ONE of Scotland's leading filmmakers has claimed it would be "madness" for the nation's movie studio to be based anywhere but Glasgow's Film City in Govan.

Gillian Berrie, producer of movies such as Under The Skin, Red Road and Perfect Sense, as well as founder of Film City Glasgow, believes any investment must be based in the Govan Town Hall site.

The Scottish Government is leading a search to identify a location to build substantial film and high-end television studios, and attention has been grabbed recently by the arrival in Scotland of a major American TV series, Outlander, which will base its filming at a warehouse in Cumbernauld.

The show could bring £20 million to the Scottish economy and First Minister Alex Salmond recently confirmed the production of the time-travelling series, made by cable network Starz and Sony Pictures Television, will receive public money.

Earlier this year, the Scottish Government established a Film Studio Delivery Group to find the right location for major shooting facilities.

Film City, which is already working to capacity with several film, television and digital companies based there, has plans for a 100,000 sq ft studio that can be built on brownfield sites in Govan.

This facility, which would cost about £10m to build, could then be broken down into separate 20,000sq ft studios. Ms Berrie believes finding customers for the space will not be difficult.

Ms Berrie and Film City director Tiernan Kelly believe Outlander's studio will only be in temporary use and Film City should be the permanent home for a film studio in Scotland.

"It would be madness not to build the film studio here," said Ms Berrie. "Given what is happening here, it would be perverse.

"We did not set up Film City with the idea of making money, we did it because the industry in Scotland needed it, and it has worked."

The producer, whose film Under The Skin stars Scarlett Johansson, added: "I don't think Cumbernauld will affect us, it really is a converted warehouse for one production, and they will just use one space for that production, and when they have down time they will lock the door and leave the sets until they start again.

"I don't think any of the indigenous film community would be keen to travel out to Cumbernauld every day during non-production time - if there is a city centre base already, why travel out there? We need to be very clear that what is happening out there is a temporary solution - it is not the film studio we have been talking about."

Ms Berrie said Film City, which houses post-production facilities, sound studios, production offices - currently being used by the Billy Connolly and David Tennant film What We Did On Our Holiday - is "bursting at the seams".

"We are continually turning away productions," she said.

"Ideally, the studio would be across the road from here, we are looking at Govan Road, as well as other sites."

Film City has grown in stages, from its first work in the town hall in 2004, to the third phase of development in 2008.

Mr Kelly said: "Our concern with Cumbernauld is in down time, or five years down the line, what happens to that building?

"Our ambition for a studio complex is to have a self sustaining core of production companies, of facilities companies, post-production companies, like Film City.

"We have a permanent tenant base that occupies 70% of the building, so in any one financial year we could survive, even without people filming in our main hall, and that's why we feel any long term film studio has to have what Film City has, that core income."

Ms Berrie, whose film company is called Sigma Films, added: "I think the [Government] understand we are sustainable, and there will probably be more temporary studios, because of the new [UK Government] TV tax credit - we already have eight or nine big enquiries for US television series coming to Scotland.

"And they will just do the same: convert a factory. But the Government understands the need for a studio for the long term growth of the indigenous industry here is not going to be answered by a warehouse conversion."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The Film Studio Delivery Group is in discussions with public sector agencies and the film and television industry about various proposals for studio facilities in Scotland.

"The Group will not produce a one-off report but, instead, oversee public sector input into developing film and television production facilities and opportunities."

Outlander will be filmed in a converted warehouse in Cumbernauld for about 38 weeks between this year and next, with 16 episodes of the drama being made.