Compact is the coming together of working-class queer producer Laura McBride, and BIFA Breakthrough Producer John McKay, who met through training as producers on BFI Network shorts in Scotland and went on to co-produce international feature film FALLING INTO PLACE with Weydemann Bros (The Outrun, System Crasher) which won the FIPRESCI Critics Prize on its debut at Tallinn, and will be released in the UK in April 2025.

A successful evolution of Compact Productions, Emmy- and Prix Europa-winner John McKay’s start-up production company based in Glasgow, and BAFTA-nominated Lothian Films based in Edinburgh, Laura McBride’s company at the forefront of an emerging generation of diverse talent in Scotland, Compact’s work is based on our passion for and direct relationships with the next generation of female, diverse and underrepresented film-makers from Scotland, and beyond.

As well as THE SILENCE BEFORE YOU SPEAK, a next feature in development with Aylin Tezel (Falling Into Place) and Weydemann Bros, we are working with Scots-Egyptian novelist Rachelle Atalla on the screen adaptation of her tense bunker novel THE PHARMACIST (development supported by BFI); James Ley’s sparkling gay romcom about the founding of Edinburgh’s first gay bookshop LOVESONG TO LAVENDER MENACE, with Flare-alumnus Savvas Stavrou attached as director (development supported by Screen Scotland); PRICKER, the feature debut of Scots drama powerhouse Cora Bissett, whose short THE SINGER was BAFTA-nominated (development supported by Short Circuit); and GIFT FROM GOD, a tense psychological drama from writer-director Catriona McInnes which was selected for LIM 2024.

Other fresh talents we love and are in early stages of development with include with Alice Clark, Skye Lab and BBC WritersRoom alumnus; writer-director Alia Ghafar, a winner of the BFIxBMW short challenge with her short HEN DO; Iranian-Swedish genre enthusiast Nathalie Ahmadzadeh; and with Scots-Filipino director Tim Courtney, BAFTA-winner for his queer short MY LONELINESS IS KILLING ME.

Laura McBride is founder of Lothian Films, championing diverse voices and women writers and directors. Projects include BFI NETWORK shorts SCUZZ (Alia Ghafar), BAFTA Scotland-nominated Groom (Leyla Coll-O’Reilly) and d/deaf film The Singer (Cora Bissett & Jamie Rea) (LFF Short Film Award nominee). Edinburgh-based Lothian’s feature slate includes Gift from God (Catriona MacInnes), Pricker (Cora Bissett), Yellow Moon (Alia Ghafar), selected for IFFR Producer’s Lab.

John McKay has had a long and successful career as a writer and director on films such as Crush, starring Andie MacDowell and Imelda Staunton, and Piccadilly Jim, starring Sam Rockwell. His 2012 film about Jean Shrimpton and David Bailey, We’ll Take Manhattan, which he wrote and directed, won him the prestigious Prix Europa for Best Drama. TV credits include iconic BBC series Life on Mars, starring John Simm and Philip Glenister, Lip Service with Laura Fraser and Fiona Button and ITV’s Bobby Moore biopic, Tina and Bobby, starring Lorne MacFadyen and Michelle Keegan in the title roles.