wasn’t a Dolby certified facility north of Manchester;

so it meant we had to travel... the ‘four weeks in Copenhagen, Dublin or London’ novelty wears off pretty quickly. Our Dolby Premier mix theatre has galvanised the entire sound-post process. The fact that we can do everything here in Scotland makes it so much simpler. It also allows us to focus on the fun stuff.” “Until very recently it wasn’t possible to finish a film in Scotland, the infrastructure just wasn’t here. It takes bold people to push an idea like Film City forward, but we’re all getting started. I want Savalas to be a core part of our industry. We can only progress if the industry flourishes and

Film City as a group of companies and individuals has to be instrumental in that growth,” says Henderson. “Our next big project is Peter Mullan’s Neds which is currently shooting in Glasgow. Our very first feature film was The Magdalene Sisters, so it’s really exciting that everything has come full circle and we are working with Peter again.” www.savalas.co.uk

Projector

made in scotlanD TV

Hopscotch Brian Cox’s Jute Journey

Now in their tenth year, Hopscotch Films have moved into Glasgow’s Film City with a busy slate of drama and documentary projects and Brian Cox’s Jute Journey at the top of their list. “We’re making Brian Cox’s Jute Journey for BBC Scotland, and it’ll be Brian’s first experience of presenting an documentary,” says Hopscotch Films’ Managing Director, John Archer. “We filmed in Dundee and Kolkata, and the film tells the story of the Dundee Jute workers who went to work there in the 1950s and who are now retired in Dundee. Brian’s parents worked in the Jute mills of Dundee, so it’s an emotional journey for him, particularly seeing the conditions of today’s Kolkata mills, where they use much of the same machinery.”

around you. And there’s a buzz when the studio has a drama going on. Production is what we are all about. And it is a great address.” “We want to ensure that our short film success moves on into longer drama and our track record of producing engaging documentaries for BBC Scotland transfers to more network commissions. Film City is the perfect base from which to make that happen.” www.hopscotchfilms.co.uk

Other current projects include Little Red Hoodie for Cinema Extreme, and a new short from writer/director Joseph Briffa, to be produced by Britt Crowley, funded by Scottish Screen. “We have a large production office, an offline suite (all with a handy shared kitchen) plus access to the meeting spaces and production facilities of Film City. It’s great to have both Serious and Savalas on the doorstep,” says Archer. “Besides the production facilities, there is a corridor culture of sharing information. There’s no doubt that it is encouraging to have people who work in similar businesses working Little Red Hoodie

North KEO North KEO made in scotlanD TV

Established in 1996, Keo Films has been running for 12 years from their London office where they are probably best known for long-running Channel 4 series, River Cottage, with Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall. They opened their Scottish office at Film City Glasgow at the beginning of 2009, and are working on productions and ideas along the lines of adventure, anthropology and cooking which have already brought them significant success. “We currently have two rooms in Film City: one for production the other for development; we are also in the beginning stages of installing an edit suite and we have recently given both rooms a face-lift. So our home at Film City is looking particularly smart at the moment,” says Craig Hunter, Executive Producer at Keo North. “Film City is a hub of creativity for TV production companies and other creative companies - it’s great being able to share the communal spaces with

others in the industry and find out what’s going on. It’s a relatively new location which we are convinced will continue to develop and become an established hotspot in the Scottish industry. We are pleased to be part of it.” As they settle into their new Govan offices, Keo North already has a full slate of projects to get started with, maximising the advantages they see in the Scottish media industry. “We are gearing up for the edit of a BBC2 series called Megacities - an observational documentary about living in Lagos, Nigeria, and we’re about to start filming a brand new foraging, adventure series on the west coast of Scotland for Channel 4. Also, in development we have a host of KEOlike projects too,” says Hunter. “For KEO North, our main goal is to build on the already established reputation of KEO

films and where possible utilise the Scottish landscape for our productions. We want to develop and contribute to a strong talent base in Scotland. Being part of the Film City community means we are able to meet staff, old and new, regularly - whilst keeping up to date with production news and gossip!” www.keofilms.com

River Cottage

Crocodile media Crocodile Media is an independent production company set up in 2008, producing documentary and factual entertainment programmes for the domestic and international markets. In 2009, they expanded from their Manchester base and set up their new Scottish office at Film City Glasgow. “Film City has provided Crocodile with the perfect production office for us to set up our Scottish HQ. Tiernan Kelly and his team have been so helpful and were able to work to our exact needs in terms of providing all manner of things (including space, desks and) all within the dates we required,” says Crocodile’s Rachel Boyd. “Film City Glasgow is the ideal location for Crocodile, we love being in the heart of such a creative environment

with such close proximity to the facilities of buildings such as BBC Scotland at Pacific Quay.” Crocodile Media’s move has enabled them to start on a packed slate of commissions, and Boyd is keen to use their new office as a bridgehead for opening up new areas of potential commissions and ideas. “We’ve currently got several one hour documentary films in production for broadcast; we’ve got Ghosts In The Machine and Watching The Dead for BBC Four, and Crime Scene Insects for the Crime & Investigation Network. Crocodile Media plan to complete many future productions in Scotland and our Film City base is absolutely essential to bringing this plan to fruition!”

Crime Scene Insects

made in scotlanD TV Waterloo Road

SHED S

hed Media use the slogan, ‘we know drama’ to encapsulate one of television’s most enviable track records for producing popular TV entertainment creating series like Waterloo Road, Bad Girls and Footballers’ Wives. And writer Ann McManus certainly knows more than a few things about engaging an audience; as well as working on all of the above, she worked on Coronation Street as a deputy story editor and cut her teeth on fondly remembered stv series High Road. Now McManus and her Shed colleagues are looking to share their knowledge and knack of good drama by launching their own course, in writing for television, in conjunction with Glasgow’s Caledonian College.

“I’d hesitate to say there’s been a snobbery about teaching TV writing as opposed to film writing, but if you look at the number of TV productions against the number of films, then compare that to the many writing courses preparing students to write for film rather than television, the figures tell their own story,” says McManus. “ There’s a tendency to see television writing as a step down from film, but if you look at the stars of popular US television shows that’s simply not true; I’m sure they don’t think they’re slumming when they’re reaching bigger audiences with television than their films ever managed.” The new course is a practical one, looking at how a writer can develop their craft to meet the needs of mass audiences and also examining how

the television industry has developed, preparing students for the tricky business of making a living as a script writer or editor.

“Good television drama is about characters and action, but it only works if it’s well-structured. Young writers have to get a sense of how that structure can be created, how to build up the drama to the hook before the advertising break, or the end of a show,” says McManus. “I wouldn’t say there’s a specific formula, there’s a big difference between how Coronation Street and Eastenders are written. Eastenders is more hard-hitting and gritty, whereas Coronation Street often has a warmth and campness in the way that Bad Girls did, or that Footballers’ Wives took to more extreme levels.” While scriptwriting courses for film are ten-a-penny, writing for television is less frequently favoured in UK colleges and universities, but Shed Media is keen for their collaboration with Caledonian University to break new ground and offer fresh opportunities to students.

“Eileen Gallagher was approached when Gus Macdonald became chancellor at Caledonian University. He wanted a course built around the media of TV, specifically drama and she brought the idea back to Shed to cook up the course,” says McManus. “I think it’s something that is really needed; I had my own training on High Road and Coronation Street, but I’m also well aware that chances for writers are few and far between and to take full advantage of them they have to be properly trained. The building blocks of TV writing can be taught so students can move to getting writing jobs directly in the industry, jobs which can be lucrative and rewarding.” “We’ll be involving industry experts like Gaynor Holmes and Anne Mensah, and we’ll also be using materials created for programmes like Waterloo Road. Shed’s experience is substantial; we’ve done over three hundred hours of television, including fifty Footballers’ Wives and a hundred Waterloo Roads, so we can show different drafts of scripts to students and let them see how the work develops. We can also show them upcoming scripts, or recent work like Hope Springs and discuss why certain things do or don’t work,” says McManus. “With Hope Springs, we spent two years developing the project; at first when the women came to Scotland they fell in love with it, then we changed it around so that they hated it because they’d rather be in Barbados. Then the final version at the treatment stage saw a mixture of both, with the main characters changing their opinions over the eight episodes. Looking back, it might have worked better if the episodes had been self-contained; you have to work with the attention span of the audience, and maybe we weren’t successful in estimating what that attention span was for a Sunday night drama. But it’s all useful experience.” www.shed-media.com

made in scotlanD TV

FINESTRIPE PRODUCTIONS A Glasgow-based media company producing quality popular factual television programmes, Finestripe Productions was originally set up by Katie Lander and Sue Summers in November 2004 to make high quality documentaries and factual entertainment. They’re now based in the Film City complex in Glasgow, and finding it to be a perfect fit for their company’s growth.

Shrink Rap’s impressive guest-list has featured names like Joan Rivers, Gene Simmons, Robin Williams, Tony Curtis, Sir Salman Rushdie, Stephen Fry, Kathleen Turner and Dr Pamela Connolly interviewing her comedian husband Billy for the show.

“It’s great having a critical mass of production services. It’s been an ideal situation for us recently as we are using Serious Facilities and Savalas on our latest series for BBC One Daytime,” says Finestripe’s Katie Lander. “We are currently making a third series of Shrink Rap for More4, a daytime series for BBC One and an arts series for BBC Four called Living with Art Deco.

“Sue was a Fleet Street journalist before moving into TV and was co producer on Kevin MacDonald’s BAFTA-winning Touching The Void, while I was producer on all Jonathan Ross’s early series and then went on to produce Sean Hughes, Jo Brand, Alan Davies and others,” says Lander. “Working at Film City has been excellent for us; Tiernan Kelly and his team have provided two excellent well-equipped offices and we’ve settled in really quickly. Film City Glasgow feels like a creative hub and at Finestripe, we have a strong development slate that we hope to translate into new business for 2010.”

Other Finestripe productions have included Touring Britain, a series of programmes broadcast in early 2009, with design and architectural historian David Heathcote exploring Britain through the guide books of the past; Heathcote also presents Finestripes’s new series on Art Deco designs. Each project is made possible by the experience of the Finestripe team, who have plenty of experience making popular entertainment shows.

www.finestripe.com

“Working at Film City has been excellent for us”- Kate Lander David Heathcote

orth

MTP One North

“I

used to be a private detective,” says Simon Mallinson, head of Scotland’s most successful commercials company MTP. Since 1988, MTP has been making up to 40 commercials a year, as well as occasional diversions into short films and documentaries. But it’s his track record for delivering high-concept, big brand adverts that has made Mallinson a celebrated figure in Scotland’s film and television community, with over two hundred major awards won to date.

job. I was offered a job in London but after four years in Glasgow, I’d caught the Bill Forsyth, Charlie Gormley film vibe and wanted to stay in Scotland. The company was called Turnham Productions and I opened Mallinson Turnham Productions in a room that cost £25 a week to rent. The funding for the company was supposed to come from the profit of the first job which was a corporate training film for Honeywell. Carol Smiley was the presenter. She wore a white robe and very little else and led the viewer through a labyrinth of smoke which symbolised the confusion surrounding the choice of heating controllers. The job went well but Turnham went bust. I never got paid and I changed the ‘T’ to ‘Television’ and Mallinson Television Productions was born.”

The early years of MTP may have been an uphill climb, but as he chats about his work over a business lunch, Mallinson doesn’t seem likely to be returning to his private detective days.

“Ads were really what I wanted to make. There was a recession on then as well, but I could see the possibilities. It was about linking the Scottish film industry to the Scottish advertising industry. If I got that right, and that involved bringing in the right directors, there would be a Scottish advertising production industry. I felt that if I could make MTP a great production company, Scotland would benefit in the long run. I had to earn the respect and the trust of the filmmakers and I did this by being as honest as possible about what each budget could afford. Ads may not be quite the same as films, TV or documentaries but they are valid pieces of work and a real discipline.”

“When I started, I worked at SSK for four years. Because they wanted to sell their facilities, they started trying to make ads. I thought that was the wrong way around and I set up a company based on the London model of the production company, where the right facility was chosen for each individual

Mallinson set up offices in London and Manchester to match MTP Scotland but didn’t call them MTP. “I prefer the model where the other offices have their own culture,” says Mallinson. “Onward, Mustard and MTP all benefit from this. Between them last year they produced twice as many ads as MTP and over a

“Being a producer is easier than being a private investigator because the problems you have to solve are usually easier,” says Mallinson. “The solution tends to be: find the right person to do the job for the money that you have. That’s much simpler than finding someone who’s missing who doesn’t want to be found.”

60 Second Finish

Bullmers

Irn-Bru

“There’s less of a difference between arts for art’s sake and arts for money’s sake than people think.” - Simon Mallinson Simon Mallinson

£1m worth of documentaries, but the responsibility for all this work lies with the people who run the companies. I can’t involve myself in what they do and run MTP as well.” Mallinson clearly takes as much pride in the small ads as in the big ones; he is, to coin an overused term, a creative, taking great pride in how each project comes to fruition. “There’s less of a difference between arts for art’s sake and arts for money’s sake than people think. People used to go into film thinking that they’re going into art, and that somehow advertising was the devil, and they were selling their souls because they were selling soap powder. Perhaps that’s not got the same kudos as being an auteur of a film, but at MTP, we are who we are.” “You have to be proud of what you do, and we’re always proudest of our last ad. We’re really happy with what we did for Subway last year, and the work that we’ve done for the Government is really rewarding. People don’t realise how closely the Government monitor the impact of what they do and we have played a vital role in changing the way Scottish people think about really important issues like racism, health and domestic abuse. We’ve got a great ongoing relationship with Irn-Bru and their advertising agency. Their take on the High School Musical genre will be an award winner this year. Last year’s Irn-Bru ‘If’ ad cleaned up at the Roses and

Scottish Advertising Awards, beating Onward’s John West Salmon ad. Different ads appeal in different markets. The John West Salmon ad went on to win a Silver Lion at Cannes which is one of the most coveted awards in the world whereas Irn-Bru didn’t even make the shortlist. The Irn-Bru adverts have always been brilliantly written so that they have a special kind of impact here in Scotland. Taxi drivers often ask, ‘You’re in advertising? What ads do you do?’ And when you tell them, they say, ‘Oh, aye, Irn-Bru, Made In Scotland from Girders.’ That was the slogan 30 years ago! I hope that in 30 years’ time, whoever’s producing the Irn Bru ads has to listen to the same praise about our ads when he or she is talking to their taxi driver. Or even better still, I hope it will be me in that taxi.” Mallinson has built up an impressive roster of top directors working from their Lynedoch Street offices near Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Park, with talent like Jonny Campbell, Sam Miller, Steve Burrows, Zam Salim, Dom Bridges, David Eustace, Martin Wedderburn, Damien O’Donnell and Alex Telfer all directing recent assignments. Despite a plethora of international awards, Mallinson has plenty of ambitions left to fulfil; he’s keen on the idea of a Scottish film studio, and has his eye on a site under the Erskine Bridge. “We so need one and if we get one, the Scottish ad

industry and the Scottish film industry will come together and really begin to mean something. More films will be made or shoot in Scotland for longer. More ads will stay in Scotland. Scottish culture will be greatly enhanced. The Scottish crew talent base will soar. It makes no sense at all that Scotland doesn’t have one studio when Manchester has six.” “There is less big budget advertising work during this recession,” says Mallinson, “but there is definitely more work around than there ever was. When clients aren’t spending hundreds of thousands on media, they tend to spend less on production.” “Our focus is on doing great work, and over the last two decades, we’ve shown that advertising can align itself closely with the growth of the film and television industry, and digital offers new challenges on top of that. Recession or not, our development is hopefully something that will continue along the same lines. Whatever happens it would be good to be part of creating the same sort of buzz in Scotland again that kept me here in 1984, and if anyone wants to help build a film studio, you can usually get me at the office.” www.mtp.co.uk

made in scotlanD TV

Tim Maguire C

ometh the hour, cometh the man. Tim Maguire can lay claim to being a true Renaissance man, a writer, director, producer and voice-over artist who operates from an Edinburgh base. A good example of how an individual can steer his own path through the modern media, Maguire is only now starting up his own production company Roll Titles, to make what he calls uncorporate films. “I stumbled into the industry in 1985 when Ken McGill asked me to write a documentary on American Football in Scotland. We formed a production company called Nobacker, because we had no money, brought in Skyline’s Trevor Davies as Executive Producer, and over a lunch with the Head of Sport at Channel 4, persuaded him to give us seventy grand towards the budget,” says Maguire. “I liked TV, but it took so long to get that project off the ground that I drifted into directing corporate films to pay the rent. Then, in the early 90’s I was making pitch films for the advertising agency Faulds in Edinburgh, and every time I made a film, they won the pitch, so they rashly offered me a job as their producer. I knew nothing about producing, but in the two and a half years I worked there, the agency won all the top awards for TV commercials in the UK and Europe, so I think my ignorance was probably an asset.”

“I still believe that you’re only as good as your last piece of work, and that if you do good work, good work will find you.” - Tim Maguire

Sound Recordist Robert Anderson

At Faulds, Maguire produced “Rediscover The Power of the Spoken Word,” the multi award-winning campaign for BBC Radio Scotland that made an innovative use of typography to convey their message. Since then, Maguire has created ads for an impressive list of clients including Visit Scotland, Prada, Scottish Screen and Coca-Cola. “I’m particularly happy with the work I did for Visit Scotland through Hamish Barbour of IWC. That was a dream job, as I love this country, and enjoyed capturing the different sides of it on film,” says Maguire. “I was delighted when the client told me that our campaign was the most successful they’ve ever made – so much so that they keep re-cutting it to incorporate material we shot three years ago!” Maguire is modest about his own success and says his awkward early forays into TV presenting for the BBC helped him as a director. He now takes great pains when working with his mostly nonprofessional casts to make them comfortable and relaxed in front of the camera. And whether it’s shooting at the Rock Ness festival or filming commercials in the Seychelles, Maguire is proving that even in difficult times, there are opportunities for the agile and imaginative.

Tim Maguire

Tim Maguirewith Scott Rodger

“I hate the word ‘corporate’; it sounds bland and soulless, and even when I began making ‘corporate films’, I knew that wasn’t how they should be. So Roll Titles will make ‘un-corporate films’ that will inform, educate and entertain – now where have I heard that phrase before?” “Nobody does this for the money, although it’s nice when it comes along. I’m in the business to do great work for whoever hires me, whether as a writer, a director a producer or a narrator,” he says. “I still believe that you’re only as good as your last piece of work, and that if you do good work, good work will find you. It may have been an accidental career, but I’m delighted to have it!”’ photographs - credit Paul Herley

made in scotlanD TV

Hammerhead Facilities

Jean-Luc Godard once said: “All you need to make a film is a girl and a gun.” It’s also advisable to have a camera and sound equipment! Hammerhead Facilities is one of the UK’s leading names in equipment hire with branches in Edinburgh and Glasgow to ensure that Scotland’s production companies are kept up to date in terms of the latest equipment and technologies and to make the transition to HD and tapeless formats just that bit easier. “Hammerhead has embraced the arrival of HD and in particular, the new tapeless workflow formats. Our clients welcome the opportunities we provide through our open days and in daily practice, to learn more about the new cameras and workflow systems,” says Hammerhead Operations Manager, Phil Mews. “Some clients have been hesitant about making the move to tapeless. The open days are the perfect opportunity for them to air their concerns, and for us to provide reassurance and explain the benefits of adopting the new technology. Although clients are welcome to call in at any time to discuss bookings and equipment, our open days give them a chance to meet other people in the industry and catch up with old acquaintances. There’s a real networking buzz at these events,” explains Mews. Hammerhead can point to recent productions like School Musical 2 for Mentorn Scotland, or Warship 2 for ITV/ SKY as illustrations of how the new format can work. For those involved

in the technicalities, the process can involve learning new skills and changing work practices, but it’s all part of the business for Hammerhead. In addition to the Scottish client base, during 2008 Hammerhead saw a sharp increase in production companies from outside Scotland using their facilities and has seen these figures continue to rise during 2009, despite the current economic climate. Phil Mews: “Production Managers are finding themselves having to work within the constraints of tighter budgets, but still needing to use locations around the UK. By using Hammerhead, with its branches in Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and London, they can hire kit locally where they are shooting and using local crew with experience of working on network programmes. Mews says, “Having worked on major network productions in London for many years, I have seen first hand the reluctance of many production companies to use local crews and kit for shoots outside London, unsure that their skills will match those in the capital. Here at Hammerhead, we have successfully been changing that perception by providing top quality camera kits and skilled crews that have major network credits, to high profile productions such as Comic Relief, Homes Under The Hammer, Tonight with Trevor MacDonald and the recent BBC series Rivers with Gryff Rhys-Jones. These productions have maintained their high standards whilst managing to

make good savings by not paying large travel and accommodation costs for London-based crew.’’ This view is echoed by Jenny Jarvis, a London-based Production Manager: “Using Scotland-based crew and kit from Hammerhead saved me cash, enabling us to spend more money on screen.” Last year, London-based production company Dragonfly chose Hammerhead to supply kit for the third series of the BBC3 show Kill It, Cook It, Eat It, filmed entirely on location in Scotland, the series was shot on Digital Betacam with additional material from Sony HVR-Z1’s, using local crew, again supplied by Hammerhead. Having teams in Edinburgh and Glasgow, in addition to London and Manchester ensures that Hammerhead is well placed to meet its client’s location shoot needs, no matter where they are in the UK. www.hammerheadtv.com

4IP made in scotlanD TV

or over two decades, Channel 4 has made a name for itself as a creative and innovative broadcaster, producing programming that challenges viewers, offering fresh perspectives that reflect our diverse society. But to stay relevant in a fully digital world Channel 4 needs to extend its values across multiple platforms and in 2008 it formed its new 4 Innovation for the Public Fund, or ‘4iP’, an investment fund set up to help support public service content in digital media. This bold and exciting partnership aims to invest up to £50 million in publicly valuable digital content and services over the next two years based throughout the UK. “As part of its 2008 Next On 4 strategy, Channel 4 made the decision to invest in a new breed of independent company,” says Ewan McIntosh, Digital Commissioner for Scotland, Northern Ireland and The North East. “We’re matching that in Scotland with support from public funders too: Scottish Screen and Scottish Enterprise. We take ideas in all the time through our online submissions system (http://submit.4iP.org.uk) and invest in the ideas which share the channel’s values of doing things first, inspiring change in the lives of people in Britain and making trouble.” “For example, we’re working with a company called Digital Goldfish in Dundee, who are creating an animated iPhone game which raises the awareness in young people about what abusing alcohol can do to their bodies. It’s a subversive, funny, important, educational project. The iPhone app store is a hard market to tap into, but one where there’s a lot of interest right now.” 4iP will hold a fresh series of briefing events across the UK this year, and McIntosh points out that the fund has increased the number of projects in which it’s investing, from 3% earlier this year to

5% of projects submitted now; the chances have never been higher for getting an investment in your idea from the fund. “We’re exploring new ways of investing, new ways of making revenues in an online world. When you’re making a television show, for example, the spend is made on the broadcast itself with revenue made through adverts and sponsorship. Working online is different, we’re generally not making stuff for C4.com, with projects normally hosted elsewhere, like on an application store or a new website,” says McIntosh. “We’re therefore looking at hugely varying models for the independent company to generate revenues and keep the service, site or application alive. We don’t want companies to think they deliver an idea then walk away. To me, the point at which the idea is delivered is the point where the work of 4iP really begins. We provide ongoing support to the projects for some time, and make sure that they find their place in a busy new media landscape.” However, McIntosh stresses that 4iP shouldn’t be seen as a benevolent fund purely just interested in innovation. “We want 4iP projects to be powerful new ways of delivering public value, but we also

need some of our ideas to be commercial propositions. We can’t fund projects in perpetuity and there may come a point with some of our projects that we have to leave the idea to wither, knowing this may leave the company with something they can’t maintain. We’re seeking an entrepreneurial attitude, whether that’s a long-standing independent company or agency, or a one-man company that only just started up.” Other projects getting 4iP support include FestBuzz.com, a service which crowdsources the public’s opinions of Edinburgh Festival shows rather than relying on the reviews of newspaper and magazine critics, showing the differences between what the public and the professional reviewers think. “I’m interested solely in the quality of ideas, services or platforms which people will love using or will genuinely change people’s lives. Sometimes people will say that they ‘don’t know what 4iP is looking for,’ but I reckon the real challenge is understanding what new media with a public service goal looks like. Ultimately, a lot comes down to the passion of people making these ideas become reality, and finding effective ways of measuring the impact of a project. Often, figures

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Festbuzz.com

about the number of people who visit a website, or how long they spend there end up being used to massage the egos of the web service’s creators,” says McIntosh. ”With something like Central Station, a platform for emerging and established artists to share their work and learn from each other (www. thisiscentralstation.com), the real question will be what difference it makes in terms of bringing new artists to the digital world, and that can’t be assessed in three weeks or even three months. It’s a gamble, but then again, almost every successful project starts with an individual company taking a risk, and 4iP is keen to support them when they do so.” www.4ip.org.uk

Ewan McIntosh

made in scotlanD TV Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Museum being set up for The 39 Steps shoot

Half Moon Investigations

Locations Whether it’s Kelvingrove Museum featuring in the latest remake of John Buchan’s The 39 Steps, a tent-pole of the BBC’s Christmas TV line-up, or The Firth of Forth’s Bass Rock being used in the new MJZ commercial for LG televisions, Scotland’s locations have been used in a variety of inventive ways this year. Scottish Screen’s Locations Department has been working hard to match the varied demands from film, television and commercial makers. “The most interesting television programmes we’ve been involved with in 2009 are those large-scale projects with the potential to employ a number of local crew and where we have been able to find spaces to match their needs. Waybaloo, a groundbreaking CBeebies television programme with a lot of specific technical requirements, was a real success story because we found RDF Media a massive warehouse space where they could construct an entire forest. For another BBC children’s programme, Half Moon Investigations, we found an empty school in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, an area of the country where they don’t get an awful lot of filming,” says Scottish Screen’s

Locations Department Manager Belle Doyle. “We were also pleased that The 39 Steps chose to shoot here as the BBC was initially looking to film in Canada, and needed a fair amount of persuading to come here,” she says. “The best bit about doing this job is managing to get productions here when they might be sceptical that Scotland could work for them as a location, and when they get here, they realise just how good and experienced the local crews are, as well as the variety and quality of locations available.”

been using Scottish-based companies for Government television advertising and that’s helped keep the work here,” says Doyle. “But we do rely on major broadcasters making full use of the local Scottish crew and facilities companies, rather than bringing up sets constructed in Manchester, or bringing up crew from London. It’s important for us to concentrate on bringing in production that makes the greatest economic impact in Scotland, whatever the financial conditions.”

There’s no argument about the quality of the locations or crews in Scotland, but Doyle recognises that in the current recession, Scottish Screen’s locations department has to be competitively minded to ensure that productions continue to use Scotland as a location.

Major broadcasters and indie programme makers are all facing the same dilemma of budgets being squeezed, but this should not be an excuse to reduce the quality of the work being produced. Doyle sees the business of persuading them to shoot in Scotland as a challenge, but one which Scottish Screen Locations is ready to take on.

“Right now, there are more commercials and photo-shoots around, so I think in a minor way the recession is working for us because ad agencies can’t afford to go abroad right now. And the Scottish Government has

“We know that it’s cheaper and easier logistically to shoot in Glasgow rather than London and with current budgets being what they are, all production companies are looking for a way to reduce their costs. We know that good

made in scotlanD TV The Scottish Stand in Cannes

The 39 Steps

“We know that good locations add value to a production.”- Belle Doyle locations add value to a production. We are happy to help with all kinds of location requests, and we’ll even cover the costs of producers wanting to come and have a look for themselves”, she says, “We have a recce fund to help productions make a decision on where they should shoot and it’s available to help all productions, whether feature film or television, as long as the production will employ local crew and spend money in Scotland.“

Other work for the locations department includes a new locations brochure for Scotland that was distributed at the Locations Trade Show in California, the Cannes Film Festival and the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and working with the network of film location offices across Scotland to develop a proactive, professional service across the entire country. “It’s a challenging time for everyone in the industry”, she says, ”but we are looking to the future,

continuing to promote Scotland as a place where successful long-running TV series have been made, and we have every confidence that we can continue to make world-class television here. It’s important for our industry and for the economy that we consolidate our position in both domestic and international markets.” www.scottishscreenlocations.com

made in scotlanD TV

Whiteout I

t’s snow joke when you need 40 tonnes of the white stuff to make a location look like the dead of winter, particularly when you’re shooting at the start of summer. Stephen Burt is one of Scotland’s leading location managers, having worked on features like Young Adam and television drama like Looking After Jo Jo, so when you need to make the near impossible a reality, he’s got years of experience to fall back on. When the producers of Whiteout, a German-Italian coproduction shooting in Scotland wanted to create the illusion of a house snowed in and cut off by the elements, Burt managed to work his magic with the help of effects experts Artem. “I’d come up the grip route initially; the first feature I worked on was as a driver on Breaking the Waves. I’d fallen into scouting locations quite naturally, and got to be part of a reliable team of people that I could trust, including producer Suzanne Reid, who contacted me for Whiteout,” says Burt. “It’s based on a novel by thriller writer Ken Follett, and it’s a heist/hostage drama in which kidnappers get trapped in a remote house with a stolen deadly virus. The family of the scientist who developed the virus is taken hostage, and fights back, but we had to create the illusion that they were trapped by the snow, and couldn’t leave the house. That takes a lot of organisation, and you have to get the continuity just right to make the idea work.” Years ago, Stanley Kubrick famously covered the locations of The Shining with salt to create the right look, but there are now practical and environmental reasons why burying your location in salt is not a viable option. For Whiteout, Burt had to make sure that the location not only suited the project, but also it could be left in an acceptable state afterwards. “Ed Smith, who helped persuade the producers to come here, also found the main locations such as Abbotsford House, which was Sir Walter Scott’s residence, and we covered it with 40 tonnes of artificial snow, waist high, the cars completely covered. It was a massive job, because you had to be able to hose everything down afterwards. You couldn’t use salt because it kills the vegetation; you can’t have a scorched earth policy in 2009. So we used a membrane, we sprayed paper flakes from big guns, and for the backgrounds we used a dust called C90, which is fertiliser based, and can be left for the rain to wash away. And for high rooftops we used biodegradable foam.” It sounds difficult, but with Artem’s help, Burt and his team were able to create a perfect whiteout, much to the appreciation of their international crew. “Whiteout will go out as a Christmas special in Germany but was shot in spring and early summer. How the snow is used is very important to the director of photography and the technicians, but I have to say, everyone got on tremendously well, even the sparks were invited to go over to Germany for the interior shoot,” says Burt. “We do lots of great work in this country, from Volvo commercials to features, and Whiteout proves that if you need a big location special effect, Dr Zhivago style, we’re more than up to the job.” 56

made in scotlanD TV

“We do lots of great work in this country, from Volvo commercials to features, and Whiteout proves that if you need a big location special effect, Dr Zhivago style, we’re more than up to the job.” - Stephen Burt

Capricorn Films/Constantin Film GmbH - photos Graeme Hunter

made in scotlanD TV

Jamie Oliver with Sharon Osbourne David Simon

“We’ve definitely tried to reflect the current economic situation, while still ensuring we provide a festival that is fun, inspirational, and motivating.” - Amy Brown

Gok Wan doing a special TV Festival version of How to Look Naked

MEDIA GUARDIAN Edinburgh International Television Festival

ince 1976 each August bank holiday has seen Edinburgh become the focus of the television industry with famous speakers ranging from Dennis Potter to Sir Rupert Murdoch. Taking place this year from 28-30 August, the line-up is just as inspiring, with guests including David Simon, the mastermind behind The Wire, and Ant and Dec, the masterminds behind Wonky Donkey. “This year we’ve tried to ensure Edinburgh offers even better value for delegates, by offering free development and business advice clinics,” says Festival Director Amy Brown. “We’re also reflecting the concerns of the industry through key debates and speakers – the BBC Business Editor Robert Peston will deliver his thoughts on the media industry in the Richard Dunn Memorial Lecture, RTL Group’s CEO Gerhard Zeiler will be giving his take on the international industry in the Worldview Address, and of course James Murdoch’s keynote MacTaggart Lecture on the opening night will discuss the changing media landscape.” 2009 has already seen intense scrutiny on how much top television stars and management are paid, with questions asked about the various ways in which broadcasters are funded. The MGEITF is planning to tackle the issue head-on with sessions covering all the relevant issues. “We’ve definitely tried to reflect the current economic situation, while still ensuring we provide a festival that is fun, inspirational, and motivating. In additional to the high profile speakers and debates, we have made sure the programme offers plenty of opportunities to get added value from the festival,” says Brown. “In terms of sessions specifically about financial

made in scotlanD TV FESTIVAL DIRECTOR Amy Brown

issues, we’ve got To Pay or Not to Pay, PSB: The Insider’s Guide plus BBC’s Vision Director Jana Bennett, ITV’s Director of Television Peter Fincham, Channel 4’s Chief Executive Andy Duncan and FIVE’s Chief Dawn Airey who will be discussing how the industry is funded and how top talent and execs are paid.” While the success of viral videos such as Susan Boyle’s performance on Britain’s Got Talent has undoubtedly changed thinking in the TV industry, it’s also notable that the TV show itself attracted record viewing figures, showing that digital media often finds itself serving the more traditional outlets like television. The MGEITF aims to reflect the shifting nature of the modern media landscape, by not allowing change to go unquestioned and unchallenged. “The festival has almost 150 speakers over three days, so we try to maintain a balance between on and off screen talent, serious debate, inspirational masterclasses and fun sessions which remind us all of the power of TV to entertain,” says Brown.

“We have the usual pitching sessions and masterclasses, but we’ve also added development clinics and business advice centres to allow delegates to sharpen their pitching skills, learn how to market their ideas, and even get some financial advice,” says Brown. “And it wouldn’t be the Edinburgh Television Festival if we didn’t have a range of social events allowing plenty of opportunities to network and interact.” “Not many people know this but the festival is a charity and we run two schemes that help people get in and get on in television. So while much of the industry is in the EICC, across town at Napier University, 150 young people will be getting their first insight into the industry through The Network – a free five day programme with workshops and masterclasses from Sky News, The Wire creator David Simon, and many of the UK’s top TV execs,” adds Brown. “This is what the festival does best – taking advantage of the amazing people who attend the festival, and getting them to spend a little bit of time mentoring the next generation of TV talent.”

“With sessions such as The Emperors New Media Clothes and How to Make Money Online, as well as some interesting research from Deloitte, the festival explores how audiences are behaving online, and what this means for programme makers, advertisers and broadcasters. As Jamie Oliver said at last year’s festival, TV is still the boss, but new technology offers lessons and opportunities and the festival will explore these.”

Preparing the 2009 event hasn’t left Brown with much opportunity to plan her recuperation once the weekend event is over, but she’s relying on the intoxicating balm of motherhood to chill her out.

While interactivity may be one of the modern-media buzz-words, there’s nothing more interactive than actually taking part in festival events, with top talent involved in a variety of formal, and sometimes informal discussions.

www.mgeitf.co.uk

“I know I should be planning a holiday but I haven’t got around to it yet!“ she says. “I think I’ll just spend a bit more time with my new baby. A baby’s smile does seem to soothe most worries!”

rsamd “You want fame? Well fame costs. And right here is where you start paying.” Alan Parker’s Fame-d portrait of life at a performing academy may well be the cliché of any dramatic arts course, but Adam McIlwaine, Head of Production Technology at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama outlines a much more practical and industry oriented strategy when talking about the course he oversees. While he’s chatting about the Academy’s expanded, three-year Digital Film and Television course, a gaggle of teenagers in leotards and legwarmers spills into the cafeteria. It’s a misleading intervention; McIlwaine’s description of how the Academy’s role nurturing talent for music and drama makes it a natural place for film and television is far more grounded in the realities of helping students find their way in the

made in scotlanD TV

“It’s not rocket science, just working out how best to equip young people to find the job they want in the TV and film industries.” - Adam Mcllwaine business of film and television. ”What we have here is a film and television programme, which is about bringing theatre and film arts together; from working in the industry, it’s become obvious to me that a lot of people who are now working as AD’s or producers actually came though the theatrical route,” he says. “So we’re opening up students to the idea that building a set for a stage production might help them to explore how these skills could be used in other disciplines, since it’s hard to make a living doing, say, props for film, exclusively.” The Digital Film and Television course has two full time members of staff. McIlwaine heads up the production technology department, and ex-film journalist Andy Dougan does the film theory. Their expertise is supported by a number of industry professionals, who are brought in to make sure that students have a firm grounding in their chosen disciplines. “For example, we found that no one was really training up AD’s, yet at RSAMD we have stage-management students who can adapt to that. And we have the resources; it’s important to keep up to date and we’re the first Scottish institution to have our graduation students shooting on RED HD cameras,” says McIlwaine. “The guys who come out of the camera department have RED training, which sets them up well for life once the course is finished. We don’t send out directors; they’re sent out as runners or sometimes as trainees, but always as creatives. If they want to be directors, that’s fine, we wouldn’t try to disabuse them of that notion, but we impress on them that directing may be years down the line.” With 12 students in each year in the Digital Film and Television Department, the RSAMD is well-placed to cater for the highly individualised needs of future industry professionals, while at the same time ensuring they understand the wider context of their work. “It’s broad brush-stokes in the first year.

Photos by Ken Dundas

In the second year they’re looking more at why they’re shooting in particular ways: looking at framing, getting them to analyse the craft, while all the time keeping them in the habit of writing. It’s important that they can express their ideas; we’re big believers in the notion that the idea is king,” McIlwaine says. “A sound recordist should know how the commissioning process works, so when he’s on set, he’ll understand the work that’s gone in to getting the script to that point. During the second year they’ll choose specialist departments, and in third year they get to experience focus pulling, grip-work, and so on. Even if they only start out as a runner, it’s a big advantage if they’ve got other skills at the ready to help them move on up the ladder.” To ensure that the studies the students undertake are practical rather than purely academic, McIlwaine is responsible for bringing in some of the industry’s top creative names to spend time with the students. “We’ve had Gaynor Holmes and Sara Harkins developing ideas with them; we’ve also had ex Head of Drama at BBC Scotland, Barbara McKissack and Kim Miller, ex-Coronation Street and now of River City on the TV side, and Andrea Calderwood on the film and TV mini-series side, all big supporters of the course. We want the students to generate ideas with them, so that they learn to create relationships with broadcasters, helping to plant the seed of ideas for things that might well become a reality in a few years’ time.” “We want the students to speak the right lingo and to learn by example

from them; the grammar they might be studying is transferable from one discipline to another, many of the rules are the same. We need new ideas to be able to come through from seed and will only do this by working with good, exciting, talented programme makers who understand the shifting television landscape of the 21st century. Develop relationships and ideas over a long period of time, not just the duration of your course of study. Content creation is vital to a vibrant future industry and the new ideas will come from the next generation of talent, some of which will come through RSAMD.” As the cafeteria clears of students, McIlwaine reflects on the journey that lies ahead for those on the Digital Film and Television course, and on some of the illustrious names from the past. “You have to manage expectations; when you’ve got names like David Tennant or James McAvoy graduating RSAMD, there’s obviously a sense of excitement among the students about the possibilities that lie ahead, but we’re keen to keep them grounded,” he says. “Ultimately, we’re equipping them with the skills that might help them scale the heights; I designed the course to be the one I wanted to take when I was a teenager, but which didn’t exist at the time. It’s not rocket science, just working out how best to equip young people to find the job they want in the TV and film industries.” www.rsamd.ac.uk

made in scotlanD TV

Celtic Media FestivaL

romoting the languages and cultures of Celtic countries on screen and in broadcasting, the Celtic Media Festival is known for its expansive reach in bringing together a cross-section of talent for screenings, conferences, masterclasses and even ceilidh dancing. After the dust has settled on this March’s festivities in Caernarfon, Festival Producer Jude MacLaverty and Festival Co-ordinator Jo Stein are already making plans for the 2010 event, this time in Newry in Northern Ireland. “The 2010 festival will be a very focussed two day event, and we’re delighted to be going to Newry; there’s a huge amount of exciting co-production going on in Northern Ireland right now, and because Newry’s a border town it also allows us to reach across to the Southern Irish, as well as bringing in talent from all the Celtic countries,” says MacLaverty. “As always, we will invite local luminaries like Adrian Dunbar, Susan Lynch and James Nesbitt whilst also showcasing the diverse work being produced by Northern Irish indies and broadcasters, drama being a particularly strong theme this year. I think that more and more the Celts are looking to each other for inspiration and co-production opportunities.” The Celtic Media Festival is by no means limited to one slot in the calendar year, with MacLaverty taking the festival brand to events like Go North in Inverness, or curating programmes of award-winning films from the Celtic Media Festival to create screening packages for worldwide showings. And there’s also overseeing the festival’s annual competition, which attracts over 400 entries every year from Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall, Brittany, Wales and beyond. But the central focus is the annual festival, which has been

“Because we have the festival in a different place every time, it’s never the same and that keeps it interesting.” - Jude MacLaverty

building a reputation over decades for attracting top talent to informal settings. “It’s quite a celebratory thing; we try to make it as warm and sociable as possible and because we have it in a different place every time, it’s never the same and that keeps it interesting,” says MacLaverty. “It’s a great place to forge new partnerships and for media professionals to strengthen the business side of things,” adds Stein. “It’s sometimes challenging getting people in and out in a day, some want just to do their session and retire, while others want to hang out and chat. We also make an effort to involve people locally, setting up a committee in the town well in advance, and bringing in local businesses and students as part of our industry events.” Any media festival requires constant readjustment to keep up with changing times, economically and creatively, and Stein and MacLaverty are keen to point to recent innovations made to ensure that the Celtic Media Festival keeps up. “We introduced a student strand in Skye three years ago which has grown to become almost a mini festival in itself called GreenLight, which is sponsored by Creative Loop and produced in partnership with Highlands and Island Enterprise,

complete with a student award system,” says Stein. “This year, we worked with the Royal Television Society, taking their winning entries from the Celtic regional student award shortlists and awarding a Celtic Torc in three categories. It is a successful partnership with the students getting another showcase for their work as well as the RTS competition being highlighted in colleges, universities and courses across the Celtic nations and regions.“ “We did a session on gamers for the first time, bringing in Real Time Worlds to show how Dundee has made itself a centre of excellence; an example that places like Bangor in North Wales are very keen to imitate,” says MacLaverty. “It’s also key to highlight the new wave of production in Scotland during the first year of BBC ALBA being on the air; not everyone working on production for the channel are Gaelic speakers, but it’s a very inclusive enterprise with a lot of Scottish cast and crew in work during this difficult economic time. We had a packed auditorium in Caernarfon with our ALBA Has Arrived session despite it being billed against a big festival draw, documentary-maker Jon Ronson.” And as the countdown begins to the 2010 event in Northern Ireland, MacLaverty and Stein are already working to make sure that next year’s programme maintains their track

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record for staging memorable events. “It’s great to look back on special festival moments like Seachd: the Inaccessible Pinnacle premiere in Skye, which we could have sold out three times over; or the final night ceilidh we held in Portree village hall with Tessa Jowell kicking off her shoes on the dance floor; having a conversation with Ken Loach over the sound of Cornish drumming; or even getting a smile from Stephen Rea in Galway, a rare event!” adds MacLaverty. “It’s a great mix, and when you see someone of the stature of Seamus Heaney sneaking in at the back to watch Tom Paulin and panel discuss the Ulster Scots language, you can see there is great value and originality in what the festival has to offer.”

Last Choir Standing

www.celticfilm.co.uk

Lucy Owen

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I’m in Away From Here, Edinburgh Skillset Screen and Media Academy

Skillset and Digital Britain S

killset is the Sector Skills Council for creative media; that is the TV, film, radio, interactive media, animation, computer games, facilities, photo imaging and publishing sectors. It is the industry body that supports skills and training for people and businesses to ensure the UK creative media industries maintain their world class position. One piece of work Skillset recently contributed to, which will have profound repercussions for the industry, was Lord Carter’s Digital Britain report. Alasdair Smith, Skillset’s Director in Scotland said, “The report looked at the increasing role digital technology plays in the UK economy, and Skillset was asked to input on skills issues. The reality of Digital Britain is that almost everyone will need to upgrade their skills. Industry professionals may find they can no longer just be specialists, but must aim for a broader range of professional digital skills. That’s important to recognise if we’re going to equip our workforce for the future.” “Digital Britain is relevant to the creative media workforce whatever stage they are at, from students in their final year of school making course choices through to seasoned professionals,” says Smith. “The key though is making education and training more relevant to industry and so we’ve established the network of Skillset Screen and Media Academies. These centres of excellence are assessed by industry practitioners and deliver amongst the best media training anywhere in the UK. In Scotland we have four Academies delivering a range of HNC/D, undergraduate, postgraduate and short-course provision.“ These Skillset Academies are also encouraging people to think more about the new digital platforms, recognising the convergence of modern media, though this isn’t

happening just in Scotland, but round the world; there are new challenges in how creative content can be exploited and everyone working in the media should be thinking about what new skills are required to do this successfully. “Skillset’s unique focus on helping to develop a workforce better equipped than ever to take advantage of emerging digital opportunities will hopefully help to grow the sector; after all, a company is defined by the people that work for it,” says Smith. With grant aid from Scottish Screen, Skillset also helps the workforce through Skillset Careers, the dedicated industry careers advice service, and also the Skillset Scotland Training Fund, which provides bursaries for professional development: offering up to 80% of the fees, travel and subsistence, to a maximum of £800 for freelancers, or up to 50% and a maximum of £500 for employees. A very practical kind of help. And Smith confirms, “There is increased commitment to Scotland in terms of the media right now, which will have a marked effect on the output of the indie sector, so for the creative industries, there’s a new challenge for all of us. And it’s important that we all work together to ensure successful collaborations in the future.” The Skillset Academies in Scotland are: Edinburgh Skillset Screen and Media Academy; University of Abertay Skillset Media Academy; Creative Loop Skillset Media Academy.To find out about Skillset Scotland Training Bursaries call Sharon Hutt, Scotland Coordinator on 0141 222 2633 or email sharonh@ skillset.org www.skillset.org/careers www.skillset.org/uk/scotland

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30 years in the making

he New Entrants Programme has been providing skills development and real work experience through on the job training for those entering the screen industry for over 30 years. NETS is a tiered programme of development for anyone wishing to work in the production, technical, craft or design areas of the industry. Funded by Scottish Screen and Skillset, it’s a programme that’s constantly evolving and adapting to industry changes and working practice, while tailoring the training to the needs and requirements of the trainees on each programme. “We see it as a multilayered approach,” says Kay Sheridan, NETS Manager. “We have a one-year programme, which is the definitive NETS course for people new or recently entered to the industry. We also have a 12-week advanced version for those who are at different stages of their careers and require some extra specialist skills to increase their creativity and employability. It is important for NETS to be very flexible in how it’s structured. It must meet the industry’s skills needs and so the different levels of training available aims to provide trainees at the appropriate level for different productions.”

“To keep up with the changes, we make sure we are continually consulting with production companies and freelancers. It is the industry expertise that shapes and drives the programme and the professionals who provide all the training. We have to plan for the future a well as the current requirements, so we try to provide the skills for trainees, that will meet the needs of the business,” she says. “We also need to ensure the trainees are keeping up to date with current working issues such as managing workflows and new technologies. Our ongoing and future developments for training in digital and multi platform aspects of the industry aims to ensure NETS remains, current, relevant and industry led. NETS also delivers a runners course called Hit the Ground Running, a one-day intensive course, designed by Production Co-ordinator Linda Fraser in response to the difficult task productions may have in recruiting good efficient runners at short notice. To date, Hit the Ground Running has been delivered in partnership with Glasgow Film Office and with Edinburgh Film Focus, although NETS is keen to take this out on the road around Scotland. In 2009, NETS published Generation NETS, a brochure detailing the career

paths of all of the entrants who have come through the programme since its inception in 1978. With over 119 trained professionals to choose from, collecting their achievements into one publication was a substantial undertaking. Some examples of NETS success stories include, from earlier days, producers Chris Young and Andrea Calderwood and more recently Sajid Quayum Head of Production at Caledonia Television and Freelance Editor Alex Broad. In addition both Sheridan and the course co-ordinator, Mark Thomas also provide the trainees with the support and guidance they need to help them succeed. “Our aim is to get trainees as many valuable experiences and contacts as possible so it will make them as employable as possible by the end of the course says Sheridan. Having the right personal qualities and skills are so important. Trainees need to have strong people skills, the ability to work under pressure in often stressful conditions and the determination and enthusiasm to pursue their careers in the screen industries.” A copy of the Generation NETS brochure is available by contacting kay.sheridan@scottishscreen.com. www.scottishscreen.com/nets

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BAFTA Scotland

“I think it’s important that we see BAFTA not just as a onenight-a-year organisation, but something that has important functions for filmmakers all the year round.” - Helen Anderson

“I think it’s important that we see BAFTA not just as a one-night-a-year organisation, but something that has important functions for filmmakers all the year round,” says Helen Anderson, who took over as Director of BAFTA Scotland in 2008. “Yes, we trade off the value of the mask, and the awards, but it’s also about creating educational events, sharing skills, getting new people into the industry, and telling people about what’s going on in it.”

ahead of the curve, with the categories of the awards; 20% of the gaming industry is in Scotland, and the crossover between games and cinema is growing.”

While BAFTA’s UK awards have emerged from the shadow of the Academy Awards to attain a new prominence in an earlier time-slot, BAFTA Scotland have not only established their own awards in November, but also their New Talent awards, which take place annually in March.

“We’re a charity, and I believe that to reflect that, we could do more to get the mask to move, to talk about what goes on. And with digital cinemas installed in most Scottish regions, we’re hoping to take our shows of new talent on the road and reach audiences outside of just Glasgow and Edinburgh,” says Anderson. “I do want to shatter the perception that BAFTA is just one night in the calendar; this year we’ve already had successful events in Edinburgh, Inverness and Dundee and we have more activity planned for the latter half of the year.”

“The New Talent awards have been a really positive step for us, featuring a good cross-section of students, industry practitioners and first time professionals. We have a straight-to-the-point awards ceremony, which lasts less than an hour; we recognise the talent and then had a great party to celebrate it afterwards,” she says. “I think it’s appropriate for the New Talent awards to be like that, in that they’re in contrast with the more formal Scottish BAFTA’s in November. It’s about finding the best way to cater for the constituency. For students, the awards are an introduction to the industry, so we’re uniquely placed to provide connectivity and opportunities for filmmakers to interact with each other, and the established industry.” Winning films like Dave and Claire MacLeod’s Echo Wall, which uses cutting edge digital cameras to capture the drama of rock-climbing, illustrate the changing opportunities which lie ahead for Scottish filmmakers, young and old, and Anderson believes that BAFTA Scotland can play a vital role in bringing the industry together.

With weekly screenings in Glasgow and Edinburgh, BAFTA Scotland has a strong and established social function for its members. But the organisation is also looking into other ways to bring filmmakers together and celebrate excellence in the industry.

And Anderson is particularly keen to praise the spirit of the BAFTA members that the organisation caters for. “In any creative business, you might expect people to be constantly on the hustle, but what I see is that there’s solidarity rather than competition. After all, we all benefit from a rising tide,” says Anderson. “We’re ideally placed to build a bridge to help members to embrace digital technologies; on one hand we’re working with organisations like 4iP, and on the other we have more traditional film industry practitioners, who are keen to find out more about digital opportunities. Similarly, New Talent members are quite often forming their first work, and it’s ideal for them to talk to people who have made a career from it. That’s the kind of interaction we’re keen to encourage.” www.baftascotland.co.uk

“New technology means that its easier than ever to make films outside the Glasgow-Edinburgh axis, whether in Uist or the Borders,” she says. “We have to be

thankyou Ewan McIntosh Donald Campbell Amy Brown Bill Paterson Helen Anderson Damien Smith Garry Marshall Greg McHugh Belle Doyle Alasdair Smith Phil Mews Ann McManus Simon Donald

Paul Murray Nick Hopkin Craig Hunter Katy Lander Bryan Elsley Sue Bourne Gregory Burke Ian Connell Robert Florence Jude McLaverty Jo Stein Rachel Boyd Dawn Steele

Robbie Allen Gavin Smith Rob Christie Hamish Barbour Harry Bell Kay Sheridan Neville Kidd Brian Limmond Mary Morris Peter McDougall Adam McIlwaine Kahl Henderson Simon Mallinson

Leslie Hills Stuart Cosgrove Stephen Burt Tim Maguire Alan Tyler Morag Fullarton John Archer Paul Gavin Jim Brown Marianna Marshall Catherine Ross Hilda McLean Suzanne Vickers

Sharon Hutt Lyndsey Fitzgerald Heather Lafferty Susie Miller Sarah McWhinney Katie Macleod Lucy Fawcett

WRITTEN BY EDDIE HARRISON EDITED BY CELIA STEVENSON GRAPHIC DESIGN STEPHEN McEWAN

Digital Media IP Fund C

reated to address an identified need for strategic intervention in the digital media sector in Scotland, the Digital Media IP Fund forms part of a concerted programme of investment designed to maximise the creative, cultural and commercial opportunities presented by new and emerging technologies. With potential benefits for creative practitioners, creative businesses and audiences alike, it’s a forwardlooking intervention which seeks to put Scotland’s creative businesses at the forefront of the ‘digital revolution’. With a substantial pot of £3m to be invested over the next 2 years, the fund offers the correct type

and level of financial assistance to companies seeking to develop and deliver innovative digital interactive projects, and complements the existing investment routes available to companies through Scottish Enterprise, one of the fund’s partners.

As a non-exclusive fund, Digital Media IP Fund will work alongside a range of co-investors from the private sector to make sure the projects it supports have every chance of success. The future may be unpredictable but what’s undeniable is the rapidly changing way content is being created, distributed and consumed as a result of the technological advances in

distribution platforms and devices. The Digital Media IP Fund has a specific remit to support the projects that take advantage of these extraordinary advances, creating and distributing a range of content that will find its place in a growing market and ultimately entertain, educate and inspire the end user. The Digital Media IP Fund is jointly financed by Scottish Enterprise and the Creative Scotland Innovation Fund. www.scottishscreen.com/investment

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