Screen Facilities Scotland are a trade body, cooperative consortium and member organisation representing a number of facilities and services companies for the screen sector in Scotland and beyond.

Together, we have been following and where possible contributing to screen sector discussions and progress via the Screen Sector Leadership Group, the Film Studio Delivery Group, the Screen Unit, and gave evidences during the Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee (CTEER)’s Scotland’s Screen Sector Inquiry. We read with interest the CTEER’s Interim Report The Bigger Picture: A Screen Agency for Scotland, published 5 May 2018, and later the full report Making Scotland a Screen Leader, published 28 June 2018. We acknowledged the launch of Screen Scotland and the Production Growth Fund in August 2018, and look forward to establishing a good relationship with this new entity.

Recently, we have observed the news of Screen Scotland’s search for an operator for the former Pelamis wave energy building in Leith, Edinburgh, and Film City Glasgow’s (SFS member for several years) interest in the proposal; and most recently the progress of PSL Land’s new planned site near Dalkeith, just outside Edinburgh.

At our many SFS member meetings we have discussed over recent years, at length, the need for Scotland to have world class studio facilities in order to help our professional screen industry’s ecosystem expand and grow, and shared our views and discussions with our fellow industry colleagues at the Association of Film and Television Practitioners Scotland (AFTPS). We shared concerns with the Working Group of AFTPS at a meeting in December about the short timeline of the Screen Scotland tender for an operator for the studio project in Leith, but are also obviously keen for swift progress in moving things forward. SFS would like to therefore take the opportunity to declare our support for both the Leith based studio project and the Dalkeith based project, and if we are able to help or contribute to the fruition of both projects, we are here. We wish both projects smooth journeys and success and look forward to the future of screen production in Scotland experiencing a progressive and golden age together.

Author: SFS Coordinator

Coordinator for SFS!