Edinburgh Filmhouse, Glasgow Film Theatre and Distrify get £90,000 fund

Online film promotion and distribution service Distrify, the Edinburgh Filmhouse and the Glasgow Film Theatre are the joint beneficiaries of a £90,000 fund from the Scottish Digital Research and Development Fund for Arts and Culture.

The three organisations were among six groups to receive backing from the £500,000 fund run by NESTA, Creative Scotland and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), which aims to harness digital technologies for the benefit of the arts and cultural sector.

Other beneficiaries include the Lyceum Theatre Company, which is working with tictoc, Dundee Contemporary Arts, working with Lucky Frame and Denki, and National Galleries of Scotland, which is working with Kotikan.

The projects will be undertaken over the next 12 months. Joining the partnerships will be a team of researchers led by the University of Stirling, in partnership with University of Strathclyde and University of St. Andrews. 

In autumn, the fund will back a second round of projects.

Jackie McKenzie, head of innovation programmes Scotland for Nesta: said: “We hope that by applying a rigorous research and development mindset to this fund, we can uncover new ways of working that will help the entire sector to thrive.”

Iain Munro, director of creative development, Creative Scotland: “This Digital R&D investment will introduce many arts and cultural organisations to the limitless possibilities of technology to share and promote their work to audiences worldwide. Using a mixture of innovative resources, existing expertise and collaborative working, this once again puts Scotland’s creative sector at the forefront of new ways of engaging with the world.”

Chief executive of the AHRC, professor Rick Rylance, said: “This initiative promises to tell us a great deal about how partnerships involving arts and cultural organisations, technology providers and arts and humanities researchers can spark innovation, benefit the arts and make a contribution to the vital Creative Economy. The chosen projects are rich and varied and the wider sector will learn a great deal from them. We look forward eagerly to hearing about their progress.”

Distrify is separately teaming with Creative Scotland on a website dedicated to watching and sharing Scottish films.