A TOP Hollywood assistant director believes Holyrood must “get back powers” on tax breaks for the film industry.
Tommy Gormley, who has worked on Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Wonder Woman, told MSPs there had been a “cataclysmic failure at every level” to deliver for the industry.
He also suggested Holyrood be given control over rebates for film and TV, saying having a more competitive regime here than the rest of the UK would attract productions “in a New York second”.
Gormley, who was born in Glasgow, was giving evidence to MSPs on the Parliament’s Culture Committee about the Scottish screen sector.
He said: “We haven’t just missed the boat in this country, we’ve missed an entire fleet.
“There is a cataclysmic failure at every level to deliver.
“The fact that production in Scotland is catastrophically low compared to the UK, it’s a disgrace.”
He told MSPs the film industry is a “hardheaded, financial business” as he called for ministers to have the ability to offer larger rebates to producers coming to Scotland.
Gormley added: “I lived in Los Angeles for seven years. I came back to the UK because all the big movies are back here suddenly.
“Why are they back here? They’ve got the facilities, they’ve got a highly skilled crew, and you’ve got a very beneficial tax rebate.
“Why don’t we look for a clever way of Scotland getting a bit of that action. Are we allowed to take an extra one per cent in the film and TV tax rebate? That would be a game-changer.”
Committee convener Joan McAlpine told him that tax breaks for the sector “are entirely reserved to Westminster”, prompting Gormley to suggest: “We should get them back.”
Gormley also called for better studio facilities, and said: “We can’t spend every day filming up in Glencoe doing scenery, you need a film studio, it’s not rocket science, it’s very simple.”
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