Moguls aim for Hollywood in the Highlands

A SECOND Hollywood is being proposed for the Scottish Highlands in plans that would establish the first big film studio north of the border.

Key figures in the industry are said to be behind the initiative. They were frustrated that Braveheart, for example, although shot on location in Scotland, was moved to Ireland for final production.

The proposed studio, to be sited in Perthshire, would be modelled on Ardmore Studios in Ireland, where the Irish film industry has grown up during the past decade. The site in Auchterarder is not accustomed to the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Demi Moore walking its streets. It is most famous for its Calvinist theology and fashioning the Auchterarder Doctrine on forsaking sin.

Nevertheless, Scottish Film Studio Partnership, a consortium of film and property interests, has picked the area out of seven other possibilities and is competing with another proposal backed by the actor Sean Connery and Sony Entertainment to establish a studio nearer to Edinburgh.

Tony Antoniou, spokesman for the Glasgow-based consortium, said that the success of movies such as Rob Roy and Trainspotting had convinced doubters there was now a commercial case for Scottish studios to rival the handful based in England. He said that the consortium had been in talks with government officials seeking tax concessions of the kind enjoyed by the Irish film industry. "We need that sort of help," he said. "We know that Braveheart moved there because of the tax regime and the fact that members of the Irish army were offered as extras."

The pounds 88m investment would be part of a bigger, pounds 255m package including a 300-bed, five-star hotel with casino, a golfacademy and a country club, 100 luxury homes and a further 50 executive houses, two golf courses, a film training school with links to a university, a recording studio, a drama school, a leisure development including restaurants and bars, and a movie museum.

Mr Antoniou said the scheme would create 1,000 jobs.

Yesterday, the Perth and Kinross Council planning department seemed a little shocked at the thought of entertainingstars. "This is the biggest single planning application we have ever received," said a spokesman. "Having Scotland's first national film studio would obviously be a prize. We will do everything possible to overcome any planning problems."