Scotland on the big screen

Last week in Parliament I spoke in the debate : Making Scotland a Screen Leader.

Film and TV is an important industry in Scotland but our role was usually to take the backseat and watch other countries productions.

However, recent films such as Outlaw King, Mary Queen of Scots, Avengers: Infinity War and T2 Trainspotting have been the result of Scotland’s increase in large scale, high profile films.

There has also been a significant increase in people watching subscription on – demand services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, as well as many others – well, there definitely has been in our household – as opposed to, traditional TV.

For example, Outlaw King is being released on Netflix rather than in cinema, which means people can watch films in the comfort of their own homes rather than on a big screen, where you would most likely spend an absolute fortune.

BBC iPlayer was the most popular online streaming service in Scotland, with 47 per cent claiming to have used it, followed by Netflix (39 per cent) and the STV Player (31 per cent).

In the near-future, BBC will release a new channel for Scotland.

These movies will probably be streamed through BBC iPlayer rather than live on TV, as the statistics prove.

Glenn Preston, Ofcom’s Scotland director said“Today’s research shows that the way people in Scotland watch TV is changing rapidly.”

I agree with this and it’s why I think it’s important that we continue to push and elevate Scotland’s profile as a producer as the next greats.

Scotland has always been good at changing with the times so attracting more high-profile movies and TV programmes is a trend I can definitely get behind.