Producer Robert Jones will head the main National Lottery fund for commercial films at UK film body the Film Council.

Jones, whose credits include Simon Magus, Dad Savage and The Usual Suspects, will oversee the Premiere Production Fund, which has $16m a year in National Lottery cash to finance popular, mainstream pictures. Joining him at the Council is producer Paul Trijbits, who will head the $8m a year lottery fund for supporting new film-makers and low-budget, innovative projects.

The annual $8m lottery fund for developing scripts went to Jenny Borgars, head of development at UK financing body British Screen Finance. The council has also appointed Jackie O'Sullivan as head of business affairs to work with the heads of the funds. O'Sullivan was until recently based in Australia as general manager and executive producer for Columbia TriStar Productions

The fund managers report directly to the council's chief executive officer, John Woodward. All four new staff will be in place for October 1 when the funds go live.

Jones, based at his UK production outfit Jonescompany Productions, recently unveiled a first-look deal with the UK's FilmFour. A veteran of UK indie distributor Palace Pictures, his credits include the debut feature of Magnolia's Paul Thomas Anderson, Hard Eight.

Trijbits most recently produced John Duigan's Paranoid, one of several films completed with backing from UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB. He is currently executive producer on Dom Rotheroe's digital film My Brother (working title), while his credits include Richard Stanley's Hardware and Danny Cannon's The Young Americans.

Borgars started her career in 1990 with The Comic Strip as a director's assistant and production manager. She has worked as a script consultant and script editor with companies including Miramax Films and Channel Four Films.