Fashionably Late

In order for the blog section of a website to pay dividends, it is generally considered best practice to update it more than once every two years. Regrettably, that’s not what happened in this case but there’s no point dwelling on the past. At least, not once the ink has dried on this blog post about the past.

filming in the cuillin last year

the dàna crew on the cioch nose

With a view to keeping this brief, I’ll summarise 2022 in as pithy a manner as is realistically possible. With the unyielding support of Solus Productions and a stellar crew, a second series of ‘Dàna | Scotland’s Wild Side’ appeared on BBC Alba. Having directed, shot and edited the series, I am very proud that it has gained a nomination in the Factual Entertainment category at the Celtic Media Festival. Win or lose, the awards ceremony – due to take place in Donegal – will present further opportunity to test the theory that the black stuff tastes better on its home soil.

Enjoying a guinness on arran

Other 2022 highlights included working with trad legends Breabach on a series of music videos, and directing two stories for Gaelic current affairs programme, Eòrpa, now in its 30th series. Eòrpa predates me by about eight months and as such, feels as vital to the fabric of television as Countdown or QVC. Accordingly, when given an editorial input into 28 minutes of screen-time, I felt like a pilot who has just received his wings – terrified and heavily reliant on in-flight protocols to operate safely.

hard at work on eòrpa

interviewing contributors

in the edit

More recent projects include work for Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the University of Glasgow and a series of live videos for prog-rock wizard, Jack Wakeman. Production is also underway on Dàna’s third series, and last week’s filming followed climbers up the Old Man of Stoer, an instantly recognisable sea stack on the North-West coast of Scotland. Filming the ascent required about six hours of hanging in a harness and progressing up the stack ahead of the climbers. Arduous at the time, but unquestionably one of the most satisfying filming experiences I’ve had to date.

looking down the old man of stoer

pre-climb, laden with more kit than a spaceman

Outwith my professional life, I have been learning to ski at a facility in Glasgow’s South side. Unfortunately, group lessons proved untenable as the embarrassment of cartwheeling down a slope busy with primary-aged piste ninjas was too much to bear. Though it shouldn’t be a further two years until my next entry here, if it is, I hope to write then about my new-found success as a sensation of the Swiss Alps.