Antonine Films, Paddy Higson’s company that produced or co-produced many of the best Scottish films over the last ten years, has effectively folded after one of the backers of the company, declined further public funding. Antonine is the company behind award-winning Scottish films, such as Duck, Close , Good Day For The Bad Guys and Fridge, all directed by Peter Mullan. Its biggest success was Orphans, which won four awards at the 1997 Venice Film Festival.

Higson’s film and television production company, with 20 projects in development, folded after the Glasgow Development Fund signalled there would be no more money to follow the £200,000 invested in 1999. As a result of her company’s problems, Paddy Higson has felt obliged to resign her membership of the board of Scottish Screen, where she has worked tirelessly towards the betterment of Scotland’s screen industries.

Higson admits the speed at which the plug was pulled on Antonine surprised her. "There was nowhere else to turn. All the available avenues had been explored and, really, that was that. Game over."

At the age of 59, Higson is hailed by many as the Godmother of the Silver Screen in Scotland. She is credited as responsible for finding, encouraging and pushing much of the country’s screen talent which has helped Scotland gain a self-confidence in film, rooted in the present more than the past, however illustrious that past might be.

The recent events will stir bitter memories for Higson. Her previous company, Black Cat Films also went to the wall through a funding crisis.

Scottish Screen recently announced that future strategy for production using lottery funds would seek to support Scotland’s talent, which could include production companies, as well as individuals. Whilst recognition of companies as part of the talent base, deserving of support, is welcome news, it clearly came too late to help Antonine at a crucial moment in its cash flow.

Insecurity
Many in Scotland’s film industry must now be wondering just how secure the position of leading production companies is, in the precarious world of film financing, where long lead-in times and uncertain financial returns make survival a chancy business. Others will feel the fate of Antonine is a confirmation of fears that the film industry may not be run by creative filmmakers at all, but by accountants.

A decision by some investors to draw a line under Antonine, owing about £150,000, was effectively a death sentence. Higson says her company’s projects were only a few months behind, hardly unusual in an industry with long run-in times.

A meeting with BBC Scotland may save one Antonine-developed project, which hopefully, may find a home elsewhere.

"There's a meeting on this week to finalise production of a new sitcom with BBC Scotland," says Higson.

"It's called Talent, and although Antonine played a large role, it will now be made elsewhere, probably in-house, with no further contribution from us. It is very sad. Development can take several years before filming even begins. Backers need to hold faith if they want to get involved with this sort of business; they need to be in it for the long haul. There needs to be an awareness, too, that there are no guarantees in this business. It is a high-risk industry."

Foresight
On Antonine’s film development slate, things might have been even worse, but for the foresight born out of bitter experience of industry uncertainties. Magdalene, written by award-winning actor-director Peter Mullan and one of the most talked about scripts in Scottish film history, starts filming in only three weeks and has just landed acclaimed actress Vanessa Redgrave in a lead role.

Magdalene, a harrowing tale of systematic rape and abuse of young women in an Irish asylum, will be produced by Frances Higson, Paddy's 30-year old daughter, who has been brought up in the midst of film business and is thought of as one of the brightest thinkers in Scottish film today.

Close To Disaster
Filming of Magdelene is imminent, but will be able to go ahead. "We are just three weeks away from filming. I can't bring myself to think about what would have happened. It was so close to disaster," Higson says. "Peter Mullan is just so talented and now that Vanessa Redgrave is aboard it is shaping up to be very exciting and important."

It has taken a year-and-a-half to get to this stage - fast for a film. Almost £3m is tied up in the project - roughly the same amount given by the Scottish Arts Council to Scottish Screen for the whole industry. From the outset, and fortuitously it turns out, Antonine PFP, a separate company, was formed to produce Magdalene (PFP are Peter, Frances, and Paddy).

Unlucky Black Cat
Black Cat, Higson’s previous company, folded in 1990, after a dip in the number of industry commissions. Black Cat gems include Brond, Silent Scream - the award winning film on Larry Winters, the Barlinnie special unit inmate and poet - and The Girl In The Picture. The company became a focal point for a whole generation of film-makers.

Paddy acknowledges that going under with two production companies does not look good:

"Black Cat was about 10 years ahead of time. It was a catalyst for some very exciting developments which are apparent in the most successful independent production companies today. Both Ideal World and Wark Clements have developed a successful platform of television news and documentary programmes that brings the regular funds in to allow them to expand in other directions and make more entertainment based programmes and films. I believe that is the recipe for success, if you can make it work."

Praise
Senior figures from the Scottish screen world are supportive of Higson and what she has achieved, but are too well aware of the risky arena in which filmmakers operate.

Stuart Cosgrove, head of Channel4’s Nations and Regions, who has worked alongside Higson, is fulsome in his praise of her:

"She is one of the trailblazers of independent film in Scotland. "

"Paddy has always been hugely and emotionally committed to creating a feature film industry in Scotland. That is a kind of casino industry, it is a high-risk area of the creative industries.

"The major commercial successful companies in Scotland like Picardy, Ideal World, Wark Clements, the Digital Animation Group, are actually not involved in a significant sense in that idea of the major feature film world. Television is more sustainable, especially if there is a series.

"The features part of Paddy's work is very, very high risk. Somebody can pull out at one meeting and two years' work hits the dust. It is perilous. The loss of a company to the industry is a blow. But the one thing that won't be lost is Paddy's enthusiasm, particularly her commitment to bringing on new talent. She really has brought on so many generations of new talent. That's her passion and that's not owned by a company."

Archer’s Lament
John Archer, the Chief Executive of Scottish Screen, lamented the loss of Antonine Films on the eve of an initiative to appoint an executive producer to bring script production and financial planning together. All too late now for Antonine and its dream of encouraging Scottish writers, producers, and their talent to grow beyond the first level.

A Scottish Screen spokeswoman says: "It is terribly sad to lose a company with the stature and pedigree of Antonine. It all comes down to cash flow problems and a need for investors to see a return.

In a Category of Her Own
Mike Russell of the Scottish National Party, who used to run a production company himself holds Higson in great respect. "In a category of her own" is his concise description. He goes on: "A bit fierce, enormously well respected, and deeply in love with her chosen line of work. She had come through personal difficulty and business failure, yet was still punching well above the weight normally expected from a producer outside the magic circle within the M25.

Russell describes taking a film from idea to screen as "A minefield of risk and chance."

"Individuals working on their own have not only got to research, write, and present proposals with minimal resources, but they must also generate cash flow by actually making things at the same time.

Roller-Coaster Ride
Russell describes the whole area as a roller-coaster ride, where smoothing out the route and elimination of risk is near impossible.

"Guaranteed production deals or back-up business finance are as hard to get as the commissions themselves. And, at any point on this wheel of fortune, a cancelled meeting, a delayed decision, or a change in commissioning personnel can destroy months of work."

To Russell though, despite current problems, Higson is to be admired.

"To me Paddy Higson is still a hero, despite the loss of her company."

Blow To Scottish Screen
"Given what she has been through, her resignation from the board of Scottish Screen as a result of her business failure is also a tremendous blow to that organisation, for she has a real and hard-gained insight of how difficult it is to be a focused creator of a quality product in a market which is increasingly debased and cheapened."

Russell, who is SNP spokesman for Arts, Broadcasting and Culture, is critical of the way the film market works, particularly concerning finance:

"Most of those who make the financial decisions have never soiled their hands with the shop-floor labour, nor faced the heartache and hardship of broken dreams and financial failure."

She’ll Be Back
However, Russell is confident that the film world has not seen the last of Paddy Higson. "Paddy, I am sure, will be back. Once you've created magic with pictures there isn't much else you want to do."

On Higson’s past record, he is probably right.

And, she’ll come back fighting.