A DEDICATED film studio could draw some of Hollywood's top talent to Scotland, according to Bafta-winning director Tommy Gormley.

The Glaswegian, who recently completed filming on the latest Star Wars film with director JJ Abrams, is calling for action to exploit the country's huge potential as a filming location.

Mr Gormley picked up the outstanding contribution to craft award at the Baftas on Sunday for his work on films including Mission Impossible 4, both Star Trek movies and Super 8.

The first assistant director will back calls for a Scottish film studio when he meets students from the University of the West of Scotland's (UWS) Ayr campus.

Speaking ahead of the visit, he said: "Scotland is full of talented individuals and is blessed with being one of the most visually stunning countries in the world. It has incredible culture, varied architecture and spectacular scenery, making it an ideal filming location.

"Alan Cumming, Brian Cox, Sean Connery, Billy Connolly and Ewan McGregor are some fine examples of Scottish talent who have dominated Hollywood in recent years -and that's without a dedicated film studio.

"The larger studios are looking away from Hollywood and Scotland is ideally placed to take advantage of this, with the correct investment.

"There is huge potential here, but other similar sized nations already have studio facilities so it's important that action is taken now to seize these opportunities."