the scottish screen industries magazine april - may 2009

Transcription

1 the scottish screen industries magazine april - may 2009 BAFTA Scotland New Talent Awards Scottish Students on Screen Scottish Documentary Institute CashBack

2 news Front cover image: BAFTA Scotland New Talent Award winners editorial Congratulations to all the talented nominees and winners at this year s BAFTA Scotland New Talent Awards, the second year as a separate ceremony, specifically to recognise emerging talent, which followed on from Scottish Students on Screen, now in its tenth year. SSOS 2009 was a jam-packed day, full of stimulating workshops and masterclasses by the likes of acclaimed writer Graham Linehan. In this issue, we hear back on both these events, and from some of the evening s successful winners. Another recent winner is Uisdean Murray, who won the Best Professional Film Award at the first ever Gaelic language film competition, Film G. He tells us about winning this award and making his short film, Siubhlachan (The Traveller). On the international festival front, we hear back from two companies who recently attended Berlin. Arabella Page Croft from Black Camel Pictures gives a fascinating account of promoting their latest feature, Blood Makes Noise, to potential financiers at the European Film Mart, and outlines the big issues at the Screen Finance Summit. And Berlin rookies, Iris Pictures, took their feature-in-development, Beast, to the Berlin Film Festival to explore the Co-Production Market. We also hear from Tattiemoon, who specialise in producing pre-school television programmes, and recently attended KidScreen the definitive children s TV event, in New York. In terms of home-grown festivals, this issue features reports on two recent film festivals: the second Kingussie Food on Film festival, where people braved arctic conditions to celebrate the relationship between the culinary and the celluloid; and the Middle Eastern Film Festival, with its focus this year on Iranian cinema. And congratulations to Glasgow Film Festival, which celebrated its 5 th year with a 25% increase in attendance. It s been a busy year for the Scottish Documentary Institute and still only their fifth!; they report on some of their recent travels, events and projects. We also learn about the two new recruits to the 2009 NETS Advance training initiative. And, Diversity Films tell us about their new talent development initiative, Brand New, which will work with people from underrepresented groups and communities in Glasgow. Next month, DCA are hosting a special event around Europe Day, linking in with their Live Lessons for Languages project, which highlights the value of using short film as a resource in modern language teaching. Also in this issue, Janet McBain from the Scottish Screen Archive talks about Stanley Russell whose films are not only an incredibly important document of Scotland s industrial heritage, but were also hugely influential in terms of Scottish filmmaking. Finally, we hear from facilities company Hammerhead about the services they offer and how they are helping to bring production to Scotland, and we focus on the Scottish Mining Museum, which was the location of choice for recent productions of Taggart and new feature film, Outcast. Linsey Denholm Editor Creative Scotland news Over the last couple of months, there have been some key developments in the progress towards Creative Scotland. In February, Michael Russell MSP was appointed Minister for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution. At the end of March, he met with staff at Scottish Screen, before hosting a summit with representatives from across the creative industries to discuss the future of the sector and how it can best be supported. This builds on the publication of the framework document ( ArtsCultureSport/arts/CulturalPolicy/creativescotland/CreativeIndustries) that outlines the roles and responsibilities of key support organisations and how they will work together to maximise growth for the sector. In it, Creative Scotland s role is defined as follows: Creative Scotland will inherit the functions, responsibilities and resources of Scottish Screen and the Scottish Arts Council and develop them using its sector specific knowledge, skills and experience. It will also lead co-ordination activity in developing the creative industry sector. It will provide research, intelligence, support and advocacy across the 13 creative industries. At the end of January, there were an additional two appointments to the Board of Creative Scotland 2009 Ltd. Dr Chris Masters CBE and Peter Cabrelli were appointed as non-executive directors, joining Ewan Brown and Richard Holloway on the Board of the organisation, which will complete the work on transition and amalgamate Scottish Screen and the Scottish Arts Council to form Creative Scotland the statutory NDPB sometime in the first half of Creative Scotland the statutory NDPB will be legally formed by the Public Services Reform Bill, the legislative timetable for which should be announced shortly. Published by: SCOTTISH SCREEN 249 West George Street Glasgow G2 4QE UK e: info@scottishscreen.com w: t: + 44 (0) Scottish Screen is a charity registered in Scotland, No: SC

3 news Young People get Creative Thanks to Cash from Criminals contents Young people right across Scotland are to be given a unique opportunity to get creative and try something new, thanks to over 1 million cash seized from criminals. Culture Minister Michael Russell has committed 1.2 million from the CashBack for Communities Scheme for an 18 month Creative Identities project, in partnership with Scottish Screen and the Scottish Arts Council. Creative Identities was launched on Tuesday 24 March at Tramway with the Minister and Martin Compston. Culture Minister, Michael Russell MSP said: Access to arts and culture must not be a luxury it should be a necessity. The Creative Identities project, which targets looked after children and young carers, will help in some way to achieve that aim. We know that giving young people the opportunity to take part in creative activities gives them the chance to become happier and more confident. That s why it s right that we are recycling the proceeds of crime into arts and cultural activities. Chief Executive of Scottish Screen Ken Hay said: CashBack Creative Identities is a fantastic programme of creative arts and media activities for young people across Scotland. As well as learning the technical skills, the young people will learn how to tell the stories they want to tell through dance, drama and film and through that develop their self confidence and communication skills. The Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen are delighted to be working with national and regional partners across the country, and the Scottish Government s CashBack for Communities programme, in making it happen. Actor Martin Compston said: I am happy to be supporting CashBack Creative Identities. It s fantastic that the Government is getting some of the ill-gotten gains from crime and using it to make a difference to young people by giving them the chance to try their hand at all forms of creativity. The Cashback scheme reinvests the ill-gotten gains seized from serious and organised crime back into Scotland's communities, making a real difference to the lives of our young people. The initiative is open to young people aged across Scotland but targets, particularly, Looked after Children and Young Carers. There are several national and regional partners involved in delivery. Regional partners include East and Central: DanceBase & Pilton Video; Grampian: Peacock Visual Arts; Highlands & Islands: Eden Court; South: Voice Of My Own (VOMO); Tayside: Dundee Contemporary Arts & Dundee Repertory Theatre; West Central: Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT) & Tramway. National Partners include Barnardo's, Action for Children Scotland, Includem, The Princess Royal Trust for Carers, BBC Scotland and Skills Development Scotland. For more information about CashBack for Communities please visit www. cashbackscotland.com news Scottish Students on Screen BAFTA Scotland New Talent Awards Black Camel at Berlin: festival report 30 Iris Pictures at Berlin: festival report 31 Serious Colour: facilities Tattiemoon at KidScreen: festival report Middle Eastern Film Festival Kingussie Food on Film Festival Siubhlachan: by Uisdean Murray 40 Scottish Documentary Institute 41 NETS Advance Brand New Films Calendar 46 Europe Day at DCA 47 Hamerhead: facilities Stanley Russell: by Janet McBain The Scottish Mining Museum 3

4 news Glasgow Film Festival Celebrates 25% increase and fantastic fifth year This year's Glasgow Film Festival has been the most exciting, innovative and well attended yet. Official statistics now report a 25% increase on 2008's figures. 24,619 tickets were sold across 11 different venues with an additional 4000 tickets being sold at our partner club nights. innovative and experimental venues was a resounding success. The Shorts Film Festival curated by The Magic Lantern and hosted by the CCA saw a very successful second year and opened with a sell-out screening of Miranda July's True Things increasing attendance by an amazing 47% across the whole weekend. The festival kicked off with European premiere of In The Loop. This Opening Gala was a great coup for the festival and proved to be an extremely hot ticket and was followed by an in-house after party at which festival-goers could party the night away with the cast and crew - in the cinema! 2009 saw GFF adding more strings to its bow than ever before. GFF is passionate about collaboration and working in partnership with Glasgow's other key cultural venues. The inaugural Music and Film Festival (supported by Scottish Screen) at The Arches, epitomising all that is quintessentially cool, attracting new cross over audiences and kicking off a great new annual event with one of Scotland's most The Youth Film Festival, which blossomed from the Glasgow Schools Film Week, showcased a selection of feature films, workshops and special events designed to capture the imagination of the next generation of audiences and filmmakers. The dates for next year's GFF are February Ground Breaking Advance Party Initiates eight new films Scotland's Sigma Films, Denmark's Zentropa and Ireland's Subotica have formed a partnership under the banner of Advance Party II to develop eight new films from some of the most exciting filmmaking talent emerging from the UK and Ireland. The writer/directors taking part in Advance Party II which is backed by Scottish Screen, the Irish Film Board, Zentropa and the UK Film Council's Development Fund are Paul Wright, Adrian McDowall (Scotland), Esther May Campbell, Daniel Mulloy (England), Enda Hughes (Northern Ireland), Rory Bresnihan, Ciaran Foy (Ireland) and Steph Green (Ireland/ USA). Gillian Berrie of Sigma Films says, "The combination of these talented filmmakers and the intriguing and challenging constraints of the Advance Party project is creating an environment for eight memorable and ground-breaking debut features." Advance Party II (APII) builds on the success of Andrea Arnold's Red Road, and Morag Mackinnon's forthcoming Donkeys, which were produced under the innovative conditions of Advance Party I. Taking a lead from the competitive, creative community of the Dogme movement (which spawned films such as Festen and The Idiots), Advance Party I imposed new rules on its filmmakers. These primarily concerned the use of a pool of pre-determined characters, which had to be played by the same actors in all the films. A new set of rules are central to the structure of APII, and were given to the filmmakers in a workshop at the Berlin Film Festival on 7 February. The rules reflected the creative challenges of Advance Party I and Dogme, but also incorporated the filmmakers' tastes and wishes, tailored to both their strengths and their weaknesses. Zentropa's Peter Aalbaek says, "We are very interested in the establishing collaboration between Ireland, Scotland and Scandinavia because we feel there is a mental solidarity between these countries. Advance Party is a great step in that direction." The filmmakers took part in a week-long series of workshops during the festival focussing on creating the 'Advance Party community' and the business elements of filmmaking. They will be working with visiting directors, writers and actors as well as lawyers, sales agents, distributors and development gurus, with the aim of arming the eight filmmakers with as much information and inspiration as possible. The selected filmmakers have a wealth of experience in making distinctive and successful short films and between them have won more than 100 awards, and two are nominated for Oscar and BAFTA awards. To read more about the filmmakers involved, check out the news story on the Scottish Screen website (www. scotttishscreen.com). Advance Party II is supported by the National Lottery through Scottish Screen s Slate Fund. 4

5 news Made in Edinburgh celebrates the moving image industry and its talent within the Edinburgh City Region. Special screenings of local productions and work shot on location in and around Edinburgh will be shown once a month at Filmhouse. The strand was launched with a screening of the 1985 film, Restless Natives, introduced by its writer Ninian Dunnett to a packed house on 12 March. Filmed in Edinburgh and Glasgow 25 years ago, Restless Natives again delighted its audience, and the atmosphere was one of excitement as extras Writer Ninian Dunnett introduces Restless Natives Made in Edinburgh launches with Restless Natives saw themselves on screen and locations were recognised. Made in Edinburgh is a joint initiative between Edinburgh Film Focus, Filmhouse, Inspiring Capital and the Edinburgh Producers Group with support from Scottish Screen. Ros Davis from Edinburgh Film Focus said, Made In Edinburgh allows us to really spotlight the fabulous diversity of locations within and around Edinburgh that have attracted hundreds of productions to the city. So many residents have helped by facilitating filming over the years, either as extras or by having filming in their streets or properties. I hope lots of those who have been involved will come and join us at screenings. The programme continues on 9 April with a screening of stv's Rebus. The episode Knots and Crosses will be introduced by its director and screenwriter, Roger Cartland. For more information on the Made in Edinburgh programme visit edinburgh-inspiringcapital.com. Young Fifers win National Film Award Doodle Disaster A group of young people from Barnardo's Levenmouth Links, in association with Fife-based film company Anim8s have won an award at the prestigious Activision First Light Movies Awards The group created a short film called Doodle Disaster, which scooped up the trophy for Best Fantasy Adventure at a glittering ceremony at London's Odeon Leicester Square this week. The trophy was presented to them by celebrities Ben Miller (Primeval) and Dakota Blue Richards (The Golden Compass, The Secret of Moonacre) at a star-studded awards ceremony attended by hundreds of talented young filmmakers from across the UK. The film was shortlisted using an industry panel and youth jury and the winning film judged by a group of celebrity judges including Daniel Craig, Joseph Fiennes, Josh Hartnett, Orlando Bloom, Kate Beckinsale, Emilia Fox and Sienna Miller. Anim8s/Barnardo's Levenmouth Links were one of three Scottish groups nominated amongst 24 from across the UK but were the only Scots to scoop up an award. For further information on the project please visit 5

6 news First Film for Nearly 34 Years announced for Scotland's oldest purpose built cinema in Bo'ness The first film to be screened in nearly 34 years at Scotland's oldest purpose built cinema - the revamped Bo'ness Hippodrome - has been chosen by its local community. Residents of Bo'ness have chosen Mamma Mia, Hollywood's most successful film musical and the UK's highest grossing film ever, to be the first film shown at the historic cinema as part of a competition to win tickets for a glittering community re-opening on the 6 April. The historic, A-listed, round cinema building first opened in 1912 and will reopen following a 2.15m restoration and fit-out programme to bring an important piece of cinema and architectural history back to life. The screening of Mamma Mia in April, the first film to be screened since 16 August 1975, is an all ticket event for the local community. The Hippodrome will re-open to the public in April with a screening of the latest animated blockbuster, Monsters vs Aliens. The Hippodrome has been restored by the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust and Falkirk Council - which will operate the building. Details of the forthcoming programme and how to purchase tickets can be found at 6

7 Scottish 'Cinema of Dreams' Projected to China Some of Scotland's best work both behind and in front of the cameras will be projected to Chinese film lovers at Beijing's China Film Archive in surroundings atmospheric of a small Scottish community cinema. The Scottish Cinema of Dreams in China, organised by the Scottish Government and the British Council, will transport Chinese audiences to a recreated Scottish ballroom, offering them a unique taste of Scotland's cultural treasures. It will run from March at the China Film Archive in Beijing, with further screenings at the Beijing Film Academy from March The project is cocurated by acclaimed actress Tilda Swinton and writer, broadcaster and film critic Mark Cousins. It replicates their original and highly successful Scottish Cinema of Dreams, which took place in Nairn in August Minister for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution. Michael Russell said: "Scotland and China both have distinctive and vibrant cultures with long traditions. At the China Film Archive, we have the news opportunity to communicate across cultures, reaching out to Chinese filmgoers and providing an insight into our unique identity and culture. That is why I am delighted that the Scottish Government is working with partners to support the Scottish Cinema of Dreams." Cinema of Dreams is supported by Scottish Screen. Talent Identified for Prestigious Short Film Commissioning Opportunity DigiCult has left no stone unturned in identifying a pool of new writers and directors who will make films for the three strands managed by DigiCult: Scottish Digital Shorts, 4mations Digital Shorts and Digital Nation. to revolutionise film fans' lives Film fans' lives have just been revolutionised with the launch of a ground-breaking new website by the UK Film Council - FindAnyFilm.com. A first-of-its-kind film search engine, like a Google for films, it will find out when, where and how a film is available in the UK - legally and across all formats and platforms - cinema, TV, DVD & Blu-ray sale or rental, download and streaming. FindAnyFilm.com is a major industry first and the first time that anything like this has been delivered on the internet that indexes all available films in the UK. It is totally free and easy to use. Hours spent scanning newspapers, calling cinemas or scouring retailers or online sites for a much-desired film will be a thing of the past, solved by a few clicks and a matter of seconds. FindAnyFilm.com contains over 30,000 unique film records - which is about seven years' worth of film at your fingertips - and is expanding on a daily basis as more films become available to watch in the UK. There are 20 genres covering everything from Action, Foreign and Classic to Thriller, Bollywood and Drama, and people Hans Petter can even Moland search in conversation by inputting a with mood, Dr Alan a location Marcus or using keywords like 'fairytale ending'. The site also contains films in over 60 different languages ranging from English to Japanese, Hindi, Arabic, French and Cantonese. To find out more, please visit The pool includes past BAFTA Scotland award winners, successful film programmers, recent graduates, experimental filmmakers, television directors and those whose talent for filmmaking has lured them from established careers. An intensive 3-month training and development phase for the pool was kick-started in January with a two day workshop held in Sutherland, northwest Scotland. The filmmakers are now working up their short drama or animation projects in one-to-one development meetings with DigiCult producers. All this activity will culminate in up to six projects being commissioned for production in Spring/Summer The Scottish Digital Shorts 2009 talent pool is: Kate Burton Ever Here I Be (live action) Stewart Comrie Battenberg (animation) Omar Kholeif The Girl Who Knew Too Much (live action) Gregor Johnstone I'll Be Right Here (live action) Michael Keillor Bonding (live action) Katyana Kozikowska A Heel on the Hill (live action) Matt Lloyd The House-Sitters (live action) Kenneth Macleod Untitled (live action) Ruth Paxton Paris, Sexy (live action) Matt Pinder The Hyakutake Express (live action) Richard Smith Moses Bellahue (live action) Jamie Stone Magpie (live action) The 4mations Digital Shorts commission is: Iain Gardner The Fox Who Lost His Fur (animation) The Digital Nation talent pool is: Joseph Briffa, Scott Graham, Sarah Tripp Further details of the projects in development are available from the DigiCult website Scottish Digital Shorts 2009 is funded by Scottish Screen, UK Film Council, BBC Scotland and Highlands and Islands Enteprise with inkind support from RSAMD and The Magic Lantern. 7

8 news THE NETWORK: TV S NUMBER ONE TALENT SCHEME Edinburgh August 2009 The Network (formerly TVYP) is about making TV more accessible getting a break isn t easy, so by providing free workshops and career advice, The Network gives many a head start and gives young people a chance to see just how exciting working in TV really is. The Network runs an annual event, where 150 delegates aged 18+ are selected to attend four FREE days of masterclasses, workshops and career chats. The Network works with the TV industry to increase awareness of the many jobs available in television, to give young people a better sense of what role they could be suited to. This includes: - Learning the key ingredients for getting a start in TV - Discovering just how huge and diverse television is - Getting your hands dirty and finding out exactly how a camera works - Meeting fantastically talented TV and showbiz types - Understanding what all the people on a TV show s end credits do - Questioning TV execs who have the power to give you a job The Network is now in its 19th year and each year The Network delegates have the opportunity to meet, work with and learn from leading creative industry figures ranging from scriptwriters to producers, presenters to publicists, programme schedulers to commissioning editors. Past contributors have included Chris Evans, Russell T Davies, Davina McCall, Jimmy Carr, Sir Trevor McDonald, Simon Amstell, Kirsty Young, Jana Bennett, Director of BBC Vision, Tim Hincks, Chief Executive, Endemol and Jon Snow. Highlights from this year s programme include a creative workshop with Endemol (who also support The Network s outreach programme) and a workshop with Sky News on how to find your own news stories, shoot them on location and edit the reports for a live TV news show. Edinburgh Skillset Screen and Media Academy, one of only three dual status Skillset Academies in the UK, will host The Network for the first time this August. The Academy's high definition video postproduction centre at Edinburgh Napier University will be the base for workshops and masterclasses, with its television studios also being used during the weekend. For more information on The Network and to apply online NOW, visit: Hollyoaks Soap Sensation - Emma Rigby 8

9 news Scottish Screen at afci The AFCI Locations Expo in Santa Monica (16-18 April) is the largest locations trade show in the world, with representatives from over 300 film offices from around the world hoping to sell their regions to the US film and TV industry. Belle Doyle, Scottish Screen Locations Department Manager, and Robbie Allen, Development Executive, will be at the trade show in conjunction with the other national and regional screen agencies of the UK. According to Belle Doyle, While the UK economy is in recession and the value of sterling has sunk to an record low against the US dollar and the euro, we are in a very good position to bring film and TV business into Scotland. This is an economic situation we can use to our advantage. The UK group is planning a seminar for film industry professionals on Thursday 17 April, with a networking reception later on in the evening. We ve learnt from our high-profile presence last year at the Trade Show that a co-ordinated UK approach to the Hollywood film industry about the UK tax incentives and facilities benefits all the UK screen agencies, said Belle. In addition, we will also be on hand to talk about specific Scottish support for projects and show off our range of locations, experienced crew and facilities companies. Around 3,000 film and TV production personnel are expected to visit Locations Expo over the three days. More information and free registration is available at events/lts.htm, or Belle at belle.doyle@scottishscreen.com if you would like to know more about the event. Founder of Your Local Cinema wins Enterprising Young Brits Award Dean Rhodes-Brandon, founder of Your Local Cinema.com, a not-for-profit accessible cinema listings and information service has been presented the People's Choice Awards at the Daily Mail's Enterprising Young Brits Awards ceremony. Thousands of people including readers of the Daily Mail newspaper voted for the twenty finalists. Winner Dean was a finalist in the Teen category and his company Your Local Cinema. com received the most votes overall. The company runs an information service and website that exists to create awareness of - and increase audience figures for - subtitled and audio described cinema releases and shows. The company has worked with the UK film industry, technology companies and charities representing people with hearing or sight problems to ensure that the UK leads the world in accessible cinema. Most popular cinemas now have facilities to screen the latest films with subtitles and audio description (a narrated soundtrack) for people with hearing or sight problems. Eighteen-year-old winner Dean - who is profoundly deaf - founded the popular Your Local Cinema.com information service and website whilst still at school. Today he runs the film industrysponsored service with the help of his family, as well as finding the time to study at college three days a week. Dean said: 'Winning this award will really help to spread awareness of 'accessible' cinema. It's an especially important one because it's voted for by the general public. It shows that my service makes a real difference to people with a hearing or sight problem. As we get older we may all lose some hearing or sight. We may appreciate services that can help us enjoy sound & vision! 9

10 news WORLD S LARGEST FILM COMPETITION RETURNS TO EDINBURGH IN MAY After a rousing 2008 success, the 48 Hour Film Project (48HFP), the world s largest film competition, will return to Edinburgh s Cameo Cinema this May Filmmakers from across Scotland are challenged to spend a wild and crazy bank holiday weekend making a film from scratch in just 48 hours Winner Lee Archer just returned from the Miami International Film Festival, where he wore a kilt to Filmapalooza, the International Finals of the 48 Hour Film Project. Archer s film, Travel Plans, starring Jimmy Chisolm, went up against winning films from the 70 cities worldwide participating in the 48 Hour Film Project. The 2009 Edinburgh Winner will not only be invited to attend the 2009 Filmapalooza in Las Vegas, he or she will win the Grand Prize of Avid Media Composer, the top-of-the-line, industry standard editing software with a retail value of 1,932. Filmmaking teams of all sizes and backgrounds will meet at the Cameo bar on Friday, May 22, where they will receive a character, prop, and line of dialogue. They will then pull a genre out of a hat, and use these elements to make a film which must be delivered at the Cameo on Sunday, May 24. All films will be screened at the Cameo May 26, 27 & 28. All entrants receive 20% off equipment hire from Progressive Broadcast, free magazines from Wallflower Press, free pizza, and invites to a fabulous Awards Party. Registration opened on March 23 at Registration is already half-full, and last year sold out, so participants are advised to register soon. Archer describes the crazy experience of making a film in 48 hours: I stayed up until about 4 in the morning writing the script, woke up at 6am, read through it and thought, This is rubbish. I threw it in the bin. It turned brilliant in the afternoon. Questions? edinburgh@48hourfilm.com. 10

11 news The Edinburgh Pitch 2009 The Scottish Documentary Institute is pleased to present the annual Edinburgh Pitch 2009 which will run alongside Edinburgh International Film Festival (17-28 June 2009) again this year, from June New: Cash Prizes will be awarded for Most Promising Project ( 6,000) and Best Scottish Project ( 2,000). The pitching forum (open to observers) will take place on 18 June. Deadline for project application: 11 May Project selections announced: 27 May Observer application deadline: 1 June Following on from the success of the last two years, Scottish Documentary Institute is proud to re-launch the annual pitching workshop as The Edinburgh Pitch. This is a fantastic opportunity for all filmmakers looking to produce a feature length documentary to attend a pitching and development workshop and to pitch formally in front of a carefully selected panel of International and UK commissioning editors, sales agents and producers. The workshop is open to all filmmakers UK and abroad and is aimed at independent filmmakers and companies who are developing and raising finance for creative documentaries (52'-90') and who are thinking about international co-productions. (Please note that only UK filmmakers are eligible for the cash prizes.) The three day workshop will help to hone your presentation for the pitch, the pitching forum itself, networking opportunities, as well as one to one meetings with members of the panel. Last year we had representatives from BBC Storyville, Channel 4, Britdoc Foundation, First Hand Film Sales, ZDF, ARTE France, Lichtpunt, Belgium & Scottish Screen. Already confirmed for 2009: Wim Van Rompaey, Lichtpunt, Belgium; Doris Hepp, ARTE, ZDF; Ian Davies, Initialize Films and Scottish Screen. full details are available from: Pitch-2009.html Creative Identities: Project Manager (West Central Scotland) Fee: 40,000 Duration: 18 months May 09 - October 10 Responsible to: Regional Lead Partners: GFT and Tramway Purpose: The purpose of this post is to deliver, manage and evaluate the Creative Identities project in the West Central region of Scotland in line with the Project Plan devised by GFT and Tramway. This will involve a varied portfolio of arts and moving image media projects working with looked after and accommodated young people and young carers. Creative Identities has been funded through the Scottish Government's CashBack for Communities initiative. Are you the person we need? We are seeking a highly motivated individual with at least 5 years experience of arts and/or moving image media education project delivery in a Community Arts context. You will manage the Project Administrator, freelance artists, filmmakers and tutors as well as liaise with external partners ensuring quality of delivery at all times. Employees are subject to a satisfactory Enhanced Disclosure. Full job description and details of how to apply are available to download from or by request from Rachel Swan or Heather Lynch at Tramway CashBack: Creative Identities - Expressions of Interest Scottish Screen seeks expressions of interest for the evaluation of the CashBack For Communities Creative Identities programme of arts and media activities for young people, which will take place during CashBack For Communities is a new programme of young people's activity funded from assets seized through the Proceeds Of Crime Act Its main objective is to provide a wide range of positive activities for young people between the ages of 10 to 19 across Scotland. It aims to make a visible difference in local areas by increasing sports and arts opportunities for young people. Scottish Screen is leading and managing the development and delivery of Creative Identities, an 18-month pilot programme of creative learning activities for young people with CashBack For Communities investment of 1.2 million, in partnership with the Scottish Arts Council. Independent evaluation of the programme will play an important role in its further development. The primary purposes of Creative Identities activities will be to enable young people to communicate using arts and moving image media (film, video & games) through workshops, mentoring, presentations, exhibitions, showcasing and archiving online, and to promote positive images of young people. An estimated total of 3000 young people will participate. Looked after children and young carers will be targeted through appropriate partner organisations, but the programme will be open to all young people. In addition, Creative Identities seeks to increase Scotland s capacity to provide such activities by enhancing expertise and networks among the organisations involved in delivery. How to Apply The information you provide in this Expression of Interest will be used to generate a shortlist of potential tenderers for the evaluation of the programme. The candidates will be evaluated on their relevant expertise, previous experience and capacity to undertake this work within the specified timescale. Your completed Expression of Interest should be no longer than 3 pages. Full invitations to tender will be issued thereafter to up to 5 parties who submit an expression of interest. For complete details and further information on how to apply please download the following documents. Deadline for Expressions of Interest - 5pm Friday 1 May Further Information on 11

12 news THE FIRST EVER SKILLSET SCREEN ACADEMY NETWORK COLLABORATIVE CO-PRODUCTION VENTURE The joint venture backed and funded by Screen Academy Scotland and Screen Academy Wales, saw filmmaker Shehzad Afzal, student on the MA Screen Project Development at Screen Academy Scotland team up with Mark Sloss, student on the MA Film at Screen Academy Wales, to work on an exciting new short film drama project called Vanille. Shehzad Afzal came onto the project as a producer, with Mark Sloss as the writer/director. Shehzad said, We got connected with each other because of an which I received from the Screen Academy Scotland news desk. Mark needed someone to help him produce the film. I had already just finished producing another Screen Academy Scotland MFA film, called Down The Rabbit Hole, and also had just finished the shoot for my own short documentary, Save A Prayer, which I produced and directed from my own production company, Filmedup Ltd during the summer of I certainly did not have much spare time to work on another project at the time. However once I met up with Mark at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2008, we chatted about the project. The script was not working at that time in its current format; I gave him my script notes to get the script reworked into another draft. After a few drafts, the story began to look promising. It was a good opportunity for me to have a direct impact on the script and its development at that early stage. Mark delivered a great final script, which we were both happy with at the time, since we were both working to strict tight deadlines. The shoot location had changed from Glasgow to Paris, France. Mark had just got a new job there, so it made sense to make the film in French and also to weave in some local flavour. The film is now in post-production and the early rushes look great. Mark managed to get a talented cast onboard, and this is clearly evident in the film. We are excited about this project and looking forward to getting this project finished and sent out to festivals. Screen Academy Scotland and Screen Academy Wales provided us with some funding to get this film off the ground, and I have to thank Robin McPherson, Director of the Screen Academy Scotland, for seeing the potential of the collaboration at the start of the project. Further details and stills from the film can be found at Stills from Vanille 12

13 news Park Circus to Distribute Sony Pictures Repertory Library Internationally 3,500 Title Catalogue includes Award- winning Classics from 1924 to Present Park Circus Films is delighted to announce it has successfully concluded an agreement with Sony Pictures Repertory to theatrically distribute its vast library of classic and award-winning feature films. The deal covers worldwide(excluding North America) theatrical licensing on the studio's library catalogue. Including films from the Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Animation and Tristar collections, the Sony Pictures film library is a 3,500 title motion picture catalogue containing a rich mix of classic and modern titles from 1924 onward. From memorable film noir classics to screwball comedies to Pre-Code motion pictures, highlights from the repertory catalogue include the unforgettable Rita Hayworth singing Put the Blame on Mame in Gilda, David Lean s masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia, a number of films directed by Frank Capra including Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, cult classics such as Martin Scorsese s Taxi Driver and films from The Three Stooges. The library includes 11 Academy Award-winning Best Pictures and numerous acclaimed and nominated motion pictures. Nick Varley, Managing Director, who negotiated the agreement for Park Circus, said, The Sony Pictures library is one of the greatest classic film collections in the world, and the studio is rightly renowned for the quality of the restoration of its heritage. We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to represent the Sony film collections, and look forward to working with our exhibition and festival colleagues globally to get many of these films back on cinema screens around the world. Rita Hayworth Stay Curious: Cryptic Nights puts film in the spotlight Chris Gorman Following recent sell out nights showcasing the work of video artists and musicians, Cryptic s monthly events now shift focus onto the work of new and exciting filmmakers. Looking ahead into spring, Cryptic Nights on Thursday 7 May features the work of Advanced Beauty an ongoing exploration of 18 digital artworks born and influenced by sound. Created by a collaboration of programmers, artists, musicians, animators and architects, the collection is a series of audio-reactive 'video sound sculptures'. Inspired by synaesthesia, the rare sensory experience of seeing sound or tasting colours, these videos are physical manifestations of sound, sculpted by volume, pitch or structure of the soundtrack. Curated by design studio Universal Everything and musician Freeform, Advanced Beauty is an international collaboration, taking in a family of artists from Argentina, England, France, Germany, Japan, Russia and Scotland. To find out more go to This will be followed by live music from Chris Gorman in the CCA café. Having supported the likes of Regina Spektor, Ginger Wildheart, iliketrains, Craig B of Aereogramme, and the Grim Northern Social, the band are now about to launch their debut album Kairos. More details can be found at www. myspace.com/gormanband. As on previous Cryptic Nights, there will also be a Meal Deal on offer in the café. Tickets for Cryptic Nights cost 5 and can be bought at CCA box office on or 13

14 MEDIA media news NEWS NEW: MEDIA International 2009 The preparatory action MEDIA International aims to reinforce co-operation between EU and non-european professionals from the audiovisual industry on the basis of mutual benefit. MEDIA International offers financial support for the following initiatives, proposed by consortia consisting of an EU coordinator and partners from EU and non-eu countries: - Training of audiovisual professionals/ students/trainers in the areas of production, co-production, distribution and promotion - Promotion at the development or production stage to help audiovisual/ cinematographic works to acess the international market - Distribution of cinematographic works by encouraging long-term co-operation between European and non-european professionals - Screening of cinematographic works in cinemas - Improving or increasing audiences for audiovisual/cinematographic works and supporting film literacy events Deadline: 2 June 2009 For further information please go to international/. MEDIA Funding Festivals 18/2008 A minimum of 70% of the eligible programming presented to the public during the festival must be European. The programming must represent at least 10 countries participating in the MEDIA Programme. Grants of 10,000 to 75,000 can be sought. Deadline: 30 April 2009 for festivals taking place between 1 November 2009 and 30 April 2010 Television Broadcasting 20/2008 The scheme's objective is to encourage independents to produce television programmes involving the participation of at least three broadcasters from several member states participating or co-operating in the programme. Productions belonging to the following categories are eligible: - Television fiction films (one-off or series) of a total duration of minimum 50 minutes - Creative documentaries (one-off or series) of a total duration of minimum 25 minutes - Animation (one-off or series) of a total duration of minimum 24 minutes The financial contribution awarded cannot exceed 12.5% of the total eligible costs for fiction and animation works. The maximum financial contribution which may be awarded 14 to fiction and animation works is 500,000. For documentaries, the financial contribution awarded cannot exceed 20% of the total eligible costs and the maximum financial contribution which may be awarded is 300,000 per action. Deadline: 26 June 2009 Interactive Works 25/2008 The activities for the following interactive works are eligible: - Interactive works for computer, internet, mobile phone, games console including handheld presenting a substantial degree of interactivity, scenario and innovation - New format concepts destined for digital television, the internet or mobile handsets where interactivity and narrative elements are significant In all cases the projects must be intended for commercial exploitation. Works which do not require the active involvement of the user are not considered to be interactive. A production company can submit a maximum of two projects in this call. Each grant will amount between 10,000 and 60,000 except for the development of prototypes for games consoles, handheld consoles and computers for which the maximum grant is 100,000. This grant can cover up to 50% of the eligible costs; the applicant company must guarantee matching funds to cover the rest. To be eligible to apply, companies must demonstrate a track record of having produced as majority producer an eligible interactive work or an animation of no less than 24 minutes. They also have to prove that this project has been commercially distributed during the period between 1 January 2006 and the application submission date. Deadline: 17 April 2009 Development Funding 24/2008 Companies can only submit one application for development support (Single Project, Slate Funding or Slate Funding 2nd Stage) in this call. Single Projects The development activities for the following audiovisual works (one-offs or series) are eligible: - Drama of at least 50 minutes (the total length of the series in the case of a series) - Creative documentary of at least 25 minutes (length per episode in the case of a series) - Animation of at least 24 minutes (the total length of the series in case of a series) Each grant will amount between 10,000 and 60,000 except for feature-length animations for theatrical release, for which the maximum is 80,000. This grant can cover up to 50% of the eligible costs; the applicant company must guarantee matching funds to cover the rest. To be eligible to apply, the company must be able to provide evidence that they have completed, as the majority producer, a previous work similar to the eligible projects described above. It must also show that this work has been commercially distributed during the period between 1 January 2006 and the application submission date. In addition, applicant companies must have been registered for at least 12 months. Deadline: 17 April 2009 Slate Funding A Slate Funding application must contain a slate of at least 3 and a maximum of 6 eligible projects. Each project can receive an amount of support between 10,000 and 60,000. The total amount of support that can be allocated under Slate Funding is between 70,000 and 190,000. This grant can cover up to 50% of the eligible costs; the applicant company must guarantee matching funds to cover the rest. The eligible projects comprising the slate must be from one of the following eligible categories: - Drama of at least 50 minutes (total length of the series in case of a series) - Creative documentary of at least 25 minutes (length per episode in case of a series) - Animation of at least 24 minutes (length of the series in case of a series) Within five years leading to the application submission date, the company must have produced as a majority producer two projects in a similar eligible category to the projects described above and these projects must have had international distribution. In addition, applicant companies must have been registered for at least 36 months. Deadline: 17 April 2009 Slate Funding 2nd Stage is only open to companies already selected for Slate Funding or Slate Funding 2nd stage and who meet the following conditions: - To be a beneficiary of a Slate Funding or Slate Funding 2nd Stage agreement signed during the course of 2005, 2006, 2007 or 2008 AND - To have entered into production with at least one project supported under the aforementioned Slate Funding or Slate Funding 2nd Stage no later than on the date of submission of their application. Deadline: 17 April 2009 Selective Distribution 22/2008 The scheme is to facilitate transnational distribution of European films. It aims to encourage distributors to release films that might be a challenge were they to be supported by market forces alone. As a result of this support European audiences should gain access to a wider range of films. Distributors wishing to distribute one or more non-national European films must form a grouping, co-coordinated by the film's sales agent or the producer, which will set out to release the film in several European territories. Deadline: 1 July 2009

15 media news i2i Audiovisual 28/2008 The i2i Audiovisual scheme supports production companies that bear the costs of bank financing and/or associated insurance and completion bonds costs. It offers subsidy to cover up to 50% of the following modules, capped at 50,000 per project, and at 100,000 per company: insurance costs; completion guarantee costs; financial costs. In order to be eligible companies must present a signed credit agreement, insurance contract or completion guarantee for the project. Companies can apply for more than one module for the same film, unless it is possible to obtain the maximum of 50,000 under one module. The minimum allocation is 5,000 per project. Deadline: 7 July for projects that have started between 1 January 2009 and 7 July 2009 ie the credit agreement with the bank or financial institution has been signed within that period and the first day of principal photography has not taken place before 1 January MEDIA Training ETMA: Postgraduate Diploma in Media Management This is a completely new course looking at media business, corporate finance, media law and regulation as well as leadership and international management. The Diploma in Media Management lasts for twelve months, offering four one-week seminars in Strasbourg, France. Each of these is followed with three months of distance learning. Deadline: 6 April 2009 Fee: 15,000. For further information, please contact info@etma-academy.eu or visit the website at MFI Script 2 Workshops A script and project development programme, based on group work, Q & A sessions, case studies and individual consultations. It consists of four intensive workshops: two in the Greek islands of Nissyros and Samos, plus two online sessions. Deadline: 10 April 2009 Fee: 1,500 for each screenwriter, plus 1,000 for each additional person and 500 for each additional person thereafter. For further information, please contact info@mfi.gr or visit the website at Cartoon Master Digital Cartoon Master Digital will be the first Master of 2009, taking place in Murcia, Spain in April Designed to keep the busy animation professional completely updated with all the latest developments, including theory, practice and networking. The other two Cartoon Masters have their own deadline. Fee: 500 per participant, scholarships may be available for participants from new Member States. Deadline: 13 April 2009 For further information, please contact masters@cartoon.skynet.be or visit the website at Nipkow Programm 2009 The Nipkow Programm provides training to promising participants from across Europe in order to develop their business skills and thereby increase the quality of European co-production. Nipkow is responsive and flexible and works through project development; participants have specific activities tailored to their individual needs. Deadline: 15 April 2009 For further information, please contact nipkow-programm@t-online.de or visit the website at CIANT: TransISTor Preservation techniques for digital audio-visual works TransISTor aims to introduce the necessary steps for the long-term preservation of digital content, via indexing and ontological categorizations, applying the new OAIS standard, amongst others. Deadline: 15 April 2009 Fee: 400 for freelances and 800 for delegates from companies. For further information, please contact transistor2009@ciant.cz or visit the website at transistor.ciant.cz. CIANT: TransISTor distributed post-production techniques in visual and special effects This workshop will explore how to collaboratively post-produce digital content, bringing attention to distributed processes and working online from remote locations on shared audiovisual content, because some of the input and output processes are often accessible only at one location. Deadline 15 April 2009 Fee: 400 for freelances and 800 for delegates from companies. For further information, please contact transistor2009@ciant.cz or visit the website at Interspace: TOSMI TOSMI focuses on Blender and features sessions, dedicated to modeling, animation, materials, lighting, rendering, compositing, sound and video editing. Participants are trained to work with open source solutions, and to customize them to their needs, enabling independent professionals to produce quality content at lower production costs. Deadline 20 April 2009 Fee: 1000 per module including subsistence costs. For further information, please contact info@tosmi.org or visit the website at Fabulafilm: MAIA Workshops 2009 MAIA Workshops will be running three residential workshops this year. The second is called Financial and Legal Aspects of Development and will take place in Budapest, Hungary in May The other remaining workshop has its own deadline. Deadline: 24 April 2009 Fee: 600 per person per workshop. For further information, please contact maia@fabulafilm.com or visit the website at Essential Legal Framework: The Art of Negotiating Agreements for Film and TV The Erich Pommer Institut has been running a series of workshops under the banner Essential Legal Framework for a number of years. This workshop is a new addition to the brand and will focus on negotiating skills for industry professionals, taking place in Mallorca, Spain, from 29 April to 3 May Fee: 1,250 per participant. Deadline: no deadline first come, first served. For further information, please contact radojevic@epi-medieninstitut.de or visit the website at SOURCES 2 Script Development Workshops SOURCES 2 is an advanced training programme for professionals working in the field of script and story development of feature-length projects for cinema and television. The final script development workshops will take place in Austria, in November and applications are being taken now. Deadline: 1 July 2009 Fees: 150 fees to apply; participation fee 1,800 per writer/project; 900 for each additional person attached to the project (producer, director, co-writer). For further information, please contact info@ sources2.de or visit the website at For any further information, please do not hesitate to contact MEDIA Antenna Scotland on Alternatively, you can also us at Scotand@mediadeskuk.eu or visit our website: MEDIA Antenna Scotland operates with the kind support of Scottish Screen and the MEDIA Programme of the European Union. 15

16 training news TRAININGOPPORTUNITIES NPA Producer Training in spring 2009 How to Set Up and Run a Production Company Date: Saturday 11-Sunday 12 April 2009 Time: 10.30am-4.30pm Cost: Non-members price is 205 and members price is 130 Course Tutor: Rebecca Knapp Extra: CD with course materials provided to all participants. Paperwork getting the best of you? Find out what you need to know to run your LTD company efficiently, and importantly, legally. This two-day course aims to take you through the dull, but necessary, paperwork you will need to have in order when setting up and running a production company. International Co-Production Training Date: Saturday 25-Sunday 26 April 2009 Time: 10.30am-6.30pm Cost: Non-members price is 205 and members price is 130 Course Tutor: Rebecca Knapp Extra: CD with course materials provided to all participants. Pitching Skills for Filmmakers Date: Wednesday 6 May 2009 Time: pm Cost: Non-members price is 40 and members price is 25. Course tutor: Rebecca Knapp This three hour interactive seminar will take you though all the information that you need to effectively pitch your projects to financiers, talent and collaborators alike. Please visit the NPA website uk for more details. You may be eligible to apply for a skillset bursary for these courses. For more information, please visit film/funding. Screen Academy Scotland screenwriting courses in spring 2009 Intermediate Screenwriting Take your storytelling further with this highly anticipated 10-week part-time programme. Course structure: Thursdays 6-8 pm Dates: 7 May-23 July 2009 Location: Screen Academy Scotland Production Centre, 2A Merchiston Ave Cost: 250 (full) 200 (concession) NB: You will also need to supply a sample short film script with your application. You could get up to 200 toward course fees through ILA Scotland a Scottish Government scheme that can help to pay for the cost of your learning. For further information, please see org.uk. If you've already written several short film scripts and are confidently aware of and able to utilise basic screenwriting principles, then this is a great opportunity to build your skills and portfolio through writing longer format (up to 30 minutes duration) screenplays. Or you may want to develop your ten-minute screen work more fully. For more information about above courses and to apply, please visit www. screenacademyscotland.ac.uk. Cultural Enterprise Office - April and May Events As part of its professional development programme, Cultural Enterprise Office (CEO) schedules regular events for those working in the creative and cultural industries as well as working in partnership with numerous industry and art form specific organisations to offer bespoke events. By attending one or a series of CEO's events, you can expect to develop skills that will help you support your work, network with other individuals from a variety of art forms and keep up-to-date with developments in working practise. Spaces on our courses are limited and booking is essential. Unless otherwise stated events are free, but CEO does request a 10 refundable deposit in order to secure your place. Booking now: 01/4/09 Starting Out, Dundee 14/4/09 - Starting Out, Glasgow 21/4/09 Market Day, Aberdeen 24/4/09 Market Day, Glasgow 29/4/09 Starting Out, Edinburgh 12/5/09 The Next Step, Aberdeen 13/5/09 Starting Out, Dundee 21/5/09 Planning Your Time & Project, Glasgow Please read more about each specific workshop on the website and to book your space, please visit The Script Factory Training Course - Script Reading Training for Distributors Thursday 11 June Tuesday 29 September Times: 10am-5pm Venue: Soho Theatre, Central London For a fifth year, The Script Factory is delighted to be collaborating with the Film Distributors Association (FDA) to provide free industry-standard training, exclusively for those currently working in distribution, in the art and business of reading scripts. As a distributor, are you as confident in debating a good or bad script as you are a good or bad film? Could you have identified the potential future fortunes of a 'small' Brit pic film like London To Brighton or In Bruges, or realised the juggernaut status of pictures like American Beauty, Juno, or Mamma Mia, by simply reading the screenplay cold? This programme offers a structured approach to reading and assessing feature projects, which aims to channel your instinctive response to a script into a thorough analysis of what works, what doesn't, and why. Over an informal training day, The Script Factory will break down and explain 16

17 training news screenwriting principles, creating a positive method of script analysis that leads to good practice when considering the potential of scripts and screenwriters. Sessions have been programmed to prepare you for attendance at various international film festivals with four separate one-day courses scheduled. Choose between a pre-eiff session or a pre-lff session. How to book: Script Reading Training for Distributors is generously supported by the Film Distributors' Association. As a result of this support attendance on this course is free for anyone currently working in film distribution. To secure a place on your chosen dates please call Jeni Howland on or jeni@scriptfactory.co.uk. The 8th School Of Sound International Symposium Date: April 2009 Venue: Southbank Centre, London The School of Sound presents a stimulating and provocative series of masterclasses by practitioners, artists and academics on the creative use of sound with image. Directors, sound designers, composers, editors and theorists working at the highest levels of film, the arts and media show us the soundtrack from unexpected perspectives. They reveal the methods, theories and creative thinking that lie behind the most effective uses of sound and music. If you work in film, television, commercials, radio or multimedia - this event will convince you of the extraordinary potential of the soundtrack. The April programme highlights the use of sound in documentary, animation and feature productions. It covers both narrative and experimental work, investigating the connections between sound, music and images. But, key to each presentation is an awareness of the subtle process of listening. Registrations are now being accepted. For information about the programme, fees and registering, please visit sos@schoolofsound.co.uk, or call Skillset bursaries applicable for qualifying UK professionals and a limited number of full-time students Coming Up 2009 Scheme Launch COMING UP is the only talent scheme currently in the UK where emerging filmmakers have the opportunity to make an authored drama with a guaranteed network broadcast. Now in its ninth year, Channel4 and Touchpaper TV, part of the RDF Media Group continue their commitment to innovation, experimentation and new voices. We will make up to 8 eye-catching innovative, challenging films which kick down the door of mainstream television drama, from the best fresh talent in the UK. Each film will be for a half-hour C4 slot and we are looking for: - Bold original and surprising ideas with strong voices - unafraid of ambition, wit, urgency and fearless entertainment. - Films that can be shot in 4 days on a limited budget Writers: This scheme is open to all writers who have not had an original single, series or serial broadcast on UK television; writers who have contributed episodes to series or serials (eg a long-running soap) are now eligible to apply. Directors: The scheme is open to directors without a primetime TV drama credit. Writer/Directors: We will accept submissions from writer/directors above, but excellence in both disciplines must be shown to be considered in this category. The closing date for receipt of applications is Friday 17 April 2009 ALL applications are by post only and Full guidelines are available on the Touchpaper, RDF, or Channel4 websites as above or specific queries to ComingUp@touchpapertv.com. 1st Option Safety Services presents Online Risk Awareness Training Course 1st Option Safety Services launches Risk Awareness (RAW) Safety Training in a unique, one-hour online course for anyone involved in the making of TV and radio programmes. The use of interactive technology has allowed 1st Option to create a cost-effective course, which can be accessed and used at the learner s convenience. Tracked and recorded through an online management system, the course enables employers to meet their statutory health and safety obligations. Based upon Industry Training Standards and developed alongside broadcast professionals to ensure relevance and accessibility, RAW Safety Training is contemporary, fun and visually stimulating providing an enjoyable and worthwhile learning experience. RAW Safety Training can be purchased at a competitive rate - 30 per delegate or an annual licence for 1000 per Company. For further information or a free trial of the course contact Sarah Fuller or Michelle McMullen on

18 call for entries CALL for ENTRIES Era New Horizons 2009 (23 July-2Aug) Era New Horizons International Film Festival, which takes place in Wrocław, is the biggest film festival in Poland and is regarded as one of the most important events in Central Europe, visited each year by an increasing number of cinema lovers from Poland and abroad. The festival is now calling for entries to its European short films competition, directed to students and young filmmakers. First films up to 20 minutes long compete for the Best Film Prizes in 3 categories: feature, documentary and animation. For more information about the different submission categories, entry forms and regulations, please visit Deadline for entries is Wednesday 15 April UK Film Council Short Film Completion Fund The UK Film Council's Short Film Completion Fund is now open for submissions. Full guidelines, application forms and more information can be found at Individual producers or production companies are invited to send a rough cut of their unfinished short film (up to 15 minutes in length) to Maya Vision International, along with a completed application form. Deadline for entries is 5pm on Friday 17 April If you don't have a rough cut by then, don't worry as the Completion Fund has two calls per year, allowing up to 14 short films to be completed under the scheme each year. The first call of 2010 is scheduled to open later this year, but full details to follow in due course. For more information, please contact Tamsin Ranger at: A: Maya Vision International Ltd, 3rd Floor, 6 Kinghorn St, London, EC1A 7HW T: E: completionfund@mayavisionint.com W: 60 Seconds Short Competition You could say there are many things not quite right in the world. The economy for one, or the environment? Human rights too. But you could also say there are many ways we could all start to improve the world. We want you to create an awarenessraising video of an issue you feel passionately about, and take your first step toward making a difference. In order to solve a problem, we need to recognise that there is one. And the more people that are aware of a problem, the better the chance we have of solving it. The Scottish Institute for Enterprise is launching the 60 Second film competition in association with Fluid Eye Productions. Create an awareness raising video of an issue you feel strongly about and upload it to the Scottish Institute for Enterprises website to improve your world and win prizes. Prizes: Winning Short: Apple MacBook & Fluid Eye Production Training Course. Runner-up: Fluid Eye Production Training Course. Rules: Create an awareness raising video of an issue you feel strongly about. Videos must be between seconds long. Videos can be created in any format: hand-held camera, mobile phone camera, CGI, animation, stop-motion. The more creative, the better. Read all the rules, and upload your video by Friday 17 April to Rushes Soho Shorts Festival (22-30 July) The entry form for this year's Rushes Soho Shorts Festival can now be downloaded at The festival provides many programmes and events for free, intending to encourage, inspire and promote talented filmmakers to the public and the huge number of production companies and creative organisations in and around London and the UK. It is also free to enter your film to the festival, sumbit it on DVD along with an entry form to: Rushes Soho Shorts, 66 Old Compton Street, London, W1D 4UH, UK. Films can be submitted up until Thursday 23 April 2009 with the shortlisted films being announced early June and the full programme available from 1 July. The festival will open on Wednesday 22 July and will culminate, as is tradition, with the Rushes Awards hosted by Terry Christian on Thursday 30 July Further information can be found at Sardinia Film Festival 2009 The fourth edition of the Sardinia Film Festival is now looking for entries. Sardinia Film Festival accepts works by filmmakers without gender restriction, theme and format. It is free to submit your work. For more information and to download an application form, please visit Deadline for entries is Thursday 30 April Streetwise Films After a successful first season, Streetwise Films returns for a new programme of micro budget drama and documentary filmmaking. Applications are now invited from prospective teams to produce one of four films, with the most inspired responses to the idea of 'The Streets of Edinburgh' being commissioned. In kind resource support will be provided by Pilton Video for each film. This includes rehearsal and production space, HD camera, lighting, sound and HD post facilities. Two submission categories exist for all films: (1) 1-5mins (2) 5-10mins For further information and application details, please go to Closing date for applications is 5pm Friday May

19 call for entries Ourense International Film Festival (10-17 October) The 14th Ourense International Film Festival has opened its call for entries to films in 35mm or video that have been produced in 2008 and The 14th Festival's International Competition is composed of 5 Official Sections: Fiction Feature Films (60 minutes or longer) Documentaries (any running time) Fiction Short Films (less than 60 minutes) Animated Films (any running time) New Media (audiovisual productions, installations, video-art creations, films for mobile phones, TDT, etc. of any running time which, using non-traditional formats and/or techniques, explore new creative and communicative ways) Deadline for Submissions: Friday 15 May For more information, please visit Fast Forward Film Competition 2009 Fast Forward Films invites you to make a film of up to five minutes length about what makes you angry, amused, sad or just plain mad about the crazy world of Capitalism. Our aim is to encourage new ideas and debate about the future as well as the present. The judges are: Sukhdev Sandhu (Daily Telegraph film critic), Gareth Evans (editor Vertigo film magazine), Paul Wynter (founder LondonArt), Penny Cole (A World to Win critic). All entries will be promoted on the Fast Forward Film Competition website. The 12 best entries will be shown at a festival during the summer of The overall winner will be asked to help A World to Win make a longer film exploring the themes that come out of the competition. Deadline for entries is 31 May For an entry form and further details go to: Encounters Short Film Festival (17-22 November] Encounters Short Film Festival (17-22 November 2009) has already had a number of queries regarding our call for entries, which we can now confirm launches on 1 April 2009 and runs until 30 June along with our 'new look' website. Encounters welcomes films of every genre under 30 minutes: animation, live action, experimental and does not have a premiere policy but does now have a submission fee. All submissions must be made via the Encounters website before 30 June Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival 2009 Film Competition Have you made a film which links to mental health? If so the Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival is offering filmmakers the chance to have their work exhibited across cinemas in Scotland this October, and the opportunity to be considered for one of the festival's prestigious film awards. Now in its third year as one of Scotland's most significant cultural events, the festival aims to promote positive mental health in the context of equality and social justice, explore the relationship between the mind and creativity and create a dialogue with the public, the media and the arts about what mental health means to us all. Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival 2009 is particularly interested in your understanding of mental health, the meaning you take from this term, and how you have interpreted this in your work. Films needn't be about specific mental health issues, the festival is keen to encourage the idea that just like our physical health, we all have mental health. The festival considers films of any length and genre, and films made at any time, provided they have not been submitted to the festival before. The competition launches on Friday 6 February and closes on Monday 3 August For further information and to enter the competition please send an to smhaff@gmail.com. Please see the website for more festival information. New Queer Underground New Queer Underground is an online resource aggregating new visual work from lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, queer people and their friends. If you are a filmmaker, you can now upload a link to your work on the submissions page. You could get your work screened at the BFI London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival On the website, you can watch and rate other short films, stings, blogs, docs, music videos and animation and see emerging work from your peers. It is free to submit work and free to watch. Content is curated by the people who visit. For more information, please visit icewhole.com Free-to-use website icewhole.com is dedicated to provide aspiring filmmakers and musicians worldwide a unique opportunity to showcase their work. Users may submit their work to the icewhole monthly, quarterly and annual award schemes. Icewhole.com also announce their first partnership deal with Pearl & Dean who will showcase the best short films on cinema screens across the UK prior to main features. This is a unique opportunity for talented short filmmakers to have their work played to audiences across the UK. For more information, please visit 19

20 investment awards Between September 2008 and March 2009 Scottish Screen has made the following investment awards. Investment Awards Audience Development Project - Reel Iraq (14-24 May 2009) Company - Edinburgh University Settlement Amount - 11,320 Meeting Date 2/3/09 Reel Iraq consists of 10 days of film screenings, with talks and masterclasses by visiting directors and filmmakers, alongside a programme of Iraqi Cultural Events. This is the first major Iraqi Cultural Festival to be held in the UK. Content Development Project Name - The Boy from Georgia Company media co-op Amount - 15,978 National Lottery Funding Meeting Date 13/1/09 Website - Intended for international markets, this feature documentary follows an emotional human journey and the battle over the fate of a boy in a Georgian orphanage. The Boy from Georgia will be produced by Aimara Reques (Red Oil), directed by Steve Sklair (The Man Who Loves Gary Lineker) and will be filmed both in Scotland and in the Republic of Georgia. Project Name - Boyracers Company Hopscotch Films Ltd Amount - 14,000 National Lottery Funding Meeting Date 3/2/09 Website - Published in 2001, Boyracers is a successful coming-of-age novel written by Scottish author Alan Bissett, that tells the story of Alvin Allison - a smart and articulate 15-year-old at the crossroads of his life - the choice of going to university or stay with his mates in Falkirk. This will be the first feature film project for Scottish writer John Rooney (High Times), who will adapt the novel for the screen, and producer Carolynne Sinclair Kidd (The Acid House, High Times). Project Name - Heritage Company Brocken Spectre Amount - 9,380 National Lottery Funding Meeting Date 3/2/09 Website Heritage is a tragic love story set within the Irish immigrant community in Canada during the outbreak of the First World War. The feature film is being adapted by playwright and director Nicola McCartney (Storm Birds, River City) from her own successful stage play, and will be produced by David Smith (Kissing, Tickling and Being Bored, Shell). Project Name Colin & Cumberland Company Axis Animation Amount - 3,180 National Lottery Funding Meeting Date 3/2/09 Website Written by Dana Berlinka and Andy Williams (Shaun The Sheep), Colin & Cumberland follows the misadventures of a sneaky sausage dog called Cumberland and his blissfully innocent and enthusiastic owner Colin. This 3D animation, features characters and stories that are universal and aimed at the mainstream 6-9-year-old television audience. Project Name The Stornoway Way Company Move On Up Amount - 1,600 National Lottery Funding Meeting Date 13/1/09 Website The Stornoway Way is a Scottish story set on the Hebrides and in Europe, exploring love, loss and longing. Written by up-and-coming Scottish novelist Kevin McNeil, who will now produce his first screenplay, the screen adaptation will be directed by Don Coutts and produced by Kate Swan. Project Name Dirt Road to Lafayette Company Kenny Glenaan Ltd Amount - 18,750 National Lottery Funding Meeting Date 17/2/09 Renowned Scottish director Kenny Glenaan s (Summer, Yasmin) production company was awarded funds to adapt award-winning Scottish novelist James Kelman s Dirt Road to Lafayette. This is a musical coming-of-age story about a boy and his father, who travel across the southern states of America to visit their Scottish relatives, following the premature death of their wife/mother. Project Name Macbeth Company Independent Film Productions Ltd Amount - 17,000 National Lottery Funding Meeting Date 3/2/09 Website www. independentfilmcompany.com This graphic stylised film noir, utilising 3D animation, will be adapted, directed and produced by Richard Jobson (16 Years of Alcohol, New Town Killers) and coproduced by Luc Roeg (Mr Nice, Spider). The project will involve celebrated actors Dougray Scott and Brian Cox, who will provide the voices of Macbeth and King Duncan. Project Name To Have and To Hold Company Goosepimple Productions Amount - 14,974 National Lottery Funding Meeting Date 23/2/09 Directed by Scottish graphic artist, DJ and club promoter Jonnie Lyle, To Have and To Hold is a 90-minute feature musicmentory that will document the passing of the vinyl age and capture a way of life that made a significant cultural impact worldwide. The film will have the feel of a good DJ-set seen through the eyes of highly established Scottish and international artists, performers, DJs, producers, designers and collectors. Project - Alice Opens The Box Company - Diva Films Ltd Amount - 18,900 Website - Based on the short story of the same name by crime novelist Denise Mina, Alice Opens The Box is a complex tale of human frailty and the need to be loved. 20

21 investment awards Markets & Festivals Project Name - KidScreen Summit (11-13 February 2009) attendance Company Tattiemoon Amount - 1,500 National Lottery Funding Meeting date 13/1/09 Website - Tattiemoon, an independent production company specialising in pre-school programming, attended KidScreen 2009 with their project, Hippos House, a 3D animated series set in the real world where a group of wooden animal characters live together in a house. Project - Berlin International Film Festival (11-21 February 2009) attendance Company - Black Camel Pictures Amount - 1,482 National Lottery Funding Meeting Date 3/2/09 Website - Black Camel Pictures attended Berlin International Film Festival to launch Outpost 2 and Breath, and attract a sales agent for Blood Makes Noise which will be directed by Steve Barker, and attend the Film Finance Summit. Project - Berlin International Film Festival (11-21 February 2009) attendance Company - Flying Scotsman Films Ltd Amount National Lottery Funding Meeting Date 3/2/09 Flying Scotsman Films Ltd attended Berlinale with three projects Confessions of a Justified Sinner, Renegade, and Innocent. Project - Berlin International Film Festival (11-21 February 2009) attendance Company - Dabhand Films Ltd Amount Meeting Date 3/2/09 Dabhand Films Ltd attended the Berlin International Film Festival to initiate contact with sales agents and publicists for the sale and distribution of their completed film Running in Traffic. Project - Berlin International Film Festival (11-21 February 2009) attendance Company - Iris Pictures Ltd Amount Meeting Date 3/2/09 Iris Pictures Ltd took their project Beast to the Berlin International Film Festival. Beast is the story of a fostered teenage boy with a troubled past, an uncertain future and a ten-foot crocodile about to break free from a rusting cage. Project - Celtic Media Festival (25-27 March) Attendance Company - Kinetic Media Amount Website - Kinetic Media attended Celtic Media Festival, where their film Social Circles was shortlisted for Best Short Drama. Social Circles is an uncompromising coming of age drama that explores the cycle of depravation in Scotland s poorest communities. Short Film Project Name Mondo s Search for the Sun Company Once Were Farmers and Jana Prchalova Amount - 50,000 National Lottery Funding Meeting Date 9/9/08 Website - Mondo s Search for the Sun is a completely original idea by Jana Prchalova, a recent graduate from Scottish Screen s New Entrants Animation Trainee initiative (GASP), and awardwinning Scottish animation company, Once Were Farmers. This animation, still in production, tells the story of Mondo, a lonely old man, trapped in a perpetual winter. In desperation he builds himself an elaborate flying machine and sets off on a surreal quest to find out where the sun has gone. Project Name I Love Luci Company Sigma Films Ltd Amount - 49,979 National Lottery Funding Meeting Date 2/9/08 Website - I Love Luci is a witty, tender tale of missing teeth, unrequited love and one dog s potential to shape the fortunes of a couple destined never to be together. The film is written and directed by Colin Kennedy and produced by Brian Coffey for Sigma Films, one of the most exciting production companies in Scotland. Grant in aid awards Project Name - Scottish Students on Screen 2009 Company BAFTA Scotland Amount - 25,000 Meeting Date 13/1/09 Website Now in its tenth year, the event on Friday 13 March 2009 was BAFTA Scotland s third year running SSOS for Scottish Screen. A day full of workshops, market sessions, screenings and masterclasses, SSOS fosters strong links between academic institutions, students and industry. SSOS is held in conjunction with the BAFTA Scotland New Talent Awards, which followed the daytime event and celebrated emerging screen talent. Project Name - Digital Projection Equipment Programme Company - Angus Council Cultural Services Amount - 15,000 Meeting Date 23/2/09 Website - To purchase and install 3 chip projector, screen and associated equipment in the Webster Theatre, Arbroath. Project Name - Digital Projection Equipment Programme Company - Benbecula Community Association Amount - 15,000 Meeting Date 23/2/09 To purchase a DVD player, projector, sound equipment and transit case for Benbecula Community Hall. 21

22 awards special Scottish Students on Screen By Marisa Privitera, Project Manager for BAFTA Scotland Marisa Privitera Sarah Cruickshank with Dougie Anderson Scottish Students on Screen (SSOS) was held on 13 March 2009 at the Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow. It was the 10th anniversary of the annual event and the third year since BAFTA Scotland began its successful management of the event in association with Scottish Screen. SSOS aims to foster stronger links between the screen industry and education. The event is comprised of a several elements designed to advance students knowledge of the industry while providing a platform for their work. Those elements are: a competition of film and media work produced by students in Scotland, screenings of the work submitted by students and chosen by jurors, a full day s programme of sessions and workshops, a networking forum and an awards ceremony. Following a change in format, this year s competition saw student work competing alongside emerging professionals in the New Talent Awards (NTA). The NTA jurors considered work of all production values: of no budgets, and of professional budgets. They found that the unique and creative vision of student directors was impressive, and as our list of nominations shows, held strong in the competition. The competition was open to new talent practitioners including Scottish students, or students enrolled in a Scottish university or college who have made a film in the last year prior to the event. We received over 150 student entries from over 22 educational institutions. Applicants were asked to enter the following categories: fiction, factual, experimental, music video, animation, multimedia, new work (over 30 minutes), producer, director, writer and new performance. There were also several ones to watch mentions for work that merited special jury commendation. 11 Juries involving 33 industry professionals and lecturers met in January and February to judge the new talent work. The jurors chose an impressive list of 35 shortlisted entries that included 15 student entries. The nominations showcased the best work from new talent practitioners and academic institutions across Scotland and proved what excellent and diverse talent there is among our colleges and universities. Prizes were generously provided by our sponsors and included an industry delegate pass to the Edinburgh International Film Festival, a BAFTA Scotland membership, and a copy of Film Bang. Also, Interactive Tayside awarded the winner of the multimedia category 500 to go towards training or equipment. There were over 300 in attendance at SSOS 2009 throughout the day with over 25 industry companies taking part in the event. Representatives from broadcasters, production companies, film festivals, screen associations, training bodies and media access centres came to SSOS to see the potential talent in student work and to offer the guidance needed to steer a successful course in the industry. For the third year, buses were chartered for students from Edinburgh, Glenrothes, Aberdeen and Dundee. The buses offered a return journey free of charge and ensured better access to the event form different regions of Scotland. SSOS provided a networking forum for students with 12 different companies from the moving image industry hosting tables at our Market Session. Students were able to get career advice and learn about all the opportunities available to new talent. The following companies were represented: BAFTA Scotland, BBC Scotland New Talent, Cultural Enterprise Office, GMAC, MEDIA Antenna, MG ALBA, National Film and Television School, New Entrants Training pics from left to right: Director Michael Hines, director's chair; Producer Beth Allan, Inside the Forest of Black; Director Blair Young, Inside the Forest of Black; Writer/director Graham Linehan, masterclass guest; Presenter Dougie Anderson; Masterclass, Denki Games MD Colin Anderson, Got Game?; Screen Academy's Paul Holmes, Post Grad Opps; SDI's Finlay Pretsell, Making Documentaries for the Big Screen; Indoctrimat's Brian Baglow, Got Game?; 4iP Scotland Commissioning editor, Ewan McIntosh, Got Game?; SDI's Sonja Henrici, Making Documentaries for the Big Screen, Masterclass Michael Hines Beth Allan Blair Young Graham Linehan Dougie Anderson Colin Anderson 22

23 awards special Music video workshop Now we are Ten! Previous SSOS winners have gone on to work with some of the UK s most prestigious production companies while some have even received BAFTA nominations and other industry plaudits. Nel Dyer was talent scouted by the production company Forest of Black to direct promos after being spotted in the shortlist screening. Animator Lesley Barnes was asked to work on a commercial for AMV BBDO, the third largest agency network in the world, after they saw her work on the SSOS post event DVD. Paul Wright s SSOS-winning short, Hikikomori won the BAFTA Scotland award for best short film in 2006 and was also nominated for a BAFTA award. He s currently in post-production of Believe, a film he directed for Young Films. Also, past winner Simon Hynd is now in pre-production of a feature length thriller he s directing for Cool Hand Productions. If you are a previous SSOS winner or have news/information on past winner, BAFTA Scotland would like to hear from you: info@ baftascotland.uk. Scheme, Scottish Screen, Screen Academy Scotland and Skillset. One of the main highlights of Scottish Students on Screen is our masterclass. This year our masterclass was sponsored by Creative Loop and we were delighted to have Emmy Award winning writer/director Graham Linehan. His impressive credits include Father Ted, Black Books, and The IT Crowd. TV Presenter Dougie Anderson conducted the interview and Q&A. After the session, Graham made himself available to students for one to one questions. Another session was Inside the Forest of Black, a music video workshop with a producer director team Beth Allan and Blair Young from The Forest of Black. The workshop discussed the music video and music documentary format, showing clips by The Forest of Black and their influences. Giving an honest account of the music video commissioning process, Beth and Blair discussed the highs and lows of working with the record industry and what running your own production company really means. Making Documentaries for the Big Screen, was another popular session with the Scottish Documentary Institute. SDI is an internationally recognised documentary research centre at Edinburgh College of Art, specialising in documentary training, production and distribution. In this session, students were able to meet the team from SDI, watch some awardwinning short docs, and learn more about storytelling, festival distribution and documentary opportunities in Scotland and beyond. There was something for every one at SSOS, and multimedia students were able to hear from three of the nation s top experts in Got Game?, another Creative Loop sponsored session. Brian Baglow from Indoctrimat, Colin Anderson from Denki and Ewan Macintosh from 4iP talked about the fast growing gaming industry and what role Scotland will play. For those interested in directing, there was The Director s Chair, also sponsored by Creative Loop. Michael Hines is an accomplished director who has worked on many successful drama and comedy series. His many credits include directing the award-winning programme Still Game. In this session, Michael discussed the ins and outs of working on a professional set. He also talked about the high expectations of working in television both from the director's point of view and from that of the crew. Finally, in Post Grad Opportunities, students were able to learn about what post graduate courses are available to them at Screen Academy Scotland. Using examples of award-winning student films from the Screen Academy network, Paul Holmes Programme Leader, MFA Advanced Film Practice gave the low down on how, when and where to apply and answered questions students might have about the kind of course that s suitable for them. Guests were also able to watch the best student short films from the BAFTA Scotland New Talent Awards. Screenings were repeated through out the day. Tiger Beer generously sponsored our reception at the close of the workshops and sessions. Scottish Students on Screen and the New Talent Awards are supported by Scottish Screen. Paul Holmes Finlay Pretsell Brian Baglow Ewan McIntosh Sonja Henrici 23

24 awards special BAFTA Scotland New Talent Awards Winners Helen Anderson, Director BAFTA Scotland Nelson Carlo de Los Santos winner of the Experimental award for SheSaid HeWalks HeSaid SheWalks: It feels very nice to win this award. I never thought I d win. I came from a long way away [Argentina] and I made this film as part of my course. They [eca] entered the film into the competition - I didn t really know anything about it. I am going to make my next film, which will be my first fiction film, with Juliet Cadzow - it is an honour to have her in my film. Shian Denovan, actress in film: It was really great working with Nelson. He is so passionate at what he does. His English is perfect, but he gets so passionate that sometimes he can t find the words and becomes very expressive physically. Ken Hay, Chief Executive Scottish Screen Marc Twnholm, Bryan Larkin and Abigail Howkins, winners of Producer award for Running in Traffic: Bryan: It s our second award [Dab Hand Films previously won a BAFTA New Talent award for Bryan s performance in Scene. at the BAFTA Scotland Awards 2006], so we re even more delighted this time, and of course, this time I m wearing a different hat as producer, although I do also act in this film too. Marc: Bryan is fantastic in this film and we will most certainly be putting him and the film forward for the BAFTA Scotland Awards this year and the UK BAFTAs next year. This was our first film as producers although I don t think we d even call ourselves producers: we re just filmmakers who like making films and telling stories. It was great working with Abigail; she did a lot of the groundwork in prep and set up. It was a first time feature for most of the people involved in the film, the cast and crew too. We all really learned a lot from the whole process. Bryan: Sometimes you ve just got to get out there and do it. It s the best way to learn. Abigail: It was a really interesting experience making this film. We were working to a very tight schedule on a very limited budget so it was important to all pull together to get things done. I have graduated up from making shorts and have worked on other features, but this is my first credit as producer, so it s fantastic to be recognised for that. Billy Campbell (right), winner of Fiction award for Life of a Pigeon: Life of a Pigeon was made as my graduation film from University for the Creative Arts in Surrey, although I am Scottish. The film was also made here, shot in Glasgow, and our actor [Owen Gorman] is from Glasgow; he is fantastic and was also nominated for Acting Performance, which sinfully he didn t get. I have now graduated and am freelancing as a cameraman, working on a feature at the moment for an Edinburgh production company. Life of a Pigeon has just completed a year on the festival circuit and I ve now got distribution for the film with Shorts International, so that s pretty exciting. Owen Gorman, actor in Life as a Pigeon: I m really chuffed for Bill. The shoot was great and despite the performance, really relaxed. 24

25 Shian Holt (left), producer of The Finger Trap, which won the Animation award: I got involved as I work at Ko Lik Films and Julia [McLean] approached them with the idea to make this film at their studios, under their mentorship. It was fantastic to work with Julia because she had such a vision for the film and knew exactly what she wanted to do. The film took 6 months to make from start to finish: two months of prep, three to shoot, and one for post. We re entering the film in festivals over the next year, so fingers crossed. This was my first production credit and Julia s first as director, so I m thrilled the film s been recognised and I feel very honoured to win this award. Julia McLean, writer and director: It was an incredibly intensive 6 months production; we had a very small crew and a very tight deadline as this was a GMAC shortcuts commission, so we needed to deliver by then. I had worked with Ko Lik before on Glendogie Bogie when I was on the NEATS [now GASP!] training initiative, and was keen to work with them again. It was great working with Shian, especially as it was both of our first times making a film. It feels amazing to win this award. James Houston, winner of Best Music Video for Big Ideas (Don t Get Any): It s really exciting and I think my Dad is even more excited that I am. The film was my final entry for my Graphic Design Course at Glasgow School of Art and when I told my tutors that I planned to hand in a music video they thought I was being awkward. Luckily, the school got in a brand new HD camera in time for my shoot, and lots of nice things happened during the shoot, so this award is really amazing, and I m really happy I stuck to my idea. Andy Mass, (far left) producer and winner of Best Multimedia Work with Mission 1212.com: I m really shocked! And really surprised and honoured. Multimedia is such a wide category and we were really not sure how Mission 1212 would be received. The award is massive for us because we have come through the Cineworks and Shortcuts schemes, and all met through GMAC. We are really happy to have had that support and made real success from it. Andy Mass, Gordon McLean and David Newbigging with Adrian Gillespie from Scottish Enterprise Johanna Wagner, winner of Factual award for The Inner Shape: I was happily surprised - I suppose you never really expect to win. All the other films were from eca and they are all really good, so I knew I had stiff competition. This was my graduation film for the MA Film Directing course at eca/screen Academy Scotland. I worked on it from January last year up until August. Inner Shape is about Joyce Gunn-Cairns, a figurative painter, who suffers from depression. I wanted to make a film about the relationship between creativity and mental health. Then when I started working with her, it turned into something else, as is often the way with documentaries. It became a film about her relationship with her body, which is the subject of her art, and which becomes a form of therapy for her, easing her depression. I have submitted the film to a couple of festivals, so just waiting to see what happens with it. I have now been accepted onto the Bridging the Gap initiative so am currently working on that. Claire McLeod, winner of Best Director for Echo Wall: I haven t actually stopped since I collected my award. I have been speaking to all my friends and family about it. Winning is pretty mind-blowing. The first time I have picked up a camera was exactly one year and one week ago. With Echo Wall, I was keen to direct it as it could see straight away it was a good story. This award is especially important to me as we did this by ourselves with no expert help, we just ploughed on. The award means a lot to me as I have been recognised at such as high level and it shows my film can have a mainstream appeal. 25

26 news BAFTA Scotland New Talent Awards 2009 Nominations & Winners EXPERIMENTAL SheSaid HeWalks HeSaid SheWalks (WINNER) Written, Directed & Produced by Nelson Carlo de los Santos Edinburgh College of Art Being Directed and Produced by Sam Spreckley Ideation Routes v.2 Written, Directed & Produced by Christina Alepi Edinburgh College of Art ANIMATION The Finger Trap (WINNER) Written and Directed by Julia McLean Produced by Shian Holt The Owl House Written and Directed by Jessica Cope Produced by Donald Holwill Edinburgh College of Art Screen Academy Scotland Terrafarmer Written and Directed by Will Adams Produced by Rory Lowe Once Were Farmers MUSIC VIDEO Big Ideas (Don t Get Any) (WINNER) Written, Directed & Produced by James Houston Lies Directed by Richard Poet Produced by Grant Dickson Little Viking Pump Directed by Square Lips Square Lips You Can Do Athletics BTW Written and Directed by Colin Kennedy Produced by Brian Coffey Sigma Films MULTIMEDIA Mission1212.com (WINNER) Written by Gordon McLean Directed by David Newbigging Produced by Andrew Maas Origamee Directed by Blue Skies University of Abertay The Dark Rooms Directed by Steven Sherlock University of the West of Scotland FACTUAL The Inner Shape (WINNER) Directed by Johanna Wagner Edinburgh College of Art Screen Academy Scotland Felix Directed & Produced by Ellie Lotan Edinburgh College of Art Kirran and the Hatchmaker Directed and Produced by Amy Rose Edinburgh College of Art Screen Academy Scotland FICTION Life of a Pigeon (WINNER) Written, Directed & Produced by Billy Campbell Flashed Written, Directed & Produced by Julian Krubasik Edinburgh College of Art I m In Away From Here Written, Directed & Produced by Catriona MacInnes Edinburgh Napier University Screen Academy Scotland 26

27 news NEW WORK Carlssons (WINNER) Directed by Anders Jedenfors Produced by Kalle Wettre Edinburgh College of Art Ballads of the Book Written by Margaret Shankland Directed and Produced by Margaret Shankland, Claire McClusky & Julie McCrone Polite/Caledonia TV The Dead Outside Written by Kerry Anne Mullaney & Kris R Bird Directed by Kerry Anne Mullaney Produced by Kris R Bird Mothcatcher Films WRITER Kate Gabriel (WINNER) Fiona s Story Directed by Adrian Shergold Produced by David Boulter BBC Scotland Brian Limond Limmy s Show Directed by Brian Limond Produced by Rab Christie The Comedy Unit Kerry Anne Mullaney & Kris R Bird The Dead Outside Directed by Kerry Anne Mullaney Produced by Kris R. Bird Mothcatcher Films PRODUCER Marc Twynholm, Bryan Larkin & Abigail Howkins (WINNER) Running in Traffic Written by Bryan Larkin Directed by Dale Corlett Dab Hand Films Kris R Bird The Dead Outside Written by Kerry Anne Mullaney & Kris R Bird Directed by Kerry Anne Mullaney Mothcatcher Films Sarmed Mirza An Act of Terror Written and Directed by Shahid Nadeem Stepping Stone Films DIRECTOR Claire MacLeod (WINNER) Echo Wall Produced by Claire MacLeod Rare Breed Productions Dale Corlett Running in Traffic Written by Bryan Larkin Produced by Marc Twynholm, Bryan Larkin & Abigail Howkins Dab Hand Films Kerry Anne Mullaney The Dead Outside Written by Kerry Anne Mullaney & Kris R Bird Produced by Kris R Bird Mothcatcher Films Margaret Shankland, Claire McClusky & Julie McCrone Ballads of the Book Written by Margaret Shankland Produced by Margaret Shankland, Claire McClusky & Julie McCrone Polite ACTING PERFORMANCE Rose Leslie (WINNER) New Town Written and Directed by Annie Griffin Produced by Jemma Rodgers BBC Scotland Owen Gorman Life of a Pigeon Written, Directed & Produced by Billy Campbell Anna Kerth Running in Traffic Written by Bryan Larkin Directed by Dale Corlett Produced by Marc Twynholm, Bryan Larkin & Abigail Howkins Dab Hand Films 27

28 By Arabella Page Croft, Black Camel Pictures Black Cam festival report Both Kieran and I recently attended the Berlin Film Festival and the European Film Market in February 2008 with the support of Scottish Screen. Despite prevailing market conditions and the gloom and doom of the European Film Market we had a pretty successful trip. It seems there are only two things that the market wants at the moment films with Hollywood stars or low budget genre films with strong hooks. While we don t yet have access to the Hollywood A-list, we are in the market of setting up the sequel to Outpost, our undead Nazi movie, which we released last year. We are also beginning to work out how we will finance Steve Barker and Marcus Harben s brutal vampire revenge thriller, Blood Makes Noise. After many years of door banging, this time the buyers are returning my calls it makes a nice change. We met up with a number of UK distributors and early offers are coming in for Outpost 2. We also took the opportunity to sit down with our sales team, and president of Content International, Jamie Carmichael, who executive produced and sold Outpost so successfully. Jamie has relocated to Los Angeles now and has grand ambitions for Content, and having been an Outpost champion, he really wants to build the franchise with us. Reno Antoniades, our lawyer from Lee and Thompson, attended one of these meetings with us, and we are all hopeful that we should be able to find a way to get to a deal, get the project fully launched in Cannes, and start shooting towards the end of the year. Here s hoping. For Blood Makes Noise, we met up several times with our New York-based executive producer, Goetz Grossman, who has now volunteered to contribute development finance to the project so that always makes producers happy. Blood Makes Noise is an ambitious project for us and we know we must attract a substantial name to raise the $8m we need. In Berlin we took the decision that we will be setting it up as a co-production, and are now working through a hit list of appropriate German partners who can handle English genre films with ambitious action sequences. Goetz is also keen to make the introduction of the project to a New York-based casting director who has recently cast Peter Weir s (Master and Commander, The Truman Show, Witness) latest film, so has access to top US talent, and we are hopeful they will board the project. We ve also now begun to raise the profile of the project and are getting sales agents and market feedback on the script always a bit scary taking it out for the first time. However so far the reports are coming back very positive with the key note that it s too long well, that we can deal with! So we re doing more revisions always more revisions. There are some natural homes for this type of project with its specific genre bent but even sales companies like The Works are now keen to look at genre films so the market place is definitely changing. We re hoping to shoot our US-set psychological thriller Legacy shortly, so I also worked the market place to see which sales companies might be appropriate: we met up with Entertainment One, Cinema Vault and The Little Film Company amongst others. There s one benefit to a quiet market, you can get to access to sales agents. We also hooked up with our potential coproducing partners from the various regions in the UK about a number of projects. We re already in active talks with Simon Bosanquet and Mark Huffam at Generator in Northern Ireland about a number of possible collaborations, so it was great to meet up with them again, and they invited us to see their new production Cherrybomb, which the audience loved. We saw our friends Phil and Mark at Vision Things from Wales, and Keith Potter (Film Wales) introduced us to Eryl Phillips (Rondo), so we re having all sorts of dialogues. Christine Alderson also introduced us to a team from Switzerland who have an ambitious Mary Queen of Scots project. The Screen Finance Summit is a must for producers. Unfortunately given the expense of these summits, most UK producers do not attend. However with the support of Scottish Screen there were a fair number of Scottish producers in attendance more than other regions so we are all really grateful for the support. The key messages this year is: flight to quality and fight to survive. As indies (of all sorts - producers, distributors, sales agents), we need partners; we need to consolidate and we have to work out how we can fit together with other companies if companies will survive. Independents, big and small, are entertaining the alien concept of convergence. It s something we are discussing here at Black Camel whether we should form part of a bigger group of companies, whether we should attach ourselves to a strong television company or a games and new media company. It s food for thought for us all however there s no doubt we re all very protective of our businesses it s the nature of independence. Ben Waisbren returned to Berlin and gave another important speech assessing the impact of emerging markets for film finance and a full global economic analysis - for full details everyone should read the analysis in Screen International (February , 28

29 el at Berlin issue number 1678). There was a brutal discussion by the banks Stefan Cordier with Cofilosiirs, Ian Hutchinson from the Bank of Ireland (they have closed their film finance department) and regular Bernie Stampfer from Deutche bank. The withdrawal of film finance by the banks is one of the most serious problems facing producers and sales agents everywhere. Carl Woebeck at Studio Bablesberg said things were disastrous right now: with slate production in effect over, we are back to picture by picture financing. He suggested state guarantees step in and act like a revenue bond, and said they are looking at ways of crossing recoupment positions on a number of films. Again everywhere the message was the same: the projects that will attract the pre-sales or strong international sales will be those of quality; finance will still come to the best projects and those with track records. There is still a mammoth gap between studios and indie distributors. Stewart Till took the podium and explained why he has long had a vision to fill this void. With his current Icon deal he may finally fulfil his dream and offer the world another bigger independent buyer for our projects. There are already players in the sector including Wild Bunch, Studio Canal and Alliance Atlantis, so many people are watching this space with interest, and are keen to see what Till will do with Icon when the due diligence process is through and the deal is complete. One of my favourite panels of the day was by Alki David who runs FilmOn a VOD site, who talked about something I m really interested in, which is brand funding. Inspired by the success of Somers Town (fully financed by Eurostar), this is an area we all have to be addressing as producers. There is a genuine chance for us to capitalise on this if you have distribution for projects. In the US, brands frequently contribute up to 25% of a budget, so we have to enagage in this; we have to take time to explore these sources of finance and how to access them. At a panel on sales agents: Salt (Sam Horley), Hanway (Tim Haslan) and E1 (Anick Poirier) discussed the market and explained the price we are paying for the glut of European films we produced 1200 films in Europe last year far too many films with not enough buyers, and as a result there are also far too many sales agents in the market place. It s like the last days of Woolworths too many crap films in the market because of over liquidity driven by subsidies and financiers and investors taking fees. Yes it s not a happy place out there. One of their key notes was to the public bodies: assist the scripts that need help but have the commercial potential to get to market. Sam Horley said sales agents can t just take award-winning films, because they can t run a businesses on small worthy dramas. Their main note to producers was, it can be any concept but know your point of sale : know your audience, know why you are making your film and who is going to see it, and how your sales agent is going to sell it - be clear about your demographic. Tim Haslan said, Script, script, script, a strong director will follow, then you ll get cast. However his favourite sales agent s mantra is, don t under-reward your sales agents! My favourite high of the whole market was when I introduced myself to the man I d been sitting next to all day at the film summit, and he turned to me and said, Yes I ve made a lot of new friends because I ve got lots of money and can put up 50% of a budget in Italy. What do you know - as luck would have it we re developing a romantic comedy in a cookery school in Italy! I just love those moments they keep you going! Thrilled - I did get a day to see three films one day which was fantastic, including Mammoth by Lukas Moodyson (the critics hated it but I loved it) and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee by Rebecca Miller (a novel which I really loved, and again the critics were brutal, but I thought it was great and so did the audience). I discovered an Argentinian gem called A Boyfriend for My Wife which should have a great English language version, so I went in search of the remake rights only to discover that two major US studios are already bidding! Some you win and some you just have to recognise you never will! Thanks to Scottish Screen s support it was a positive market for Black Camel and now we are really looking forward to Cannes and a productive year so thanks to everyone who continues to support us in this wonderful but increasingly lunatic business. It s a time of change but we ve all got to be prepared to adapt and survive. Black Camel attended the Berlin Film Festival 2009 with support from Scottish Screen National Lottery through the Markets and Festivals fund. For more information about investment opportunities at Scottish Screen, please see 29

30 east t Berlin By Krista Parris, Iris Pictures Ltd With a script fresh off the press from screenwriter Colin McLaren we set off to Berlin to begin exploration of potential coproduction possibilities for our film Beast, based on Ally Kennen s novel of the same name and currently set in East Lothian. After what is perhaps the inevitable festival baptism of fire, ie a minor detour in the backstreets of West Berlin in search of the accreditation department, we made it to the Co- Production Market in time to hear three impressive pitches from Israel, Philippines and Germany each of which made this potentially challenging process seem like a breeze. Held each year as a networking event for producers, financiers, sales agents and distributors, the Co-Production Market at Berlin is a tightly run and productive ship with 35% of participating projects having gone into production since the first event in Our script was completed after the deadline for inclusion in the formal process where projects are matched with potential financiers and rounds of meetings take place towards the Holy Grail of Investment, but we made a case for observer status to participate in case study, pitching and roundtable sessions outlining the various Co-Production support available in countries from France to China and where a whole host of international filming interests and trends were revealed to us. Brussels, for example, is very open to filming so anyone looking for sets involving gabled housing and cobbled streets, you re in luck. We heard that Italy is more complicated for co-production, France has a new tax break and in Germany you are guaranteed federal funding if you can meet the rigorous cultural terms for investment. The credit crunch did not affect the number of meetings taking place at the Co-Production Market this year, although it is not expected that deals will be finalised at the event, so the next few months will reveal how many collaborations actually take place. But there are more UK projects taking part than last year: this year 2 out of the 36 projects from 25 countries were from the UK; last year, none. And we were not alone with a Scottish-based project at the Market. Swiss filmmaker Andrea Staka, who directed the fantastic Fraulein that won Best Film in Sarajevo and Locarno film festivals in 2006, was attending as a producer for Thomas Imbach s film Mary s Ride inspired by Stefan Zweig s 1936 biography of Mary, Queen of Scots. Staka and Imbach joined forces with Swiss company Hugofilm and are focusing now on UK partners who expressed interest, since they plan to shoot as much as possible on real locations with production slated for Overall the co-production experience was tremendously useful in identifying potential partners for Beast, as well as trends in coproduction and finance. It s perhaps one of those things that is hard to envisage until you see it in action. How do you find partners? What are they looking for? Does it really work? The answer to the last question is unequivocally yes and to work out the first two a co-production market is certainly the way to go. The deadline for project submission is usually in October, by the way, but check the website for details: www. berlinale.de. In addition to co-production opportunities, we were also looking to identify potential directors for Beast from the various features sections and short film programmes in the festival. From the features in competition, Katalin Varga was particularly striking as a feature debut from UK director Peter Strickland, inspiringly made for under 30,000, shot entirely in Romania and brilliantly cast from a local theatre company. We also followed the short film competition and, particularly given the young adult nature of our project, the Generation 14plus section showcasing shorts about teens. The shorts in this section were excellent. Standout screenings for us were: Top Girl by UK Director Rebecca Johnson, Cathrine by Mads Matthiesen from Denmark, Bom-e pi-eo-na-da by Jung Ji-yeon from Korea and Akbulak directed by Tatiana Korol from the UK. In the Festival Shorts Competition, the Silver Bear went to Jade from UK director Daniel Elliot, and BAFTA nominee Ralph also played in the Generation 14plus. As producers with a project based on a teen subject, we were greatly encouraged by this clear zeitgeist for excellent teen films from the UK. As first timers we do have a couple of tips for other less seasoned Berlinale visitors like ourselves: 1) Go in the first week rather than the second if possible. The first few days are when the energy is up and the meetings in full swing. 2) Screening tickets are issued a day in advance and run out fast so go and pick them up early no matter how late you stayed up the night before. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the trade fair section of the festival, the European Film Market (EFM), did apparently seem quieter this year given the current financial belttightening. And there was some discussion around the EFM and in the daily trades about the quality of films on show in the festival. That said, the Co-Production Market, the excellent films and shorts that we saw and the meetings we had left us with a resounding conviction that innovative collaboration on European co-productions still abounds and even in the midst of recession there are still possibilities for partnerships for a Scottish-based film about a teenage boy with a dark secret. Watch this space. Iris Pictures Ltd received funding to attend Berlin Film Festival from Scottish Screen National Lottery through the Markets and Festivals Fund. For more information aboutinvestment opportunities at Scottish Screen, please see 30

31 facilities Baselight Studio Colour Grading Comes to scotland Colour grading can be a creatively and technically demanding process for any production, from commercials, pop promos and long form television to feature film DI. Serious Facilities in Glasgow meet these demands through in-house Colourist Ben Mullen and their state-of-the-art high definition grading system, Baselight. Dear Green Place This is a flexible and powerful grading tool specifically designed for non-linear grading. Serious' unique workflow means that from conform to layback, they are able to give new and creative opportunities to the colour process with a wide range of tools allowing an unlimited amount of grading options and effects. All of which can be achieved quickly and at a bespoke and un-prohibitive cost that won't eat up your production budget! With Baselight now well-established as the premier grading tool for feature film and television post-production (over 200 systems installed worldwide) it is was clear to Serious their grading suite had to be a Baselight...and they have the only one in Scotland! This high-end technology and the skills of Senior Colourist Ben, mean Serious have the power to create a variety of different looks, moods and colour enhancements as well as the ability to make colour fixes quickly and cost effectively. Their most recent work includes the BBC's forthcoming drama PA's as well as the recently aired Dear Green Place, Monty Hall's Great Escape and Terry Pratchett: Living With Alzheimers. A showreel displaying a full range of grading samples can be viewed by visiting Serious intend to host a series of Baselight demonstration days at their facility in Glasgow shortly, however anyone wishing to see the suite in action sooner should contact Katie Whiteford on to arrange a suitable time. Monty Hall's Great Escape Terry Pratchett: Living With Alzheimers 31

32 festival report Networking in the Delegates' Lounge Tattiemoon does KidScreen & New York Six thousand miles to find out the secret of the perfect American Martini The KidScreen Summit in New York is now in its 10th year and remains focused on bringing people together to fulfil the mantra of Reaching children through entertainment. With 115 key industry speakers, 200 hundred broadcasters and 1250 delegates from 38 countries, Tattiemoon, Scotland s only independent company specialising in pre-school programming, had to be there. After a 3000-mile flight our first meeting could have been made the previous day by walking over the squinty bridge. But better to start with someone you know and distance helps to focus. Whilst the Fox News show, Happy Hour, was being shot live behind us in the Waldorf Astoria, we met up with BBC Scotland Children s department, and pledged ourselves to future partnerships. Incidentally has any one ever thought of shooting a similar live show at The Drum and Monkey, St Vincent Street? Still giddy from our landing and adjusting to the westerly time zone, we yellow-cabbed it to KidScreen s first evening reception. KidScreen can be a gathering, a swapping of ideas, a rejuvenator, a profile booster, a contact maker and a market place. For us it is all these things, but more pertinently, it is entering a global coalition. We have already made 50 hours of pre-school drama for the BBC, but we are now branching out from live action into animation. For even the smallest animation today you need partners, distributors, finance and practitioners operating on a worldwide scale. KidScreen, for us, is an open door of possibilities. Down by the Brooklyn Bridge we arrive at Little Airplane Productions. This is an American animation company that conducts its business from Delegates' Lounge an 18 th century warehouse. At present it is making 3rd and Bird for the BBC in London. The production office might be across the Atlantic but in these days of global partnerships and video conferencing packages, that is no problem. Little Airplane did us proud with a buffet and music from Lisa Loeb and Laurie Berkner. We were having fun that first night but we also learnt a lot and made new contacts. Next day, the summit proper began. New York is exciting but once we had visited a diner for breakfast, walked from our hotel to the Hilton on Sixth Avenue, where we entered the twilight world of the conference - windowless and cut off from the buzzing siren-filled streets outside - we could have been anywhere. We joined the elite band of the International Delegate. Armed with delegate bag filled with rubbishy promos, pads, pens and an aluminium water bottle and strung with our delegate badge emblazoned with startled portrait we were ready for business. The conference is what you want to make it, but that means planning ahead. Over the next three days we had a mixture of pre-arranged meetings, various thirty minute sessions with commissioners from around the world and, as a respite, learning sessions with talks on licensing, creative story telling, and how deeper characters equals deeper engagement. Most of our deeper engagements were spent in the large delegates lounge. Here, before our pre-arranged meetings, we would spend a five-minute ritual of stalking, 32

33 festival report Festival Report by Helen Doherty and Brian Jameson KidScreen, a full trianon room. circling and peering at delegate badges, until we could make a positive indent and pounce, before moving on to our next appointment. Occasionally the ritual would be punctuated by a chance meeting with someone we already knew and we could have a quick catch up. For us in Scotland this was particularly useful, as a meeting with many of these people would require a 700-mile round trip to London. Here, we made instant contact and renewed interest. The aluminium water bottle was a bright and useful idea as we negotiated our way through our three-day schedule of back-toback encounters, of pitching and being pitched to, listening and learning. One night we learned from a dazzling perch high up in the Rainbow Room, that the perfect American Martini, Revolutionary Road-style, is made with the shadow of the vermouth bottle and pure frozen gin, ie no ice. It pays, however, to be a lightweight and to only attempt one of these high altitude drinks if you want to survive the next day s onslaught. At present we are lucky to be linked with HiT Entertainment, so many of our meetings were not hard sell but geared towards raising our profile, and feeding in a few teasers about our new developing project. The broadcasters we met included the BBC, ABC, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, PBS Sprout, CBC and RTE. We met up with animation houses from Korea to Canada, who briefed us on tax breaks, the advantages of outsourcing and the interesting fact that places like India are now sometimes outsourcing to the UK. We were also targeted by the British Consulate, who introduced us to the possibility of using their services in the future. For us KidScreen is invaluable. It has been the catalyst for partnerships, it keeps us up to date with worldwide trends, and many of the contacts we have made are real contacts that we shall develop as our project progresses. The economic climate might not be buoyant, but coincidentally, as we arrived, the BBC Trust had just published their review of the BBC s services for children. The result was the re-affirmation of the audience s love for the programming, which represents a cornerstone of great public service broadcasting from the BBC. To be a part of that programming gave us a huge confidence as we entered this unique world market. Tattiemoon is a small proud Scottish indie with something special to offer, and having a presence at an event like KidScreen allows us to promote ourselves, our projects and, of course, Scotland, which is very satisfying. What we brought back from KidScreen 2009 was a lot more than a recipe for a Martini and our thanks must go to Scottish Screen for making that possible. Delegates Lounge Tattiemoon attended KidScreen 2009 with support from Scottish Screen National Lottery through the Markets and Festivals fund. For more information about investment opportunities at Scottish Screen, please see 33

34 festival Middle report Eastern Film Festival Director Resa Mirkarimi who came to introduce As Simple As That Tehran Has No More Pomegranates 31 Jan-19 Feb 2009 By Maryam Ghorbankarimi & James McKenzie, co-curators Nowadays the Middle East is never far from the news and yet comparatively little is known about the richness and complexity of Middle Eastern cinema. The Middle Eastern Film Festival has been set up to address this oversight by focusing on the output of particular national cinemas. This year it was the turn of Iranian cinema, with an ambitious programme of films that paid homage to Iran s strong neorealist traditions, whilst also providing a space for other genres and for Iran s new wave of young directors. The opening film, As Simple as That, was one of the busiest screenings, with the director Reza Mirkarimi present. He arrived from Iran on Friday 30 January, and was taken directly to Screen Academy Scotland for a masterclass, where he presented clips from all of his films and talked about his personal experience whilst working on various projects. The following day his film sold out two hours before its screening. Mr Mirkarimi ended up giving up his seat to a young film student who was too late to obtain a ticket for the film, only watching the first couple of minutes, standing by the door, to check the quality of the print. When later asked whether he minded missing the film, he said that he couldn t watch it with the public because even though the film has been to many festivals around the world he still gets nervous watching the film with an audience, asking himself what if this time the film won t connect with them. He needn t have worried. The Q&A session was so popular that it extended into the café area. At the request of the students who attended the masterclass and thanks to Jim Dunnigan at the Edinburgh Film Guild it was possible to hold a free screening, on the Sunday, of his previous film, So close so far, in the small preview cinema at the back of the Filmhouse. The festival continued with two of the most well-known Iranian classics, Bahram Beizai s Bashu, The Little Stranger and Abbas Kiarostami s Where Is My Friend s House? Despite the unexpected snow paralyzing many sections of the city, both screenings sold out. These screenings were followed by a selection of films by directors equally influential but lesser known to a western audience. Directors such as Rakhshan Bani-Etemad (Nargess) and Tahmineh Milani (Two Women), two of Iran s first female directors. Another highlight of the festival was the screening of The Scent of Josef s Shirt, by Ebrahim Hatamikia, a particularly fine example of the little-known Iranian war genre. Three Women The festival had a second special guest, Roxana Pope, who is half Iranian, half British and is based in Edinburgh. Her latest short film Red Burka, shot in Minab a city in the south of Iran by the Persian Gulf, was screened prior to the docu-fiction, Tehran Has No More Pomegranates by Massoud Bakhshi. This film was switched into Filmhouse1 due to its popularity, and opened a series of films by the young generation of Iranian filmmakers. Watching these films in juxtaposition with the older films helped map the path that Iranian cinema has taken over the years. On the one hand there was Rafi Pitts, It s Winter, that, whilst continuing the neo-realist tradition of Amir Naderi and Abass Kiarostami, also achieved a unique language of its own. On the other hand there was Bayram Fazly s timeless, unique and surreal Have You Another Apple?, a film that has broken away from the neo-realist style traditionally associated with Iranian cinema. Tehran was the unparalleled star of this festival, not only because two of the films bore its name in their title, but also because most chose Tehran as their city back drop. Tehran Has No More Pomegranates gave a satirical history of Tehran from its inception as the capital city of the Qajar dynasty to the present day. Lonely Tunes of Tehran focused on two newly immigrated men from the country who are struggling to survive in this megacity. Fireworks Wednesday focused on the degradation of the 34

35 Have You Another Apple festival report Scottish Screen National Lottery supported the Middle Eastern Film Festival 2009 through its Audience Development Fund. For more information about investment opportunities at Scottish Screen, please see investment. Falling From Earth Falling From Earth As Simple as That Have You Another Apple family unit only hours before the New Year, a time that is supposed to bring the family closer together. As Simple as That depicts a day in the life of a housewife in Tehran, a city where everyone is from somewhere else. An apartment building is the main location of the film, where all the neighbours speak with different accents and have different tradition and ways of doing things. The festival closed with a triptych of remarkable feature length directorial debuts with Seyfi Teoman s beautiful and lyrical Turkish drama, Summer Book, bookended between two exceptional Lebanese films: Michel Kammoun s gritty but playful comedy Felafel and Chadi Zeneddine s surreal journey through war-torn Beirut, Falling From Earth. The success of this year s festival was down, in part, to the support of Edinburgh s Iranian community and the hard work of a number of dedicated individuals, in particular Maryam Ghorbankarimi who, in conjunction with Stephanie Tait and James McKenzie, curated the programme and Neill Walker, co-director of the Middle Eastern Festival of Peace and Spirituality, who came up with the original idea and whose driving ambition made it all happen. But more than anything it was down to the public who voted with their feet (eleven out of the sixteen screenings selling-out and the rest playing close to their capacity) and therefore it is particularly apt that we leave the last word to a particularly enthusiastic member of the Filmhouse audience: "I have been following the ongoing Middle Eastern Film Festival at Filmhouse, and I would like to congratulate you on the fabulous choice of films. As a student of Middle- Eastern cinema, I found the film screenings quite complementary to my reading of the narrative growth in Iranian cinema, and it s indeed great that the festival also had older films like Nargess and Scent of Joseph's Shirt, which are coming out of Iran for the first time, apart of course from the evergreen classics like Bashu. 35

36 Rachel Sermanni from Grantown Grammar School, who entertained the audience with her songs, receives the Highland Youth Award For Short Food Films on behalf of her fellow pupil, Fergus Thom. Seen here with one of the evening's presenters who was also a filmmaker, Kingussie High School student Scott Goodhill. Kingussie Celebrates TWO Things We All Love Food and Films By Helen Graham, co founder/director The snow came right on cue for the weekend of Kingussie s second Food on Film Festival (6-7 February) but people battled through from up and down the country and across the Highlands, in spite of the weather. One young filmmaker came from as far away as Wick other people came from Edinburgh, Glasgow, the Isle of Skye and even London, to be part of this unique festival, which celebrates two things we all love - food and films. Many more would-be visitors who were prevented by the weather sent messages of good will to the organisers, encouraging them to keep their nerve and be sure to go ahead and plan a third winter festival next year to bring inspiration and fun to the otherwise empty month of February. 36

37 technology Co-presenter for the evening, Kingussie High School's Liam O'Brian gets the evening off to a great start Glamorous guests enjoying the chocolate fountain while the bands played and the judges judged The opening Friday night of the festival saw Kingussie High School become a glamorous red carpet venue for young Highland filmmakers who had made short films about food and had entered them in the newly launched Highland Youth Award for Short Food Films. Last September s filmmaking workshop which promoted the new award was attended by students from schools across the Highlands and run by Triple Echo Productions. Places had to be limited due to demand being over double the capacity, and an even greater demand is anticipated for the workshop this year as interest grows. Almost all the schools attending entered films in the competition, getting The Highland Youth Award for Short Food Films off to a great start. Complete with red carpet, chocolate fountain and beautifully decorated candlelit tables, glammed up participants and guests from near and far mingled at the reception to enjoy drinks and canapés, courtesy of the Auld Alliance Gourmet Academy the main organisers behind the event. Students from Kingussie High School hosted the evening, introducing all nine of the films individually, and encouraging feedback from a panel of film industry judges. Cromarty s Lindy Cameron of Move on Up TV joined Newtonmore s Meg Else from Triple Echo Productions, and BBC s Craig Anderson completed the line-up, taking part in the festival for the second year, having enjoyed the inaugural festival of 2008 so much. The evening began with the premiere of my own new short film called Over The Bridge, which follows the development of The Auld Alliance Gourmet Academy on a trip to Skye to visit their patron, Lady Claire MacDonald. The short films by students that followed were of a very high standard and it proved extremely difficult to judge a winner, especially considering the variety in styles from animation to documentary, and from spoof game show to love fantasy. The schools that took part were from Farr, Wick, Ullapool, Culloden, Fortrose, Grantown and Kingussie. While the judges selected the winning entry, local young people performed live music to a packed and enthusiastic audience. The winner, Fergus Thom from Carrbridge, had made an excellent 5 minute documentary about the World Porridge Championship in Carrbridge called The Golden Spurtle. Unfortunately he was unable to attend the event and collect his 300 prize, as he was in Inverness collecting another award at Eden Court as part of the FilmG Festival! Members of the audience were delighted with the glittering event and thrilled to be part of something so enthusiastically supported by young people, many of whom had roles behind the scenes, and all of whom behaved in an exemplary manner. The festival continued the following day with more of an emphasis on the food side of things. An indoor food hall with a great variety of local food producers both demonstrating and selling their goods brought crowds to the High School on another day of wild snow storms. Well known Glasgow cook Jacqueline O Donnell was an inspiration with her lively cookery demonstrations, and Lydie Bocquillon, founder of the Academy, hosted a hilarious Blind Tasting competition. In the early evening, the festival moved back towards films, and Craig Anderson hosted a screening of short food films from around the world including Yasmin Fedda s award-winning Breadmakers and Edinburgh food writer David Barras This Little Piggy. David battled bravely through the weather to attend the festival and had an interesting Q&A with Craig. The showcasing of this more professional level of short films at the festival provided an inspiration for those just starting out in filmmaking and wanting to develop further in the industry. The festival closed with a screening of the popular food film Chocolat, to a delighted audience who sat round the glamorous tables in a completely transformed school hall, with free chocolates being offered throughout the film. This coming May, I will be attending the Slow Food on Film Festival in Bologna in my role as a member of their international Food and Film Academy. One aspect of this role is to join a panel of 150 others in the food and film industries around the world and vote for the best food feature film of the year. Another is to recommend films for screening at the festival - and I have already recommended some of those seen at Kingussie. The festival will also give me a great opportunity to see a wide range of new films about food, as well as meeting international filmmakers, some of whom will want to have their films screened at Kingussie s next Food on Film Festival. The best of the documentaries from the Italian film festival will be screened this summer at a Food Documentaries Event in Kingussie, arrangements for which are still to be finalised. Organisers of Kingussie s Food on Film Festival are delighted to see the way the event is growing and gaining wider recognition and support, and look forward to developing all aspects of it for the next festival in February Funding by Scottish Screen, The Cairngorms National Park and the Kingussie Business Forum has been a great encouragement, and really enabled this unique event to take place in what is quite a rural area of the Highlands of Scotland. Kingussie Food on Film Festival 2009 was supported by Scottish Screen National Lottery through the Audience Development Fund. For more information about investment opportunities at Scottish Screen, please see 37

38 production Siubhl By Uisdean Murray, filmmaker During the summer last year I heard about about the FilmG competition, the first ever Gaelic language film competition. Given that Gaelic is my first language - I had always wanted to do a film in Gaelic - I saw this as the ideal opportunity to follow this ambition. As there was the prospect of winning an opportunity to develop a TV pilot, I decided to write a story that could be expanded upon for a series if it were to win. It was also important that the story was selfcontained for it to work as a short film. As I have a fascination with the theme of time travel, I went on to write a poignant tale, entitled Siubhlachan (The Traveller), about a young girl who finds her recently deceased Grandfather s treasured pocket watch and uses it to travel back in time to say her goodbye. It was September by the time the script was complete. The deadline for the competition was 1 December, so there was a very narrow time margin in which to shoot the film. Being based in Glasgow, I carried out all the castings and preproduction over the phone and by with contacts in Uist. Due to scheduling constraints the only week he could shoot the film was the last week in October. Siubhlachan was made with the support of Moniton Pictures and the production crew consisted of Brian Smith who was both AD & Sound Recordist and Jason Weidner who was the DOP. The film starred Angus MacPhail and Cassandra MacLean, who is still in school which meant that her scenes could only be shot during the evenings - a considerable challenge as it was dark by 6pm. A decision was made to shoot all the interiors in the evening, which were lit to appear as if it was set during the day and all the outdoor scenes would be shot at the weekend. The crew were very fortunate with the weather and light; had they shot one week earlier or one week later, the weather would have been too rough. Post-production was finished by the end of November. With an inspired score by Philip Smith from Original Scores in Edinburgh the film was complete. This has been the 5th collaboration I have had with Philip over the years. Our other projects include Sweet Stained and the award-winning Jemima Trilogy. The film was made available to view online from December on the FilmG website. Siubhlachan touched the hearts of many people and received many positive and encouraging responses. It is a film that many people can relate to. Siubhlachan won the Best Professional Film Award at the award ceremony held at Eden Court in Inverness. My team and I now have the opportunity to develop the short into a pilot for BBC Alba. The project will go into production this summer. The short film can be seen at Uisdean is currently preparing his Jemima Trilogy for release on DVD via his website and is continuing to develop other projects. 38

39 achan Uisdean collects his award, presented by Carole Sheridan of Scottish Screen and actor David Walker. 39

40 talent development Henry Eagles, Doris Hepp and Esther Van Messel Finlay Pretsell Scottish Documentary Institute is five years old! Another year has flown by and we re already well into making the 6th Bridging the Gap series of short docs! Soon they will premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival once again. It s been a very busy year for everyone at SDI. First things first, over the last year we ve been to many film festivals in America, Canada, Sweden, Kosovo, Czech Republic, China and even Sheffield and still people think we re a huge institution akin to the Danish Film Institute! In truth there are only three of us full-time crammed into a small office shared with the Film and TV department at Edinburgh College of Art, with three others on the periphery. We regularly wrestle each other for the one sellotape dispenser and calculator we have! However small our office, we do have an international outlook, for sure, and we like to think we think big in terms of changing the landscape of documentary in Scotland. SDI s ethos is to make films as well as to provide training for other people to make films. We feel that only by being active as filmmakers ourselves can we know what training is necessary, and it feeds directly into the training we provide. Through our own films and by representing Bridging the Gap, we have been invited to many festivals around the world to talk about what we do. It s a great way to meet some fantastic filmmakers in order to bring them to Edinburgh to give masterclasses and workshops. Our aim is not only to be successful within the industry but also to research and ask questions about the documentary form and what it can do. To that end we have invited some of the most cutting-edge practitioners from home and abroad working in the industry today. Highlights from last year include Sergey Dvortsevoy, Fernanda Rossi, Nicolas Philibert, Michael Glawogger and Thomas Riedelsheimer, we could go on! Of course we also welcome home-grown talent like Nick Broomfield, Kim Longinotto, Oliver Hodge and more regularly Marc Isaacs who has become an annual fixture for our Bridging the Gap workshops. These people share unique insights into making creative documentaries for the big screen, which is essential for the nourishment of filmmaking in Scotland and beyond. Another mission of SDI is to be seen as not only a Scottish organisation but to be recognised around the world for the work we do. Over the last 5 years we re really proud to have screened our films in over 40 countries and we re constantly trying to find other ways of making films and asking more questions pertinent to the industry and the art of documentary. We re working and collaborating on a number of projects ourselves - currently Sonja Henrici is producing a feature documentary Future for Sale with Bridging the Gap alumni Maja Borg about alternative economics, due for completion this year. Noe Mendelle s previous collaborations have included working with director Damian Pettigrew on Fellini I m a Born Liar and State of the World, which premiered at Cannes in She is also consistently working with the AfricadDOC project and currently travelling the world shooting a research project about stonemasons for eca s sculpture department as well as being Head of the Film and TV department and director of SDI! Amy Hardie is completing her feature doc Dangerous Dreams, now edited by fiction editor Colin Monie, and co-produced by London s Passion Pictures. Rebecca Day is working with eca graduate Sophy Lasuh on a documentary based in Nagaland. Whilst working as full time tutor at eca, Emma Davie is making a documentary in collaboration with fiction director Morag MacKinnon and regularly writes articles for DOX magazine. Our first feature The New 10 Commandments, co-produced with Lansdowne Productions, has screened in cinemas around Scotland and is currently being submitted to festivals worldwide, with various screenings coming up. The film brought together 10 filmmakers, artists and actors based in Scotland to make 10 short films dealing with the 60th anniversary of the Human Rights Declaration. We have collaborated with people like Douglas Gordon, Irvine Welsh and Tilda Swinton resulting in some very diverse and interesting films. And, of course, last but not least, Finlay Pretsell has had huge success with his collaboration with Adrian McDowall and Imagine Pictures. Not only did they win the BAFTA Scotland award for Best Short Film for Ma Bar, they were also shortlisted for the Grierson Best Newcomer award for another film, Standing Start, with screenings in film festivals around the world. Finlay and Adrian are continuing to develop ideas together and independently. Every year we keep trying to grow and evolve SDI. This year we are revamping our pitching forum into The Edinburgh Pitch, which we think is bigger and better than last year. Again we aim to get the same quality of commissioners and experts from BBC, C4, Arte and the European Documentary Network (EDN) and we will even have substantial cash prizes this time round! It will give filmmakers in Scotland unique access to funders worldwide without them having to travel across the globe to grab 2 minutes of their time. Follow us on Twitter, keep up to date on Facebook and watch films and highlights of masterclasses on our docscene website. See you at the pitching forum in June! Deadline for project application: 11 May Project selections announced: 27 May Observer application deadline: 1 June Enquiries to Rebecca Day: r.day@eca.ac.uk Scottish Screen National Lottery supports Bridging the Gap through its Talent Development Fund. 40

41 training Advanced NETS Advance is one if the tiers of the Scottish Screen NETS programme of on-the-job training and skills development along with NETS One (one-year programme) and Hit the Ground Running (one-day intensive runners course). NETS Advance is one if the tiers of the Scottish Screen NETS programme of on-the-job training and skills development along with NETS One (one-year programme) and Hit the Ground Running (one-day intensive runners course). NETS Advance consists of a 12-week programme for people at junior level or recently entered to the industry in a chosen specialism to enhance and boost their existing experience and skills. We will be looking for placements over the coming months for Rebecca and Rachel and would be interested to hear about any opportunities you could offer. If you would like more info please contact Kay Sheridan, NETS Manager T: E: kay.sheridan@scottishscreen.com NETS Advance is funded by: Scottish Screen, The Skillset Film Skills Fund which is supported by the National Lottery through the UK Film Council and the film industry through the Skills Investment Fund and the Skillset TV Freelance Fund. Our two new Advanc Trainees are: Rachel Fiddes Drama Production Rachel returned to the UK from Sydney, where she had been working at the Australian Film Television and Radio School, in During her time as Drama Department Co-ordinator there, she had the opportunity to produce, production manage and coordinate several short dramas on a range of formats. Since returning to the UK, she has worked at both London and Edinburgh Film Festivals, most recently as Head of Guest Services at EIFF. She recently co-ordinated the VFX unit shoot for Clive Barker s Book of Blood and has just finished up as Assistant Co-ordinator on Synchronicity Films feature, Crying With Laughter. Rebecca Day Rebecca Day Factual Production Rebecca graduated from Stirling University with a Film & TV degree in Since then she has worked in production and assistant directing roles on a variety of short films and music videos. Based in Edinburgh she now works for the Scottish Documentary Institute. She is producing her first short film, Peter in Radioland, through the Bridging the Gap scheme. This is due to be completed in April She is also working with an exciting new director Sophy Lasuh from Nagaland on two documentaries about her native land. Rachel Fiddes 41

42 training Brand New By A biga il H o wki ns, p r o d uc er, Diversi t y F il m s Spring has sprung, the days are getting longer and over at Diversity Films, it s all new. Following on from the success of last year s Scottish Screen funded Community Filmmakers Project, the Glasgow-based community interest company launched their new training and mentoring programme at the Glasgow Youth Film Festival in February with the world premiere of filmmaker Sharon McCance s impressive first documentary Glasgow Urban Collective the Legacy and more new work from Diversity Films filmmakers including My Life, by Peter McMahon about the bullying he experiences as someone with learning difficulties. Called Brand New, the new cross-community programme is aimed at discovering and unleashing talent in excluded communities and is supported through Scottish Screen s Talent Development Fund, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the Scottish Arts Council. The programme consists of three strands of filmmaking activity in three areas of Glasgow, based around monthly Weekend Film Schools for adults in key filmmaking skills. In partnership with Kingsway Health and Wellbeing Centre, Brand New Community TV kicked off first in Scotstounhill at the end of February with local community members taking part in camera, sound, interviewing, presentation and editing workshops delivered by Atta Yaqub (actor/presenter), Jaimini Jethwa (documentary filmmaker/editor) and Abigail Howkins (producer). Throughout the integrated training and production programme, the participants will be supported in making regular episodes of Get Real!, a community chat show highlighting local and city-wide issues and affairs. Moving south, Brand New Documentary is rolling out in Govanhill in March. Taster sessions have been running at community venues around the area and spaces on the programme are fast filling up. Led by trainer/mentors, Doug Aubrey (documentary camera/ director) and Marie Olesen (producer), the programme encourages participants 42

43 Diversity Films is a great place, not just to make films but to socialise with people you have never met. It also gives you great experience with the media. Feedback from Platform Filmmakers Group (Tuesday nights at Platform, Easterhouse): It s good. You have to make a film and it s really good. Today I ve learned how to put on sound and use a monopod. If I wasn t here I wouldn t have that much fun and I d be in the streets and it s pure boring. (Gerry, 12) I like the workshops. It s really helpful to see and appreciate what people brought to the group. I can see a lot of potential and with the mix of skills, I m really looking forward to being part of the group. My only complaint is I wish I had done something sooner, as the world of filmmaking is so vast, I can t do it all by myself. (James, 33) I d be walking about in the streets if I wasn t here. This is much more fun. (Ross, 12) The workshops are really interesting. Basically you are put in at the deep end and have to think. There is really good support from the staff and other students. Time flew past sooo quickly! I m looking forward to more ideas coming from the group. It s very informal learning which works really well. The workshops are fun and useful in guiding us through using the equipment. to develop their skills in documentary-making to tell local and personal stories through the medium. In the East, in partnership with Platform at the Bridge and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Brand New Drama kicks off in Easterhouse in April after a series of citywide taster workshops in March. Focusing on developing new skills in screenwriting, directing, camera, production and editing, the programme will provide participants the opportunity to work with fellow new filmmakers in realising their first short drama productions, mentored by Diversity s team of drama trainer/mentors including Abigail Howkins (producer), Peter Mackie Burns (writer/ director) Richard Smith (writer/ director), and Ray Tallan (director of photography). Running in tandem with the adult Weekend Film Schools are weekly evening workshops in Govanhill and Easterhouse with a more informal, drop-in environment for young people aged to access mixedgenre filmmaking training, equipment and like-minded new filmmakers. As if that wasn t enough new-ness, the team are also welcoming Brand New Project Manager, Sarah Young and Brand New Project Assistant, Martin Dick to the fold, who have hit the ground running with launching the project and signing up new filmmakers. In keeping with the organisation s name and ethos, diversity remains the focal point for all of the new activities happening in 2009 diversity in age, background, nationality with participants signing up aged 12 to 60+ from Glasgow, Somalia, Russia, Pakistan to name a few and diversity of ideas too. With a wealth of interest and energy to make new work across history, gang-fighting, music, art and nationality, the next crop of Diversity films promises to be more than a match for the wide range of projects produced so far. Keep an eye on the new work and filmmakers at where you can also sign up to our newsletter and mailing list. It s Brand New, by the way! Brand New is supported by Scottish Screen National Lottery through the Talent Development Fund. 43

44 Calendar APRIL - JULY 2009 APRIL 1 Wed TRAINING Line Producing and Production Management Week, London, NPA (tinyurl.com/c6prfy) 2 Thurs MARKETS MIPTV/Millia ( TRAINING Presentation and Negotiation Skills, Glasgow, Cultural Enterprise Office (tinyurl.com/ cmmp2j) EVENTS Beyond Language Selected Video Works, Glasgow, Streetworks ( FESTIVALS Imagine:Create Digital Arts Festival, Derry, Ireland, Creative Technologies ( TRAINING Line Producing and Production Management Week, London, NPA (tinyurl.com/c6prfy) 3 Fri MARKETS MIPTV/Millia ( DEADLINE Entries to Animate IT Schools Animation Competition ( FESTIVALS Imagine:Creative Digital Arts Festival, Derry, Ireland, Creative Technologies ( TRAINING Line Producing and Production Management Week, London, NPA (tinyurl.com/c6prfy) 4 Sat FESTIVALS Imagine:Creative Digital Arts Festival, Derry, Ireland, Creative Technologies ( TRAINING Line Producing and Production Management Week, London, NPA (tinyurl.com/c6prfy) 11 Sat TRAINING How to Set Up a Production Company, London, NPA (tinyurl.com/d8ay4z) 14 Tue TRAINING Starting Out, Glasgow, Cultural Enterprise Office (tinyurl.com/c2w9x3) 16 Thur EVENTS AFCI Locations Trade Show, Santa Monica ( 17 Fri EVENTS AFCI Locations Trade Show, Santa Monica ( DEADLINE Applications to Edinburgh TV Festival s The Network ( DEADLINE MEDIA Call, Development Single Projects ( DEADLINE MEDIA Call, Development Slate Funding ( DEADLINE MEDIA Call, Development Interactive Projects ( DEADLINE Submissions to Karlovy Vary Film Festival ( 18 Sat EVENTS AFCI Locations Trade Show, Santa Monica ( EVENTS ICO Screening Days, BFI Southbank ( DEADLINE Entries to Short Film Corner, Cannes Film Festival ( 19 Sun EVENTS ICO Screening Days, BFI Southbank ( 20 Mon EVENTS ICO Screening Days, BFI Southbank ( 21 Tue TRAINING Aberdeen Market Day, Cultural Enterprise Office (tinyurl.com/deagu7) 22 Wed TRAINING Successful Collaboration, Inverness, HIE (tinyurl.com/ccqr58) 23 Thurs DEADLINE Entries to Rushes Soho Shorts Festival, London ( 24 Fri TRAINING Glasgow Market Day, Cultural Enterprise Office (tinyurl.com/c7ksel) 27 Mon EVENTS Digital Inclusion Conference, London (tinyurl.com/b58u2c) 28 Tue EVENTS The Future for Arts and Cultural Policy, Edinburgh, Holyrood Events (tinyurl.com/d6dz4s) 29 Wed TRAINING Edinburgh Starting Out, Cultural Enterprise Office (tinyurl.com/da93hz) 30 Thurs DEADLINE Applications to Markets and Festival Fund for International Animated Film Festival, Annecy ( DEADLINE Application to MEDIA Audiofestivals ( FESTIVALS Hot Docs, Toronto ( JUNE 8 Mon FESTIVALS International Animated Film Festival, Annecy ( DEADLINE Registration for Karlovy Vary International Film Festival ( 9 Tue FESTIVALS International Animated Film Festival, Annecy ( FESTIVALS Monte-Carlo TV Festival TV Exchanges ( 10 Wed FESTIVALS International Animated Film Festival, Annecy ( MARKETS International Animated Film Market, Annecy ( FESTIVALS btween Interactive Festival, Sheffield (btween.co.uk/) FESTIVALS Monte-Carlo TV Festival TV Exchanges ( 11 Thur FESTIVALS International Animated Film Festival, Annecy ( MARKETS International Animated Film Festival, Annecy ( FESTIVALS btween Interactive Festival, Sheffield (btween.co.uk/) 12 Fri FESTIVALS International Animated Film Festival, Annecy ( FESTIVALS btween Interactive Festival, Sheffield (btween.co.uk/) 13 Sat FESTIVALS International Animated Film Festival, Annecy ( 17 Wed FESTIVALS Edinburgh International Film Festival ( DEADLINE Entries to Sheffield DocFest ( 18 Thur FESTIVALS Edinburgh International Film Festival ( 19 Fri FESTIVALS Edinburgh International Film Festival ( 20 Sat FESTIVALS Edinburgh International Film Festival ( 21 Sun FESTIVALS Edinburgh International Film Festival ( 22 Mon FESTIVALS Edinburgh International Film Festival ( 23 Tue FESTIVALS Edinburgh International Film Festival ( 24 Wed FESTIVALS Edinburgh International Film Festival ( 25 Thur FESTIVALS Edinburgh International Film Festival ( 26 Fri FESTIVALS Edinburgh International Film Festival ( DEADLINE Applications to Archive Skills, CPD Funding Programme, Skillset (tinyurl.com/dfmbur) DEADLINE Applications to MEDIA TV Broadcasting Fund ( 27 Sat FESTIVALS Edinburgh International Film Festival ( 28 Sun FESTIVALS Edinburgh International Film Festival ( 30 Tue DEADLINE Entries to Encounters Short Films Festival ( DEADLINE Entries to Africa in Motion ( MAY JULY 44

45 1 Fri FESTIVALS Dumfries Film Festival ( FESTIVALS Hot Docs, Toronto ( 2 Sat FESTIVALS Dumfries Film Festival ( FESTIVALS Hot Docs, Toronto ( 3 Sun FESTIVALS Dumfries Film Festival ( FESTIVALS Hot Docs, Toronto ( 4 Mon FESTIVALS Dumfries Film Festival ( FESTIVALS Hot Docs, Toronto ( 5 Tue FESTIVALS Hot Docs, Toronto ( 6 Wed FESTIVALS Hot Docs, Toronto ( TRAINING Pitching Skills for Filmmakers, London, (tinyurl.com/c8savt) 7 Thurs FESTIVALS Hot Docs, Toronto ( TRAINING Organising Accessible Screenings, London, ICO ( training.html) 8 Fri FESTIVALS Hot Docs, Toronto ( 9 Sat FESTIVALS Hot Docs, Toronto ( 10 Sun FESTIVALS Hot Docs, Toronto ( 12 Tue TRAINING Aberdeen The Next Step, Cultural Enterprise Office (tinyurl.com/djduah) 13 Wed FESTIVALS Cannes Film Festival, France ( MARKETS Marche du Film, Cannes ( TRAINING Dundee Starting Out, Cultural Enterprise Office (tinyurl.com/cm9j62) 14 Thurs FESTIVALS Cannes Film Festival, France ( MARKETS Marche du Film, Cannes ( EVENTS Thinking Digital Conference, Newcastle ( 15 Fri FESTIVALS Cannes Film Festival, France ( MARKETS Marche du Film, Cannes ( DEADLINE Entries to Streetwise Film Project, Pilton Video ( DEADLINE Entries to Ourense International Film Festival, Spain ( EVENTS Thinking Digital Conference, Newcastle ( TRAINING 8th School of Sound International Symposium, BFI Southbank, London ( 16 Sat FESTIVALS Cannes Film Festival, France ( MARKETS Marche du Film, Cannes ( 17 Sun FESTIVALS Cannes Film Festival, France ( MARKETS Marche du Film, Cannes ( 18 Mon FESTIVALS Cannes Film Festival, France ( MARKETS Marche du Film, Cannes ( 19 Tue FESTIVALS Cannes Film Festival, France ( MARKETS Marche du Film, Cannes ( 20 Wed FESTIVALS Cannes Film Festival, France ( MARKETS Marche du Film, Cannes ( TRAINING Inspiring Action for the Future, Glasgow and Edinburgh (tinyurl.com/cesbcd) 21 Thur FESTIVALS Cannes Film Festival, France ( FESTIVALS Dance on Film 2009, Dancebase and Filmhouse Edinburgh ( MARKETS Marche du Film, Cannes ( TRAINING Inspiring Action for the Future, Aberdeen ( TRAINING Planning your Time and Projects, Glasgow, Cultural Enterprise Office (tinyurl.com/cdsfoa) 22 Fri DEADLINE Applications to Markets and Festivals Fund for Karlovy Vary Film Festival ( FESTIVALS Dance on Film 2009, Dancebase and Filmhouse Edinburgh ( FESTIVALS Cannes Film Festival, France ( MARKETS Marche du Film, Cannes ( 23 Sat FESTIVALS Cannes Film Festival, France ( FESTIVALS Dance on Film 2009, Dancebase and Filmhouse Edinburgh ( 24 Sun FESTIVALS Cannes Film Festival, France ( FESTIVALS Dance on Film 2009, Dancebase and Filmhouse Edinburgh ( 25 Mon FESTIVALS Dance on Film 2009, Dancebase and Filmhouse Edinburgh ( 26 Tue FESTIVALS Dance on Film 2009, Dancebase and Filmhouse Edinburgh ( 27 Wed FESTIVALS Dance on Film 2009, Dancebase and Filmhouse Edinburgh ( 28 Thurs FESTIVALS Dance on Film 2009, Dancebase and Filmhouse Edinburgh ( 29 Fri FESTIVALS Dance on Film 2009, Dancebase and Filmhouse Edinburgh ( 30 Sat FESTIVALS Dance on Film 2009, Dancebase and Filmhouse Edinburgh ( 31 Sun DEADLINE Entries to Fast Forward Film Competition ( DEADLINE Entries to About Film Take the Initiative ( 3 Fri FESTIVALS Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czech Republic ( 4 Sat FESTIVALS Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czech Republic ( 5 Sun FESTIVALS Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czech Republic ( 6 Mon FESTIVALS Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czech Republic ( 7 Tue FESTIVALS Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czech Republic ( DEADLINE Applications to MEDIA I2I Audio-Visual Fund ( 8 Wed FESTIVALS Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czech Republic ( 9 Thur FESTIVALS Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czech Republic ( 10 Fri FESTIVALS Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czech Republic ( 11 Sat FESTIVALS Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czech Republic ( 23 Thur TRAINING Inspirational Leadership Skills, Culloden House, Inverness, HIE (tinyurl.com/cmlq3z) Calendar MARCH please Contact us If you wish to add your event info@scottishscreen.com 45

46 education Berlinale Golden Bear winner to guest at DCA film event: EUROPE DAY MAY 9 David O Reilly, a young Irish animator whose animation Please Say Something was recently awarded The Golden Bear for best short film at the 2009 Berlinale, is due to enjoy his first visit to Scotland to talk about his work at an upcoming event at DCA. Please Say Something Please Say Something Born in Kilkenny, Ireland, David currently lives and works in Berlin, but he began working for an animation studio in London at an early age before becoming a freelancer. He has made numerous animation films, music videos, commercials and experimental films. Feature writer Xeni Jardin says: His style is somewhere between Kubrick, Kaufman and ketamine. Quite an acclaim for one at the tender age of 24. He has also worked as animator on feature films Son of Rambow and Hitch Hiker s Guide to the Galaxy. This post from gives a sense of how excited the animation community is about David s new film: Please Say Something is a sinister story of love. Characters shuffle between states of consciousness, explore O Reilly s common theme of absent love, and live in a crudely rendered world that feels simultaneously empty and lush. Doing what other people don t is how O Reilly rolls. Narrative risktaking, boldness in aesthetic simplification, and self-imposed creative rules lead to epic creation. Please Say Something is strange, insanely original, and some of the most authentic storytelling you ll ever see. In an accompanying interview for Motionographer, David explained, the look [of Please Say Something] came about from the idea of economy. I wanted to make something in 3D but the fastest way possible and with no decoration whatsoever. Practically, it meant no texture maps, motion blur, reflections, filters and so on. I wanted to see how far you could strip it down without being cold and minimalist. This way of working was entirely influenced by Bresson s ideas on authenticity, whereby no images should have any power or value except through their position and relation. David s award-winning short is now under exclusive distribution by Future Shorts, proudly being the first ever HD film on their channel. Joe Hall, who set up the partnership hosting the event, told how new DCA Head of Cinema Alice Black, recommended David to give the keynote at their Europe Day event on 9 May, after she did a workshop with him last year at the Irish Film Institute. Joe explains: The day is designed to inspire modern language teachers and more broadly, to encourage creative approaches to learning via moving image texts. In this case we are looking at language learning (German, French and Spanish) but this is only one key subject area where film can effectively support teaching, and the one we have been focussing on since 2007 with the Live Lesson for Languages Project. This event is the next stage of development for that project. Just because we in the exhibition community can see the potential for film to support learning, it s not the case as yet with the education community. We still rely on a few visionary champions to help promote what we in the cultural venue network can do for schools. In fact, ironically, David O Reilly is self-taught and has become a real success outside of formal education. I think his perspective will be a really informative way to begin the day. Other perspectives, I believe especially creative ones, will be vital to supporting and informing how the new curriculum works in Scotland. David s input is to provide a fresh perspective. He s our bit of creative industry glamour. As well as being David s first time in Scotland, the May 9 event at DCA is in itself is another first, as a cooperative project between the Discovery Film Festival, Goethe Institute, Alliance Francaise and Consejeria de Educacion supported by Scottish Screen Education. The date is significant, May 9 is Europe Day, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do something for European language study. We wanted to offer an opportunity for educators to find out more about the project as well as get practical advice on using short film as a classroom resource. As far as I m aware Live Lesson for Languages is the only project of its kind and has been really well received, most recently with screenings for schools of French short films for primary schools as part of the Glasgow Film Festival programme, and in November a collaborative project with North Lanarkshire Cultural Services team took place, with screenings organised for all secondary schools in the authority. That was an ambitious and eventful undertaking, taking films into schools proved to be quite a different thing in practice to having a school come out to a venue. North Lanarkshire Cultural Services team and the school ran it like a military operation and it proved beyond all expectation to be a great way of gauging how well our secondary schools are preparing to adapt to meet the potential requirements of the new curriculum. Live Lesson for Languages is being developed as we progress to fit with delivering the curriculum and though we are not there yet, the North Lanarkshire Principle Teachers have acknowledged that projects like this, where schools are required to work with external agencies and organisations, are an important way forward. The event on May 9 at Dundee Contemporary Arts has limited places and is intended for teachers, both primary and secondary, to support language learning. Places are available from: The Goethe Institut ( Alliance Francaise ( uk/). Consejeria de Educacion ( mepsyd.es/exterior/uk/en/home/index.shtml) However it will be of interest to other educators and moving image practitioners. If you would like to attend please contact or joe.hall@dca.org.uk. Registration for the event including practical workshops, screenings and discussion, lunch and morning coffee is

47 facilities news HAMMERHEAD TV FACILITIES CELEBRATES ITS 20TH YEAR IN SCOTLAND These productions have maintained their high standards whilst managing to make good savings by not paying large travel and accommodation costs for Londonbased 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. Hammerhead TV Facilities opened its doors in London in 1988 and soon after opened Hammerhead Edinburgh, and in a continuing expansion further branches were added in Glasgow and Manchester. Hammerhead s continuing investment in the latest broadcast technology sees it maintaining its position as the leading camera system hire company in Scotland. Over the past 20 years Hammerhead has trained and produced top technicians through its ongoing development and training programme. As Phil Mews, Operations Manager Scotland, says: The formula used to identify young potential talent, train and hone their technical and practical skills greatly benefits the day-to-day running of the organisation as well as providing the industry with a wealth of talented technicians. A new apprentice will be given practical training covering all aspects of the industry over several years prior to specialising in their chosen field. According to Nigel Kemp, General Manager: The key to this success is maintaining the right balance of in-house training combined with time spent on location. Many of our clients take advantage of this by hiring their equipment with one of our vehicles and a runner/technician, this proves to benefit all parties and greatly aids the smooth running of the shoot. Hammerhead will continue to provide the next generation of technicians; this testimony is highlighted by the company s continued sponsorship of The Network (formally TVYP) at the Edinburgh International TV Festival The company is actively promoting shooting in Scotland with a variety of advertising campaigns directed at the London market and firmly believes that if a commission shot in Scotland be produced by a company from further afield, local companies and technicians should still benefit from the work. In addition to the Scottish client base, during 2008 Hammerhead saw an increase in production companies from outside Scotland using their facilities and expects to see these figures rise during Having worked in production in London for many years, says Phil, 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 Scotland, 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 and the BBC series Rivers with Gryff Rhys-Jones. 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, five programmes reconnecting the British public with how the animals that they eat reach their plates, following the entire process from farm to fork. 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. Hammerhead has embraced the arrival of HD and in particular the new tapeless workflow formats. A considerable investment continues to be been made in this technology. Support is provided to production companies and freelancers alike with the demonstration and training on new systems together with practical advice on how to cope with the changes in working practices required to take full advantage of the technology. For further information on Hammerhead TV Facilities please contact or scotland@hammerheadtv.com. 47

48 Romancing the engineers: By Janet McBain, Curator, Scottish Screen Archive Contemporaries claimed that Russell with his good looks, tall stature and snappy dress-sense, could have been a film star - but his passion for film lay behind the camera. A Glaswegian born in 1905, Stanley Livingstone Russell was schooled for a career in law. His passion however was filmmaking. With Jack Robertson and others, Russell formed the Meteor ( Shooting Star ) Film Producing Society in 1932 and became its Secretary. Meteor established the Scottish Amateur Film Festival. First held in 1933, it claimed not only to be the first of its kind in Scotland, but also the world. In May 1936, Russell moved into the professional industry joining inventor and entrepreneur Malcolm Irvine s production company Scottish Films. The company, established in 1928, with studio premises in Glasgow s India Street had started out to make silent fiction and sponsored films, but the advent of talkies within a year of the birth of the company had put considerable strain on the new outfit. The capital costs of equipping for sound production were significant. Rather than investing in the patented American Western Electric or RCA sound systems Irvine had designed and built a bespoke sound recording system to enable Scottish Films to compete in the new world of talking pictures. However, work on his homemade system, the grandly named Albion Truphonic, and Irvine s other business interests had slowed the production of films. Russell s appointment as production manager was to re-energise the company. Under his management the India Street studios developed facilities for shooting, processing and editing films so that Scottish Films were ready to capitalise on the surge in production orders that came from industrial, government and local authority sponsors in the run up to the pre-war Empire Exhibition. For many national, local and commercial agencies, certainly in Scotland, the catalyst for taking seriously the medium of film for promotional purposes was the 1938 Empire Exhibition hosted in Glasgow. Within the exhibition arena was Empire Cinema and for the six months of the exhibition from May to December film programmes were regularly screened for the12 million visitors who passed through the turnstiles. Scotland s heavy industry in particular took the opportunity, many for the first time, to commission promotional films about their own products. Films on steel making, marine engineering and shale mining Stanley Russell and Scottish industrial film were screened alongside municipal films and Scottish Office-sponsored titles about education, agriculture, fisheries, sporting facilities for young Scots, and health and welfare provision. William Beardmore and Company, a west of Scotland industrial manufacturer commissioned Stanley Russell at Scottish Films to make a 30-minute promotional film for them to present at the Empire Exhibition. Beardmore s had been established in 1887 in Parkhead in the east end of Glasgow as a manufacturer of steel forgings for the shipbuilding industry. Within two decades the company had taken over Napier s shipyard in Govan and had established a shipbuilding yard at Dalmuir near Clydebank. Dalmuir built warships, aircraft carriers and, during the Great War, diversified into armaments and aviation; Beardmore s also established the Inchinnan Airship station in Renfrewshire, producing the famous R34 airship and had factories in Paisley, Glasgow and Coatbridge building motor vehicles and aircraft engines. Most of these satellite companies and factories under Beardmore s umbrella failed to survive the post-war slump and the Great Depression. The Dalmuir yard closed in 1930 and by William Beardmore s death in 1936, the other businesses had folded, been wound down or taken into new ownership. By the time Russell s film A Romance of Engineering was completed in 1938, the company s Parkhead Forge, site of the original 19th century foundry was the only remnant of a once multi-facetted company and was under the under the chairmanship of shipbuilding magnate Sir James Lithgow. Despite the recent death of the founder William Beardmore and the loss of most of the subsidiary production factories, a sense of pride in the company s achievements, its innovation and the sense of place in engineering history is evident in this film. In 1943 Russell established his own film production unit, Russell Productions, with offices in both Glasgow and London. In 1945 it changed its name to Thames & Clyde, Producers of Motion Pictures, specialising in educational, instructional, industrial films, as well as agricultural, propaganda and newsreel footage. In his career Russell directed or produced over 100 films on an astonishing range of subjects for theatrical distribution, for classroom use, industrial promotion and public information. He directed films about hygiene, housing, subsidence, theatre, farming, dancing, whisky, policing, the war effort, heavy engineering, carpets, sport and home economics. Russell was a great evangelist for Scottish film production and campaigned in support of the development of a film industry in Scotland. He was a founder member of the Scottish Film Producers Association. He believed that Scotland had a place in the film market, arguing that it was imperative to create a domestic outlet for the obvious existence of Scottish talent, which was being compelled to go elsewhere. Stanley L Russell died of a sudden illness in 1964 and Thames & Clyde Productions were wound up. (Shortly before his death he had taken on a new studio apprentice, one William Forsyth.) A selection of Russell s industrial films has been brought out on DVD under the series, Treasures, from the National Library of Scotland. Included, and available for the first time, is A Romance of Engineering (1938). The film was passed into the care of the Scottish Screen Archive in 1976 at the time of the closure of Beardmore s Parkhead Forge, (the Forge shopping centre is now on the site of the works). The surviving 16mm print was donated by the foundry s Training Officer, who had carefully kept one print of film over the preceding 40 years, bringing it out once a year to show to every new intake of apprentices to the firm as part of their introduction to the history of a great Scottish company. The original 35mm negatives and prints of the film have long been missing. The foundry s 16mm print, well worn, scratched and shrunk, is the only surviving copy in Scotland, and has been recently preserved by Scottish Screen Archive. Released in Spring 2009 is the DVD compilation Romance of Engineering, with Men of Iron for Andrew Strang of Kilmarnock, Making of a Steel Wire Rope for Martin Black of Coatbridge, and James Watt, a biopic of the inventor of steam power. Also in the Treasures archive series from Panamint is Scotland Calling, a 2 DVD compilation of films made at and for the 1938 Empire Exhibition and including the seven films made by the first Films of Scotland committee chaired by John Grierson. Both are available from Panamint Cinema ( Price inc VAT and Postage & Packing Worldwide. 48

49 archive Stanley Russell Scott films studio Floor Thames & Clyde Films 49

50 location of the month The Scottish Mining Museum he Scottish Mining Museum is based in the Lady Victoria Colliery, Tnine miles from Edinburgh City Centre in the conservation village of Newtongrange, Midlothian. The Scottish Mining Museum is one of the finest surviving examples of a Victorian colliery in Europe. The museum is open to requests from productions seeking either period or contemporary locations. A re-created underground roadway and coalface simulates the atmosphere and noise of a working pit, and this may be of interest to documentary productions. More recently the Museum has played a crime scene in Taggart and offered the industrial setting Outcast starring James Nesbitt was looking for. Further facilities on offer include a huge car park and excellent cafe. Over the years the colliery has played host to many productions the biggest being the Canadian/Scottish feature film, Margaret's Museum, which starred Helena Bonham Carter. Although the story was set in the mining community of Nova Scotia, very few of the mine complexes there remained; the Scottish Mining Museum was able to offer one of the few remaining winding engines - the largest in Scotland - which hauled men and coal up and down the pit shaft for nearly 90 years, and is still in working order. The museum also offers a great research resource, as it is the national mining museum for Scotland and cares for the Lady Victoria Colliery and the national coal mining collections. The collections at the museum comprise over 60,000 items, including objects, archive material, photographs and books. For further information about the Museum visit: www. scottishminingmuseum.com. To find out more about locations in the Edinburgh, Lothian and Scottish Borders, please visit: On the set of Taggart Outcast set 50

51 Photos by Francis Lopez, except image from Taggart. funding 51

52 Scottish Screen and the Scottish Arts Council will invest 1.2 million from the proceeds of crime in an 18-month Cashback pilot programme of arts and moving image media creative learning activities for young people across Scotland. For more information: