Chorus of approval greets new film chief

THE long standing vacuum at the head of the Irish Film Board was finally resolved last week with the announcement that Englishman Simon Perry will take over as CEO on January 9, 2006, a position vacant since Mark Woods’ departure last April.

Perry, a former producer who was also head of British Screen Finance between 1991 and 2000, is president of Ateliers du Cinéma Européen (ACE), the Paris-based professional training initiative for European producers.

The announcement has ended a prolonged period of nerve-wracking limbo in the Irish film industry - and, it seems, in the best possible way as the appointment has met with universal approval.