Little Pictures
Do you have a story to tell?
Little Pictures is designed to support people at the early stages of their filmmaking journey to make their first funded short in fiction, documentary, animation or experimental genres. Whether you’ve never made a film before or have created a few on your own, Little Pictures offers the chance to gain practical experience, develop your voice, and take creative risks in a supportive environment.
Funded by Screen Scotland, Participants receive up to £6,000 in funding, access to training and workshops, a dedicated industry mentor, and ongoing support from the GMAC team – plus free access to equipment and resources. We’re particularly focused on supporting underrepresented voices in the screen sector.
The Little Pictures Scheme is now in its sixth year and has produced a diverse range of over 50 films from all across Scotland, spanning several genres, themes, stories and perspecitves.
Browse our entire film slate here.
Any questions? Email us at littlepictures@gmacfilm.com
Applications are now closed for the 2026/27 round of Little Pictures.
Current Participants
Glasgow Alice (she/her) is a British-Nigerian photographer based in Glasgow. She is deeply influenced by her mixed-race heritage, and as such is interested in understanding the complexities of identity and what it means to ‘belong’. She utilises both analogue and digital formats to capture her observations, her own experiences and those of others, to explore what shapes our sense of character and place. Through intimate storytelling and strong visuals, Alice hopes to explore themes of community, childhood and identity, while taking into consideration broader political and cultural contexts. Shaped by her own background and a love of travel, she is also interested in oral history and the ability of storytelling to transcend cultural and geographical boundaries. She hopes that her work may just help connect us to people and places that might otherwise have felt inaccessible. Looking Back to Yemoja follows grieving teenager Ilesha and her grandmother in an intimate exploration of loss, belonging and spirituality. Glasgow Anna (she/her) is an artist and filmmaker based in Glasgow. She predominantly works in experimental documentary film, telling personal stories about the ways connection and isolation coexist in everyday life. She builds films from photographs, home videos, laggy FaceTime calls, digital ephemera, and other artefacts. ‘Death Report’ is about the suddenly finite images and documents left behind when someone dies, and their inadequacy in telling a complete story. It takes up the facts and figures of a real death report and complicates them with memory and feeling. Glasgow Diego Migliorini (he/him) is a Brazilian writer-director based in Glasgow. He holds BAs in International Relations (PUC-SP) and Filmmaking (FAAP-SP), an MA in Screenwriting from Roteiraria and an MA in Film Directing (Kino Eyes Master’s). He has worked as an assistant director and script supervisor on features, series and music videos, and since 2020 as a director and screenwriter on shorts and commercials. His graduation short, Don’t Call Me That (2020), screened at over 30 festivals and won 24 awards. Later work includes Feira da Ladra (2023), Hole (2024) and the queer sci-fi They Bend Stars (premieres at SQIFF 2026). Selected for the Glasgow Film Festival New Talent Mentorship, he shadowed Brian Welsh on The Return of Stanley Atwell (Hera Pictures). He is a film reviewer for Raindance, a preselector for London Short Film Festival, a mentor for young filmmakers on the Netflix-funded Ignite programme, and is developing his debut feature. Rey left his country with a PhD, three languages and a reason. In Glasgow, he has an apron. When he finds out a successful colleague is being awarded in London while he’s wiping tables, he struggles to remember what the reason was. Edinburgh Hannah Low is a Hong Kong/Scottish writer, dramaturg and actor based in Edinburgh. She trained in Musical Theatre before moving into playwriting and dramaturgy, developing work with the Traverse Theatre, Wonder Fools, Vanishing Point and Playwrights’ Studio Scotland. She was also the 25/26 Dramaturgy Fellow at the National Theatre of Scotland. Alongside her theatre practice, Hannah is developing her work in film and TV, recently working as a Development Assistant with Dead Pan Pictures and co-writing her first TV pilot. Sing Song is a short documentary exploring the strange and fascinating relationship between stuttering and singing. Rooted in lived experience, the film asks why speaking and singing can feel so different, what happens to our sense of voice, confidence and expression when we move between the two, and how growing up with a stutter shapes who we are now? Shetland Hasan (he/him) is a Turkish filmmaker and digital content creator based in Shetland, Scotland. He studied Radio, Television, and Cinema at Kocaeli University and then pursued a Master’s degree in Film, specialising in Directing, at Screen Academy Scotland/Edinburgh Napier University. During his over ten-year career, he made seven short films and a TV Series pilot. Also, he worked for various companies as a digital content creator and contributed to many film projects in different roles. He currently works as a content marketing specialist for a regional media organisation. As a director, Hasan focuses on conveying the big stories of small and flawed people who are overlooked, complicated to understand, but easy to judge without hiding behind the camera and with a faint smile on the audience’s face. Expired is a satirical comedy-drama about Ali, an immigrant in his late 20s who moved to Shetland to support his partner’s teaching career and works as a barista. One stormy day, when his partner is away on a school trip, he realises his foreign driver’s license has expired. Needing to get to work, he gets into his partner’s car anyway, hoping no one will notice his lack of a license in such a rural area. However, just before setting off, he spots a police car parked in the distance and, fearing the consequences, turns off the ignition and slips back inside. Isolated in the middle of nowhere, Ali begins to panic, torn between the possibility of losing his job and the risk of deportation if caught driving with an expired foreign license. Glasgow John (he/him) is a Scottish filmmaker based in Glasgow. From the early days of script development, to late nights in the edit suite, John loves every aspect of filmmaking. He graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s BA Filmmaking course in 2023, and was the inaugural winner of the Sam Heughan Write Start award for his play ‘Bucket of Sunshine’. The following year, he was selected as one of four National Film and Television School x Prime Video Craft Academy Trainees based in Scotland. He now works as an Assistant Editor and Data Manager across HETV dramas, feature films and documentaries John is drawn to stories that are weird – but deeply personal and emotionally resonant. He’s thrilled to join the Little Pictures 2027 cohort, and excited to bring his next film ‘Bean’ to audiences. ‘Bean’ is an absurdist comedy set in the near future, where shrinkflation has spiralled out of control. Janine, a mid-40s supermarket worker, returns home, having spent £100 on three items: bread, butter, and a tin of “Bean”. Inside the tin, she finds nothing but sauce, even after swirling and prodding. What lengths will Janine go to find the single bean she paid for, and will she like what she finds at the bottom of the tin? Through one woman’s quest for a bean, the film explores the loneliness of economic instability, and the things we need beyond the shopping bag to survive. Edinburgh Julia Rowlandson (she/her) is a French-English filmmaker based in Edinburgh. With a background in political science and geography, she is interested in the systems and root causes behind the environmental challenges we face, and passionate about bridging art and science. She loves being outdoors, painting, getting lost in books, music and water sports. Through her first film, she aims to break barriers and raise awareness around access to nature for health and wellbeing. Storytelling connects us to different lived experiences, can shift how we see our place in the world and, ultimately, how we act in it. As part of the Little Pictures film development programme, she will experiment with telling the story through mixed media, and make the film itself accessible as part of the creative process. My Shell is an impressionistic portrait of a former surfer who after losing sight rediscovers a sense of freedom through snorkelling with her friend. The underwater world is felt, not just seen. Orkney Louise is an experimental filmmaker from Orkney, living and working in the islands. Working with analogue film and observational cinema, her practice is rooted in a background in textiles and sculpture and explores relationships between people, landscape and environmental change through 16mm film, sound and attentive observation. Her films have screened at Alchemy Film & Moving Image Festival, Aesthetica Short Film Festival and the Slow Film Festival, and her practice also includes collaborative workshops and participatory filmmaking projects. Working closely with the local landscape, Louise is interested in the ways weather, light and seasonal change shape our experience of place. Her films explore the quiet gestures, rhythms and traces of everyday life, using tactile analogue processes to explore movement, memory and place. Across a summer’s day in Orkney, daisies follow light, weather and movement, revealing the quiet choreography of human and non-human life. Glasgow Amanda (she/her) is a Glasgow-based producer working across film exhibition, festivals and community cinema.
Prior to working in film exhibition, she spent several years as an assistant producer delivering a range of award-winning documentary and factual programming across TV, radio and podcasts.
She is drawn to stories that explore the complexities of being human: films that tackle difficult subjects with sensitivity, find humour in unexpected places, and capture the good, the bad and the sometimes downright ugly of being alive. When she isn’t at the cinema, you’ll find her racing her bike somewhere far-flung and scenic.
Through Little Pictures, Amanda hopes to develop her producing practice, champion distinctive voices and fresh perspectives, and bring new stories to the screen that connect with audiences. Edinburgh Francis MacKenzie (he/they) is an Edinburgh based producer from Inverness. Graduating from Edinburgh Napier University, Francis produced two short films in his final year: Bless You! & Bowl. Francis found his passion in production, bringing stories that blend drama and comedy to life. Producing allows him to tell Scottish stories with warmth, humour, identity, and humanity. Bowl has most notably screened at SQIFF, OFN Film Festival and FOCUS Wales Film Festival, among many others. Through his experience with Bowl, Francis has collaborated with several charities and organisations, believing that community and filmmaking go hand in hand. This led to working with Leap Sports, Bowls Scotland, The Commonwealth Games and other additional exciting screenings. Francis was part of the Sean Connery Talent Lab in 2026 and produced Ragdoll, which will have its world premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2027. Ready to take on more ambitious projects, Francis will bring his queer Scottish lens and love of inclusive storytelling into the wider industry. Glasgow Jay Newton (he/him) is a Scottish filmmaker, actor and producer from Glasgow, with over ten years’ experience spanning film, television and post-production. He began his career as an actor, working across projects including ITV’s Payback, the Scottish BAFTA-nominated feature Our Ladies and BBC’s upcoming drama Counsels. Alongside his acting career, Jay has expanded into producing, writing and directing whilst also building extensive experience in post-production. He currently works at Savalas Post as a post production coordinator, collaborating with filmmakers and production teams across a range of different projects. Jay co-founded Glasgow-based production company New Lore Productions with fellow acting graduate Dylan Blore, where he continues to develop ambitious and meaningful projects. His production credits include producing their debut short Handle With Care, the crowdfunded short Goodbye Honey Henderson alongside writing and directing his own short to be released this year, Am I Going To Die?. Aberdeen Katie (she/her) is a filmmaker and video journalist based in Aberdeen. She works as a Film Development Worker at shmu, a community media charity, where she works alongside communities to help people have a voice and tell their own stories through film, as well as making documentary films for shmu and partner organisations. She is interested in stories that explore people’s lives, relationships and experiences, revealing something about the wider world. She believes sharing stories through film can be a powerful way to challenge perceptions and help reduce stigma and discrimination. Edinburgh Margaret Wacera (she/her) is an Edinburgh-based film producer working across film and television in Africa and Europe. Her work includes documentaries for organisations such as the IFC–World Bank, as well as the fiction feature films Chinga and Half Open Window, which won Best Film at the 2023 Zanzibar International Film Festival. Her children’s short film Ndoto screened at the Silicon Valley African Film Festival and Cinekid in the Netherlands. Her latest short, Passing Place, premiered at the 2026 Edinburgh International Film Festival and continues its festival journey. She is a graduate of the Kino Eyes European Film Master, an alumna of the CNC/Deental Series Mania SeriesLab and Talents Durban. She is passionate about international co-productions and building creative collaborations across borders. Glasgow “Originally from France, I’ve worked in film and television production across France, Belgium and Scotland, where I now work in locations. With a background in architecture and Japanese studies, and a lifelong interest in art and music, I’m drawn to the ways people, places and culture shape stories. I’m delighted to be joining the Little Pictures Producer Scheme 2026/27 to broaden my experience and explore new creative possibilities.” – Marie (she/her) Glasgow Ren Oisín Clark (they/he) is a community facilitator, cultural worker, and activist based in Glasgow. They have diverse experience working with people to bring ideas to life, always guided by their commitment to trauma informed, collaborative, and feminist ways of working. They view the way they work with people as a creative and activist practice, and have developed this practice over the last decade with projects grounded in community creativity and heritage as tools of liberation. With a Masters in Gender Studies and roles at Glasgow Women’s Library, Kinning Park Complex, Cymera Festival and Glasgow International, their experience spans heritage, literature, visual art, events and festival coordination. Ren Oisín is interested in film and moving image as an inherently archival practice whose potential to bend or refuse genres allows space for stories to be communicated in radical and expansive ways. Edinburgh Tomás (he/him) loves the collaborative, creative process behind storytelling. Originally from Argentina, and after growing up near Liverpool, he has found his place in the creative scene of Edinburgh. He focuses on stories that champion change and amplify topical issues, and enjoys working alongside a team of creatives to bring each project to life. As a Screen Academy Scotland graduate and BFI Academy alumnus, he works across genres, from dark comedies that spotlight parasocial relationships affecting society to dramas that show the complex process of dealing with trauma as a young adult. Tomás also believes in the importance of creating spaces to watch films. During his degree, he worked closely with ENSA (Edinburgh Napier Student Association) to launch the first and second editions of the Napier Student Film Festival, further developing his creative production skills. Outside of film, he enjoys playing hockey, spending time outdoors and collecting old magazines and maps!
Alice Daniel
FilmmakerLooking Back To Yemoja – Fiction
Anna Davis
FilmmakerDeath Report – Documentary
Diego Migliorini
FilmmakerDark Roast – Fiction
Hannah Low
FilmmakerSing Song – Documentary
Hasan Firat
FilmmakerExpired – fiction
John Black
FilmmakerBean – Fiction
Julia Rowlandson
FilmmakerMy Shell – Documentary
Louise Barrington
FilmmakerDay’s Eye – Experimental/Animation
Amanda Johnston
Producer
Francis MacKenzie
Producer
Jay Newton
Producer
Katie Paterson
Producer
Margaret Wacera
Producer
Marie Galipienso
Producer
Ren Oisín Clark
Producer
Tomás Vega Roulet
Producer
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT
For those who face additional barriers, we are able to provide additional resources to support you. please read about our access provisions here:
