London-based
Scots company Ecosse Films have announced plans
to make three films each year for the next three
years, two of which will be shot in Scotland.
Bonnie
Prince Charlie, the story of the 1745 Jacobite
campaign and The Waterhorse, a film following
two childrens adventures after discovering
an egg containing the Loch Ness monster, are
the proposed projects. Numerous star names have
already been mentioned in connection with the
films. Jude Law has been spoken of in connection
with the role of the Bonnie Prince, with Kate
Beckinsale being pursued to play Flora MacDonald.
A
recent acquisition by Ecosse was the services
of Ginnie Atkinson, Managing Director of the
Edinburgh International Film Festival, as a
Consultant Producer for the company, which boasts
a £20m turnover.
The
company has forged partnerships at Universal,
Film Four, Miramax and BBC Film. Together with
these partners they plan a film based on the
lives of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn and another
on a historical theme, an epic period drama
set in the English Civil War.
On
the small screen Ecosse have produced a BBC1
detective series McCready & Daughter starring
Lorcan Cranitch from Cracker and Patsy Palmer
from East Enders. Collaboration continues with
BBC Scotland on several major drama projects
including a production of Robert Louis Stevensons
Master of Ballantrae.
Douglas
Rae, Managing Director of Ecosse, says the company
has succeeded in overcoming fund shortages through
forming relationships with the major studios.
He is particularly enthusiastic about their
relation ship with Film Four, who partner the
company in the Henry VIII/Anne Boleyn project.
The
company is certainly flavour of the month if
not decade- among the communities around Badenoch
and Strathspey, where the TV series Monarch
of the Glen is filmed. There the local tourist
board has organised a "Monarch of the Glen
Trail" for visitors to see the locations
where the popular BBC 1 series is filmed.