Everyday Scots are being recruited to work in major Hollywood films and TV series as part of a new training scheme.
Upcoming projects are looking for gardeners, joiners, painters and decorators, dressmakers, makeup artists, electricians and drivers.
Training manager Sara Harkins, who worked on the Amazon Prime smash Outlander, is involved with the new Training Alliance, the Daily Record reports.
She said: “Within Scotland now there’s a huge demand for jobs in film and television.
“There are loads of productions coming in and we need to ensure we are training up new talent to facilitate these productions.
"In film and television, if you have worked in virtually any other industry, there will be something for you to do, whether that’s accountancy, catering, oil, and gas and lots of others.
“For example, on Outlander, there’s a department that deals with all the greenery on set, so you need people with an expertise in horticulture.”
Scotland has become a increasingly popular location for major films, with award-winning blockbuster 1917 filmed at Govan Graving Docks in 2019 and the new Robert Pattinson-led Batman film last year. Meanwhile, filming for Tetris, starring Taron Egerton, also recently took place in Glasgow.
The Training Alliance brings togther BECTU Vision, Screen NETS, Film City Focus, National Film and Television School Scotland and TRC Media.
Sara, a former creative director on River City, said it aims to give opportunities to people from all different backgrounds, including the underprivileged.
She told how she spoke to a 17-year-old who was told she was too young for the Outlander training scheme, which employed 20 people last year.
Sara said: “She is care experienced and she’d been told by the guidance teacher at her school that the film and television industry wasn’t for her and so kids like her, who were in care, should not bother to apply.
“That’s a terrible attitude and we need to change it.”
Sara will be discussing opportunities in Scotland at the London Screenwriters Festival, which is online until February 28.
She added: “There is no doubt that Scotland could provide all the manpower for these productions.”
