Sir Alan Parker is to stay on for another two years as chairman of the film council, the government's film minister Kim Howells announced yesterday.
Screen Daily says Sir Alan is keen to preside over a number of changes that have been introduced by the organisation since its inception two years ago, when it was set up to restructure the UK's film production base and create a sustainable industry.
Under a wide-ranging brief the film council provides guidance to young screenwriters and allocates national lottery funds to homegrown productions. Recent successes include Robert Altman's Gosford Park and Gurinder Chadha's Bend It Like Beckham. Future plans include a support structure for Britain's ailing art-house cinema circuit.
Parker, whose directing credits include Midnight Express, Angel Heart and Angela's Ashes, said: "I am delighted to have been re-appointed as chairman of the film council and look forward to the opportunity to oversee with the board this next, very important, phase of our work.
"The film council was handed an ambitious agenda by the government and during our start up and first two years of operation, we've been fortunate enough to have had some real successes. There is now a clear and strategic way in which we use public money to support film training, script development and production."
