Buccaneer Media targets international scripted with Dougray Scott in Scotland

By Nico Franks, C21 Media

Buccaneer Media, the London-based production company behind crime drama Marcella, has set up a new business in Scotland with actor Dougray Scott.

Glasgow-based Buccaneer Scotland has been set up to promote Scottish voices and culture and will create original international drama series with Scottish literary talent.

The business will be led by Tony Wood and Richard Tulk-Hart, who are joint CEOs of Buccaneer Media, a partnership with Canada’s Cineflix Media, together with Scott (Mission Impossible 2).

It comes after the trio recently collaborated on Crime, the BritBox original series set for release tomorrow, starring Scott. The show is based on Scottish author Irvine Welsh’s novel of the same name.

Buccaneer also recently announced it is developing two other Welsh novels for TV, The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins and The Blade Artist. The latter picks up 20 years after the events in fellow Welsh novel Trainspotting, which was adapted as a hit film in 1996. In the show, Robert Carlyle will reprise his role as Frank Begbie, which he played in the film.

Scott said: “The idea of setting up a production company in Scotland comes from a desire simply to tell Scottish stories. I’ve been lucky enough to work all over the world and see life through many different eyes. My intention has always been to ultimately tell stories that derive from Scotland. We have an extraordinary amount of talent in our country – young, old, from many different backgrounds.

“I’ve been lucky enough to work with writers from the likes of Iain Banks to Irvine Welsh and I feel I have an innate understanding of Scottish writing. Our stories travel effortlessly and resonate to every corner of the planet. We have so many similarities with all the nations of this world, but also a uniqueness that makes our tales ripe for telling, and also to be showcased everywhere.”

Wood added: “Authorship sits at the heart of Buccaneer and our intention has always been to promote voice. Scotland is home to two of the world’s great literary cities with a tradition of rooted, subversive, full-throated roars. Buccaneer Scotland is designed to discover, nurture and take that voice to the global stage.”

Tulk-Hart said: “Producing Crime in Scotland was a joy and a privilege – in Glasgow, we found a story on every street. We’re very excited about our plans for Buccaneer Scotland and would like to extend our thanks to Screen Scotland and Glasgow City Council, who’ve been incredibly supportive in helping us establish our new home in Glasgow.”

David Smith, director of screen at Creative Scotland said: “Screen Scotland worked closely with Buccaneer to facilitate Crime filming in Scotland, supporting the production and Buccaneer’s skills development work with an award from the Broadcast Content Fund.

“Buccaneer’s new expansion into Scotland with Dougray renews Tony and Richard’s very welcome commitment to developing authentic and entertaining drama from Scotland for international audiences.”