The Glasgow Herald - 17th Oct '05

'Eyes of the world gaze on the dear green place'

By Beth Pearson

Frustrated by tourists ignoring Glasgow, one couple decided to start promoting the city themselves.

Douglas and Sabrina Campbell haven't been sure if they're mad or naive since they decided to make a DVD about Glasgow to encourage tourists to visit the city and its surrounding area. The couple remortgaged their cottage to meet the costs of its production.

They tried to film at Stirling Castle, only to be told it would cost £180 per hour. They made enquiries about using some music they'd heard for the soundtrack, only to be told it would cost £400 per minute.

Once 'Beyond the Cities: Glasgow and Beyond' was complete, without their first choice of music or interior shots of Stirling Castle and without the unpaid assistance of friends and family, it was only the personal enthusiasm of someone in the industry which secured them a distribution deal.

Douglas is a cameraman and has worked for the BBC and Channel Four on many projects over many years, but he had never been involved in any other element of programme-making, while Sabrina is an occupational therapist who also runs a fashion business. "we were amazingly naive", she says, decisively. "In bad times we've done B&B and people would fly in from all around the world and stay with us, with no intention of going to Glasgow. They head straight off to the Highlands and Edinburgh.

"We saw a gap in the market. Tourism is the main industry and while there are plenty of tacky, tartany things, there was nothing really that people could buy from abroad that would encourage them to come and see Glasgow."

Douglas has filmed extensively in Scotland during his 30-year career, however filming for the DVD gave him the opportunity to capture Glasgow as he sees it.

"What's unique about Glasgow is it's surrounded by the most fantastic countryside and there's no urban sprawl, as yet." He says. "In the northern section of the DVD there's a shot where the camera tilts up from a row of suburban houses straight onto a highland landscape. You can drive out and within a few minutes you're in semi-wilderness. Also, Glasgow's architecture is now being taken seriously and regenerated, not torn down as it was before".

Douglas has also developed some favourites further afield. "There was a funny little shop in the eastern section, a little delicatessen in Kippen called Berits & Browns, which hires out backpacks with lunch if you want tot go walking".

The couple planned for their son to narrate Douglas's shots, but he had hayfever during the recording. Otherwise, it has been a family affair, with the artwork designed by their son's girlfriend's brother, and some music provided by their nephew.

"It's been quite fun involving everybody," says Sabrina. "You feel everyone wants it to work, which doesn't take away the fear but it's reassuring.

"To have had this commissioned would have cost between £80 and £100,000. Obviously we haven't paid ourselves anything, but we've paid all the other people and we paid them properly. The bank wouldn't lend us a penny because they just saw madness".

As it is, the DVD is being distributed in Waterstone's, HMV and Virgin and, though they have yet to make any money on the first, the couple have already started filming an Edinburgh edition.

"I have such belief that it's going to work", says Sabrina. "I think very big. We could do Inverness and Beyond. You could go anywhere in the world and do this".

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