Tonight, Thursday 27 August, Màiri McAllan Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic announced that a new initiative for the global media and creative industries will be developed for Edinburgh’s August festivals.
The new initiative will build upon Edinburgh’s unique position as a global shop window for talent, content, and creative ideas, bringing together the city’s creative ecosystem with international media industries and audiences.
The launch event was also attended by Baby Reindeer and Half Man creator and star Richard Gadd who spoke on the importance of Edinburgh during August, as a place for new talent discovery, for ambitious work, and to progress careers.
Initial development work towards the new event was funded by Screen Scotland and completed in early summer 2026. This work was undertaken to consider, with fresh eyes, how Edinburgh’s August festivals partner to present a new offer to the global content industries, in response to the increasingly blurred boundaries between the different creative artforms and the way creative talent, IP and ideas move fluidly between them.
Independent consultant Rowan Woods has now been appointed to lead the next stage of development, which will again be funded by Screen Scotland and delivered through The Fringe Society. Working with the Fringe Society, Screen Scotland and a broader advisory group, Woods will consult widely across the August festivals and with producing venues, broadcasters, platforms, content creators, publishers and other potential participants and audiences to establish the shape of the new initiative and how it can best support the connection of new talent and IP to content commissioners worldwide.
The consultation will inform the shape and intent of the new initiative, including audience, dates, venues, programme and participants. This consultation phase is expected to conclude in early Spring 2027, with an initial pilot planned for August 2027.
The new initiative will build on the strong relationships that already exist between the screen industry and Edinburgh’s August Festivals, including the work of Screen Fringe, an ongoing collaboration between Screen Scotland and the Fringe Society, which supports hundreds of television and film executives to make the most of their time in the city each year. Screen Fringe is expected to remain part of the August festivals offer to the global screen industry.
Separately, Screen Scotland has confirmed that it will establish the Lynda Myles Debate as a keynote element of the August festivals from 2027. The debate will honour the contribution of Lynda Myles, formerly Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival and co-creator of the Edinburgh TV Festival, and her long-standing belief in Edinburgh as a place for ambitious and rigorous debate about the future of the screen industries and wider media landscape.
The Scottish Government is providing funding support for the new event’s development via Screen Scotland, and more details will be announced in 2027.
Culture Secretary Màiri McAllan said: “We are so proud of Scotland’s screen sector and this exciting addition to the August festivals line-up will provide a new way to embrace the creativity and cultural innovation which makes our capital unique.
“As a global hotbed of emerging talent, where new voices are heard and fresh stories are told, Edinburgh will continue its world-leading offer for the television industry with the support of the Scottish Government – and will do so alongside our other Edinburgh festivals, showcasing brilliance across artforms.”
David Smith, Director of Screen Scotland said: “Edinburgh has a unique role to play in bringing together the people, ideas and creative work that will shape the future of the screen and wider creative industries. Every August, the city becomes a remarkable meeting place for talent from around the world, alongside audiences, producers, commissioners, artists and creative thinkers. We have an opportunity to build on that extraordinary concentration of talent and energy and create something new, ambitious and genuinely distinctive for the global industry.”
Tony Lankester, Chief Executive at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society said: “Edinburgh’s August festivals create an unparalleled environment for discovering new talent, ideas and creative work. We know there is a strong appetite from people working across the global screen and creative industries to connect with that ecosystem, and we are excited by the opportunity to explore what a new offer could look like, particularly in a rapidly evolving media landscape. The development of this initiative gives us a chance to think afresh about how Edinburgh can serve the sector in August and to create something compelling for the future.”
On the announcement of the Lynda Myles debate, Lynda Myles said: “I’m deeply touched and honoured to have the debate named after me. It’s exciting to see the importance of ideas and discussion being recognised in the plans for the new event, especially as this was the initial intention of the creation of the Edinburgh Television Festival in 1976.”
Background
About Rowan Woods
Rowan is a curator, strategic consultant, and senior film and TV executive with over 18 years’ experience across festival programming, development, commissioning, acquisitions, distribution and journalism.
She currently works for Berlinale and the Toronto International Film Festival and provides strategic and creative consultation to clients including Screen Scotland and EFM.
She was previously the Creative Director at the Edinburgh TV Festival and prior to this she was a programmer at the BFI London Film Festival and led on international film festival relationships for the British Council.
She spent four years on the development team at BBC Film, has worked for BFI Distribution and Shudder and started her career as a TV and radio producer on many of the BBC’s key film and culture programmes, including The Culture Show (BBC2), Film 2010-11 (BBC1) and Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review (BBC 5 Live).
An experienced public speaker and moderator, she frequently hosts BAFTA and AMPAS screenings during awards season and industry panels on the international Festival circuit.
About Lynda Myles
After eight years at Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, she spent two years as Director and Curator of Film at the Pacific Film Archive at the University of California, Berkeley.
On returning to the UK, she produced her first feature film, DEFENCE OF THE REALM, for David Puttnam’s Enigma Films. She then joined Columbia Pictures as Senior Vice-President for Creative Affairs, after which she spent two years as Commissioning Editor for Drama at the BBC.
In 1976, with Gus MacDonald, she created the Edinburgh Television Drama Event, which later became the Edinburgh Television Festival.
In 1990, she co-produced THE COMMITMENTS, directed by Alan Parker, which won Best Film at BAFTA in 1991, plus three other BAFTA awards and an Oscar nomination for Editing.
In 1992, she produced THE SNAPPER (winner of Inter Alia, the Premio Goya and the Prix Italia) and in 1996, THE VAN, both directed by Stephen Frears and written by Roddy Doyle.
She also produced WHEN BRENDAN MET TRUDY, also written by Roddy Doyle and co-produced KILLING ME SOFTLY, directed by Chen Kaige.
In the early 1990s, she was co-founder and director of the East West Producers’ Seminar, the first training programme for creative producers in Eastern Europe.
She is the co-author, with Michael Pye of the MOVIE BRATS, the first book dealing with Martin Scorsese, Francis Coppola, Brian de Palma, George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg and John Milius.
From 2004-2017, she was Head of Fiction Directing at the National Film and Television School.
About Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society is the charity that underpins the world-renowned Edinburgh Fringe. It was established in 1958 by a group of artists to provide central services for the festival and ensure that it stays true to its founding purpose of inclusion and welcome to all. We exist to support and encourage everyone who wants to participate in the Fringe; to provide information and assistance to audiences; and to celebrate the Fringe and what it stands for all over the world.
Based on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, the Society has a small team of staff who work year-round to assist all the artists and audiences who make the festival one of the best-loved performing arts events on the planet. In 2022, as part of the Fringe’s 75th anniversary, the Fringe Society launched a new collaborative vision and set of values. It made a series of commitments to become more inclusive, fair, and sustainable. The vision is ‘to give anyone a stage and everyone a seat’.
Our three values will guide the behaviours and decisions of everyone involved with the Fringe: celebrate performing arts, be open to all and look out for each other. The Society will live by them, champion them and uphold them where necessary.
About Screen Fringe
Screen Fringe supports film and television professionals visiting the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to discover writers, comedians, performers and intellectual property. With a focus on helping unearth talent and stories that can transition from stage to screen, delegates are provided with access to industry networking, 1-2-1 programme navigation, show reports and curation, talent introductions, social events ticketing support and general advice.
Screen Fringe is funded by Screen Scotland and delivered in partnership with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society.
About Screen Scotland
Screen Scotland drives development of all aspects of Scotland’s film and TV industry, through funding and strategic support.
Screen Scotland is part of Creative Scotland and delivers these services and support with funding from Scottish Government and The National Lottery. Find out more at screen.scot and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.
Media Contact
Eilidh Walker
Media Relations and PR Officer - Screen
M: +44 (0)7545 402 064