Berrie set up Film City Glasgow, creative cluster for production, picture and sound which spearheads independent production in Scotland.[2] She also set up Jumpcut project which aimed to give young and underprivileged people access to working in the film industry through a pop-up film school that created an intensive, mentor-lead fast track into the industry.
This was followed by Sharp Shorts which has produced 9 short films in 2020/21, with another nine to follow.[3][4]
Career
When starting out, Berrie worked on numerous no budget / low budget productions in many different capacities. Alongside David Mackenzie, she wrote and produced California Sunshine (1997) and Somersault (2000), both multi-award-winning shorts. She then went on to work in production on Ken Loach's Carla's Song (1996) and Peter Mullan's Orphans (1998) and as a casting director on Ken Loach's My Name is Joe (1998) and Lynne Ramsay's Ratcatcher (1999).
Berrie then embarked on developing and producing numerous feature projects, beginning with David Mackenzie's The Last Great Wilderness (2002) which was co-produced by Zentropa[5] and premiered in Toronto in 2002.
Together with Zentropa's Sisse Graum Jorgensen, Berrie developed the Advance Party Project[13] which was designed to give directors their first break at feature film level. It produced Andrea Arnold's Cannes-Jury-Prize-winning debut Red Road (2006) [14] and Morag McKinnon's BAFTA-Scotland-winning Donkeys (2010).[15]
Berrie and Mackenzie's second feature film collaboration was Hallam Foe (2007), starring Jamie Bell and Sophia Myles. It won many awards including a Silver Bear in Berlin 2007,[16] the Golden Hitchcock and Kodak Award at the Dinard Festival of British Cinema 2007,[17] and the 2008 National Board of Review Award for Top Independent Film,[18] as well as numerous other nominations including for Bell and Myles' performances.[19]
Immediately afterwards Berrie produced the Mackenzie directed comedy musical You Instead (2011) [released as Tonight You're Mine in the US]. It was filmed over four and a half days at the Scottish music festival T in the Park in 2010 where the cast and crew had to adopt a kind of guerrilla filmmaking approach to shoot amidst the chaos of a music festival alongside over 100,000 revellers.[21] It sold to numerous territories throughout the world and premiered at both T in the Park in 2011 and at Austin's SXSW.[23]
Next, Berrie produced Mackenzie's Starred Up (2013), starring Jack O'Connell, Ben Mendelsohn and Rupert Friend. The story is based on writer Jonathan Asser's real-life experiences as a voluntary therapist in a London prison.[24] The film was critically acclaimed and won numerous awards including the BAFTA Scotland 2014 Best Film and Best Director Awards,[25] seven BIFA nominations [26] and holds a 99% Rotten Tomatoes score.[27]
In late 2016, Berrie EP'd on TV pilot Damnation for the USA Network, directed by Mackenzie.[29] Described as an epic saga of the secret history of the 1930s American heartland, it chronicles the mythic conflict and bloody struggle between big money and the downtrodden, God and greed, charlatans and prophets.[30] In May 2017, Damnation was picked up to series by the USA Network and has been released by Netflix outside of the US.[31]
In 2002, Berrie received the BAFTA Scotland Outstanding Contribution Award for her achievements in the Scottish film industry.[32]
In 2014, Berrie received an honorary doctorate from the University of the West of Scotland for her contribution to film, culture and the arts.[33]
2020 saw Berrie's Film City Futures at the centre of a new £1m talent development programme in partnership with Screen Scotland and The British Film Institute (BFI). The programme, Short Circuit, develops and provides opportunities for new and emerging writers, directors and producers from across Scotland. As well as producing up to 18 short films it will develop 10 feature-length scripts over two years, from 2020-22.[4]
Berrie wrapped Tetris, a feature film for Apple directed by Jon Baird and starring Taron Edgerton, in March 2021.[34]
