SCOT- LAND - Scottish Screen

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Tim Maguire
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Tim Maguire can lay claim
to being a true Renaissance man, a writer, director, producer
and voice-over artist who operates from an Edinburgh base.
A good example of how an individual can steer his own path
through the modern media, Maguire is only now starting up his
own production company Roll Titles, to make what he calls uncorporate
films.
“I stumbled into the industry in 1985 when Ken McGill asked me to
write a documentary on American Football in Scotland. We formed
a production company called Nobacker, because we had no money,
brought in Skyline’s Trevor Davies as Executive Producer, and over a
lunch with the Head of Sport at Channel 4, persuaded him to give us
seventy grand towards the budget,” says Maguire.
“I liked TV, but it took so long to get that project off the ground that
I drifted into directing corporate films to pay the rent. Then, in the
early 90’s I was making pitch films for the advertising agency Faulds
in Edinburgh, and every time I made a film, they won the pitch,
so they rashly offered me a job as their producer. I knew nothing
about producing, but in the two and a half years I worked there, the
agency won all the top awards for TV commercials in the UK and
Europe, so I think my ignorance was probably an asset.”
“I still believe that you’re
only as good as your last
piece of work, and that if
you do good work, good
work will find you.”
- Tim Maguire
Sound Recordist Robert Anderson
At Faulds, Maguire produced “Rediscover The Power of the
Spoken Word,” the multi award-winning campaign for BBC Radio
Scotland that made an innovative use of typography to convey their
message. Since then, Maguire has created ads for an impressive
list of clients including Visit Scotland, Prada, Scottish Screen and
Coca-Cola.
“I’m particularly happy with the work I did for Visit Scotland
through Hamish Barbour of IWC. That was a dream job, as I love
this country, and enjoyed capturing the different sides of it on film,”
says Maguire. “I was delighted when the client told me that our
campaign was the most successful they’ve ever made – so much
so that they keep re-cutting it to incorporate material we shot three
years ago!”
Maguire is modest about his own success and says his awkward
early forays into TV presenting for the BBC helped him as a director.
He now takes great pains when working with his mostly nonprofessional
casts to make them comfortable and relaxed in front
of the camera. And whether it’s shooting at the Rock Ness festival
or filming commercials in the Seychelles, Maguire is proving that
even in difficult times, there are opportunities for the agile and
imaginative.
Tim Maguire
Tim Maguirewith Scott Rodger
“I hate the word ‘corporate’; it sounds bland and soulless, and even
when I began making ‘corporate films’, I knew that wasn’t how they
should be. So Roll Titles will make ‘un-corporate films’ that will
inform, educate and entertain – now where have I heard that phrase
before?”
“Nobody does this for the money, although it’s nice when it comes
along. I’m in the business to do great work for whoever hires me,
whether as a writer, a director a producer or a narrator,” he says. “I
still believe that you’re only as good as your last piece of work, and
that if you do good work, good work will find you. It may have been
an accidental career, but I’m delighted to have it!”’
photographs - credit Paul Herley
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