Writer, Filmmaker, Mother, Grandmother
My purpleTV film about the indefatigable Rose Reilly was premiered to invited VIP guests at the Everyman Cinema in Glasgow last week. After the screening, the most warm and wonderful standing ovation was followed by a Q & A with Rose and my event host Jane Dougall, and then another standing ovation. Rose makes for… Continue reading #RoseReilly, the feminist pioneer who paved the way for #SWNT.
One of the earliest photographs of me as a toddler is taken in the garden. I'm around three years old, wearing a woollen hat that's tied tightly under my chin. I'm smiling warmly towards the lens, holding a football tightly in my arms. Many years ago, I slid the black and white photograph into the… Continue reading #RoseReilly, a film about an incredible pioneer and feminist icon. Coming soon!
This last five months or so have been incredibly busy, but immensely rewarding. My Tommy Burns film, for my company purpleTV and commissioned by BBC ALBA, had its TV premiere on Friday night. Given the volume of engagement online about the film 'Tommy Burns' was soon trending on Twitter and stayed a prominent trend with… Continue reading Reflections on the making of the #TommyBurns film.
ONE of Scotlandâs leading independent production companies, purpleTV, today (15 May) revealed it is to produce a landmark television documentary on the life of Tommy Burns. purpleTV, based in Glasgow, made the announcement this morning on the tenth anniversary of Tommyâs death, after a courageous fight with skin cancer. The film will be shown on… Continue reading Tommy twists, Tommy turns, Tommy, Tommy Burns đ
I'm really thrilled that Tannadice 87, the purpleTV film I wrote, produced and directed for broadcast on BBC ALBA, has been nominated for a Royal Television Society Scotland award in the Best Sport Programme category. I've won this award twice before, and had several nominations so it's always great to know that the hard work… Continue reading Royal Television Society Scotland award nomination #Tannadice87
Hugh MacDonald interviews novelist and filmmaker Margot McCuaig I was featured in the Bella Caledonia this weekend, the monthly colour magazine produced in collaboration with the National newspaper. Hugh MacDonald is a powerful writer and he made an excellent job of exploring my filmmaking, my background, my novel writing and my love of history, football culture… Continue reading “The history woman” (not a bad mantle to aspire to)
Coconut macaroon bars that shed their coating like drifting snow; rich syrupy Scottish tablet that crumbles on sweetened lips, sugary morsels shimmering in the floodlit terracing; crisps -their discarded salt sachets sinking beyond the turnstile like washed confetti; and alcohol, that swirls in the air, its familiar scent snarled by back teeth and held taut in tightening throats, its taste lingering like chlorine in a swimming pool.… Continue reading A snapshot of Scottish culture. The premiere screening of #Tannadice87.
I was delighted to learn this week that Jimmy Johnstone, the feature-length documentary film that I wrote, produced and directed with my company and talented team at purpleTV, has been nominated for a Celtic Media Festival award. Did I say delighted? Well, that and more! The festival brings the Celtic nations' creative film and television talent together annually, in the… Continue reading Torc nomination for #JimmyJohnstone
There was an event at the Mitchell Library on Saturday to celebrate 70 years of James Kelman. Organised by Drouth Magazine, in partnership with Scott Hames of the University of Stirling, this was a day-long soiree with song, music, film, performance and an appearance by the man himself. I couldn't make it along to the whole event… Continue reading Remembering Glasgow’s radical past & meeting James Kelman.
I wrote this piece  about my writing for the Britfic site. You can read it on the site here and in the copy below. Does it strike any chords with you? The bulk of my creative time recently has been taken up writing factual material for documentary film. In that mode, whilst structuring and de-structuring sensitive and… Continue reading Do we exploit emotions in writing fiction?
