The principal of Rafford Productions is Allan Scott (Allan Shiach) who was born in Scotland and educated at Gordonstoun School and McGill University, Montreal where he obtained a B.A. (Hons) in English Literature. While at university he began performing a comedy act with a law lecturer partner (Chris Bryant) and was obliged to hide this fact behind a pseudonym to avoid academic censure.
After industry training, he worked as a writer of radio, television and film both in the USA and the UK during the seventies while also serving as a non-executive director of Macallan-Glenlivet plc. He became Chairman and Chief Executive of this company in 1979, a role he held until 1997, during which period the company’s reputation for innovative and focussed marketing and management helped it to establish a highly successful, international brand of single malt whisky and increased its value several hundredfold.
In 1986 he succeeded Sir Denis Forman as Chairman of the Film Production Fund which he ran for five years; his Chairmanship of the Film Council and the Scottish Film Archive lasted for six years before he was appointed by the Secretary of State to be the first Chairman of a new agency which brought together all the public film bodies, known as Scottish Screen.
As a non-executive director of both Caledonian Newspapers and Scottish Television plc he helped to effect the takeover of the former company by the latter and remained a director of what became Scottish Media Group plc for some thirteen years. He was appointed a Governor of The British Film Institute in 1992 and served that Board for six years. He is also a former Chairman of The Writers' Guild of Great Britain, thus perhaps the only person ever to chair a trades union and a quoted company at the same time.
Rafford Productions was established in 1982 and now owns most of Scott’s literary and production work. He has written or co-written over a dozen feature films, including DON'T LOOK NOW (with Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland), THE AWAKENING (directed by Mike Newell and starring Charlton Heston) and four films directed by Nicolas Roeg: THE WITCHES (Anjelica Huston, Rowan Atkinson), CASTAWAY (Amanda Donohoe and Oliver Reed), COLD HEAVEN (Theresa Russell, Mark Harmon) and TWO DEATHS (Michael Gambon and Sonia Braga). He was co-writer of THE PREACHER'S WIFE (Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston) and IN LOVE AND WAR (Sandra Bullock, Chris O'Donnell). As a producer/executive producer he is credited with several feature films including the cult thriller SHALLOW GRAVE. He wrote and produced the BAFTA-nominated film, REGENERATION, starring Jonathan Pryce, as well as THE FOURTH ANGEL, starring Jeremy Irons and Forrest Whitaker. His work on the Norwegian film, KON TIKI, was recognized with an Academy Award nomination in 2013. Other awards include a Writers' Guild Award and The Mystery Writers of America Award.
After acquiring the stage rights to the film PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT, from MGM, he then co-wrote and helped to forge a company which co-produced a musical version. PRISCILLA, THE MUSICAL began its life in 2007 and has been running continuously in theatres around the world since then, winning awards and audiences wherever it played. The lead producer, Garry McQuinn, director, Simon Phillips, and a large creative team are responsible for the show's success in a dozen countries. With gross revenues in the hundreds of millions, the show has become a cult and won awards in almost every country it has visited.
He has honorary degrees from two universities and is a Visiting Professor at Edinburgh Napier University. He has been married to Kathleen since 1966. They have three children: Dominic, Philippa and Luke. He lives in London and California.