Elton John and David Furnish's London-based film production company Rocket Pictures has appointed Steven Hamilton-Shaw as head of development.

Hamilton-Shaw will oversee the development of all Rocket films and source material and talent for the company. He has served stints at Fine Line Features, Lions Gate Films, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Pandora Productions,

Upcoming Rocket projects include So I Am Glad, which Ed Harris and Amy Madigan will star in and produce with Furnish. Also in the works are Just So Stories, an animated Rudyard Kipling's adaptation to go through Rocket's first-look arrangement with the Walt Disney Co; and Desert Flower, the story of Somalian model turned UN ambassador Waris Dirie.

'I'm looking for a much broader range of material,' Hamilton-Shaw said, adding that Rocket is aiming to supply Disney with more live-action projects.

Rocket is currently in post on its first feature, Women Talking Dirty, starring Helena Bonham Carter and Gina McKee.