Aline Perry, former president of PolyGram Film International, has emerged as the front-runner to head UK-based international sales operation The Sales Co.

Civilian Content, which in March agreed to acquire a majority stake in the sales outfit, is understood to be wooing the executive as part of plans to move the highly regarded boutique operation into more commercially-oriented films. A strong sales operation has been a key goal for Civilian ever since the UK media outfit agreed to take over National Lottery franchise The Film Consortium last year.

Perry, who became international head of internet company Internetstudios after leaving PolyGram, worked on films including Four Weddings And A Funeral, Fargo, Bean and Notting Hill during her stint at PolyGram and Manifesto.

Publicly-listed, Civilian said when it took over The Sales Co that it would implement "a fast-track corporate growth plan" for the sales operation, in which BBC commercial arm BBC Worldwide also has a stake. Jane Wright, the head of business development for BBC Films, came in as acting chief executive after previous sales chief Alison Thompson moved to Pathe International last year.

The Sales Co, which has returned a profit every year since launching 15 years ago, this month sold North America on Cannes Competition title No Man's Land to UA. Other highlights on The Sales Co's slate include Dr Sleep, directed by Photographing Fairies' Nick Willing and starring ER's Goran Visnjic, and Milcho Manchevski's $12m action drama Dust, which is expected to open Venice.