During 2012, the Year of Creative Scotland, over 8,000 budding young film-makers, dancers and musicians across Scotland will be offered opportunities to get involved in filmmaking, dance and music making activities.

The Zombie Project

Local youngsters in the Ferguslie area of Paisley have been busy writing, directing and starring in a zombie shocker thanks to the CashBack for Creativity programme, which re-invests the monies seized from criminals back into cultural activities for young people across Scotland.

The Zombie Project has had an impact on the whole community with parents and grandparents also being drafted in to help with the costume design and make-up workshops. Over 250 people turned out for the premiere of the completed film ‘Dawn of the Fegs’ in June.

More About CashBack for Creativity

The Programme has been supported by the Scottish Government’s CashBack for Communities intiative, which has seen over £45 million recovered through the Proceeds of Crime Act, reinvested back into communities to benefit Scotland’s young people. £2.25 million will be invested over three years into arts, music and dance activities.

For details of how to access this investment visit our Creative Identities investment page.

Key Elements to the Project

Graphic Novel Workshops – six young people met weekly to develop their own graphic novel using the themes of a zombie attack on Ferguslie and how the community fights back. The group has had additional development workshops with a professional illustrator and script writer.

Filming Workshops – 18 young people met weekly at St. Mirren Park to create and film their own movie using themes from the graphic novel group with adult volunteers playing the zombies and other minor roles.

Dance workshops – Right2dance worked with the Allsorts youth group (8-12) to develop a dance performance for the final film.

Make-up / costume workshops – Renfrewshire Council employees worked with a professional make-up artist to deliver four training sessions for parents, grandparents and carers who helped out on the film set as make-up assistants

Community group filming – Council employees also worked with several community groups based at the Tannahill Centre to create a positive image of the local community, highlighting the strong community spirit and the variety of activities available to residents.

Professional Tutorials – professionals from the film and graphic novel industries met with the young people to discuss career options within the creative industries.