Members appointed to Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen Joint Board

Patricia Ferguson, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, today announced the appointments of the members to the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen joint board.

The members are:
Charles Lovatt, Ray Macfarlane, John Mulgrew, Steve Grimmond, Dinah Caine, Jim McSharry, Barbara McKissack, Donald Emslie, Ben Twist, Rab Noakes and Iain Smith.

Ms Ferguson said:

“I am delighted to announce the appointments to the joint board.  The mix of skills, change management expertise and commitment to the arts and screen industries in Scotland that the members bring to the board will help steer the two cultural agencies through the forthcoming period of fast and significant change to Creative Scotland.”

The joint board will assist the Chair, Dr Richard Holloway, in managing the change within the transition period from the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen to the new body Creative Scotland.  This will include assisting in developing a merger plan and monitoring the two organisations through this important time.

These Ministerial public appointments were made in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland’s Code of Practice.

All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process.  However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity (if there is any to be declared) to be made public.

Ben Twist is a freelance theatre director and producer. He was Artistic Director of Contact Theatre, Manchester and Associate Director of the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh. He has directed over 70 productions in Scotland, England, Europe, Latin and North America and New Zealand. He is a board director of Prime Productions and Hebrides Ensemble and has recently been asked to join the university committee that oversees the work of the Macrobert Centre in Stirling. He joined the Capital Committee of the Scottish Arts Council in 1999 and in 2003 became Chair of the Committee and joined the Board of the Scottish Arts Council. 

Steve Grimmond is the Head of Community Services at Fife Council, with current responsibilities spanning culture, sport & leisure, environment and community learning and development. Previously he has held posts at Aberdeenshire Council, before becoming Director of Arts and Heritage and then Director of Leisure and Arts at Dundee City Council.  He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts & Science; a COSLA Adviser on Sport and the Arts;  Executive member and former Chair of VOCAL (Voice of Chief Officers for Cultural, Community and Leisure Services in Scotland); and a board member of sportscotland.  He is a practising artist and current board member of the Scottish Arts Council. 

Barbara McKissack is an independent producer who until recently was BBC Scotland’s Head of Drama where her output included Sea of Souls, 55 Degrees North, Monarch of the Glen, Tinseltown, England Expects and the Key.  She also developed and oversaw the twice weekly soap River City and has been Executive Producer on a number of feature films including Ratcatcher and Morvern Callar.  Ms McKissack is a member of the Festival City Theatres Trust.  Ms McKissack is a member of the Scottish Screen board.  Ms McKissack holds no other Ministerial appointments.

Charles Lovatt is managing director of L.I. Components, an international semiconductor trading company that he founded in 1985, and Cacophony Ltd, a London based music publisher.  He also sits on the Boards of Foxtrot Theatre Company, and Elmwood College, Cupar – one of Scotland’s most successful and innovative further education colleges.  He has a degree in Economics, an MBA and interests that include strategy, entrepreneurial marketing and the competitive advantage arising from good governance.  Mr Lovatt is a member of the Scottish Screen board.  Mr Lovatt holds no other Ministerial appointment.

Jim McSharry began his artistic career as a performance poet in the 1980's working with Jim Kelman and was published in anthologies of radical poetry and gravitated to the stand up scene before becoming involved with Theatre Workshop Edinburgh and becoming part of the first inclusive mainstream theatre in Europe.  He has been involved both as a performer in theatre and a director, and has been involved in screen writing as well as appearing in short films by Nabil Shaban, Alice Nelson "Vocation" and "Maps with Gaps" winner of the Scottish documentary prize 2007.  Jim was a founding Director of the Centre for inclusive living Glasgow and has been involved in many initiatives both in the arts and social sectors concerning the positive inclusion of disabled people and excluded groups and develops and delivers Disability Equality Training in the arts.  Mr McSharry is a member of the Scottish Arts Council board.

John Mulgrew OBE is Chair of Learning and Teaching Scotland; is a member of the Smith Committee and serves on a number of Boards and Advisory Committees.  He was Director of Educational and Social Services in East Ayrshire Council until April this year.  He also has a particular interest in creativity, the impact of the arts in education and inclusion.  He is currently a member of the Scottish Arts Council board. 

Donald Emslie is Chief Executive of SMG Television (and a Director of SMG plc); non-executive Chairman of ITV Network Limited, the Royal Lyceum Theatre (Edinburgh) and the Scottish Industry Skills Panel; a non-executive Director of Skillset UK and Film Academy Scotland (and chairs the Academy’s Advisory Board); Honorary Chair of BAFTA Scotland; and a Fellow and Vice-President of the RTS.  Mr Emslie is a member of the Scottish Screen board. 

Iain Smith is a Producer at Applecross Productions Ltd; Deputy Chair of the British Film Commission Advisory Group, Vice President of the Production Guild of Great Britain, and a Director of the Children’s Film and Television Foundation.  He is a Member of the UK Film Council.  He is a member of the Scottish Screen board, and does not hold any other Ministerial appointment.

Dinah Caine OBE is Chief Executive Officer of Skillset, the Sector Skills Council for the Audio Visual Industries.  She is a Board member of Scottish Screen and the Northern Ireland Film and Television Commission and a member of the British Screen Advisory Council.  She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and was recently awarded Fellowship of the Royal Television Society for her outstanding contribution to the Television industry.  She is a Council Member of the London West Learning and Skills Council, Chair of the London Sector Skills Forum and sits on the London Skills Commission. 

Ray Macfarlane was appointed Chair of Scottish Screen in September 2002.  This appointment will terminate in February 2007 with the establishment of the joint board.  Ms Macfarlane is a Senior Director of Corporate Banking at Bank of Scotland.  She is a qualified solicitor and has held several significant posts in economic development including that of Managing Director, Scottish Enterprise, where she had responsibility for National and International Operations.  She is a non-executive Director of the Scottish Institute of Sport and Honorary co-Chair of BAFTA Scotland.

Rab Noakes is a highly-regarded performer, songwriter and recording artist. He is also professionally involved in media production. He was Head of Entertainment at BBC Radio Scotland from 1989–1995.  He now runs Neon, a successful broadcast media & music production company, with his wife, Stephanie Pordage.  He was appointed to the Scottish Arts Council board in March 2005 and has recently been re-elected to the Executive Committee of the Musicians’ Union.  He takes an active part in the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party group on Contemporary Music.

Political activity - Mr Twist canvassed for the Labour Party within the last 5 years.  Dinah Caine is a member of the Labour Party and was chair of her local ward for a year.

These appointments will run for three years from 1 February 2007 to 1 February 2010, but may be terminated earlier due to the intended establishment of Creative Scotland’.

The posts are part-time and non-remunerated.  The formal time commitment is 6 days a year, however, members will also be involved in working groups and committees of the Board and other events in the preparation for the transition to the new body Creative Scotland.

Contact: Julie MacBeath 0131 244 2024
Internet: www.scotland.gov.uk

Contact email(s)

media.office@scottisharts.org.uk

Issued by: Scottish Executive