WORLD PREMIERE AT THE EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ON SATURDAY 29 JUNE
‘Everyone in the late 70’s thought Scotland was all Bay City Rollers tartan or drunk football fans smashing up Wembley. But in Dundee it was rain, pish and football. The newly built council flats, known as Schemes, the pride and joy of the so-called swinging 60s, had become crime ridden ghettos. They called us Schemers…the folk that lived among the new concrete streets in the sky…the old industries were dying all around us and the outlook for anyone like me was grim…but as the Clash said the real ice age was still to come…Thatcher was about to be elected…not that I gave a fuck like…after all I had a new leather coat…!’
Davie is a dreamer – a tycoon-to-be who is constantly hustling for his next buck. Determined not to rot away in an office or in a factory 9-5 he will do anything to avoid a real job. After a career ending football injury, Davie falls in love with beautiful trainee nurse Shona and follows her to college only to discover he may not be suited to academia but can certainly turn a fast buck running discos. Along with his business savvy friend John and utilising the shadier talents of young Scot, the trio try and fail at various gigs. With ruthless local gangster Fergie on their case and Davie’s gambling debts catching up with him, the gang raise their ambitions to booking one last band – Iron Maiden. Davie needs to use all his tricks to pull off the biggest scheme of his life – or it could be his last.
Set in Dundee c. 1979, Schemers is based on writer-producer David McLean’s early years in the music business. Schemers stars Conor Berry, Sean Connor (Anna and the Apocalypse), Grant R. Keelan (Automata) and Tara Lee (The Fall).
Followed by a Q&A with Lead Actor Conor Berry,
Writer Director Dave McLean and Editor Khaled Spiewak
SCHEMERS is nominated for the 2019 EIFF Audience Award