On Jan 28th we were delighted to welcome Director Douglas Mackinnon to Screen Academy Scotland who took time out of his busy schedule directing Sherlock and Dr. Who to deliver a day of masterclasses to our postgraduate students. In the morning Douglas hosted a special session for a small group of eleven SAS Directors from the MFA Advanced Film Practice (Edinburgh Napier), MA Film (Edinburgh Napier) and the MA/MFA Film Directing (Edinburgh College of Art). He discussed working with actors, how to speak their language and getting the best performances. In the afternoon session Douglas delivered a Director’s masterclass using Sherlock: The Abominable Bride as a case study.
Douglas Mackinnon is one of the UKs most experienced and prominent high end TV drama directors. His credits include Sherlock, Dr Who and Line of Duty.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0533559/?ref_=ttfc_fc_dr8
His most recent Sherlock screened on BBC1 on New Year’s day to 11.7 million and was given simultaneous cinema release where it topped the US box office ticket sales in the first weekend beating Star Wars while it is topping box offices in China too.
http://gu.com/p/4fz5x/sbl
Last year MFA Advanced Film Practice student Kelly Holmes had the opportunity to join Douglas on the Bristol set of Sherlock to workshadow. In December Kelly graduation film Family Portrait won the top prize at Paris Courts Devant – a broadcast contract with France’s 2nd biggest TV channel ‘France 3’ and a grade with Film Factory Paris.
http://www.screenacademyscotland.ac.uk/content/mfa-advanced-film-practice-film-wins-top-prize-paris-court-devant
Also last year MA Film student Mandy Sykes was mentored by Douglas and is now doing the MFA Advanced Film Practice at SAS.