Creative Scotland Crowdmatch has provided £3,000 of match funding
Shepherd: A Short Film
Glasgow, Glasgow City, United Kingdom
Aim
We're Heather, Joanne and Catriona. And together, we're trying to make a powerful film about surviving domestic violence, Shepherd.
The Project:
Shepherd is the debut collaboration between director Joanne Thomson, screenwriter Catriona McNicoll and producer Heather Tulloch. As three women who have lived through or inherited the impact of abuse, Shepherd is a film born from a shared frustration with how often it’s misrepresented on screen.
Abuse is something that does not appear suddenly. It erodes boundaries in small, insidious ways until cruelty becomes normal. But recognition is possible, and is the first step toward escape. In Shepherd, our lead Ava sees the truth of her own situation reflected in the way Jack treats their pregnant ewe Mabel. And by freeing Mabel, she begins to free herself. This is a story about the moment something finally shifts, the moment when a survivor stops minimising what’s happening and takes the chance to save their life.
As a team of female-identifying filmmakers, we’ve grown tired of “strong female characters” so often built on clichés. Real strength, survivor strength, is quieter and far more complicated than surface level traits. Hope in the face of disappointment, kindness in the face of cruelty, and the courage to finally leave, those are the strengths we want to honour with this film.
Director's Statement:
When I first read Catriona’s script, I felt completely transported back to my first experience of domestic abuse. It felt like a subtle, accurate and twisted insight into the way it feels to live under the same roof as someone who makes themselves feel better by grinding you down. It can often be small things that add up, things they test the water with to see if they can get away with more. It often takes seeing yourself in someone or some thing else, to have your own circumstances reflect back to you and see what’s really happening.
Survivors of this abuse are often portrayed depleted and small by nature but this certainly wasn’t my experience. It’s my intention to have Ava begin her story the way I began every day: with the genuine belief today won’t be the same as yesterday. You’d never have known by looking at me, and I don’t want the audience to know by looking at Ava. Her default is strength and resilience. That can remain even if she can’t exercise that strength in her relationship. Afterall, one of the biggest factors within this script is isolation: Ava’s isolation from her partner, and the farm’s isolation from the world. Farming is an all-consuming occupation - an ideal breeding ground for Jack to cut her off from reality.
In practice, both myself and Catriona have felt a combined frustration as actors on screen, often feeling like the last piece of the puzzle, left on our own to develop a performance that usually remains uninterrogated and unchallenged. The result is often the broadest of brushstrokes and remains so. I’d like to schedule time with my cast ahead of shooting to maintain a longer-lasting collaboration so both our lead actors can feel safe with each other to reach the tough places this script requires. My hope is that this film can hold a mirror up to someone in the way Mabel holds one up to Ava.
Why We Need Your Help:
Shepherd isn’t a film that can’t be made on a micro-budget, but the team has already made significant effort to raise the funds that would enable us to make this project a reality. As it currently stands, our total target budget is set as £11k. This may sound like a lot, but for a film that requires live animals, a distinct location, and an experienced cast and crew to make that happen, £11k is the absolute bare minimum.
But our team has proven we can deliver strong work with limited resources. Catriona’s debut The Perfect Strangers was made for just £1k, Heather’s first commissioned short Shrapnel for £4k, and Joanne’s directorial debut The Twelve Days of Findom for £8k. Despite their modest budgets, each of these projects achieved meaningful success, screening at festivals across the UK and Europe.
And as emerging filmmakers, we see Shepherd as the next step in our careers, the most ambitious project we’ve taken on so far. But taking that step hasn’t been easy, especially given the challenges facing the Scottish film-funding landscape.
Since 2020, the UK’s creative workforce has shrunk by 30%, with many Scottish artists leaving the industry entirely. It’s not surprising why. In March last year, the Scottish branch of the BFI Network, previously the main source of development and production support for emerging filmmakers, was disbanded. And though it has since returned in the form of Take Three, the 18-month gap left behind created a flood of applications, making our own funding bid extremely difficult.
Not only that, but the sudden pause of Creative Scotland’s Open Project Fund for Individuals last August dealt another major blow. This fund has long been a lifeline for artists at all stages of their careers, offering both financial support and the freedom to develop new work. While the fund was restored after widespread public outcry, its temporary closure left many artists and companies in a precarious position, and uncertainty remains about the long-term stability of Scotland’s primary arts funding body.
Which brings us here. After pursuing every traditional funding route available, the Creative Scotland Crowdmatch campaign is our final opportunity to secure the support we need to bring Shepherd to life. However, as nearly half of this budget has already been scraped together by our passionate team through self-funding, we are now looking to raise the remaining budget through this crowdfunder. We only have £6k left to go, but we need your help to make that happen!
What Your Donation Will Pay For:
For us to bring this story to life we’re estimating that it will cost £12,000 to make at a baseline level.
We’re hoping to raise £6,000 from this crowdfunder with the opportunity to meet our stretch target of £7,000, nudging us to a total £12k budget for Shepherd, including the money we have already secured.
Our crowdfunding target is set at £3,000 and will be matched by Creative Scotland to hit the required £6,000.
This would help us produce Shepherd to a much higher standard and allow us to properly support the talented people making it. For example, allowing us to pay our cast and crew higher wages, ensuring access to better equipment and resources and also giving us peace of mind by having a bigger contingency pot.
For now, here's how it's broken down:
Film production is an expensive business, and as you can see here, production costs are going to take up most of our budget. But what do we mean by production costs? This covers everything we need to get those cameras rolling. Whether that means equipment costs, location hires, cast and crew fees, and even right down to the catering we’ll need to sustain ourselves during the shoot.
The sections that will incur the least amount of expense will be our pre-production and distribution stages. Pre-production is a paperwork heavy stage, where we’ll need to secure our location, any filming permits and insurance policies, as well as bringing on vital team members such as a costume designer and a production designer. Whereas distribution will have three main focuses, the creation of our DCP (digital cinema package), our poster and lastly, our submission costs to UK and international film festivals.
The other sizeable chunk of our budget will go towards post-production. This is the edit, which can often take as long as the shoot itself, or even longer! Therefore the important crew members involved in this process, such as our editor, composer, sound designer and colourist need to be compensated for their time and the invaluable equipment at their disposal.
So when you put it all together, it’s a hefty chunk of money. Which is why we’re asking for your help. Help a team of ambitious, female-identifying, Scottish storytellers get their largest-funded screen project off the ground. Because we know this story matters. We know it can reach someone who needs to see themselves reflected with honesty and dignity. And we’re committed to telling it with the sensitivity, urgency, and authenticity it deserves.
The Creative Team:
Catriona McNicoll (Writer) is a Scottish writer/actor based in Glasgow. Her first script, “FINE”, originally written as part of her media degree, was produced by The Citizens Theatre in 2018 when she was 23 years old. Which was shortly followed by her first professional commission from the Citz, “Adrift”, debuting in 2020 to strong critical reviews and sold out audiences. Her subsequent plays, “Ladies” and “Duty of Care” both went on to be longlisted for Soho Theatre’s Verity Bargate Award in separate years, with her most recent theatre project, “Reign of the Rabbit” being supported by Creative Scotland, The Citz and National Theatre of Scotland.
As a screenwriter, Catriona is a current member of BAFTA Connect, and an alumni of the EIFF Talent Lab and BFI Network x BAFTA Crew. Her first ever screenplay, “Party Crashers” was longlisted for BBC Writersroom and Channel 4’s New Writers Scheme, as well as making the shortlist for Young Films’ Residency. Another spec of hers “The Defiled”, also reached the longlist for both BBC and Channel 4, with her debut feature script “The Edinburgh Seven” getting early development support from the Scottish branch of the BFI Network, SFTN.
Last year, Catriona completed her debut short, “The Perfect Strangers” with BAFTA- winning Scottish actor Lewis Gribben starring, directed by Fraser Scott and produced by Karen Kelly. The Perfect Strangers was selected for Glasgow Short Film Festival’s slate for “Scottish Shorts in Support” for 2025/26, with her newest short film script, “Shepherd” making the shortlist for the Sean Connery Talent Lab earlier this year. Catriona is also a Scottish Gaelic learner, keen on integrating the historic language into modern stories.
Joanne Thomson (Director) is an Actor, Writer & Director from Glasgow. Since graduating with a BA in Acting from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, she has also trained with the Groundlings Improv School in LA and the NFTS on John Yorke’s TV Writers’ Academy. She has worked extensively across the UK as an actor and has directed internationally award-winning theatre. Her theatre credits as an actor include work with NTS, Bristol Old Vic, Citizens Theatre, Birmingham Rep, Royal Lyceum, Traverse & the Royal Exchange. Recent screen credits include Outlander, Shetland, & most recently, Brian Cox’s directorial debut feature, premiering at TIFF. A BAFTA LA Newcomer, Glasgow Film Festival New Talent & one of the Traverse Theatre’s Breakthrough Writers, her writing has placed in several Screencraft competitions, made the BBC Writer’s Room Top 2%, Olivia Colman’s South of the River & Sister’s Commendation List & won C21’s Screenwriting Award at Content London.
As a Writer/Director, her BFI-shortlisted film On the Twelfth Day of Findom which she wrote and co-directed, premiered at Women X Festival '25. Nominated for 3 awards in total, including Best Writing, Joanne's proud that her directorial debut awarded Laura Lovemore the win for Best Lead Performance. Findom went on to be selected for the BAFTA-qualifying Glasgow Short Film Festival in the Scottish Competition.
Her debut play Jack in a Box, which she also directed at the Tron Theatre Outside Eyes, was recently shortlisted for both the St Andrews Playwriting Award and Theatre 503’s International Playwriting Award before being chosen for The Royal Shakespeare Company's 37 Plays project. It was recently selected to form part of Shedinburgh's programme at this year's fringe produced by Francesca Moody Productions (Fleabag, Baby Reindeer).
Heather Tulloch (Producer) is a short film producer based in Glasgow. Heather is a part of Screen Scotland and GMAC Little Pictures filmmaking programme (2023/24) with whom she has produced her first commissioned short film, Shrapnel, directed by Holly Barbour – which screened at BAFTA and BIFA-qualifying film festival BUFF in 2025.
Her first glimpse into producing was during her time working as a Producer’s Assistant at one of Scotland’s leading scripted indie companies, Black Camel Pictures. Working closely with the producers inspired her to start her own journey, whilst gaining valuable industry experience along the way. In 2023, she was Production Coordinator on their BAFTA Scotland winning BBC series, Float. In 2024, Heather worked as a Production Manager on First Timer, a short film commissioned by BFI and Short Circuit; and short drama I Before E, co-written by Joanne Thomson and executive produced by Sixteen Films. Alongside her work in short film, Heather is an experienced Production Secretary working in high-end TV production.
Heather is passionate about telling stories from voices that are often overlooked, in particular, those of Scottish women and believes that culture should be accessible to everyone. She enjoys seeing honest portrayals of Scottish life on screen; stories that are funny, heartfelt and grounded in authenticity.
Thank you!
This project successfully funded on 22nd May 2026