SCOTCH MISSED

Am I the only one who noticed? Well, quite possibly. Scottish Screen's website, down for a week, has been replaced with a noticeably unadorned version, ie. one page listing a bunch of pdf files for their various schemes. No news, no roughcuts, no list of who does what - but I guess they must wonder that themselves. Considering it's the only game in town for screen business in the entire country, I think we should be told what, if any, troubles are brewing on the corner of Blythswood Square.

The recent Cultural Commission thinks getting rid of the quango is a good idea, but I didn't think politics could work that fast. But there's no telltale signs of a super-duper new site coming our way soon, so maybe it's down to cutbacks. No bad thing, but it's still no excuse, since they spend millions of taxpayers and Lottery dosh and hire a massive amount of people, if the delegates list at the Edinburgh Film Fest is to be believed - my headcount put it at around 20. For what exactly? Making up the audience numbers at the Tartan Shorts screenings?

So the mystery goes unsolved. Maybe in a couple of weeks we'll be treated to a flashy new site, packed with all the news about the latest awards dished out to telly tarts and how games are the future of our non-existent industry blah, blah de blah.

Yeah, and I'm up for an Oscar.