A BAFTA-WINNING director has said Scots are being “denied a voice” amid a row over production companies exploiting systems meant to encourage Scottish filmmaking.
Scottish director David Blair, who directed the award-winning drama The Street, has revealed he raised concerns about loopholes in the systems intended to promote Scotland’s creative sector with the Scottish Government more than a year ago.
In a letter he sent to Angus Robertson in 2024, Blair warned the Culture Secretary that “editorial control remains in London” for films made in Scotland.
The director told The National he felt Robertson offered a “very superficial” response, adding: “It felt to me like it was stock replies.”
Robertson (below) recently announced he would intervene amid a major row about Scottish filmmaking after producer Peter Strachan accused the smash hit BBC reality show The Traitors of being made mostly in London.
He claimed the BBC were gaming the requirements placed on it by Ofcom to make shows in Scotland by using a company – Studio Lambert – based primarily in Scotland and said that most of its production was done south of the Border.
Blair said: “All these shows that come up here, there always seems to be a reason why a boss comes up from London.
“I just don’t get it. It seems to me, it’s almost like: ‘Don’t make it too Scottish.’”
Arguing that film and TV bosses frequently complained about Scottish accents, Blair added: "The only criteria that I apply here is if I can’t understand it, I’ll ask them to go again.
"I’m not really caring much whether they understand it in Stafford or not. The same thing is not extended to us the other way round.
"It’s also pre-empting the audience and undermining and underestimating the audience. Rab C Nesbitt at one point on BBC Two was hitting seven million viewers and there were still people at the BBC saying it was only Scots that were watching it.
"It’s not my accent, it’s your ears. There’s a huge laziness across the board on this and if they just don’t fancy watching something or just don’t like it, then it’s going to be: ‘I didn’t understand what they were saying.’"
The director, who has worked with major stars like Timothy Spall (below) and Bob Hoskins, said Scotland's filmmakers were being "dictated" to by bosses in London, adding: “What is Danish film and TV like? It’s not going to be dictated by what’s going on in Sweden or Norway, or whatever.”
He said Scotland should put tougher controls on who gets to receive public money for film and TV, pointing to the example set in Ireland: “There was a project that I was going to be involved in, they were going to give the project less money, not a lot less, but they were going to give it less because I was Scottish – even though I had an Irish passport.”
A spokesperson for Screen Scotland said: “Creative origination is at the heart of Screen Scotland’s strategy to 2030, supporting Scotland’s creative talent to develop the skills, relationships and opportunities they need to make their best work, and which reflects our country’s rich culture.
“We’ve already seen this in action. Last week we had the launch of An t-Eilean (The Island), the first high-end Gaelic language drama, and just yesterday we had Glasgow Film Festival announce Tornado and On Falling in its 2025 programme, both of which were directed by Scottish directors.”
The body, a cultural quango owned by the Scottish Government, also pointed to the Forres-based Only Child programme which appeared on the BBC over Christmas and Hollywood star James McAvoy (above) filming his directorial debut in his native Glasgow.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "Scotland-based commissioning is essential to support our screen sector to its fullest potential. Productions set against a Scottish quota should deliver economic impact and creative opportunities for Scotland, and the talented producers and teams that are based here.
“The Culture Secretary has written to the BBC and Ofcom and looks forward to meeting with them in the near future to ensure that Scottish industry, and audiences, are properly represented on our screens.”
