Laura McBride aims to champion “Scottish voices and a different side of Scotland”. In addition to a number of shorts, including Sleazy Tiger by fellow Rising Star James Ley, McBride was associate producer on John Maclean’s 2025 Glasgow Film Festival opener Tornado and on Aylin Tezel’s 2023 romantic drama Falling Into Place. Next up is a Scotland-set feature, under wraps, directed by Madrid-born, Spain-based Iciar Bollain.
McBride was previously involved with film education, working at Edinburgh International Film Festival, Screen Education Edinburgh and the BFI Film Academy, “with kids from under-represented groups, using film as a tool for engagement”. It was through helping youngsters make films that McBride “realised it was what I loved”. Supported by ScreenSkills, she went on to do a masters in producing at Screen Academy.
The Edinburgh-born and based producer, who started Lothian Films, founded Compact Pictures with John McKay after working with him on Tezel’s film and other projects. “We don’t just represent Scottish talent, we like to champion underrepresented talent,” she says.
The slate includes working with screenwriter Ley on gay romcom Lovesong To Lavender Menace, about the founding of Edinburgh’s first queer bookshop. “I adore the script,” says McBride. Compact is also working with Rising Star Rachelle Atalla on thriller The Pharmacist. “Rachelle’s writing is fantastic. We met when she was making her first short [in 2020], so the relationship goes back a while.”
Among Compact’s achievements is an award from the BBC Small Indie Fund, which offers a combination of money and mentorship. “It’s great to have a more established relationship with the BBC,” says McBride, adding that the money has allowed them to “option some work and put money behind some of the writers we’d normally be asking to work for less until we got to the commissioning stage”.
Compact is also developing Gift From God, the feature debut from Catriona MacInnes, co-produced by Jessie Fisk at Feline Films, and expanding its TV slate.
McBride continues to mentor, despite her busy schedule. “You learn by doing but you have to pass on that knowledge as well. I find it rewarding building relationships with people who are coming through.”
Contact: Laura McBride
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