Tania Chambers is to become the chief executive of the News South Wales Film and Television Office (FTO), the government film agency in the Australian state that hosts the most production.

She will relocate to the east coast from the opposite side of the country once she has stepped down from ScreenWest at the end of January. ScreenWest is the equivalent agency in Western Australia - but much smaller - and she has been chief executive there for six years.

News of the appointment has not been announced but is widely known. Chambers replaces Jane Smith, who announced back in July that she would not be seeking to renew her contract for the role she has been in for nearly a decade.

The head of development and investment for the FTO, Sally Browning, left soon after September to join the Federal Government agency Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC). It is understood that she will be replaced by Linda Tizard, who has been acting in that role.

Tizard is a former general manager of business affairs at Beyond, has been a film business consultant and is executive director of the Independent Producers' Initiative.

State agencies have a significant role in supporting the development of Australian films and attracting production, including offshore projects. They do invest in projects but generally it is either in very low-budget films or alongside the FFC and with smaller levels of finance.