

TF5 - WDWGFH Director John McPhail's New Feature - 'Anna and the Apocalypse' Trailer Rel
Tartan Feature - Where Do We Go From Here? led director John McPhail on to make the fantastic Anna and the Apocalypse. Proof that Micro-Budget Features can be an alternative stepping stone to the mainstream. And Orion releasing your film! Last week saw the release of the official trailer for Anna and the Apocalypse, reaching over 1 million views in just over a day. https://www.empireonline.com/movies/anna-apocalypse/zombies-christmas-anna-apocalypse-trailer/ #JohnMcPhail #An

DIY Micro Feature and Short Film Festival
In June 2016, just as Edinburgh International Film Festival had their final day we thought it would be fitting to show Scotland's filmmaking community and public there was an alternative industry - The DIY Filmmaking Industry. We decided to put on a special event which would celebrate independent filmmaking, a day of DIY features, shorts, Q+A's, talks, panels, networking and music. The event would be centred around two Tartan Features - Where Do We Go From Here? and Big Gold

Democratising the Filmmaking Process Volume 3 : DIY Distribution : How to Get Your Short or Feature
Democratising the Filmmaking Process Volume 3 : DIY Distribution : How to Get Your Short or Feature into a Film Festival This is our third DIY Distribution guide. Part 1 was how to make your movie available on Amazon Prime and Part 2 was how to get your movie reviewed and written about. Of course there are other options for getting your film seen by the public, and one of the most traditional is Film Festivals. In recent years Film Freeway has become one of the most useful di

Empire of the Sensless: Funding, Promoting and Nurturing Emerging Talent pt1
Yesterday, I identified three problems I see currently facing Scotland's film industry. Today, I want to focus on the first of those problems - funding for emerging talent, and the promotion and nurturing of that talent. RIP IT UP AND START AGAIN My personal belief is that for the film industry to flourish it has to become more accessible – to everyone. Barriers between the Existing Industry and everyone else must be broken. We live in a society where filmmaking is no longer


Filmmaker Q&A: David Newbigging on Darkness Comes
Brand new to Amazon - and Tartan Features - Darkness Comes is David Newbigging's debut feature film. The film's production acted as a crash course in filmmaking for a group of young people local to the film's set in Greenock. We chatted to him about the making of the film and inclusion in the industry. Tell us a little bit about Darkness Comes - how did it come about? Darkness Comes was originally titled Dying Light. I worked for years in community arts companies and third se

'Even the Silent are Guilty in the Empire of the Senseless: The Creative Problems of the Indigen
The last decade has brought with it what I refer to as a Year Zero moment in filmmaking. Every aspect of filmmaking has changed beyond all recognition from when I first started my career in the early 2000's. I think mostly for the better. Cultural movements of the 20th century which have also been referred to as Year Zero moments have mostly followed the same path of change, with those who adapt with the times moving forward, and those who don't stagnating. Times and circum


Tartan Features #16 Darkness Comes Available Now on Amazon
What was your first time like? For Eddie it's going to be the most memorable night of his life. Waking up to find himself tied to the bed of the mysterious Suze may have been a fantasy, but torture and being initiated into an ancient cult has now become his nightmare. A nightmare which will change the course of Eddie's life, and all those he meets. Tartan Features is delighted to announce the release of TF #16, Darkness Comes, from BAFTA award-winning director David Newbiggi

Five Years – And the changes seen in the Scottish Indie Film Community.
Five Years – And the changes seen in the Scottish Indie Film Community. Today is the Fifth anniversary of Tartan Features. Coincidentally, David Bowie sang a song called 5 years. Unfortunately that’s as far as any links to us go. If he’d been singing about dogs and micro-budget feature films then it would have been uncannily apt. Year Zero: Tartan Features Fifth Annual Semi-Report In the five years of Tartan Features we’ve observed – and learned a lot about the Scottish Film

Attitude and Ideas: Year Zero Tartan Features 2017 Review
Attitude and Ideas: Year Zero Tartan Features 2017 Review “Great art always comes from attitude and ideas” so said the Gang of Four. This is also true of film but with the important addition of tenacity. The Cambridge dictionary defines tenacity as ”the determination to continue what you are doing” Ideas alone are just not enough when making, promoting and distributing independent films on your own – something we learned when we started in 2013. Attitude is great if you have

A New Model For Micro Budget Film Distribution.
A New Model For Micro Budget Film Distribution. Short Circuit The Film Industry As has become fairly apparent to anyone reading our occasional musings we are more than a little enamoured by a niche area of the music industry, the 1970s/80s independent record scenes of the UK. A period where amateur musicians, non musicians, outsiders, weirdos and mavericks – all those outside the established music industry suddenly found a voice and created some of the most inspired records o