Screen Scotland has announced £3m funding over three years to develop film and TV skills and opportunities in Scotland. 

Part of the UK-wide BFI Skills Clusters initiative, this new investment by the UK and Scottish film and screen bodies is designed to support local industry, and to encourage education and training providers to collaborate.  
 

The BFI will contribute £1.1m of National Lottery funding over the next three years, while Screen Scotland, via Scottish Government funding, will contribute an additional £800k. 
 

A further £1.1m of investment in Scotland’s crew skills will be leveraged by the public agencies from a range of industry partners, taking the total investment between BFI, Screen Scotland and industry partners to £3m across three years. 
 

The BFI Skills Cluster in Scotland will include a focus on future-facing technologies in VFX, virtual production and animation as well as further developing crew skills in Gaelic-language production.   
 

To start with, the funding will support three projects: an inaugural fellowship in virtual production programme, broadcast skills training under the Stornoway Studio Training Programme, and RESET. ,which is aimed at people from all walks of life looking to transfer their skills and start a new career in the animation, VFX and games sectors. 
 

Screen Scotland’s executive director Isabel Davis said: “The skills landscape in film and TV is constantly evolving and the line between film, TV and games is increasingly blurred. Thanks to the support of the Scottish Government and the BFI awarding National Lottery funding, Scotland is in a strong position to establish itself at the forefront of these new technologies. 
 

“Sustained funding commitments such as the BFI/Screen Scotland Skills Cluster allow national bodies, local industry and individual productions to provide structured training where it’s most needed, making the most of those new opportunities. This additional BFI Cluster funding complements the annual investment of £2.1m Screen Scotland already makes to support skills development and training initiatives. We see this investment as core to our strategy to grow Scotland’s film and TV sector and sustain rewarding and creative jobs across the country.”  
 

An estimated £617.4 million was spent on the production of film, TV and other audio visual content in Scotland in 2021, compared to £398.6 million in 2019. Over 80% of the £218.8 million net increase in production spending between 2019 and 2021 was driven by film and HETV production. 
 

Scotland’s screen sector has been boosted by the opening of new studios, particularly FirstStage Studios in Edinburgh and The Pyramids in West Lothian.  
 

Images of Final Pixel Academy via Screen Scotland.