Shooting for the moon; Darran Gardner investigates the Tartan Shorts

JUGGLING hand grenades is probably a safer pursuit than expressing an opinion on Britain's film industry. Arguments about funding (or the lack of it), paltry distribution channels, poor script development and, inevitably, competing with cash-laden Hollywood products are always contentious issues across the UK.

However, studying the success of Scotland's Tartan Shorts film scheme, which this year celebrates it 10th anniversary, is a considerably safer activity.

A joint initiative between BBC Scotland and Scottish Screen, it not only provides a unique format designed to develop and encourage Scotland's emergent film-makers but has also established an international reputation as a standard bearer for short film production in Scotland.

A roll-call of some of the directors, writers and producers who have been involved in Tartan Shorts over the last decade should almost be enough to convince even the most sceptical of its value in an industry where ideas always outstrip opportunities.

Launched in 1992, Tartan Shorts got off to roaring start when Peter Capaldi's film, Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life, won an Oscar and Bafta for Best Short Film. Two of Scotland's leading directors, Peter Mullan and Lynne Ramsay then went on to cut their writing and directing teeth with their own short films in 1995 and 1997 respectively.

Mullan's latest film, The Magdalene Sisters, took the Golden Lion Award for best film, while Ramsay's first two feature films, Ratcatcher and Morvern Callar, have both attracted international critical acclaim. Others such as David Mackenzie, (the writer/ director who has two upcoming features, Last Great Wilderness and Young Adam), producer Frances Higson, Justin Molotnikov and director Brian Kelly are all developing names for themselves at a UK level. Many of those previously involved in the scheme (including BBC Scotland's head of drama Barbara McKissack) are also working in the film and television business.

This year's three films were initially unveiled at Edinburgh International Film Festival in August and are currently being broadcast by BBC Scotland before making the rounds at film festivals across the world.

The enduring success of Tartan Shorts, argues BBC Scotland's Gaynor Holmes, the scheme's executive producer, is linked to both the talent present in Scotland and the commercial approach adopted by the BBC and Scottish Screen. Holmes explains: "This is a very much a professional broadcast commission. Production teams are given a reasonable amount of money [currently (pounds) 65,000] and they are expected to bring the film in on time and on budget."

Each year the Tartan Shorts scheme receives more than 200 applications in the shape of nine-minute film ideas. After a shortlist of 10 is created, scripts are then submitted for scrutiny by a panel of film and television industry figures before being whittled down to a final three.

The writer/director/producer teams then work with script editors and executive producers who fine tune the dramas. Although most of those involved in the scheme already have industry experience (often in television production or commercials), specialist training involving contracts and budgets is also made available.

Holmes, who herself produced the 1999 Tartan Short Billy and Zorba before joining the BBC, adds: "It is, after all, a professional commission and people have to have done this before. However, people can often sidestep from other areas of the industry."

Casting decisions are left to the amb-ition of the teams, and over the years actors such as Richard E Grant, Edward Woodward, Ken Stott and Kevin Kidd have made appearances in Tartan Shorts.

Beyond the mechanics of the scheme, BBC Scotland and Scottish Screen can take satisfaction in the various inter-national awards won by Tartan Shorts over the last 10 years. In addition to the early success of Capaldi's Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life, Peter Mullan's 1995 film, Fridge, also won a Bafta, as did Lynne Ramsay's 1997 production, Gasman. Her film also won a Prix Du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival.

Several other productions have also collected accolades, with 2001's Crying for Bobo (written and directed by David Cairns) picking up several UK awards. One of this year's films, Billy Bongo, has already been nominated for a Bafta Scotland New Talent Award.

Carolynne Sinclair Kidd, producer of 2002's Billy Bongo, argues that this level of success illustrates that Tartan Shorts is about "real film-making".

"The support from the BBC is fantastic and they help to keep you on the right track. This is a properly-financed feature and that's exactly what I want to produce. It's definitely very tough to develop a career in Scotland and many still make their money on TV and commercials."

Kidd, who was associate producer on The Acid House, won the special jury prize at Cannes with a BBC short film, Daddy's Girl, and produced two films for STV's New Found Land scheme. She is currently line producer on Solid Air, a Clyde-based film about asbestos poisoning by Bafta winner May Miles Thomas.

"Obviously if you make a bad Tartan Short you can't be certain how beneficial it will be," adds Kidd, "but they are certainly highly regarded."

The scheme's reputation remains a draw to many. The international success of directors such as Mullan and Ramsay is unlikely to be enjoyed by all participants, but a Tartan Short is rightly considered as an important calling card. The ability of the BBC to guarantee broadcast on terr-estrial TV and to work alongside Scottish Screen to organise distribution deals with arthouse cinemas and exhibitions at international festivals is another feature.

The opportunity to develop a short drama feature, says TV director James Henry, is a powerful draw even to those with established careers. Henry, writer and director of 2002 film That Old Man, has worked as a freelance director since 1994, directing several series for the likes of STV and Sky One.

"The rigour of the process at all levels, from development to production and post-production is always there," he admits, "and it's just like making a mini feature film or drama."

Henry admits that the profile of Tartan Shorts still connects back to Peter Capaldi's 1992 Oscar win.

"I know that it has had a very strong pull with me since 1992. A lot of people pay attention to Tartan Shorts and it has a branding that means something. It can definitely be a launch pad and I'm certainly not doing it to sink back into the woodwork."

Copyright 2002 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.