It is believed that the Federal Cabinet today approved the appointment of producer Brian Rosen as chief executive of Australia's biggest film investor, the Film Finance Corporation (FFC). He will return to Australia from Los Angeles to take up the highly influential job.

For the last decade Rosen has developed projects through Rosen Harper Entertainment, the company he owns in Australia with Richard Harper, and through Classic Films in the US.

He has producer credits on about 10 films from the 1980s ,as well as on Ferngully - The Last Rainforest, Ferngully II: The Magical Rescue, James And The Giant Peach, Mushrooms and Wendy Cracked A Walnut. For several years in the late 1990s he had a production deal with 20th Century Fox.

The FFC receives some $36.7m (A$60m) per year in funding to invest in features, television and documentaries. A further$9.2m (A$15m) flows in via returns from projects.