Brian Pendreigh: Somewhere the penny seems to have dropped: film is important to Scotland Published on Saturday 28 April 2012 02:17 NICOLE Kidman and Colin Firth were not the only stars in Edinburgh attending a press conference yesterday to mark the start of filming on The Railway Man, which is adapted from the best-seller by Eric Lomax, a Scottish soldier who survived being tortured by the Japanese during the Second World War. Jeremy Irvine was there, too. He had the main (human) role in War Horse and could be huge. He plays Lomax as a young man, while Firth plays him in later years. But there wasn't much interest in Irvine, for we are getting pretty blasè about visiting stars, what with Brad Pitt in Glasgow for World War Z and Scarlett Johansson for Under the Skin. Not to mention Merida - the animated star of Brave, the new Pixar film which is set in a virtual Scotland. So Irvine did not get much a look-in yesterday... unlike Andrew Dixon. Dixon is not A-List Hollywood, not even D-List Hello. He is chief executive of Creative Scotland, the agency that promotes film production as part of a wider remit. It is two years since it controversially replaced Scottish Screen and hitherto its profile has been lower than Lord Lucan's. But something seems to be changing. Creative Scotland not only put money into The Railway Man, but hosted yesterday's proceedings. Dixon opened the session, stressing the importance of the film to Scotland. And then he sat down among the journalists and somehow he managed to close proceedings as well by asking the last question. "Andrew Dixon, Creative Scotland," he announced, following journalistic etiquette. Obviously some films are successful before they even shoot and this one has the feel of that... Somewhere the penny seems to have dropped: film is important. It is significant that First Minister Alex Salmond chose a tourism conference to announce that Brave will premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival in June. Films provide an international stage on which to promote Scotland. Stars ensure that films reach a mass audience. And they can provide early excitement and coverage during shooting. Yesterday we had two genuinely major Hollywood stars, posing against the Edinburgh skyline (OK, it was a photo of the Edinburgh skyline) and talking about the film they are about to make in Scotland. Dixon is right that it is the beginning of a process that could, given the credentials, lead to the Oscars, to commercial success, and to a heightened profile for Scotland internationally. The only big name missing yesterday was Mr Salmond. But he will probably be at the premiere to take the credit in due course.