FLYING PICKETS

Great story in today’s Scotsman about another Scotsman – The Flying Scotsman, due to open the Edinburgh Film Fest on August 14.

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1099772006

In an earlier blog I mentioned the small matter of the 170,000 quid that the film’s producer, Peter Broughan, claims to be owed by Scottish Screen to pay off overdue invoices from crew and extras. This is a tricky one, because the company making the film, Mel Films, went bust and as reported, so far hasn’t bothered to file any accounts. Which poses the question - why should SS fork out?

At a time when Scottish film production has ground to a halt and with massive uncertainty over its future, this sorry tale does the business no favours. The recent hoo-ha over the begging letter signed by 45 of Scotland’s ‘top’ filmmakers has yet to result in anything. And while there’s a case for film to be subsidised, in the same way that, say, opera or theatre continues to be backed by the government, threats of picketing extras outside Fountain Park at the Flying Scotsman premiere only gives the powers-that-be further justification to write off moviemaking as a cultural pursuit.

If I were in Shane Danielsen’s shoes, I’d be seriously tempted to pull the plug. Not because the film’s stars, Brian Cox and Jonny Lee Miller, might be a no-show if they have to run the gauntlet of unpaid extras, but more because of the dubious morality of screening the movie. At almost eight quid a ticket (not to mention the freebies dished out to those who can afford it) I’d feel pretty uncomfortable knowing I’m watching faces on screen that haven’t been paid. Look, if this was a film made with unpaid child labour, you can bet the festival would have run a mile from it. We’re talking about the lowest paid workers here, not Brian and Jonny, reported to have had theirs and then some.

Some might argue that only by showing the film could it hope to make a profit. Pull the other one, guys. Turns out The Flying Scotsman doesn’t have a distributor and even if it did, isn’t there a queue of financiers all waiting for payback? If I were an unpaid extra or crew member I’d storm Cineworld, pelt Brian and Jonny with eggs and hold the projectionist hostage. And pull the plug on the popcorn machine while I’m at it.

Shame on the lot of them. Up the workers.