Entertainment Partners Joins Film City Futures’ FOCUS to Support Growth of Scottish Production Companies

London, United Kingdom: Entertainment Partners (EP), a global leader in entertainment payroll and production management and production finance technology, has joined leading UK non-profit Film City Futures’ FOCUS programme to accelerate the growth of Scottish production companies working across feature film, television and animation.

Delivered by Film City Futures in partnership with the Scottish Documentary Institute and supported by Screen Scotland, FOCUS supports independent micro-businesses and SMEs in Scotland’s screen sector – from emerging start-ups to established film, TV and animation companies – that require specialist business advice but do not have access to such support in-house.

Since 2017 the project has supported over 80 independent Scottish production companies, with initial support from Scottish Enterprise and Creative Scotland in the first two years, and continued funding from Screen Scotland thereafter.

As part of the programme, EP’s experts will deliver one-to-one consultancy services to participating Scottish companies, helping them to access the UK’s creative sector incentives and building the financial knowledge, skills and experience of company leaders. This support will help companies strengthen decision-making and navigate the requirements of UK production incentives including:

• Structuring advice to maximise UK production incentives;
• Practical guidance on qualifying criteria, Cultural Test applications and claim submissions;
• Early-stage financial planning, forecasting and cash-flow considerations; and
• Support around financial best practice and risk management.

EP will also provide mentoring services to start-ups and emerging production companies as and when required.

“Scotland’s screen sector continues to show enormous creative and commercial potential, and EP is proud to support that growth through Film City Futures,” said Lloyd Gunton, VP of Incentives UK at Entertainment Partners. “By sharing our expertise in production finance and incentives, we aim to help Scottish production companies build stronger, more sustainable businesses while navigating the complexities of today’s production landscape with confidence.”

“We’re delighted to welcome Entertainment Partners to FOCUS,” said Ashe Hussain, FOCUS Programme Director, Film City Futures. “EP’s depth of experience and practical, production-led insight will be hugely valuable to the companies we support, particularly those looking to scale sustainably and access specialist financial expertise that is often out of reach for smaller independent businesses.”

For more information on Film City Futures and how to access business support, go to filmcityfutures.com.

About Entertainment Partners (EP)

Entertainment Partners (EP) has been a trusted partner to the entertainment industry for 50 years, helping clients produce great content, choose the best production locations, manage and track expenses, and pay crew and talent. EP delivers integrated, cloud-based solutions to support every phase of production, including Movie Magic Budgeting, Movie Magic Scheduling, SmartAccounting and SmartPO +Payables. EP’s team of experts provides industry-leading insights on global and domestic incentives, workers compensation, regulatory compliance and employment issues. The company also brings together background casting and digital production technology through the Casting Portal (the leading SaaS-based platform transforming how background actors are found, hired, managed and paid) and the iconic Central Casting.

About Film City Futures

Film City Futures’ is a leading UK non-profit whose mission is to connect people, space and opportunity, enabling access and entry to the screen industries for all.  It offers industry focussed programmes that are creative, challenging and, most importantly, meet the needs of the screen sector in Scotland – from the engagement of new and emerging talent to personal and business development. Projects to date include JumpCut, a talent development initiative for 16-25 year olds; Frontrunners, an Executive Coaching programme for business leaders from television film and related media businesses; FOCUS, a business development initiative for screen businesses in Scotland; and Short Circuit, a film talent initiative supporting emerging writers, directors and producers in Scotland. Film City Futures is based at Film City Glasgow, a screen production facility which houses over 25 companies from across the Scottish production and post-production sector, which was co-founded by one of Scotland’s most successful film production companies, Sigma Films.