An Interview with STQ Productions

Cate Goodman on the Quest for a New Project, the State of the Production Industry, and AI in the Creative World

Cate: I'm Cate. I am one of the directors of, well, we've just set up a company STQ Productions. So it's me and a friend, Hâle, who's been in the industry for like 10 years who has set up a company, so I'm one of the directors. I'm a producer by trade. The aim of the production company is to make content for and by women and queer people and give people opportunities that they maybe wouldn't have, given the way the world is otherwise. So our first project is trying to make a TV show about lesbians in Scotland. We're trying to raise money at the moment. We're getting really close to our goal, which is really exciting. The money goes towards making a pilot, that then we can turn into something else. But the point is it's based in Scotland and made by Scottish people, which, again, you don't see very optional on the TV at the moment -  Less than 7% of the UK broadcasting stuff is made in Scotland. So it'll be nice to add to that. 

Ruairi: And within that space, have you found there's been challenges around the content that you're trying to produce as well? Because you mentioned that it is a very minor area of the whole production landscape and there could also be a glass ceiling around producing this kind of work, so have you found it kind of a challenge?

Kate: I feel like not really, but that’s because lots of people are really willing to help for free at the moment in Scotland because we know lots of people. So that's not been an issue. Funding is quite tricky. We've obviously got Creative Scotland on board, but a lot of the other grants and stuff are specific to certain areas. We are still in the really early stages, so we're at the point now where we're trying to reach out to other people and see what we can do. So I feel like this is the point where we're maybe going to start noticing that it's going to be difficult.

Ruairi: So what makes it difficult now?

Cate: At the moment getting the money and getting the ‘yes’, because this is the first thing we've ever done, so we don't really have anything to prove ourselves yet as a company. So the next step is to try and make smaller things that people can see we can do stuff. And we're all so new to the industry that trying to find your place in it is quite tricky in itself, so monetising it is going to be pretty much impossible right now. We just want to earn enough money that we can pay everybody. That's the point of the fundraising is so we can do that. But, I'm going to call on my business partner but Hâle, who's the other girl, she's been acting in the industry for 10 years, and has had some photography business and stuff. She's really found that there's been a lack of queer roles for her. So that's one of the reasons she set up the companies because she wants to be able to create roles for herself that she's interested in and that represent her. She's also mixed race, so she doesn't see herself represented ever with that kind of thing. So we're hoping we could fill some gaps rather than have issues making it, but I think we're going to find out.

Ruairi: Well hopefully it comes to light. You must find there is a lot of bureaucracy where you actually getting the final, yes.

Cate: Yeah, that's the problem. I think we're in the blissful ignorance at the moment and then it's going to start becoming much more tricky. But I think that's the point in self-funding it - there's less obstacles once you get the money because we're the people that are backing it.

Ruairi: Yeah that makes sense, and here would you see it going?

Cate: The plan is to make a six episode series. So at the moment we’re funding to make the first one, and then hopefully we're going to get other people on board who are going to help us make the other six. Otherwise, if we're unsuccessful with that, I think the plan is to just keep self-funding and make the whole thing. But yeah, six episodes and then hopefully can get it out there so people can see it.

Ruairi: And then how does it grow from there? Would you stay in the TV world or is it going to become general, and involve theatre or?

Cate: For us, I think we'd like to kind of venture into everything, not theatre but, you know, films, more TV, I think we've got ideas for documentaries and stuff, specifically about queer communities and things in Scotland. But nothing official yet, we’ll see where it goes, but this is the first step. It's what Hâle wanted to make for years. I think since COVID she wrote it, and has really wanted to kind of do it. So she asked me if I'd help and I was like, yes, please!

Ruairi: Cool. It sounds good. And for the project itself, what do you want audiences to get out of it? Like, what do you think the push is? Because you mentioned representation?

Cate: Yeah, the push is that we want to make a really fun, sexy, funny show that people will enjoy, but that also gives representation to people that don't not normally get it. Because there is a lot more queer representation in TV and things at the moment, but a lot of it is based on men, so there's very little for women to be watching. You know, there was ‘The L Word’, but that came out like 20 years ago. There's been a couple things here and there since then, but not as many. So yeah, it would be fun and entertaining, but then also give some people that “oh, that's me!”, and get to experience those things.

Ruairi: Hopefully that inspires more people to be involved in that. Once you see the representation on screen or in media, hopefully that inspires more people.

Cate: Well I mean a lot of people that have found out about it have been really excited about that as an idea. Like when we've done casting calls and stuff like that, everyone's been like, “oh, this is really exciting, we really need this kind of thing in Scotland”. So that's been really nice to here. That's cool.

Ruairi: And the other side, with the AI stuff. Has it come into play?

Cate: Not so much yet. It's more. trying not to use it. Which I think becomes quite tricky because everything online is set up online to use AI. But, you know, as of right now, we've not come up against it. But again, I think if we weren't making it ourselves, jobs would be at risk because bigger companies would be using AI. But because it's us, we don't want to use it, so we're going to hire people to do the jobs instead.

Ruairi: Ok, so there's no active use?

Cate: No. Now, if we ever got bigger production companies on board, I don't know if that would then be a discussion we would have to have with them or not. I don't know, it hasn't come up yet. But it's very much a worry in the industry in general. Like I think we spoke about that in college more than we spoke about anything else. It's a big fear that none of us are going to have any jobs since AI has taken away the entry level ones. Which is why we've got to make our own stuff I think. But yeah, it's really, really exciting you know. It's cool trying to create a business so, yeah, it’s very cool.

Monday 11th November, 2026

Cate Goodman is a Director of STQ (Small Town Queer Productions)

STQ Productions: https://stqproductions.com/