Jonathan Tait
Christine Hartland
Jonathan Tait
Jonathan is currently the Rights Manager for STV, where he looks after acquisitions, rights and clearances for the STV Player as well as seeking new Scottish based talent for the Player.
Before this, Jonathan spent nearly 20 years in the music industry working in A&R, artist management, tour management, as a rehearsal and studio owner and
Jonathan is currently the Rights Manager for STV, where he looks after acquisitions, rights and clearances for the STV Player as well as seeking new Scottish based talent for the Player.
Before this, Jonathan spent nearly 20 years in the music industry working in A&R, artist management, tour management, as a rehearsal and studio owner and then latterly in music education before re-training as a lawyer.
Jonathan worked with commercial law firms specialising in media, entertainment and IP law and helped set up BTO BeCreative, Scotland’s only dedicated creative industries legal services team and was recommended by the Legal 500 for providing legal advice in relation to media and entertainment matter.
Michael Hines
Christine Hartland
Jonathan Tait
Michael Hines is an award winning director, based in Scotland, UK. He has directed for over 20 years across many genres, specializing in Scripted Comedy and Childrens' television. His best know work is Still Game, the BBC networked sitcom, directing every one of the 62 episodes and producing some series. He also directed the stage plays
Michael Hines is an award winning director, based in Scotland, UK. He has directed for over 20 years across many genres, specializing in Scripted Comedy and Childrens' television. His best know work is Still Game, the BBC networked sitcom, directing every one of the 62 episodes and producing some series. He also directed the stage plays that drew in 210,000 people over 21 nights in 2014 and 150,000 over 15 nights in 2016. His first feature film 'Man and Witch' starring Tami Stronach, Christopher Lloyd, Sean Astin, Jennifer Saunders and Greg Steinbruner was released across the USA summer 2024 to critical acclaim. He has his own production company, The Woven Thread as well as lecturing in filmmaking and occasionally composing for film and television.
Christine Hartland
Christine Hartland
Christine Hartland
Christine Hartland is an independent film producer and co-founder of My SMASH Media, the IP matchmaking platform for the creative industries (starting in Film & TV), with fellow independent producer Fiona Gillies and product expert Mahesh Ramachandra.
SMASH is like a dating app for creative projects, it provides Creators with free pit
Christine Hartland is an independent film producer and co-founder of My SMASH Media, the IP matchmaking platform for the creative industries (starting in Film & TV), with fellow independent producer Fiona Gillies and product expert Mahesh Ramachandra.
SMASH is like a dating app for creative projects, it provides Creators with free pitch-building and IP protection tools to help them create Industry-savvy pitches for their projects.
As an independent producer, Christine produced political thriller WMD (2008) with a reverse distribution strategy, CONTAINMENT which has sold worldwide (inc. Netflix). Christine is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and is a mentor with the Creative Mentor Network.
Martin McCardie
Martin McCardie
Christine Hartland
Martin is an award winning writer, actor, director and producer.
As a writer, Martin writes across formats and media - with several plays for the best known Scottish theatres, before moving to TV.
Martin wrote episodes of Tinsel Town, Taggart, River City, The Bill, Big City Park and Katie Morag.
Martin has served as Producer on River City
Martin is an award winning writer, actor, director and producer.
As a writer, Martin writes across formats and media - with several plays for the best known Scottish theatres, before moving to TV.
Martin wrote episodes of Tinsel Town, Taggart, River City, The Bill, Big City Park and Katie Morag.
Martin has served as Producer on River City since 2016, as Series Producer from 2019, and most recently as Executive Producer since 2020.
TV acting includes Taggart, Strathblair, Monarch of the Glen, The Bill, River City, Shetland, Field of Blood, Dead Shot for SKY. Film acting includes My Name is Joe &
Sweet Sixteen, directed by Ken Loach and The Red Roads directed by Andrea Arnold.
Chris Jones
Martin McCardie
Venetia Hawkes
Chris is an award winning filmmaker, and was recently Splinter Unit Director on Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning, parts 1 and 2 for Paramount. He is also the Exec Producer on an Apple TV+ five part docu-drama that is in post production. Deeper into his past, early major projects include action thriller ‘The Runner’, serial killer thril
Chris is an award winning filmmaker, and was recently Splinter Unit Director on Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning, parts 1 and 2 for Paramount. He is also the Exec Producer on an Apple TV+ five part docu-drama that is in post production. Deeper into his past, early major projects include action thriller ‘The Runner’, serial killer thriller ‘White Angel’ and paranormal horror ‘Urban Ghost Story’. Chris co-created and authored The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook series, published by Blomsbury. Chris has run a series of London based festivals, kicking off with the London Screenwriters Festival which attracts over 1,000 professional screenwriters from around the globe annually. He also setup and run TEDxEaling.
Venetia Hawkes
Martin McCardie
Venetia Hawkes
Venetia Hawkes is the author of ‘We Have Some Notes… The Insider’s Guide to Notes, Script Editing and Development’ and Executive Producer for Masterclasses & Bridge to Industry films at the National Film and Television School (NFTS)
With over twenty years’ experience supporting creatives to craft engaging screen stories, her first book, ‘
Venetia Hawkes is the author of ‘We Have Some Notes… The Insider’s Guide to Notes, Script Editing and Development’ and Executive Producer for Masterclasses & Bridge to Industry films at the National Film and Television School (NFTS)
With over twenty years’ experience supporting creatives to craft engaging screen stories, her first book, ‘We Have Some Notes… The Insider’s Guide to Notes, Script Editing and Development’, was published by Bloomsbury/The British Film Institute in 2024. In it she interviews leading writers and directors, including Russell T Davies, Lynne Ramsay and Edgar Wright, to explore the art of giving and receiving ‘notes’ and how to make it a constructive part of the creative process.
Jonathan Mortimer
Jonathan Mortimer
Jonathan Mortimer
At The Scottish Screenwriters Festival, we strive to create an unforgettable experience for our guests, providing a platform for networking and learning in a fun and engaging environment.
Anton O'Donnell
Jonathan Mortimer
Jonathan Mortimer
Anton is the writer, director, and producer behind 'Concrete Jungle', which launched at the top of STV Player's most watched list in its debut week.
Self financed and fueled by a passion to represent the environment he grew up in, Anton tells stories that reflect the realities of working class life - grounded in high stakes drama and the gritty side of Scotland.
Square Go Films
Jonathan Mortimer
Square Go Films
Square Go Films was incorporated by a collective of filmmakers as a way of reducing friction at all stages of indie film production from financing through to distribution. As part of our mission to connect with filmmakers and audiences, the Square Go Podcast was created to shine a light on work in the Scottish indie scene and entertain audiences with our questionable tastes.
Garry Fraser
Garry Fraser
Garry Fraser
Garry Anthony Fraser is a Scottish BAFTA-award winning film director and producer.
He made his directorial debut with an autobiographical film titled Everybody's Child, which explored his struggles with poverty and drug addiction.
Following this success, Fraser worked as a director for the second unit during the production of T2 Trainspot
Garry Anthony Fraser is a Scottish BAFTA-award winning film director and producer.
He made his directorial debut with an autobiographical film titled Everybody's Child, which explored his struggles with poverty and drug addiction.
Following this success, Fraser worked as a director for the second unit during the production of T2 Trainspotting and both created and directed the TV drama The Grey Area.
He's currently in pre production of the 3 part of his 3 part series 'Supply & Demand' which will be available on STV Player when completed.
Claire Duffy
Garry Fraser
Garry Fraser
Claire Duffy is the founder of Handbag Studios, a digital production company pioneering vertical drama in Scotland. She was previously a screenwriter and author of 13 novels including the bestselling Glasgow crime series Dark of Night, and the Storytel Original The Stranger.
This year she launched the Glasgow Telly Festival to platform and showcase Scottish screen talent and stories.
Gary Hewitt
Garry Fraser
Gary Hewitt
GJ Hewitt is a Screenwriter and Director from Glasgow, Scotland. His debut feature film Cleek had its festival run in 2018 and was distributed by Shami Media Group on Amazon Prime and DVD in 2019. Following the success of Cleek,
GJ directed multi award winning film 'Mia'. The film won over 10 awards including Best British Film, Best Film
GJ Hewitt is a Screenwriter and Director from Glasgow, Scotland. His debut feature film Cleek had its festival run in 2018 and was distributed by Shami Media Group on Amazon Prime and DVD in 2019. Following the success of Cleek,
GJ directed multi award winning film 'Mia'. The film won over 10 awards including Best British Film, Best Film and the IAC Diamond Award at BIAFF. The film was also selected for the B.A.F.T.A recognized, Glasgow Film Festival and The Portobello Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Golden Trellick award. Since then, Mia has been distributed by North American company Meridian Releasing Group and can be purchased on Amazon. Garry's second feature film 'The Defender' is now showing on STV Player.
Matt Pinder
Darren McGarvey
Kirsty Logan
Matt Pinder is a 9 x BAFTA Scotland award-winning filmmaker and is recognised as an accomplished director, cameraman and editor having worked for most of the major UK networks on a diverse range of projects; from Dispatches to Daytime including feature length docs for Channel 4 and a long running series for the BBC.
Credits include 'The
Matt Pinder is a 9 x BAFTA Scotland award-winning filmmaker and is recognised as an accomplished director, cameraman and editor having worked for most of the major UK networks on a diverse range of projects; from Dispatches to Daytime including feature length docs for Channel 4 and a long running series for the BBC.
Credits include 'The Hunt for the World's End Killers', 'The Hunt for Bible John' and the recent 'Orkney Assassin, murer in the isles'.
Kirsty Logan
Darren McGarvey
Kirsty Logan
Kirsty is an award winning author and a screenwriter.
Her work has been optioned by JJ Abrams' Bad Robot & LA based Everlast. Kirsty is currently developing a series for NBC - which she sold on a title and a one line pitch!
Kirsty currently teaches creative writing for Faber Academy, Curtis Brown Creative and Arvon; and previously taught
Kirsty is an award winning author and a screenwriter.
Her work has been optioned by JJ Abrams' Bad Robot & LA based Everlast. Kirsty is currently developing a series for NBC - which she sold on a title and a one line pitch!
Kirsty currently teaches creative writing for Faber Academy, Curtis Brown Creative and Arvon; and previously taught writing for the universities of London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Aberdeen, York, Dundee, Lancaster and Northumbria.
Darren McGarvey
Darren McGarvey
Darren McGarvey
Darren is a rapper, broadcaster and author.
His first book “Poverty Safari” was an instant bestseller and critical hit. He won the prestigious ‘Orwell Book Prize’ in June 2018.
HIs new book “Trauma Industrial Complex” is published in August.
He has presented three series of shows for BBC Scotland, “Darren McGarvey’s Scotland”, “Darren McGar
Darren is a rapper, broadcaster and author.
His first book “Poverty Safari” was an instant bestseller and critical hit. He won the prestigious ‘Orwell Book Prize’ in June 2018.
HIs new book “Trauma Industrial Complex” is published in August.
He has presented three series of shows for BBC Scotland, “Darren McGarvey’s Scotland”, “Darren McGarvey’s Class Wars” and “Darren McGarvey’s Addictions” and his last series, “The State We’re In” aired on both BBC Scotland and BBC2 and is still available to watch on BBCiPlayer.
Louise V Say
Louise V Say
Louise V Say
Louise V Say is a producer and director with 25 years of experience in drama and documentaries, known for her work on "Shetland" and "Dracula".
Before producing high end drama Louise had a varied career directing prime time documentaries - from Ross Kemp Inside Barlinnie Prison (one off for ITV) to Robson Green Extreme Fishing in South
Louise V Say is a producer and director with 25 years of experience in drama and documentaries, known for her work on "Shetland" and "Dracula".
Before producing high end drama Louise had a varied career directing prime time documentaries - from Ross Kemp Inside Barlinnie Prison (one off for ITV) to Robson Green Extreme Fishing in South America. She directed and produced a high end feature doc for The History Channel “ What’s The Earth Worth” and Lead Director first series of flagship Discovery show “How the Universe Works” with episode 1 “Big Bang”.
Credits with BBC1, Netflix, Channel 4, BBC2, BBC4, The Discovery Channel, ITV, The History Channel, HGTV, Military Channel and Discovery Science.
Paul Morris
Louise V Say
Louise V Say
Paul is an independent filmmaker whose debut feature 'Angry Young Men' was released in 2022. A microbudget surreal coming of age tale, which explores rivalries set on a fictional housing estate in Scotland. Since then Paul started Marlo Films, a high end video production company.
Our Team
Louise V Say
Our Team
Our team is made up of passionate and dedicated individuals who work tirelessly to make sure every aspect of the event runs smoothly. We are committed to providing the best possible experience for our attendees and ensuring that The Scottish Screenwriters Festival is a success every year.