When asked for details by TVBIZZ during a press meeting as a member of the festival's Fiction Jury, McKidd detailed Ferryman Films' exclusive partnership with STV Studios that will allow the company to work alongside several of the group's production labels.

“The STV deal, it's an exclusive partnership with them,” he explained. “So I'm going to co-produce with one of their labels. Whether it be Blackhill, what used to be called STV (Studios) Drama. Or Tod (Productions), which is Peter Capaldi and his wife's company. And Two Cities as well, that do Blue Lights. And they're all fantastic companies.”

McKidd stressed that despite the new backing, Ferryman remains a small operation led by himself and development executive Charlotte Rutherford.

“I'm a very small company. I'm a shingle company. Me, my development executive, Charlotte Rutherford, who's amazing. But it's just us two, cooking up all these ideas and building this slate.”

The actor, director and producer revealed that the company has spent the last three years developing projects, beginning with a deal at Amazon MGM Studios.

“We've been building it for about three years. When it started, it was our first big deal with Amazon MGM. Then out of that, we've got a TV show in paid development with Amazon. It's still going through that process. And hopefully, we're getting close to the greenlight of that project.”

The project reunites him with Rome creator Bruno Heller. “It's a Bruno Heller project, who I worked with on Rome.”

Among the projects already announced is The Red Shore, which Ferryman Films and Blackhill are producing together. “Blackhill and us are co-producing The Red Shore, which is an adaptation of a crime thriller set in the Dorset area,” McKidd said.

While crime provides the backdrop, he suggested the series is ultimately a character drama. “It's really about a father and a son. Or a father and his adopted son. And about that relationship.”

McKidd also revealed another project developed with the BBC that explores female friendships and social exclusion.

“We're also making a fantastic drama that we've developed with the BBC, which is very much a female drama about how a female friendship group can really disintegrate to the point that our lead protagonist in the drama gets completely ghosted by all of her friends on one night and what the repercussions of that are.”

He described the project as “a really quirky, kind of off-kilter, but quite satirical and pointed drama” that aims to balance humor with social commentary.

Asked what stories are currently underserved by television, McKidd repeatedly returned to the theme of male loneliness.

“I think there's a sort of epidemic of male loneliness in society these days,” he said. “I think a lot of men are sadly quite lonely. I think men feel quite, in Western culture, quite separated from each other.”

“I think at the core of it, what's happening, the root of it, is that there's a sort of loneliness epidemic around men these days. And I think I'm interested, because I am a man, and I sometimes do feel lonely, to tell those stories. And get into that conversation.”

The actor suggested that one reason he enjoyed working with Heller on Rome was the show's focus on male friendship.

“One of the beautiful things about Rome, and that's why I love working with Bruno, is that that core friendship in that show was Ray Stevenson and I. And that kind of bromance thing, I feel like we're not seeing that kind of stuff these days.”

As Ferryman develops new projects, McKidd said television remains his preferred medium. Although he has often been asked whether he wants to direct feature films, he believes television offers the best opportunity to reach audiences. “My bread and butter has become very much television. I understand television, there's a much higher chance that a large number of people will actually watch it. Because the whole point of making anything is that somebody actually watches this thing.”

He added: “I love the fact that television sort of has a delivery system that is a little more predictable in a sense. So people really do actually get to engage with the stories you tell.”

Discussing projects that have inspired him recently, McKidd singled out the Australian series Mr Inbetween, which he described as an important creative reference for the Amazon project being developed with Heller. “That show, Mr Inbetween, is kind of our touchstone for the kind of themes that we're trying to explore.”

He also praised the Netflix hit Adolescence, calling it “an amazing piece of work.”

The session also touched on new industry trends, including user-generated content, AI and microdramas. McKidd welcomed the increasing accessibility of television and filmmaking, arguing that talent can emerge from anywhere.

“I think talent rises. If you're talented, whatever your entry point is, if you're committed and do the work, you're going to rise up and be seen.”

Reflecting on his own beginnings in the Scottish Highlands, he added: “I came from a tiny little town in the highlands of Scotland with no access to anything.”

“Now people can do it in their backyards because there's this access. So I don't think there's any problem with that. I think it's a great thing.”

However, he cautioned that success should be driven by genuine storytelling rather than algorithms or attention-grabbing tactics.

“As long as there's that commitment to the talent behind it, that it isn't just about clicks or about shock value or something that's titillating just to create viewership.”

Asked about the rapid rise of microdramas, McKidd admitted he remains unconvinced. “I don't understand microdramas yet. It's something that I know is happening.”

In comments later in the discussion, he suggested that what he had heard about the format sounded heavily reliant on cliffhangers and sensational hooks to drive audience engagement, adding that it was “not interested” him creatively.

The conversation inevitably returned to Grey's Anatomy, where McKidd recently directed his own final episode after 18 years portraying Owen Hunt.

“It was a really interesting thing, directing your own exit from a show you've been on for 18 years.”

“I realized that I absolutely want to direct and be the one who depicts the exit of my character. And that felt very empowering in a way for me.”

Although he has left the series as an actor, he stressed that his relationship with the show remains strong.

“I haven't really left. I'm still behind the scenes directing a lot.”

McKidd revealed that Debbie Allen has already discussed directing assignments for the upcoming season and said he expects to continue working extensively behind the camera. The decision to move on, however, was driven by a desire to challenge himself. “It was a tough decision to make. But I've been feeling it for a while.”

“Even though it's incredibly comfortable for me to be in, I need to get out into the world.”

The actor compared the decision to advice he recently gave his son. “It's scary to go out there. You need to go out and deal with the world and not be so comfortable.”

While excited about the future, he acknowledged that leaving behind colleagues who had become family was emotional.

“I'm not going to get to see all those people every day. But I'm really excited, to be honest. And I think it feels like the right moment for me.”

That next chapter is already underway. McKidd revealed that he recently wrapped his final Grey's Anatomy episode before flying directly to Scotland to join the new Highlander film and is currently shooting a new ITV drama in London, while additional television projects are set to take him to New York later this year.

With Ferryman Films now building a slate that spans crime thrillers, friendship dramas and stories about contemporary masculinity, McKidd appears determined to apply the experience accumulated over nearly three decades in television to a new role as a producer, one focused on telling stories that he believes are increasingly relevant in modern society.