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 10
(17) Craig Ferguson
Job description: Film Maker of the Year
Finest moment: The Bowmore Scottish Screen awards The former
stand-up comic goes from strength to strength as actor, writer
and producer. The Big Tease, a hairdressing comedy that filmed
partly in Glasgow and partly in LA, failed to fulfil box-office
expectations, but Saving Grace, a Cornish Cannabis Galore!, was
a transatlantic hit. It is feared All American Man, a comedy about
a Clydeside shipyard worker, will film in Ireland after being
refused a lottery grant.
 9
(12) Peter Mullan
Job description: The Scottish film industry incarnate
Finest moment: She ain’t heavy, she’s my mother
Mullan had supporting roles in Shallow Grave, Trainspotting and
Braveheart, won a Cannes best actor award for My Name is Joe and
graduated from directing shorts to directing features, with the
darkly comic arthouse hit Orphans. Filming on his second feature,
Magadelene, is just weeks away. It is set in Ireland, but will
shoot in Dumfriesshire.
8 (-) Angus Lamont
Job description: The new Andrew Macdonald
Finest moment: Late Night Shoppingr> Muriel Gray’s
Ideal World Productions developed a strong relationship with Channel
4, before setting up a film offshoot under Lamont. The relationship
continues on Late Night Shopping, which has created more buzz
than any indigenous Scottish film since Trainspotting. Ideal World
Films are based in Glasgow, but are not confining themselves to
Scottish projects. Next up could be English football hooligans
in Awaydays.
7 (11) Barbara McKissack
Job description: Head of drama, BBC Scotland
Finest moment: Ratcatcher
She nurtured Lynne Ramsay and backed Ratcatcher and her sophomore
effort Morvern Callar. McKissack is a powerful figure in the Scottish
film industry, though her first priority is television. There
has not been quite the same emphasis on film since she took over
from Andrea Calderwood, but projects in development include a
film version of the comedy "road play" Passing Places.
 6
(2) Andrew Macdonald
Job description: Movie mogul
Finest moment: Trainspotting
Shallow Grave established the former Glenalmond public schoolboy
as Scotland's leading young producer, a position consolidated
by Trainspotting. He is now based in London, teamed up with Twentieth
Century Fox on The Beach and is joint head of DNA Films, one of
England’s lottery-backed mini-studios. Nevertheless DNA’s
first two features, Beautiful Creatures and Cocozza’s Way,
shot in Scotland; and they are developing a horror film set in
19th Century Edinburgh.
 5
(5) Parallax Pictures
Job description: London Scottish
Finest moment: My
Name is Joe
Producer Rebecca O'Brien is the only Scot on the board of six
directors and producers. Nevertheless Parallax made a string of
films in Scotland in the Nineties, including The
Governess, Carla's Song and My
Name is Joe and producer Sally Hibbin believes they have become
increasingly responsive to Scottish scripts. Next up should be
Sweet Sixteen, from the team of Loach, O’Brien and writer
Paul Laverty.
 4
(6) Douglas Rae
Job description: Executive producer
Finest moment: Turning Mrs
Brown from TV drama into an international cinema hit
The former Magpie presenter has been back in Scotland regularly
since Mrs Brown, and
is now on his third series of Monarch of the Glen. Plans to film
part of Charlotte Gray here were scaled down, after script changes.
But Rae is developing a $30 million movie about Bonnie Prince
Charlie, with Jude Law as star; and his Ecosse Films company,
currently based in London, will shortly open an office in Edinburgh.
 3
(3) FilmFour
Job description: Saviours of the British film industry
Finest moment: Saving the British film industry
Channel 4 has been a major presence in Scottish film for almost
20 years now. Their impressive track record continues with Late
Night Shopping, an offbeat Glasgow comedy that was a prize-winner
at the Berlin festival and opens in the UK in June. Stuart Cosgrove,
in Channel 4’s Glasgow office, plays an important, informal
role in nurturing Scottish film talent, and FilmFour Lab, the
low-budget division, has a representative in Scotland, Nic Murison.
 2
(4) Sir Sean Connery
Job description: The world’s most famous Scot
Finest moment: A role called Bond
Connery’s involvement in the Scottish film industry always
seems to promise more than it delivers. He still has not managed
to find a house here, let alone open a studio. His studio plans
are bogged down in a lengthy public inquiry into Edinburgh’s
"green belt". However Fountainbridge Films, the company
he named after the area of Edinburgh where he was born, recently
became involved in a big-budget film about Mary Queen of Scots.
 1
(1) Scottish Screen
Job description: The official face of film in Scotland
Finest moment: A studio would be nice
Producers will cringe to see the film agency at No 1, but they
have £3 million of lottery cash to spend each year. Peter
Mullan and Lynne Ramsay each received £500,000 towards new
films, though chief executive John Archer raised eyebrows when
he queried his own panel’s refusal to back Craig Ferguson’s
latest. The agency is also involved in several prestigious short
film schemes. Other key figures include lottery panel chairman
Jim Faulds and head of production and development Steve McIntyre.
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