Happy Birthday filmmaker Gillian Berrie, born on September 8th 1967 in Glasgow.
Now you probably haven't heard of Gillan Berrie , unless, like me you're a wee bit of film buff, Gillian has probably done more for Scottish film in the last twenty-odd years , than any other person.
Gillian co-founded Sigma Films in 1996 with director David Mackenzie. Together they made several award winning shorts before embarking on their features, since then they have been involved in some of the best Scottish films, either with Sigma or others, including the brilliant Hallam Foe, starring Jamie Bell, Perfect Sense, with Scarlett Johansson and The Last Great Wilderness and Ken Loach’s My Name is Joe. If you haven’t seen any of these films do so as soon as you can. I must mention another Berrie produced film, prison drama Starred Up, and a second mention of the day to the film web site Rotten Tomatoes, where the movie has an outstanding 99% rating.
At the Scottish BAFTA New Talent Awards in 2002 she won the BAFTA for Outstanding Achievement. In order to create a vibrant hub for the film community in Scotland, Gillian founded Film City Glasgow in 2004. In 2012 she founded Jumpcut, the Uk’s one and only, intensive, mentor-led summer school to provide a fast-track for youngsters into working in the film industry. The project is widely regarded as a runaway success.
In 2014 Gillian received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of West of Scotland for her contribution to film, culture and the arts.
Sigma’s films regularly premiere at A List festivals and have received over 150 awards internationally, including the Prix de Jury in Cannes for Red Road, and the Silver Bear in Berlin for Hallam Foe as well as numerous BIFA and BAFTA nominations and awards, my favourite film by Sigma is the Robert the Bruce movie Outlaw King, which Berrie produced, an earlier film sh produced, which I really like is the prison drama,Starred Up
Gillian has a number of projects on the go just now, some only shorts, which to me means she likes keeping busy, she is Executive Producer of an upcoming US Mini-Series, Under the Banner of Heaven set in Utah.
