Latest News

Alumni Films screens at Raindance

The film “An Ode To Modern Democracy And The Hairdresser” directed by Matt Strachan Pg Cert Screenwriting 2006, produced by Gemma Mitchell MA SPD 2006 and written by Daniel Hesford MA Screenwriting 2006 is playing at Raindance Independent Film Festival 30th Sept – 11th Oct. Matt and Gemma are co founders of production company The Room (www.theroom.org.uk).

The Problem With Pets Screens in Istanbul

The Problem with Pets '' has been accepted for screening at the 7th International Istanbul Children Film Festival.

PG Cert Screenwriting (online) graduate accepted to Radiolab

Kirstie Swain PG Cert Screenwriting was recently accepted onto Radio Lab a joint venture for published writers set up by BBC Scotland Radio Drama and the Scottish Book Trust. Over the past eight years Radio Labs have helped to develop new writing for radio and have led to first radio commissions for a new generation of writing talent from Scotland including, Gregory Burke; Louise Ironside; Linda Cracknell; Louise Welsh; Simon Little (Screen Academy Scotland MA Screenwriting); Maggie Graham; Andy Macdonald; Melanie Garrett; Lorraine McCann, Laura Marney, Zoe Strachan, Iain F. MacLeod, Nick Underwood, Merryn Glover, Alistair Rutherford (Screen Academy Scotland MA Screenwriting, Hannah McGill and Clara Glynn.

FROM PAGE TO SCREEN

the film actor’s craft –a training workshop programme that has been devised by Edinburgh Skillset Screen and Media Academy in collaboration with NCDT will take place at Edinburgh Skillset Screen and Media Academy at Edinburgh Napier University over the weekend of the 25-27 September. The weekend will kick off with a masterclass from the talented Scottish actor Martin Compston, star of Ken Loach’s Sweet Sixteen at the Edinburgh Skillset Screen and Media Academy production centre 2A Merchiston.

Acting students from National Council of Drama Training Colleges (NCDT), London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA), Central School of Speech and Drama, Bristol Old Vic Drama School, Manchester Metropolitan University School of Theatre and Italia Conti Academy of Fine Arts will be working with our very own Edinburgh Skillset Screen and Media Academy and London Film School (LFS) directing students. Student crew from other Skillset Media Academies -the Creative Loop and University of Abertay will also be on hand.

Participants in the workshop will undertake the journey from script page to set- taking part in casting workshops with casting director Janie Frazer, preparing, rehearsing and blocking a scene written by Annie Griffin, before going on location with a full scale film crew with by professional heads of department led by film director Douglas Mackinnon.

MA Student accepted to RDF Scotland Production Training Programme

MA Screenwriting student Semeon Ogryzko has been accepted to the new RDF Scotland Production Training Programme. This is a 6 month paid placement that Semeon started on the 10th August and he is currently working in St George's Studios in Glasgow (93-97 St George's Road) and working on Extreme Fishing with Robson Green for Channel 5 (for the next 2 weeks). He will get a range of experience over a number of RDF Scotland programmes and in different roles before spending the last 2 months on placement in the role that the trainee most wants to work in.

10th August 2009 - Scots university to hothouse future Rockstars - Edinburgh Napier course to train computer game biz gurus -

Budding gaming gurus are being given the chance to turn their passion into business success stories.

A new university course will nurture the next generation of interactive entertainment companies, following in the foot steps of Scottish gaming icons like Grand Theft Auto developers, Rockstar North.

Edinburgh Napier University’s Masters in Interactive Entertainment comes in response to one of Britain’s fastest growing industries.

The new course is the first in the UK to combine scriptwriting, prototyping and technical expertise with an entrepreneurial element aimed at equipping students with the skills to develop their own businesses..

The programme has received Scottish Government funding in recognition of its potential to support Scotland’s SMEs.

Writer and developer Mark Grindle is interactive media writing lecturer at Edinburgh Napier and programme leader for the new Masters. He said: “We have developed this course in response to the rapid growth of the UK gaming sector. There was an obvious gap for a programme that supported students in the development of their own business, rather than just preparing them for work within a large gaming or interactive media company.

“Many of the big success stories in the gaming industry have evolved from small companies. Crucially, and especially significant in the current climate, graduates from this new programme will be able to prepare business cases to support further funding, production and distribution of their work.”

Games industry veteran, Brian Baglow, editor of Scottishgames.biz, agrees. He said: “The videogames market has evolved rapidly in recent years, introducing new technologies and reaching entirely new markets. This evolution means that the games sector needs a wider range of skills than ever before. Edinburgh Napier has pioneered the introduction of interactive entertainment to students within the wider screen industries.

The new programme ensures that students from Edinburgh Napier will be well equipped to take advantage of new opportunities offered by the ongoing expansion of the market for videogames by ensuring that storytellling drives the technology and not just the reverse.

Scotland has already established itself as home to a number of award-winning Interactive Entertainment companies, including Rockstar North, the developer of the Grand Theft Auto series; Realtime Worlds, creator of Crackdown and the highly anticipated APB and digital toy factory Denki, designers of Denki Blocks! and Quarrel.

The postgraduate degree in Interactive Entertainment will explore a wide range of digital media, as well as computer games, and aims to develop valuable content and intellectual properties for entertainment, life, health and educational applications.

There are fully funded part time places available on the postgraduate degree course which will begin in September this year.

MFA Student selected for Toronto Talent Lab

Current MFA Advanced Film Practice student Britt Crowley is one of only 2 UK participants selected for the Toronto Talent Lab, which will be taking place this September at the Toronto International Film Festival

Down The Rabbit Hole continues its success

Eva Pervolovici’s MFA Advanced Film Practice graduation film Down the Rabbit Hole continues its worldwide conquests of film festivals, with forthcoming screenings in France (Strasbourg International Film Festival) and the Czech Republic (Fresh Film Festival, Karlovy Vary) this August, following recent screenings in Mexico (Festival Internacional de Cine Expresión en Corto in July; Austria (EVA Festival of Nations, Ebensee) and of course Edinburgh in June; and a nomination for best short film at the Milano International Film Festival in Italy last May. Down the Rabbit Hole has also been selected to be part of the in-competition short film series titled, No Joke – Shorts, at the 5th Singapore Short Film Festival 2009.

I'm in away from here continues success

MFA Advanced Film Graduate Catrionna McInnes’ film I’m in away from here, was recently accepted to the Strasbourg International Film Festival Aug 28th - Sept 6, 2009.

Screen Academy Scotland students to make film in Malawi

Wednesday 22 July

Screen Academy Scotland students Julian Krubasik and Sabine Hellman have been chosen to make an educational film about JANEEMO, a community bio-fuels project in Malawi.

Led by the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute in partnership with Climate Futures, the JANEEMO project is an innovative new enterprise which provides villagers in Malawi with the resources to grow and process bio-fuels for household and village needs.

Julian Krubasik (aged 25), who will shortly go in to the final year of his Film & TV BA Hons degree at Edinburgh College of Art, will direct the film. Sabine Hellmann (aged 29), studying for her MA in Film at Edinburgh College of Art, will produce the film.

The pair travelled to Malawi in June for filming and will return in September to complete shooting. The ten-minute film will form the basis for a teachers pack, which will be distributed to primary and secondary schools in Scotland.

Two Honorary Fellows for Edinburgh College of Art
Thursday 2 July 2009

Edinburgh College of Art awarded cinematographer Seamus McGarvey the status of Honorary Fellow at a Graduation Ceremony on Thursday 2 July.
Elected a member of both the British and the American Societies of Cinematographers and a recipient in 2004 of the Royal Photographic Society’s prestigious Lumière medal for contributions to the art of cinematography, McGarvey has worked with everyone from Nicole Kidman to Meryl Streep, Keira Knightley to Penelope Cruz.  His work has huge range - from pop videos for the Rolling Stones and Coldplay to numerous high-profile film productions including Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center, The Hours directed by Stephen Daldry, High Fidelity directed by Stephen Frears, Atonement directed by Joe Wright and Anthony Minghella’s acclaimed No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.   

A long-term resident of Edinburgh and a patron of the Edinburgh Film Festival, Seamus McGarvey takes time out of his busy schedule to give the film industry the benefit of his knowledge and expertise. His contributions – such as film masterclasses – offer Screen Academy Scotland’s students an invaluable insight into the world of cinema.  In recognition of these contributions and Seamus McGarvey’s extraordinary talent, the College is proud to welcome him as one of its Honorary Fellows.

Screen Academy Scotland Student  Amy Rose Awarded Special Prize For Her Film About Jeweller Susan Cross

Tuesday 16 June 2009

To coincide with the opening of the  exhibition “Creation II ” at Goldsmiths’ Hall in London, Amy Rose, MFA student in Film and TV at Edinburgh College of Art (within Screen Academy Scotland) has been awarded a special prize for her short documentary about the jeweller and eca staff member Susan Cross (edited by BA undergraduate Trine Ottosen).
 
Film students from selected colleges across the UK were invited to submit proposals on the jewellers featured in the "Creation II" exhibition. The series of films was executive produced by Paul Watson, the renowned documentary filmmaker and winner of the BAFTA Life-Time Achievement Award.  eca / Screen Acdemy Scotland students were commissioned to make 2 films. MA graduate Adam John Barnett and BA graduate Alex Bikuna also directed a strong film about the work of former head of Jewellery & Silversmithing at eca, Dorothy Hogg .

Creation II ran until July 11th at Goldsmith’s Hall, London.

Win at Palm Springs

It's been an award filled couple of weeks for the Scottish Documentary Institute's Bridging the Gap films!

This last week one of our latest shorts from our Bridging the Gap scheme, made by MA Film Directing graduate (eca) Johanna Wagner and produced by Rebecca Day won Scottish Short documentary award at Edinburgh International Film Festival for Peter in Radioland and picked up a nomination for the European Short Film Academy award!

Also this week we heard Lindsay Goodall's film Irene just won the Palm Springs Best International Short Doc award! Irene was made within last year’s Bridging the Gap scheme and was nominated for a BAFTA (Scotland) best short film award.

Director of Peter in Radioland Johanna Wagner said of her win and nomination: "It was a great surprise and honour for me to win this award; it means a lot to me that my work has been acknowledged at EIFF. Since the film is such a personal subject, (about my Dad) it was very emotionally draining making it"

Lindsay Goodall, director of Irene said: "We are absolutely delighted to have won at Palm Springs! It's a great festival to be part of. My Producer, Kat Hebden and I are now hoping the film will be picked up by more international festivals after winning this award."

The Edinburgh Pitch Wins and Comments

The Edinburgh Pitch in association with EDN (European Documentary Network) came to a close just as the Edinburgh International Film Festival was kicking off and what an enjoyable, productive time was had by all!

We had some fantastic projects and pitches this year. Everyone went away with guarantees of further serious discussions of funding. We also had a strong panel made up of commissioning editors from the UK, Europe and USA who were extremely generous with their time and invaluable comments.

The eventual winners of the cash prizes were Daniel Edelstyn for Best UK Project who won £6,000 for his project How to Establish a Vodka Empire for an extremely entertaining project that everyone just wanted to see when pitched! The Best Scottish Project with a £2,000 cash prize went to Morag McKinnon and Emma Davie, for their project Breathing, an extremely emotional and powerful pitch about a man suffering from Motor Neurone disease. Emma is also a tutor on the BA and MA Film & TV courses at eca.

Here are some of the comments from the commissioning editors about the Edinburgh Pitch 2009:

Doris Hepp (ZDF/Arte): "12 well developed projects - some brave, cool pitches in a great atmosphere"

Tabitha Jackson (C4/More 4): "I'm taken by the passion the selected filmmakers have...being able to push boundaries with their projects"

Yance Ford (POV): "the standard was very high, normally I spend time at pitches talking about structure but this time I'm talking about content - a lot of fun"

Jo Lapping (BBC Storyville): "the slightly more informal atmosphere helps breed more interesting discussion"

We hope to run the Edinburgh Pitch in 2010 so keep your eyes on: www.docscene.org

Scottish Documentary Institute Film Festival Screening Update

It's been a busier than ever year for the Scottish Documentary Institute's Bridging the Gap and associated films, with screenings worldwide, in the past month and month to come, here is a round up of festival appearances:

New Ten Commandments (Various Directors): NZ Human Rights FF (New Zealand), Expression en Corto FF (Mexico), Mexico Human Rights FF

Steel Homes (Dir Eva Weber): Silverdocs (USA), Hotdocs (Toronoto), Dokufest (Kosovo)

Irene (Dir Lindsay Goodall): Palm Springs (USA), Stranger Than Fiction (Ireland), Rushes FF (London)

Christmas with Dad (Dir Conor McCormack): Hotdocs (Canada), Stranger Than Fiction (Ireland), Galway FF, Parnu FF (Estonia)

Calling Home (Dir Maria Andrade/Marcelo Starobinas): SXSW (USA), Hotdocs (Toronto), Riverrun (USA), Portugal IFF

Ma Bar Dir Adrian McDowall/Finlay Pretsell): Silverdocs (USA), Hotdocs (Canada), Message to Man (Russia), Stranger Than Fiction (Ireland), Supertar (Croatia), Dokufest (Kosovo), Riverrun (USA), Portugal IFF, Melbourne IFF

SDI's aim with the distribution of the films is to get the work seen widely around the world.When festivals select the films, it gives the filmmakers the opportunity to get their work seen and the chance to attend, therefore opening up links with the festivals not only to discuss and gauge the reaction of their work with a foreign audience. It also gives them the opportunity to create new partnerships with like minded filmmakers, commissioners and funders all over the world.

‘I’m in away from here’ gets Special Mention

Engage Workshop takes place in Edinburgh

Edinburgh Skillset Screen and Media Academy last month hosted the second workshop of this year’s ENGAGE programme, which was attended by 23 participants from 7 European countries, along with 13 members of staff from the four partner institutions (these are: Edinburgh Skillset Screen and Media Academy; the National Film School of Ireland at Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art and Design; the Baltic Film and Media School at Tallinn University and the School of Motion Picture, TV and Production Design at the University of Art and Design Helsinki). Guest speakers at the workshop included Simon Perry, Chief Executive of the Irish Film Board; Carole Sheridan, Head of Talent and Creativity at Scottish Screen and filmmakers Rachel Robey, Claire Mundell and Justin Molotnikov, whose feature Crying with Laughter had its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

To mark the end of a successful and productive workshop, a reception was held at the Irish consulate, hosted by Consul General Cliona Manahan. Later that same evening, all workshop participants mingled with fellow filmmakers (and a few stars) at the opening party of the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

The next – and last – ENGAGE 2009 workshop will take place in both Tallinn and Helsinki in September.

Patron of Edinburgh Skillset Screen and Media Academy Sir Sean Connery recieves Honorary Doctorate from Edinburgh Napier University. read more

MA Screenwriting graduate - Play to be performed in festival.

Screen Academy Scotland MA Screenwriting graduate Alistair Rutherford latest play Homecoming will be performed at next month's Leith Festival. It will be staged by the Big Village Theatre Company and runs from 10 to 13 June.

Find out more

A BAFTA Winning Performance for Director of Photography Neville Kidd

A History of Scotland , and its director of photography Neville Kidd, notched up a BAFTA win at last weekend's Craft awards in London.

It beat off competition from Channel Four's The Victorian Sex Explorer, Amazon with Bruce Parry, and Ross Kemp in Afghanistan to take the award for Factual Photograpy.

The television series, which is presented by Neil Oliver, is a BBC Scotland co-production with the Open University. It is the flagship series of BBC Scotland's, Scotland's History Project, which also includes radio, events and online: bbc.co.uk/scotlandshistory.

Neville lives in Glasgow's West End and has won an international cinematography award for the film Solid Air. He has been nominated for a BAFTA before, in a BBC Scotland programme with Michael Palin about the Danish painter Hammershoi, but this is his first BAFTA win.

The first five parts of A History of Scotland were shown on BBC One Scotland late last year and then in January on network BBC Two. The BBC Scotland team are currently filming the second five parts which take the story from the 17 th Century to modern day and these will transmit later this year.

Problem with Pets at Palm Springs

The Problem with Pets has been selected to screen at the Palm Springs International ShortFest (Short Film Festival and Film Market – June 23-29, 2009).

This means that, in June alone, the film will be screening in four different festivals:

• Comedy Film Festival in Vienna
• First Chester International Film Festival in Nova Scotia
• Palm Springs International ShortFest
• Showcomotion Young People's Film Festival, Sheffield (in competition for UNICEF UK Short Film Award)

MFA Graduate film in Festival

MFA Advanced Film Practice graduate Joern Utkilen's film Little Red Hoodie produced as part of Cinema Extreme film in festivals, will be screening at the Edinburgh Film Festival Cinema Extreme programme in June. It was also selected as part of the UK Shorts programme. Please see below for screening times:

Little Red Hoodie – dir. by Joern Utkilen – UK – 2008 – 15min

Showing as part of Cinema Extreme - 25 June 15:15 Filmhouse 1

Also screening with UK Shorts 2 - 27 June 12:00 Filmhouse 2

Digicult commissions graduates to produce films

Two Screen Academy Scotland graduates have been commissioned to produce the following films as part of Scottish Digital Shorts 2009, a scheme run by Digicult and financed by the Scottish Screen’s New Talent Development Fund, UK Film Council’s New Cinema Fund and BBC Scotland with in-kind support from RSAMD. A total of 5 shorts have been commissioned

Labour
Genre: Live Action Drama
Writer: Kenneth Macleod,PG Cert Screenwriting Screen Academy Scotland, Edinburgh Napier University
Director: Michael Keillor

Paris/Sexy
Genre: Live Action Drama
Writer/ Director: Ruth Paxton, MDes Film & TV Screen Academy Scotland, Edinburgh College of Art Producer: Rosie Crerar

Info on digicult: http://www.digicult.co.uk/news_feb_2009.html

Vanille at Cannes

Vanille a short film produced by Screen Academy Scotland MA Screen Project Development student Shehzad Afzal and directed by Screen Academy Wales graduate Mark Sloss screened as part of the REAL IDEAS STUDIO shorts and in competition in the Real Ideas Studio programme at Cannes 2009.

To find out more please see the film website is www.filmedup.com

STUDENTS MENTIONED IN FILM AWARDS

I’m in away from here got the honorable mention for the Golden Opportunity Award at Nashville Here's the link:

Good news from Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, where The Problem with Pets, Directed by MFA graduate Catriona Craig; written by MFA graduate Frances O’Neill and produced by MA SPD graduate Susan Wright was awarded the Special Mention in the Children’s Award.

REEL IRAQ FILM FESTIVAL

As part of Reel Iraq film festival a programme of short films from the Independent Film and Televison College (IFTC), Baghdad will be screening  on 21 st  May at Screen Academy Scotland. Find out more

SCREEN ACADEMY SCOTLAND STUDENT FILMS SCREEN AROUND THE WORLD

Venice competition short I’m in Away from Here, written, directed and produced by MFA graduate Catriona MacInnes, will be screening in competition at the Nashville Film Festival in April.

May will see The Problem with Pets screen in competition on three different continents.  Directed by MFA graduate Catriona Craig; written by MFA graduate Frances O’Neill and produced by MA SPD graduate Susan Wright, The Problem with Pets has been selected for the 11-22 International Comedy Short Film Festival in Australia, the Children and Youth films section at the 55 th Oberhausen International Short Film Festival in Germany and the Berkshire International Film Festival in Massachusetts. It has also been selected for this year’s Showcomotion Festival (the UK’s largest children’s film festival- www.showcomotion.org.uk ) and will be competing alongside 8 other shorts for the UNICEF UK Short film award.

Problem with Pets was also awarded the Best Comedy, Short Film Award at last year’s Southern Appalachian International Film Fest (Nov).

Another MFA graduation film, Down The Rabbit Hole, directed by Eva Pervolovici, will be screening at the East End Film Festival in London (April), the International Film Festival in Milan (May) and the Naoussa International film festival (May)

SCREENINGS FROM THE LODZ FILM SCHOOL AT THE SCREEN ACADEMY SCOTLAND

THEN AND NOW

25th April Screen Academy Scotland production centre, 2A Merchiston Ave EH10 4NU

2.00pm – 5.00pm

Open to: The General public

Tickets: Free are free but please go to the Polish Cultural Festival website for details on how to book.

As part of the Polish Cultural Festival films from the world famous Lodz Film School in Poland will be screened at the Screen Academy Scotland on Saturday 25 th of April from 2pm – 5pm. The selection includes short films created by prodigious young students (and future directors) alongside films from some of the school’s celebrated alumni; Roman Polanski, Andrzej Wajda and Krzysztof Kieslowski

Screen Academy Scotland has changed its name

To reflect our recent accreditation as a Skillset Media Academy, Screen Academy Scotland has changed its name! Edinburgh Napier University and Edinburgh College of Art (eca) Skillset Screen and Media Academy is part of the new Media Academy network devised by Skillset and made up of 20 Media Academies across the UK. The Network draws together creative education partnerships from 47 colleges and universities - all institutions established as centres of excellence in television and interactive media.

Within Scotland we join the University of Abertay and Creative Loop Skillset Media Academy (comprising six colleges) to cover a wide range of craft and technical skills across all sectors in the creative industries. And with our long established credentials as a Skillset Screen Academy to deliver excellence in film education and training, we form an integrated Skillset Network of Excellence in Creative Media Education in Scotland, a partnership which will ensure that Scotland remains at the leading edge of creative industries.