AtomFilms has appointed Mikael Shields to the newly created post of senior vice president of entertainment - Europe, based at the company's European headquarters in London.

Shields will oversee all acquisitions and development of entertainment properties for the Seattle-based internet company, negotiating and managing co-productions and content partnerships across Europe.

Shields is currently CEO of animation producer Eva Entertainment which Pearson Television acquired in February 1999. Before founding Eva he headed up business development at BBC specialist division BBC Children's International, where he was responsible for worldwide investment and marketing strategy across the broadcaster's children's output.

AtomFilms, a short films boutique and webcaster, has aggressively acquired content in both the US and Europe. At Cannes it signed up a raft of top theatrical directors including Bernardo Bertolucci, Nicolas Roeg, Jim Jarmusch, Chris Marker and Aki Kaurismaki, to direct a series of shorts exclusively for webcast on atomfilms.com.