Compact grows, hires from Synchronicity

Laura McBride, John McKay and Misha McCullagh

Compact Pictures, the Glasgow-based indie founded by TV and film writer and director John McKay (Life on Mars, We’ll Take Manhattan, Crush, Tina & Bobby) is expanding to create two new businesses under the parent label.

Compact Films will focus on producing independent features, while Compact Vibe will develop and create a range of young-adult and genre series for television.

Laura McBride has been appointed as the company’s first head of development, joining from Synchronicity Films where she supported creative director and founder Claire Mundell on projects including psychological drama series The Cry and feature film Only You.

McBride’s other credits include Sigma Films’ Get Duked and World Productions’ forthcoming BBC drama series Vigil, starring Suranne Jones.

She will be bringing in and developing new projects, as well as working with McKay on Compact’s existing development slate.

For Compact Films, this includes The Empty Space Inside My Heart, the debut feature of Bafta winner Tim Courtney (My Loneliness is Killing Me), and David Harrower’s crime saga 9 Deaths.

For Compact Vibe, the current slate includes My Brother is a Superhero, in development for CITV, and Baltic noir series Chosen, being developed in collaboration with Canada’s Reel One Entertainment.

Compact has also recently recruited Misha McCullagh in a development support and communications role across the business.

McCullagh, an actor and creative arts producer, is best known for being one-third of the podcasting collective Persistent and Nasty, which seeks to create more opportunities for women and gender minorities in film, TV and theatre.

Her production credits include Compact Pictures’ A Glimpse, the debut film from theatre director and screenwriter Zinnie Harris (Spooks, Partners in Crime). Just wrapped, A Glimpse received SFTN (Scottish Film Talent Network) Emerging Talent funding.

McKay, Compact Pictures’ CEO, said: “Compact Pictures has gained a great deal of traction since I launched the business and on the back of recent International Emmy, BANFF and Bafta success with Katy and a rapidly growing slate, the time felt right to re-focus the company with the launch of the Compact Films and Compact Vibe labels.”