CREATIVE SPIRIT by Paul Kelbie
Compared to many other movie investments it is relatively low risk as by combining SEIS with film industry tax credits, and also VAT returns, investors are guaranteed a minimum of 75 per cent of their investment back regardless of the film making a profit or not.
“It is an unusual way of raising funds for a movie,” admited Mark who has previously writen two novels, several stage plays and two movie scripts currently in the hands of film producers.
“To my knowledge we are the only Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) project in Scotland at the moment.”
Already, with pre-production due to star in July next year, Mark, 44, has secured more than a third of his £150,000 target and is confident that filming will begin on schedule in and around Pollock in Glasgow, where he grew up.
Despite a relatively small budget, compared to Hollywood blockbusters, the supernatural horror genre is one of the most popular among film fans. Paranormal Activity, which had a production budget of less than £10,000 went on to gross almost £71 million in the US alone. Although Mark is not promising the same level of success he is optimistic that anything is possible.
“I’m having lots of conversations with lots of people, some of them are high-end worth and some are not, and some are not the kind of people who would usually think about puting their money into movies. But, the SEIS initiative has given them the confidence to take the opportunity to invest in film.
“A lot of film makers, like me, have had to learn to find other ways to finance their projects. There is undeniably a lot of talent in Scotland but the amount of inward investment here compared to some other small countries, like Denmark and Sweden, is prety embarrassing.
“The amount of money spent by overseas producers coming into Scotland, with the likes of Outlander, has risen dramatically, but for home-grown productions there is not enough funding from places like CreativeScotland to cope with the level of demand,” explained Mark.
According to figures released by the Scotish Government film and TV producers spent a record £45.2 million shooting on location in Scotland last year, an increase of almost £12 million compared with 2013.
In recent years Creative Scotland has helped encourage a number of large productions to film in Scotland, including the much anticipated Sunset Song and Macbeth, The Legend of Barney Thomson, Iona, Sunshine on Leith, Under the Skin and Outlander, and current productions including Tommy’s Honour and Moon Dogs.
“This rise in production spend is a strong indication that film producers have a growing appetite to base their productions in Scotland,” said Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop.
Published 2011
“These productions generate significant income for Scotland through the use of Scotish talent, crews, locations, transport, accommodation and through the impact they have on tourism.”
However, despite the growth in overseas productions there are still many home-grown projects which fail to get off the ground due to a lack of funding.
“There are not enough opportunities in Scotland for actors, writers, directors, crew, heads of department and such like. That’s why we are losing so much talent to London, Los Angeles or Berlin,” said Mark.
“A lot of film makers, like me, have had to learn to find other ways to finance their projects. Tere is undeniably a lot of talent in Scotland but the amount of inward investment here compared to some other small countries, like Denmark and Sweden, is pretty embarrassing.
“My dream is that someday those people will start coming back and we will have an industry that can sustain all the talent we have. I don’t imagine my feature film is going to make much of an impact but it is a start. If there were another 10 people like me making SEIS feature films then there would be more opportunities. If I can succeed and demonstrate to other film makers that this model works then others will do the same.”
As part of his research for the project Mark - who went on a number of ghost haunts with
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