Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

How Hollywood projects bring in millions to Dundee and Fife economies

Projects filmed in Dundee and Fife, like James McAvoy's upcoming hip-hop biopic and Outlander, have had local benefits.

James McAvoy on location at Hilltown Court multi in November 2024. Image: Kim Cessford / DC Thomson
James McAvoy on location at Hilltown Court multi in November 2024. Image: Kim Cessford / DC Thomson

X-Men star James McAvoy’s decision to film his upcoming hip-hop biopic on location in Dundee has helped contribute more than £4.6 million to Tayside and Fife’s economies.

Research into the benefits of filming for TV and movies in Tayside and Fife has found huge financial rewards for local business and industry.

More than 400 days worth of filming was carried out in 2023-24, Fife Screen and Tay Screen recorded.

This includes McAvoy’s directorial debut California Schemin’, which will tell the story of Dundee and Arbroath “rappers” Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd.

The pair fooled the music world in the early 2000s as Silibil N’ Brains, pretending they were American hip-hop stars when in fact they were two Tayside students.

And popular TV shows like Outlander — filmed in locations including Culross and Falkland — and Val McDermid’s Karen Pirie series have also massively contributed.

Film and TV millions for Tayside and Fife

Tay Screen is a partnership between Fife, Perth, Dundee and Angus councils which promotes the area as a filming and production destination.

In their annual report, they point out more than £2.3m has been spent in the last 12 months by productions directly in Courier Country.

This in turn generated a further economic impact of £4.6m.

Film crews preparing for filming in Culross Palace for Outlander, Culross. Image: Kim Cessford / DC Thomson

Headed up by Julie Craik, Tay Screen promotes Tayside and Fife as a filming destination. It also advocates on behalf of local producers, directors and writers, and monitors the impact the industry has on economies and investment.

As well as contributing to direct spend, seeing Tayside and Fife on the big screen helps with tourism, Tay Screen reported.

Up to 40% of tourists visiting the country said they had been inspired to do so after seeing locations on film and television programmes.

California Schemin’

James McAvoy’s California Schemin’ film crew was spotted across Dundee in November.

The film is adapted from Gavin Bain’s 2010 book of the same name.

It follows the pair’s journey from being laughed out of an audition room to rubbing shoulders with Madonna and Eminem – before their elaborate hoax was finally found out.

The film will feature Seamus Mclean Ross, who will portray Bain in the film and Samuel Bottomley as Boyd.

Seamus, who is the son of Deacon Blue duo Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh, is a graduate of London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

Seamus Mclean Ross plays a leading role in California Schemin'
Seamus Mclean Ross plays Gavin Bain in California Schemin’. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson

And the 23-year-old Yorkshireman Samuel first appeared in Paddy Considine’s film Tyrannosaur alongside Peter Mullan and Olivia Colman.

Production crews shot scenes in the Hilltown – including inside the Hilltown Court multi, on Hilltown Terrace and Dudhope Street.

Scenes have also been filmed in the streets outside Tannadice Park, home of Dundee United.

Conversation