Efforts
have been under way this week to try to retain
the filming of Magdelene in the Dumfries
and Galloway area. The effort has been led by
Scottish Screen Chief Executive John Archer,
after it became clear a substantial grant offered
by the local authority in a bid to keep the
production in their area was not enough to meet
underfunding in the films budget.
Filming of Magdalene, written and directed
by Peter Mullan, starring Vanessa Redgrave,
is scheduled to start in Dumfries and Galloway
in June. The production could be in jeopardy
after Mullan and the film's backer, Frances
Higson, revealed their funding falls short of
a £3 million budget. Now the film may be moved
from Scotland to Ireland after the Scottish
executive failed to come up with a £400,000
rescue package. The tax breaks on offer from
the Irish Film Board would form sufficient reason
to move the films location to Ireland.
The production of the film Braveheart,
about Scottish patriot William Wallace, was
also attracted to use Ireland for supposedly
Scottish locations through tax break incentives.
Dumfries and Galloway Council last week managed
to put together a £250,000 offer in an effort
to keep the film in the area. But the remaining
£150,000 will have to made up by Scottish Screen,
the body set up to promote the Scottish film
industry, which has already invested £500,000
in the film.
The filming of Magdalene is expected
to bring about £1 million into the Dumfries
and Galloway economy, money which is much needed
in light of the tourism industry being decimated
in the region by the foot-and-mouth crisis.
Defending the decision not to provide further
funding a spokesman for the executive said:
"It is our position that Scottish Screen has
already given a maximum grant of £500,000 to
this film and it is not for the Scottish executive
to fund individual films beyond that. We obviously
hope that the money can be found from somewhere
and that the filming does go ahead here in Scotland."
However, John Archer, the Chief Executive of
Scottish Screen, said his board will have to
act fast to keep the project in Scotland. He
said: "The executive's view is that this is
something Scottish Screen has to deal with and
we are looking at ways to ensure that Magdalene
is made in Scotland. Bearing in mind the particular
circumstances of the Dumfries and Galloway area
due to foot-and-mouth, keeping this film here
is important."
Ian Jenkins, the MSP for Tweeddale Ettrick &
Lauderdale and the Scottish Liberal Democrat
Culture spokesman, spoke of his disappointment
at the possible loss of such a high-profile
production. Mr Jenkins said: "If funding can
be found to keep the film location in Dumfries,
then it should be. The projected income for
the local economy is three times more than the
funding required. "At a time when Dumfries is
suffering so badly from the foot and mouth crisis,
the opportunity to show that Scotland is open
for business should not be missed."
It has taken Mullan and Ms Higson more than
18 months to get the film to this stage and
both are said to be bitterly disappointed that
the film looks set to be moved to Ireland. However,
the Magdalene project was almost totally
scuppered two weeks ago when Antonine Films,
the production company behind the film, went
into receivership after failing to secure further
funding from the Glasgow Development Fund. Mullan
and Ms Higson had previously set up a separate
company to develop Magdalene, called
Antonine PFP, which was unaffected by Antonine's
closure.
Council Denies Large Grant
Offer
Dumfries and Galloway Council has since denied
offering as much as UKP250,000 to keep Peter
Mullans film Magdelene located in the
councils area.
A
spokeswoman for Dumfries and Galloway Council
denied reports that the council had awarded
Antonine PFP, the production company responsible
for the film, UKP250,000. The true figure was
only one-tenth of that, she said.
"An
awful lot of businesses in the area are desperate
at the moment. We are working with other agencies
to put together an economic recovery package
for the area, which we have presented to the
Scottish Executive. We certainly aren't in a
position to be giving huge amounts of money
away," she said. "However, we recommended the
council pay a small sum, and we know the film
company is keen to use some premises in Dumfries."
Actor-director
Mullan is hoping to use a former convent in
the town for key scenes in the film, which tells
the story of a young woman who is a victim of
rape and abuse in an asylum run by the Catholic
church.
Paddy
Higson, of Antonine PFP, said: "We hope very
much that the location is going to be Dumfries.
Peter has always wanted to shoot this in Scotland.
It seems to be coming together now, although
there are still a few parts of the jig-saw missing."
Dumfries
and Galloway already provides the setting for
the BBC TV drama Two Thousand Acres Of Sky,
which is filmed in Port Logan and Portpatrick,
although local chiefs are hoping to publicise
this better after discovering that a high proportion
of the audience was under the impression that
the location of the film was the Isle of Skye.
Dumfries
football club Queen of the South's Palmerston
Park pitch was used for action sequences in
the Robert Duval film The Cup, which featured
former Scotland football international Ally
McCoist.
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