Scotland 'Losing Out On Filming'

Scotland is falling behind other parts of the UK and losing out on major television and film productions because of a lack of leadership in the industry, MSPs have been told.

Glasgow was once poised to become the second centre for production outside London, but has slipped to fourth or fifth place due to inaction, industry representatives said.

The country has also lost out on major productions such as the hit series Game Of Thrones because of an absence of infrastructure and a lack of drive to attract film and television makers to the country, they said.

Two public agencies, Creative Scotland and Scottish Enterprise, currently provide support to the sector, with the former replacing Scottish Screen.

Industry representatives called for one organisation to take the lead as they gave evidence to Holyrood's Economy Committee.

Alan Clements, director of content at STV, said: For so long there has been a lack of focus and a lack of leadership in this area.

I think it is because Creative Scotland fundamentally has a cultural approach, which is very, very important in its own right but doesn't address the economic drivers of particularly the television industry.

I think Scottish Enterprise... has had a focus on other areas, perhaps more tangible, and areas where they feel they are not stepping on the toes of Creative Scotland.

The fact that there are two quangos involved means that the minister probably feels slightly inhibited in taking indirect action.

The result of that lack of focus and lack of leadership, to be blunt, is that Scotland, and in particular Glasgow, was in a position maybe seven, eight, nine years ago to be the second centre of production in the United Kingdom. I think it has probably fallen to fourth now behind the Salford/Manchester conurbation, and I guess the area around the Severn (Bristol/Cardiff).

Given Belfast and Northern Ireland Screen's absolute stated determination to become the second centre of production across the UK, there is a danger we might slip to fifth.

I think that is a very, very poor performance and a very strong indictment of public policy.''

Drew McFarlane, the national organiser of trade union Equity in Scotland and Northern Ireland, said the latter had already stolen a march'' on Scotland.

It seems to me that what we don't have in Scotland, which we do in Northern Ireland, is one lead body who is fairly aggressive, out there trying to work on behalf of the film and television industry, and that's Northern Ireland Screen.

A lot of people outside of Northern Ireland would see it as a mickey mouse organisation, because it doesn't have a huge budget, yet it seems to be a great driver and that is what we have lost with the loss of Scottish Screen and the way it has been metamorphosed into Creative Scotland.''

Northern Ireland's jewel in the crown'', Game Of Thrones, had considered filming in Scotland, Mr McFarlane said.

It didn't come here because we didn't have a body pushing hard enough. We have two public quangos who don't seem to take a lead from each other,'' he said.

Game Of Thrones looked at the infrastructure which is sadly lacking. I think the public bodies have got to answer that one.''

Jane Muirhead, of trade association PACT (Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television), said: We just feel that (with) the current levels of expertise in Creative Scotland and Scottish Enterprise, that there is a lack of understanding about how our industry works.

We would just welcome more clarity of where we sit, and greater understanding of all the products Scottish Enterprise have on offer.''

Those giving evidence at the committee also called for immediate progress on the development of a sound studio in Scotland, which they said should be located in the central belt.

Mr McFarlane said high-end television drama could be a big income generator for Scotland, citing examples such as The Fall, filmed in Belfast, and Danish drama Borgen.

People have been asking for a sound studio here in Scotland since the 1930s,'' he said.

The reason why Denmark and Sweden are producing high-end television drama that everybody likes is because all that infrastructure has taken place well before now while we are still talking about it, and while the public bodies are still talking about it.

We need to look at starting to move and put our money where our mouth is quite frankly.''