Fife pupils visit the set of The Rig in Edinburgh

Students from Lochgelly High School in Fife visited the set of The Rig in Edinburgh recently and met its star Martin Compston.

Amazon which has commissioned Season two of the TV drama invited the drama and media studies students to the set, where they also toured the rest of FirstStage Studios where the programme is being filmed. The students watched some of the action and met Executive Producer Jon Strickland as well as David Macpherson the writer.

Suzanne Reid, Producer of The Rig, said: “It was a pleasure to host the students from Lochgelly High School in our studio. The cast and crew, who are largely Scottish locals, loved speaking with the students, hearing about their goals, sharing advice from their own careers, and encouraging them to consider a career in Scotland’s screen sector.

“Being from Fife myself, I am passionate about encouraging homegrown talent to join our industry. I was lucky enough to attend a weekend performing arts club in Lochgelly when I was at school, which was a huge inspiration to me, so I know how valuable it is to raise young people’s aspirations and give them first-hand insight into the future careers available to them in Scotland.”

Olivia Porteous, English and Media Studies teacher from Lochgelly High School, added:“Our students absolutely loved visiting the production of The Rig in Leith and we were blown away by the kindness and generosity of the cast and crew. It was an amazing experience that will stick with our pupils and has given them a great taste of what a career in acting, script writing, or production might look like. I’m hopeful that it will provide huge inspiration for their future careers.”

Eugenie Teasley, Head of Impact at Amazon, said: “Inspiring young talent a priority for us at Amazon, and we have a great opportunity to do this in Scotland’s creative industries. From The Rig to Anansi Boys, we are filming a number of high-end TV productions in Scotland and supporting hundreds of jobs across the sector. We hope the students from Lochgelly High School were inspired by their visit to the studio in Leith and can’t wait to see a new generation of talent flourish.”

Amazon has invested more than £50 million into the Scottish screen sector supporting 670 jobs in the creative industries in Scotland. And of course one of the biggest Amazon fulfilment centres is situated in Dunfermline where the first Big House was created – a multilink donations hub.

Screen Scotland recently announced that spending in Scotland’s screen sector increased by 55% between 2019 and 2021, contributing £627 million to Scotland’s economy in gross value added. The production sub-sector supports 7,150 full-time equivalent jobs in Scotland as of 2021 increasing from 5,120 in 2019.

Last year, Amazon announced it has invested over £50m into the Scottish screen sector with productions including Good Omens Season 2, and The Rig and Anansi Boys, both filmed at Edinburgh’s FirstStage Studios. The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) receives funding from Prime Video for three years to support four students on its BA Production programmes, with cost-of-living bursaries available for the duration of their studies at RCS. Ten Prime Video Craft Academy trainees are based out of Scotland from the National Film and Television School (NFTS) Glasgow hub. Placements are with production companies IWC, Firecrest, HeeHaw, Storyboard Studios, Blazing Griffin, and hire company Progressive Broadcast, and on series The Rig, River City, Shetland, This Farming Life and Lagging.