Sean Connery fund allocates £1m for new filmmakers

The Sean Connery Foundation was set up in 2022

A multi-million pound fund set up in memory of Sir Sean Connery has announced four new grants to Scottish film and television projects.

The projects will share £1m from his estate over the next three years.

The foundation supports projects in the two places Connery called home, Scotland and the Bahamas.

It was set up in October 2022, exactly two years after the actor's death at the age of 90.

The latest Scottish projects centre on training in film and television and include GMAC (Glasgow Media Arts Centre), The Portal Arts in Glasgow, Screen Education Edinburgh and Station House Media Unit in Aberdeen.

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The late actor's son Jason Connery said: "Before he was a globally recognised movie star, my dad was a lad from Fountainbridge, and he never once forgot that whilst talent might be distributed equally, opportunity is not.

"By supporting access for passionate young people to the screen sector, no matter what their circumstances, we'd like to help dreams come true.

"We hope that young people with an appetite for visual storytelling and a curiosity about the many behind-the-scenes jobs that make movies possible, will reach out to our grantees and get involved."

Foundation Trustee Jason Connery, second left, said his father never forgot his roots

Foundation chairman, Stephane Connery, another of Connery's sons, added: "The screen sector has enjoyed strong growth in recent years as more global productions choose to shoot their film and TV in Scotland, providing good jobs for industry-ready young people.

"Our screen-education grantees offer a wide variety of programmes that introduce participants to the possibility of a career in screen production, often for the first time, and provide a clear path into an exciting industry that is too often considered out-of-reach."

The Sean Connery Foundation has already allocated more than £6m in funding, including a grant for another of the actor's charities, the Scottish International Education Trust which he set up in 1971, using his fee from Diamonds are Forever.

Sean Connery on the set of Diamonds are Forever in 1971