A leading Scottish film industry figure has slammed the lack of a dedicated film facility in Scotland, warning that the country could miss out on a lucrative purple patch in the industry as a result.

Renowned film producer Tommy Gormley, who has worked as first AD and co-producer on blockbusters such as Star Wars VII – The Force Awakens, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and Star Trek Into Darkness, has penned an open letter to Scottish Parliament committee members urging them to back a purpose-built facility.

In an interview with news outlet the Daily Record, Gormley said: “It’s boom time for filming in Britain at the moment; you can’t get a studio in London because everything is full.

“It’s a combination of a very attractive tax structure right now and world-class crews, which Scotland has many of. We have the personnel but Scotland is not taking advantage of it. Scotland is massively missing out.”

He went on to stress that “a catastrophically low” three percent of all UK film and TV production takes place in Scotland and singled out the “palpable lack of ambition” from a recent meeting of the Scottish Parliament”s Economy, Energy and Tourism committee.

The strength of feeling surrounding the situation is perhaps best summed-up by these words from Gormley: “I truly believe, with all my experience and knowledge of this field, that a film studio would be a true hub for our industry, and would gather together the critical mass required, in terms of skills, crewing and ancillary support, to be a game-changer for filmmaking in Scotland.”