The fund was launched in direct response to the impact of the dual US strikes last year.

HBO Max’s The Penguin is among projects lured to Scotland by a new post-production/VFX fund.

The Screen Scotland pilot funding initiative, PGF Project Post, was the organisation’s immediate response to the downturn post-production facilities faced as a result of the SAG-AFTRA strikes in late 2023.

The scheme was created to attract post-production work on large-scale film and TV productions into Scotland, and is part of Screen Scotland’s Production Growth Fund, which has attracted projects such as BBC drama Nightsleeper, Apple TV+’s Tetris, Amazon Prime Video’s The Rig and HBO’s Succession, to film in Scotland.

Glasgow-based production company FixFX worked on The Penguin, set within Batman’s Gotham. Colin Kennedy, CEO at FixFX, said: “It is a real privilege to have had our FixFX team working on such a high-profile show as The Penguin. It’s the perfect showcase for the kind of specialist beauty work that FixFX is gaining a reputation for.

“We worked alongside HBO’s Oscar-winning make up team to help them refine their amazing work. With their guidance we help bring the character of Oswald Cobblepot – the Penguin – to life. This opportunity was secured with Screen Scotland’s support via PGF Project Post fund.”

David Smith, director of Screen Scotland said: “Scotland’s studios and locations have been busy across the last few years with the physical production of hit films and shows. Big productions like Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein or Douglas Mackinnon’s Good Omen’s 2 now regularly come to Scotland to work with our renowned crew, and access Scotland’s studios and locations.

The post-production work on big film or TV projects can happen anywhere in the world, it’s not tied to any specific location and very specialized. With PGF Project Post we’ve worked with Colin and the team at Fix, as well as other Scottish facilities for the first time to win post-production work on films and series that didn’t physically shoot here in Scotland.

“It is really encouraging that just in this pilot phase of the fund we’ve managed to attract projects of the scale and ambition of The Penguin to work in Scotland, enabling us to showcase Scottish post-production/VFX talent globally on a critically acclaimed series.”

Applications to the PGF Project Post are open until 31 October 2024; fund guidance can be found here. Applications to the Production Growth Fund remain open on a rolling basis.