When she moved to Los Angeles two years ago to become executive director of the UK Film Council's US office, Claire Chapman quickly discovered she was in a new film-making world.

"I learnt overnight how different the industry is in terms of how it operates and how it's treated in Hollywood," says Chapman, previously a London-based producer who became head of production and development at Scottish Screen. "It really is a business."

Now, she says, "I want to try and impart as much as I can of that experience to the UK." For one thing, she suggests, if the British industry wants to compete in the cut-throat environment of Hollywood, "we need to focus on creating more commercially minded producers".

Helping British films and film-makers get noticed across the Atlantic is just one part of Chapman's brief for the UK Film Council, the government-backed lead agency for film in the UK.

Also in her remit is helping British film commissioner Colin Brown and his London-based team attract inward investment in the shape of US projects shooting in the UK; keeping the UK and US industries informed about business practices and marketing opportunities; fostering creative and business relationships that are more than just "canape talk"; and looking for ways in which UK film-makers can benefit from US training practices (and vice versa).

In the first of those areas, Chapman has faced some tricky challenges. When she started the job in May 2006, the new UK tax relief for film production was being introduced. Though it replaced a system from which the US studios had benefited hugely, the new relief "has been much applauded" in Hollywood, Chapman insists.

There is, she admits, "some confusion in terms of the interpretation of what it takes to qualify as a British film, and that's something I'm very keen to work on".

But, with its relatively straightforward credit formula, the new system is "much more user-friendly", she says. "The studios that have utilised this completely get it. And once they do get it, they absolutely understand that it's a good thing."

The UK government's recent clampdown on 'sole trader' film-financing schemes has so far produced "absolutely no reaction" from Hollywood, Chapman reports.

The Hollywood writers' strike slowed the flow of US production into the UK, but, says Chapman, "I don't think the UK was affected more than anywhere else." And in spite of the ongoing threat of an actors' strike, the flow has "picked up as much as it possibly could have in the short time (since the writers went back to work)".

There are, however, still challenges from the weakening US dollar (making it more expensive for US productions to come to the UK) and the increase in competition from other countries for US inward investment.

And it is because of those challenges that Chapman - who this weekend is waving the flag at the UK Lounge umbrella stand she conceived for the Locations trade show in Santa Monica - believes the UK "should be much more aggressive about marketing itself as a film-production destination".

The US industry, she asserts, "recognises that we've got what it takes - we've got the talent, we've got the infrastructure, now we've got the tax break. I just think we need to get a bit more focused on how we capitalise on that."