Edinburgh Napier University

A critically-acclaimed international film and TV director has passed on his top tips for success at a rare Q&A hosted by Screen Academy Scotland.

Director Tom Vaughan visited Merchiston last week and delighted his audience of acting, film and television students with tales from his career so far.

Originally from Helensburgh, Tom now lives and works in the USA and has directed several award-winning film and TV productions. His latest television work includes the BAFTA winning Doctor Foster (BBC/Netflix). He has also recently worked on Victoria (ITV/Masterpiece) – a lavish series based on Queen Victoria – and The Son – a period drama based on a fictional Texan family starring Pierce Brosnan. The two episodes which he directed for The Son are showing this week on BT Infinity.

The Q&A was led by Dr Alistair Scott, director of Screen Academy Scotland and was held in partnership with Scottish Drama Training Network. Based near Edinburgh Napier’s Merchiston campus, Screen Academy Scotland is a unique collaboration between the University and Edinburgh College of Art that is dedicated to fostering the future of filmmakers.

Dr Alistair Scott was delighted to welcome Tom to Screen Academy Scotland. He said: “Thank you so much to Tom for sharing his insights into working in high-quality film and television drama both in the UK and in the USA. It is always inspiring for students to get this kind of inside knowledge. We were pleased to host this event in collaboration with the Scottish Drama Training Network.”

Tom’s film work also fell under the spotlight, with tales regaled from his time working on Starter for 10, What Happens in Vegas, Extraordinary Measures and Some Kind of Beautiful to name but a few.

His upcoming projects including directing Press – a five part drama for BBC/Masterpiece/Amazon about the world of contemporary newspapers written by award-winning playwright Mike Bartlett.