Quebec’s provincial government funding body Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC) has named Francois Macerola as its new president and CEO.

Macerola joins the body, which is Canada’s largest public sector investor in film and TV after Telefilm Canada, from Cirque du Soleil, where he was executive producer.

His appointment follows a period of instability at SODEC after his predecessor, Jean-Guy Chaput, was engulfed in a controversy over excessive expensive, including a now infamous C$1,300 per night hotel room at Cannes. Chaput was removed the top job but he remained with the body until October 2.

Macerola has a long history in cultural affairs in Canada, most significantly during his five year tenure as executive director of Telefilm Canada, which is considered one of the agency’s high points. In the 1980s, he was government film commissioner and head of the National Film Board of Canada.