DIGITAL MEDIA
Scotland is internationally recognised for its strengths in
digital media, including computer games, animation, web development
and multimedia content. The sector is knowledge-rich and employs
9,000 people in over 700 companies. Scotland is one of Europe's top
locations for computer games. One of the world's most successful
games, Grand Theft Auto, comes from Rockstar North in Edinburgh.
The capital is also home to the Edinburgh
Interactive Festival, established in 2002, which showcases
the growing popularity, development and influence of video games
and interactive entertainment.
FILM AND TELEVISION PRODUCTION
With over 100 Scottish-based production companies, production
activity in Scotland is the highest in the UK outside London. Those
in Edinburgh City Region include Running Productions, a
digital production company that won a BAFTA for its work on a
website to promote the film The Day the Earth Stood Still; Django Films, the animation
studio of Sylvain Chomet, the writer and director of the Academy
Award nominated film Belleville Rendez-Vous; Ten Alps PLC, owner of three
award-winning factual production companies; Hand Pict Productions, which has a
number of documentary credits for BBC Scotland and One-Eyed Dog Scotland, a
progressive media company with credits including Judge John Deed
and Life for Daniel. Edinburgh is also home to the International Film Festival, International Television Festival and Screen Academy
Scotland.
JOURNALISM
Scotland has a long-established reputation for excellence in
newspaper and broadcast journalism and a large newspaper and
magazine publishing sector. Newspaper publishers based in Edinburgh
City Region include Johnston Press, owner
of Scotsman Publications, the Falkirk Advertiser, Fife Advertiser
and other titles, and Clyde and Forth
Press, publishers of the Dunfermline Press. BBC Scotland and
STV both have news studios in Edinburgh covering the Scottish
Parliament and other East Central Scotland news. Independent radio
broadcasters across the city region include Radio Forth, Radio Borders and Kingdom FM. Edinburgh Napier
University's School of Arts
& Creative Industries offers one of the UK's
longest-running journalism courses.
LITERATURE
A host of celebrated writers have helped forge Edinburgh's rich
literary
legacy over the centuries, including James Boswell, Sir Walter Scott,
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis
Stevenson, JM Barrie and John Buchan.
Today authors including JK Rowling, Alexander McCall Smith and
Ian Rankin continue the tradition. Edinburgh was named the world's
first UNESCO City of
Literature in 2004 and is home to the International Book Festival, the National Library
of Scotland, the Writers' Museum, the Scottish Poetry Library,
Scottish Book Trust, the Scottish
Storytelling Centre and the Scottish Publishers
Association.
ARCHITECTURE
Edinburgh is renowned for its architecture and is home to some
of the world's best known buildings. Famous architects that have
completed buildings in the Inspiring Capital include Robert Adam, William
Playfair, Norman
Foster and Enric
Miralles. Internationally acclaimed architect Sir Terry Farrell has an
office in Edinburgh and was appointed as Edinburgh's first ever
City Design Champion by The City of Edinburgh Council in 2004.
Other high-profile practices in the city include global
architectural group RMJM and
Malcolm Fraser
Architects. Two of Scotland's six schools of architecture are
in Edinburgh, at Edinburgh College of Art and The University of
Edinburgh. Heriot-Watt's School of the Built Environment and
Edinburgh College of Art also
offer planning and urban design courses, while a number of colleges
across the city region offer related architectural technology
qualifications.
MARKETING, PR, ADVERTISING AND DESIGN
As Scotland's capital and home of the Scottish Parliament,
Edinburgh City Region is an important centre for the nation's
substantial and growing marketing communications industry.
Edinburgh is home to some of Scotland's largest and most successful
players in this sector, including The Leith Agency, Feather Brooksbank,
Weber Shandwick,
Tayburn Design and
Navyblue, a design group that produced the brochure for London's
successful bid for the 2012 Olympic Games. There are also a large
number of smaller agencies and consultancies specialising in
different marketing communications activities, including public
affairs. Scotland-wide, the sector is estimated to contribute more
than £1 billion to the Scottish economy.
