Edinburgh filmmaker warns 'we need to be honest about what's happening on schemes'

Edinburgh Live

18-05-2025

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An Edinburgh BAFTA winning TV and film director and creator has called for society to stop failing youths from working class schemes.
Gary Fraser, originally from Muirhouse, has recently seen his online three-part series, Supply and Demand, picked up by STV's streaming service.
The 46-year-old created the project to explore the dark side of the criminal underworld that exists in the capital. Although the series is fictional, many elements are borrowed from lived experiences which have taken place on the capital's housing schemes.
Gary believes Supply and Demand shows a different side to the often glamourised criminal underworld. His focus is on the psychological impact and generational trauma experienced by those experiencing crippling addiction and violence.
The third instalment of the series, which is currently in production and requires £10,000 in further fundraising in order to be completed, will delve into the impact of crime, violence, societal abandonment and family breakdown, on youths living in areas of deprivation.
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Gary, who has worked alongside director Danny Boyle, has a chequered past as a recovering addict, former dealer and convict. But having turned his life around, he now works with Police Scotland's Aid and Abet programme mentoring youths in the justice system, and is keen to stop the generational cycle which often sees kids trapped in a life of poverty, addiction and crime.
'It does not feel right to glamourise the criminal underworld which I think is the case with TV, film and the media,' he said. 'The romanticisation of gang culture is problematic because you do not see the trauma, PTSD and crippling effect that exists in schemes.
'I really want to explore the psychological impact of existing in areas of multiple deprivation, something I think we did well in the first two parts. But part three moves on from the old and focuses on the new generation.
'A lot of the older characters have been wiped out and it is about the new members coming through. These are the grandkids of the 80s generation and there is a generational trauma passed down to them.
'We explore the circumstances which lead to youths selling drugs or committing violence from their point of view. The reality is it is learned behaviour through their environments, they see adults committing serious crimes and if that is your only role model, then the kids want to emulate that.
'There is a real focus on the breakdown of families due to drug addiction. But we also explore how the education system has failed our kids, with youths from schemes on reduced timetables across the capital becoming all too common.'
Through his role with the police, Gary said every child he has encountered going through the justice system, is on a reduced timetable, not getting a full education. He accused the country of failing generations of working class kids.
'Schools are failing kids through under-resourced staff, a lack of learning assistants in classrooms, and rolling out these reduced timetables,' he continued. 'If kids are only at school a few hours a week, what are they getting up to the rest of the time?
'Every kid I mentor, who is facing charges, is on a part-time timetable. For me you have areas of multiple deprivation across the capital, and within that there are failed mental health services, youth centres and schools.
'I really respect Stephen Graham and what he achieved with Adolescence but I wanted to do something different for Scotland while focusing on areas of deprivation. There is a contemporary youth culture which has been imported from England and amplified by shows like Top Boy.
'You go to Edinburgh's schemes and the kids are carrying knives, wearing balaclavas doing drill rap, riding Sur-ron's and there is even a culture of 10-year-olds selling crack. I've taken a psychological approach in looking at the cause and effect of this youth culture in part three.
'Kids on our schemes can experience and witness people being chopped up or stabbed which has not only a traumatic effect on them but also the whole community.
'I want to look at that impact and the aftermath rather than create 'hard' characters to be celebrated."
Gary said too often outsiders look at people caught up in the criminal underworld of capital schemes as leading lives to fund lavish holidays and cars. But he said the reality is often far different, with many seeing it as their only viable option to survive after being continuously failed by society.
'There are circumstances leading to people selling drugs or committing violence,' he said. 'There is a massive breakdown of families in these communities because of Scotland's failed drug policies.
'If you do not stay in the scheme, you just see a Mr Big selling drugs and destroying the area. But the truth is the majority of people caught up in this life do not sell drugs for foreign holidays or cars, it's to feed their own habit and to survive.
'Whatever is going on with the gangland stuff in Edinburgh now I cannot comment on but I think the media and others have played a role in sensationalising and romanticising it. The use of words like 'empire' and stuff like that is not portraying reality.
'I hope with Supply and Demand we can create a more empathetic culture where we better understand the generational trauma of growing up and existing in a scheme. It is fiction and is not a reveal-all documentary, but I hope it helps in working towards getting kids away from violence and addiction.
'In Edinburgh the deprivation is hidden because it simply cannot exist. Glasgow has a more open relationship than us because they are not seen a tourist city by the powers that be.
'We need to be more honest about what goes on in Edinburgh's schemes.'
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In order to get the Part Three completed, Gary has launched a £10,000 fundraiser in order to pay actors, sound, audio and visual staff working on the series. Gary, who runs a workshop for aspiring creatives in working class communities, often uses locals with lived experiences as part of the cast and crew.
Both parts One and Two sold out cinemas in Edinburgh with the series being released for free on Youtube to alleviate any economic factors. STV have committed to placing the series on their streaming platform STV Player upon its creation.
This will open Supply and Demand up to overseas companies who will be able to bid to show the series.
To support the fundraiser, click here.