Our Patrons

Iain Smith

Born and raised in Glasgow, Iain is one of the UK’s most experienced film producers. He has served on the boards of the UK Film Council, Scottish Screen, the Joint board of Creative Scotland, the Children’s Film and Television Foundation. He has been a Governor of the National Film and Television School, Chair of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the Film Industry Training Board and the Film Skills Council. Currently Chair of the British Film Commission, he is also a patron of the London Film School, sits on the Advisory Board of the Scottish Screen Media Academy, and the Media Academy Wales. He is a board member of Film London In 2005 he was awarded a BAFTA for Outstanding Achievement in Film, and was made an OBE by HM the Queen in 2008 for services to the film industry. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts at Edinburgh Napier University, and an Honorary Doctorate of Letters at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. Iain Smith has produced many successful and award winning films around the world, including “The Killing Fields”, “The Mission”, “The Fifth Element”, “Children of Men”, “Spy Game” “Cold Mountain” and most recently the six times Oscar winning “Mad Max: Fury Road”

I’m President Because…

I’m President because I believe Scotland badly needs to serve the interests of it’s young people better in finding creative and vocational opportunities in the media.

Sara Vickers

Sara Vickers is an actor from Edinburgh. She was a member of the Lyceum Youth theatre whilst at school and moved to London in 2007 to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Since graduating she has worked extensively in television including The Watchmen (HBO), Guilt (BBC), Endeavour (ITV), Sunshine on Leith (DNA films), Mandown (CH4), The Alienist (TNT) and Shetland (BBC).

I’m a Patron Because…

I am an SYFF patron because I believe they provide truly unique and invaluable opportunities. I never had the chance to experience camera work before being on a job and there is so much to learn. SYFF allows young people the opportunity to explore the complex filming process at a grassroots level. They provide a place of safety to get creative, experiment, have fun and make friends. SYFF have the power to inspire and instil confidence in Scotland’s future film-makers.

Douglas Mackinnon

Douglas Mackinnon is primarily a television drama director, and a sometimes executive producer and showrunner, whose credits include Sherlock, Line of Duty, Doctor Who, Outlander, and Good Omens. Shows he has directed have been nominated for and won Emmy’s, BAFTA’s and many other awards, and have also made a lot of people rich, which he’s only mildly bitter about. The Sherlock episode he directed won him the BAFTA Scotland award for Best Director and won the Emmy for Best TV Movie. He likes the directing bit more than the recognition bit, but knows that one feeds the other. The shows he’s worked on have had a range of audience sizes, including in the 204 countries that Good Omens went out to, or the 120,000 people who once watched a documentary about the local newspaper on the Isle of Skye, where he’s from. He doesn’t know who watched Good Omens, but suspects he knows most of the 120,000 who watched the documentary.

I’m a Patron Because…

I’m a patron because I’ve seen the resultant light in the eyes of some of the young people who SYFF help make films and I want to try and help more have that experience. I also want more people to know how easy and difficult it is to make films, and how much joy there is in finding that out.

Kat Morgan

Kat started her career in Film and TV a little over 10 years ago, coming from an Arts background specifically in Oil Painting and Drawing before realising her passion for Hair and Make-Up Design. Kat started out as a Hair and Make Up Artist on Short Films and TV Series before designing her first feature film, LIMBO. Directed by Ben Sharrock and produced by Creative Scotland and Film4, LIMBO went on to make the Official Selection at Cannes, TIFF and LFF in 2020 and received two BAFTA nominations, as well as many other awards and nominations. Kat then went onto design Ruth Paxton’s A BANQUET which was part of both London and Glasgow Film Festival official selections; and critically acclaimed BLUE JEAN with Director Georgia Oakley which was also nominated for a BAFTA, several BIFAs and screened at both LFF and TIFF in 2022. Most recently, Kat has designed Nora Fingscheidt’s THE OUTRUN, starring Saoirse Ronan, based on the best-selling novel of the same title and Mikko Makela’s SEBASTIAN both part of Sundances 2024 Official Selection.

I’m a Patron Because…

For many young people, Film and television can be an integral part of who we are, how we perceive the world and finding relatability. They engage us and cause us to reflect and experience different emotions. This wasn’t an industry I felt was an option for me growing up in a small village in Fife but I want to encourage more young people to consider it as a viable career path.

Tommy Gormley

Tommy Gormley is a Glasgow-born and bred film producer who has somehow managed to turn an adolescent love of movies into a full-time career blowing things up – safely and on schedule. Known for staying calm when everything around him is on fire (sometimes literally), he has helped steer some of the biggest franchises in modern cinema.

His credits include Elizabeth, Angela’s Ashes, Phantom of the Opera, Wonder Woman, two Star Trek movies, two Star Wars movies, Sonic the Hedgehog and five Mission: Impossible films - proof that people keep trusting him with very expensive toys. Tommy has built a reputation for guiding large-scale, stunt and VFX heavy projects from first discussion to final delivery, keeping both the creative vision and the budget intact, and he has received the BAFTA Scotland Outstanding Contribution to Craft award and is also a two-time recipient of Directors Guild of America awards.

Despite working all around the world, Tommy is a proud Glaswegian, and brings that direct, no-nonsense, good-humoured sensibility to every production.

He strives to be the person you call when the script says ‘impossible’ and the schedule says ‘tomorrow’. When he is not wrangling missions, hedgehogs, starships or galaxies far, far away, Tommy is committed to mentoring emerging filmmakers, sharing the lessons he has learned from years on set.

He is currently producing the Warner Bros. film working title ‘The Great Beyond’, which was shot partly in Edinburgh and Glasgow - because he made them…

I’m a Patron Because…

I realise how hard it can be for young people to break into the film business.

Or even just to see it as a remotely attainable path to follow.

There is huge creativity and talent out there in our young people, but opportunity sadly often isn’t.

I want to help champion that creativity, and build opportunity and inclusion, regardless of background or indeed postcode.

SYFF helps young people find their confidence, develop genuine and transferrable skills, and realise that their stories are worth telling.

Sarah Purser

Sarah Purser graduated from Strathclyde University with a degree in Scottish Literature, nurturing a lifelong love of stories that celebrate Scotland’s rich heritage. Her career began behind the scenes as an Assistant Director on high-profile films working with top-end talent, where she quickly learned the art of collaboration - and the value of her waitressing skills from years working in restaurants.

Sarah’s passion for new voices led her to the theatrical phenomenon A Play A Pie and A Pint, the UK’s largest producer of new writing. She worked as Co-Producer with founder David Maclennan, championing innovative theatrical talent and providing a stage for exciting new voices, all while remembering that your number one duty is to entertain.

Inspired by the vibrancy of Scottish culture, and the wealth of talent around her, Sarah founded Little White Rose Films, an independent company dedicated to bringing Scottish writing to the screen. She is currently developing several projects, including Wax Fruit - an ambitious, multi-season TV series set in Victorian Glasgow, designed to bring Scotland's stories and spirit to a global audience and showcase the nation on an epic scale.

I’m a Patron Because…

I am proud and very excited to be a patron of SYFF. Supporting the next generation of storytellers means nurturing talent, encouraging creativity - but most importantly, giving time and opportunities to young people who simply would not have the film industry on their radar or believe it was one they could ever consider as a career. I very much look forward to working with the young talent at SYFF and championing the foundation’s inspiring work.

Raisah Ahmed

Raisah Ahmed is a Screenwriter and Director working across film and television and 2024 Screen International Rising Star Scotland. Currently developing feature 'Half-Moon Camp' with Producer Zorana Piggott and Film4, and 'Hina & Kara VS The Assassin' with Producer Reece Cargan. Other credits include directing on CBBC’s 'Sparks', 'Princess Mirror-Belle' and 'Molly & Mack’, BBC3’s 'The Break' and writing on BBC The Social’s award winning phone drama 'Control' and WB Discovery animated series ’Toad and Friends'. She was in the writers room for Season 1 and 2 of CH4 Series ‘We Are Lady Parts’. She is currently adapting, and is an EP on, Martin Sixsmith’s ‘Ayesha’s Gift’ for television with Freedom Scripted, as well as developing ’Nur’ a 6-part original romcom for television with Carolynne Sinclair Kidd. Raisah is on the BAFTA Scotland Committee and chairs the Glasgow Film Festival Industry Advisory Group.

I’m a Patron Because…

Storytelling helps us create the type of world we want to live in. The work that SYFF does is absolutely vital in giving as many young people as possible the chance to dream of becoming a part of the screen industries, and being given the opportunities to make those dreams a reality.