Arts diary: Why I was barred from the red carpet at Glasgow Film Festival for doing my job

Not because I had pushed to the front of a previous red carpet, taken selfies with the talent or generally broken rules of "professional and respectful conduct" - all things which the press office had had to send out a warning notice to the wider media not to do earlier in the festival.

No, I was banned for doing my job as a news reporter.

A few weeks ago, I revealed in Scotland on Sunday that the producer of James McAvoy's new film California Schemin', Scot Danny Page, was being pursued in the US courts by a veteran producer who previously had employed him as his assistant.

You can read the whole story here, but in short, the complainant, Guy Louthan, states in court documents that he had worked with Mr Page in the early days of the film's development before being ousted by his younger employee, who transferred the rights to the story to a company solely owned by him.

He was not credited on the film, or financially compensated for his work.

Mr Louthan claims he travelled to Scotland from LA multiple times on Mr Page's behalf to scout locations and meet investors. He says he was also responsible for introducing him to McAvoy, who ended up directing the movie. He estimated he had spent around $30,000 working on the film.

Indeed, a development deck sent to potential investors by Mr Page's company Homeland Productions names Mr Louthan as the main producer on the project, while Mr Page's name was nowhere to be seen.

Mr Louthan is now pursuing him through civil courts in California.

As any decent reporter would, I tried to contact Mr Page at the time to give him the right to reply. He did not respond. We ran the story.

Fast forward to last week and I was working in Glasgow at a film festival industry event, where various local companies were discussing filmmaking in Scotland. At one talk, when the panellists were introduced, I realised one of the speakers was none other than the elusive Mr Page.

Now working for Glasgow production company Blazing Griffin, he was asked during the event by his new boss, chief operating officer Colin McLeod, how he had funded California Schemin'.

His response was fascinating. He told the Glasgow audience that he had been "lonely" as a young film producer trying to obtain financing for the project on his own, with "nothing" behind him. He was like a "dog with a bone", he said, painting a picture of a young, scrappy, up-and-coming Scottish producer working hard to make his name in Hollywood.

He spoke at length about how he had personally "punted" an email to McAvoy, who agreed to be involved.

This all directly opposes everything claimed by Mr Louthan.

After the event, I approached Mr Page and politely asked if we could speak, away from the other panellists.

He acknowledged that he was aware of the story I had written, but refused, quite vehemently, to comment on the case, or confirm if Mr Louthan had ever been involved with the development of California Schemin'.

The next day, I got a call from the film festival's press office, saying they were aware I had spoken to Mr Page. I was asked what I was planning to write, to which I replied, quite honestly - as I had not had a chance to discuss it with my editor at the time - that I wasn't yet sure.

Just a couple of hours later, I received an email stating that StudioCanal, which distributes the film, had told the festival that The Scotsman would not be granted a place on the red carpet at the closing gala screening of California Schemin' due to there being "limited time".

I was also told we would not be given a sit down interview slot with any California Schemin' talent, something which had previously been suggested was likely to be no problem - times just had to be arranged.

While the email did not specifically refer to my chance meeting with Mr Page, the message was clear.

It sent a warning shot to journalists of a kind that I have rarely come across in Scotland since late First Minister Alex Salmond tried to bar reporters from newspapers which were not aligned with his politics from his resignation press conference back in 2014.

Red carpet events, as you can see from my video piece from the opening gala with the happy Everybody to Kenmure Street lot two weeks ago, are a chance for press to chat briefly with talent as they enter screenings, for our photographer to grab pictures and for readers to get a feel for the overall atmosphere.

In short, they are entertaining, promotional media opportunities.

Along with all premieres, press nights and the time I spend mucking about on stage to get across what it is like to be a performer in a Scottish theatre, they're fun and entertaining, but they're not the entirety of what being an arts news correspondent is all about.

Like in any specialist subject area I have covered in my 22 year career in Scottish journalism, there are more serious stories in the arts which need to be told; which are in the public interest to tell.

And I promise you now, the glitterati can ban me from as many red carpet events as they like: I will not stop doing my job.