Following the establishment of The Sean Connery Foundation in 2022 by the estate of Sir Sean Connery, the Foundation is pleased to announce four new grantees across Scotland. These are Glasgow Media Arts Centre (GMAC), Screen Education Edinburgh (SEE), Station House Media Unit (SHMU), Aberdeen and The Portal Arts, Glasgow. Each of these grantees, along with the Scottish Youth Film Foundation (SYFF), announced in October, 2022, support young people in developing the skills, knowledge, confidence and connections needed for work in the film & TV industry at a time when more creators are choosing to produce content in Scotland. The Foundation’s commitment to these grantees provides unrestricted funding over three years, with all four grants totalling approximately £1Million.
Speaking on behalf of the Foundation’s work in Scotland, Jason Connery said: “Before he was a globally recognized movie star, my dad was a lad from Fountainbridge, and he never once forgot that whilst talent might be distributed equally, opportunity is not. By supporting access for passionate young people to the screen sector, no matter what their circumstances, we’d like to help dreams come true. We hope that young people with an appetite for visual storytelling and a curiosity about the many behind-the-scenes jobs that make movies possible, will reach out to our grantees and get involved.”
Foundation Chair, Stephane Connery, added: “The screen sector has enjoyed strong growth in recent years as more global productions choose to shoot their film and TV projects in Scotland, providing good jobs for industry-ready young people. Our screen-education grantees offer a wide variety of programs that introduce participants to the possibility of a career in screen production, often for the first time, and provide a clear path into an exciting industry that is too often considered out-of-reach.”
Each Foundation grantee delivers a hands-on introduction to film-making that spans the entire creative process, from writing, producing, and acting, to sound, lighting, set design, costumes, and editing, enabling participants to try out the wide variety of roles available in the screen industry.
In addition to accelerating interest in a full scope of film & TV production careers, the Foundation’s grants portfolio aligns with Scotland’s cultural and educational priorities. By supporting organisations focused on helping passionate young people create and share their stories, the Foundation is investing in a new generation of skilled storytellers and a creative workforce with the 21st-Century literacy capabilities vital to Scotland’s future.
Participants in grantee programs report gaining valuable organisational and collaboration skills, experience in both advocacy and narrative storytelling, and increased confidence, laying the groundwork for fulfilling careers within the creative industry, and beyond.
The goal of The Connery Foundation is to accelerate positive change through strategic grant-making to education and ocean conservation institutions and organisations in Scotland and The Bahamas, the two countries Sir Sean Connery called home.
About the grantees
Established in 1982, GMAC Film is an open access media centre based at Trongate 103 in Glasgow. Our mission is to engage young people, communities, and emerging film talent from under-represented groups to:
Build confidence, skills and aspirations
Increase access to education, training and employment
Raise awareness of social issues through film
Create a fair, ethical, and diverse screen sector in Scotland
It achieves this through six main pillars of work: youth work, education, employability, filmmaking, partnerships, and community engagement. GMAC Film seeks to empower people of all ages and backgrounds to engage in projects free at the point of delivery so that low income is never a barrier to taking part, giving confidence, knowledge and ambition to those who become involved, allowing each voice to be heard.
Euan Platt, CEO of GMAC Film has said:
“GMAC Film has been championing diversity and increased access in the screen sector for over forty years, so we are thrilled to be selected as one of the Connery Foundation’s new grantees. This support will allow GMAC Film to sustain and develop its work across our wide range of programmes for young people, communities, and emerging film talent, and help ensure that more people- regardless of background- have the opportunity to use filmmaking as a way of conveying personal experiences, highlighting social issues, and telling powerful stories.”
