My friend Willy Wands, who has died aged 67 of pancreatic cancer, was, over four decades, the producer of a number of films, including, in recent years, The Gentlemen (2019), Whisky Galore! (2016) and Half of a Yellow Sun (2013), as well as many television series, including The Loch (2017), Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2015) and The Field of Blood (2011).

Many of the films he worked on were set in Scotland, or had a Scottish theme, and he was a passionate advocate for the film-making and television industry in his home country.

Born in Maybole, Ayrshire, he was the son of George Wands, an aircraft production manager, and Jean (nee Allan), an office clerk. They named him Alan, but he was nicknamed Willy by his grandfather. He attended Carrick academy in South Ayrshire and left at 15 to become an apprentice electrician on building sites. In 1975, however, he switched to being a lighting technician in theatre, first at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Glasgow and then at Rada.

Eventually Willy became production manager at the Ayr-based Borderline touring theatre, for whom he also directed some shows, including The Threepenny Opera, which opened at the Edinburgh festival fringe before touring Scotland in 1981. Two years later he was asked to work at the art department buyer on Bill Forsyth’s Comfort and Joy (1984), a film about Glasgow’s ice cream wars. This led to work on Channel 4 films as he progressed through numerous production roles, working variously as location manager, first assistant director, production manager and line producer.

Based mainly in Glasgow or London, his career then began to encompass commercials, television drama, and domestic and international features.

His first move into producing was as associate producer of the 1985 Cary Parker film The Girl in the Picture, set in Glasgow, and over the following years he was, among other things, associate producer of Shuttlecock (1993), executive producer of East Is East (1999), producer of Beautiful Creatures (2000) and producer of the TV movie Missing (2006).

Willy was welcomed and befriended by crew and cast wherever he went; he could make people laugh even in the direst of circumstances, had great dynamism, and his generosity of spirit and professionalism made him an ambassador both for Scotland and Britain.

He is survived by his wife, Julia (nee Calton), whom he married in 1986, and their daughters, Ola and Georgia.