Archives for November 2009

It's hard to imagine a time when the National Lottery didn't exist.

When corner shops didn't have a little spot dedicated to government sponsored gambling and the queue at the supermarket kiosk was for cigarettes and not the lotto rollover.

But cast your mind back to the furore when the then Conservative Government decided to introduce the game.

Critics described it as a tax on the poor while others claimed it simply legitimised gambling.

Few were won over by the argument that 28 pence in every pound spent would be used for nominated good causes - arts, sports, heritage, education, environment, health, charity and voluntary projects.

If the government wanted to give to charity, why not do it directly, instead of setting up state sponsored gambling?

Fast forward 15 years and it's quite a different landscape. Quite literally.

From new buildings like Dundee Contemporary Arts and Our Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh, to the restoration of old buildings like Kelvingrove and even older - Rosslyn Chapel. The Falkirk Wheel, the RSS Discovery, Ben Nevis, Hampden Park - there's barely a project created in the last decade which hasn't had lottery money.

And it's not just buildings. Money has been used to restore old paths, support woodlands and even protect endangered species - the basking shark and black grouse among them.

Even those who initially opposed it are happy to take their share of the windfall - religious groups in particular, have been happy to apply, even though many individuals still oppose the use of lottery money for personal reasons.

There have been casualties. The Big Idea in Irvine - a variation on the science centres which continue to prosper in Glasgow and Edinburgh - was an early loss. And talks are still underway about the future of the Lighthouse, which went into adminstration at the summer.

But on the whole, Scotland's track record in lottery investment seems to be a solid one, something Colin McLean, chair of the Scottish Lottery Forum puts down to good partnerships and preparation (applicants complain about the amount of paperwork - he says it's vital to make sure every project is carefully thought through.)

The only downside - at least for the Heritage Lottery Fund - is that the funding is set to decrease, thanks in part to the demands of the London Olympics.

"We've probably seen the last of the big projects - the multi-million pound museum refurbishments like Kelvingrove," he says.

"But we remain one of the largest funding sources for heritage in Scotland and we may just see a different sort of application in the future."

Perhaps more applications from communities like Govan - where grants so far have helped refurbish a row of derelict shops for artistic groups, employ staff at the Pierce Institute and a film production company, and upgrade community football pitches at Ibrox.

They're hopeful they can also get further funding for plans to turn the Fairfield Shipyard Offices into a modern workspace and restore the little fountain at Govan Cross.

And while Heritage Lottery Money is down, the other pots of funding are apparently predicted to increase over the next few years, meaning many communities, if they're sharp, can secure funding for the things that matter most to them.

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Forget stretch limos, red carpets and fancy hotel rooms. It seems the true guage of whether you've made it onto the Hollywood A-list is whether you have a man to dispose of your chewing gum.

Step forward Paisley born actor Gerard Butler - star of 300 and PS I Love You - in Glasgow for the European premiere of his new film Law Abiding Citizen.

An American fan - who follows Mr Butler to most of his premieres - presented him with her usual gift of a piece of chewing gum (thankfully fresh and still in its wrapper).

Mr Butler happily took the gift and chewed away as he posed for the photographers on the red carpet.

But as he arrived inside Glasgow's Cineworld to do his various TV and radio interviews, it became clear the gum just had to go.

And as he searched frantically for a suitable spot, a smartly suited gentleman stepped forward, whispered in his ear and quietly deposited the gum (used) in his own trouser pocket.

Service beyond the call of duty.

The 40 year old actor - who read law at Glasgow University - says he was taken aback but delighted by the hundreds who gathered at the the cinema for the premiere.

"I used to joke that Glasgow was the one place I could come where I wasn't recognised - or at least didn't attract the same level of interest as elsewhere," he says.

"This is something else - but it's lovely."

In the 12 years since he gave up law and gave acting a try, Butler has become one of Hollywood's most bankable leading men.

Mrs Brown was his first film role - playing Billy Connolly's younger brother Archie Brown - and since then he's notched up more than 20 films - from romantic comedies (PS I Love You) to horror (Wes Craven's Dracula 2000) to musicals (The Phantom of the Opera) to his best known role - in the ultra violent epic 300.

Law Abiding Citizen - his first venture as producer as well as actor, through his own production company Evil Twins - is also extremely violent (I watched most of the press preview through my fingers).

In it he plays Clyde Sheldon, a seemingly ordinary man who goes to extraordinary lengths to avenge the murder of his family.

You could shoot peas through the plot it has so many holes - would two violent house-breakers knock on the front door first and sweep antique clocks off the mantlepiece into their swag bags?

Why do all the police interviews happen inside an enormous cage a la Silence of the Lambs? - but if you're prepared to take it all with a very large pinch of salt - possibly smelling salts if you're in the least squeamish - then it is enormous fun.

It's hard to discuss Clyde without giving away the twists and turns of the plot but suffice to say he's not the simple character we first assume.

"That was part of the challenge,"says Butler.

"You feel sorry for him because he loses his family but then some people will think he goes too far, and some people will still feel sorry for him and other people just can't make up their mind how they feel about him. And that's what I like about him."

The other sign of a Hollywood A-lister is the speculation about Hollywood girlfriends and Butler has had his fair share.

"Was it true that he was dating Jennifer Aniston?"asked the reporter next to me.

"Do you think if I was dating Jennifer Aniston, I'd be keeping it quiet?" was his suitably Scottish reply.

"I'd be parading her up and down Sauchiehall Street."

Instead, it was a Scotswoman on his arm last night - his mum Margaret.

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You can't miss an eight metre tall puppet striding round the streets of various Scottish towns, particularly when he's painted a vivid shade of blue.

But somehow I missed the Big Man Walking around Bute, Buckie, Kirkcaldy, and Invergordon over the last month.

I did, however, make it to Inverclyde at the weekend and took a stroll round Gourock with Big Man (and hundreds of locals).

The whole point of the project, created by The Puppet Lab and Puppet Animation Scotland, was to literally allow the Big Man to walk through communities and let them show the best of their area.

Thus in Bute, the locals made lanterns while in Buckie, they made a big blanket and tucked him up in bed.

Despite the rain on Saturday morning, there were little mini performances about the history of the area (one centred on sugar manufacturers Tate and Lyle) and cheerleaders running through a routine in the playground.

Hundreds of people - myself included - walked with him around the park.

He's such an amazingly elaborate puppet - including joined limbs and blinking eyes - that you can't tire of watching him.

Many more watched from their windows - a rare opportunity to look a giant in the eye.

The 12 puppeteers may have been pulling his strings but the community was well and truly in charge of their event, making it a properly local arts event.

And from what I hear, the events across the rest of Scotland were equally impressive.

The big question for the Big Man is what happens to him next?

I'm told he has one date in his diary - December 31st - as he's been signed up to appear as part of Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations.

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The glitz and glamour of the annual Bafta Scotland awards betrayed some pessimism in the home grown industry.

While Alan Clements, director of content at STV, tried to remain upbeat about the complete lack of any nominations for the broadcaster (the first time since 2004), others were worried it was symptomatic of a much wider problem for the industry.

Best TV actress Daniella Nardini was shocked to discover there were no female nominees at all in the Acting in Film category while Robert Carlyle - who won Best TV Actor - told reporters he was so dismayed with the lack of work here that he is considering relocating his family to Vancouver, where he's making the Hollywood sci-fi series Stargate Universe.

Carlyle made similar headlines last year after winning an award for his film Summer.

Back then, he warned the industry was being squeezed by a drop in private investment.

Good films, he said, simply weren't being made and that, he says, is even more noticeable a year down the line.

But despite the one-horse race (the BBC had 32 nominations, with some categories containing only BBC programmes) most guests were adamant that the awards were vital to the industry.

Since reintroducing the awards in 2004, both Bafta Scotland directors (first Alison Forsyth and now Helen Anderson) have tried to increase the pzazz and shuffle the categories to hide the sparser areas of production (like last year's Best Film Actress category, which solicited only one entry, Sophia Myles, who duly took home the prize without needing to even leave her own house).

While it is working, it does only highlight just how small and fragile the home-grown industry is.

The biggest appeal of the evening - aside from the chance to wander round the Science Centre with a glass of champagne in hand - is the networking and the talk of the evening was the revival of Taggart and the demise of Scottish Screen's film production fund.

While Scottish Screen is confident the fund will, like Taggart, also be brought back from the dead, it's unlikely to have any funds to release in 2010, when the process of merging Scottish Screen with the Scottish Arts Council to create the new Creative Scotland agency will continue.

That, say many of the more experienced film-makers there last night, could create real problems for the next generation of film and television talent who'll simply have to put their projects on hold, and it may create talent vacuums for Bafta Scotland in ceremonies to come.

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I choked on my popcorn when i saw the trailer for the new Disney version of A Christmas Carol.

"You've never seen anything like this before!" it proudly declared.

Errr, unless you've read one of the greatest works of English literature or seen one of the myriad of stage and screen versions which have been churned out at regular intervals over the years.

Everyone from Alastair Sim to Patrick Stewart, via The Muppets, have offered their take on this Christmas tale of love and redemption.

The British Film Institute even got in on the act yesterday.

But in fairness to this version, it has achieved something new, not least introducing a new generation to the genuinely scary ghostly goings on.

In that sense, it's probably closer to the original Dickens' tale than other adaptations.

Capture animation - where the actors perform their scenes wearing special bodysuits and then the action is animated - is a technique used by director Robert Zemeckis before in The Polar Express.

But here, in a story which has the central character flying over London, crawling beneath the sewers and tumbling into graves, it really comes into its own.

Jim Carrey, who can create cartoonish expressions any way, is particularly impressive and it's very clear it IS him, not just in Scrooge but in the Three Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, which he also plays.

The great advantage to the technique is that it means actors can play several different roles and the whole film - crowd scenes and all - is pretty much staffed by just 15 actors.

The doubling up makes sense, particularly with Scrooge, since aren't those ghosts just figments of his own imagination?

Last night's London premiere - attended by the film's stars Jim Carrey, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins and Robin Wright Penn - coincided not just with the switch on of the Christmas Lights (this early? bah humbug!) but with simultaneous screenings of the film in 28 cinemas across the country, including Glasgow's Braehead Odeon.

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The elegant setting of Glasgow University's Bute Hall couldn't have been a more apt setting for the first Built and Historic Environment Summit in Glasgow.

Over a hundred representatives from the key heritage bodies were gathered for a brainstorming session, attended, and at one stage, chaired by culture minister Mike Russell.

With just a few hours to fit it all in, delegates had to keep it brief but several points were made loud and clear:

Heritage is not just buildings. It's archaeology, landscape and collections.

It doesn't matter if it's listed, if it's important to your community, it's important.

Too many people chasing too little money so communities have to start taking ownership of their heritage or accept it may be lost.

History needs to be taken to street level. Not just about cathedrals and castles, it's about people's homes and streets and the spaces between them.

Community involvement got a thumbs-up from the culture minister Mike Russell, not least because of the squeeze on government funding at local and national levels.

His question - to the assembled movers and shakers was how to persuade communities to take responsibility.

All well and good if it's an A-listed cathedral but what if it's a less likeable modern ruin.

Does the community in Cardross feel as strongly about St Peter's seminary as the people of St Andrews feel about their crumbling cathedral? I suspect not.

There's no way of controlling what old - and new buildings end up on your doorstep and, as several delegates pointed out, it's not just about buildings.

Can you rouse the same level of community support for an archaelogical find or a sprawling museum collection?

One issue raised by several delegates - including architect Malcolm Fraser - is the issue of VAT which, according to many people, is hampering attempts to restore and repair old buildings.

It's an issue that the newly arrived chief executive of Historic Scotland, Ruth Parsons is well qualified to discuss at length. Among her previous roles before taking up the post, she was a VAT inspector for the Inland Revenue.

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