Matthew Gannon, most recently director of production/development at Fox Searchlight in Los Angeles, is joining UK National Lottery studio franchise Pathe Pictures as head of development.

The move comes after Susanna Wyatt, former head of production for HAL Miramax, joined the franchise as head of physical production earlier this month. While at Searchlight, Gannon has been an executive on projects including Tamara Jenkins' Slums Of Beverly Hills, Fina Torres' Woman On Top and Philip Kaufman's Quills.

"Several of the most original and provocative films of the last few years have been made by European filmmakers, many of them British, and I found myself focusing more and more on this amazing pool of talent while at Searchlight," Gannon said.

Prior to joining Searchlight, Gannon worked at New Line Cinema and American Playhouse. He takes up the post October 9.

Wyatt's experience covers such films as John Madden's Mrs Brown, Peter Cattaneo's The Full Monty and Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book. She took up her duties on August 14.

The announcement was made by François Ivernel, managing director of Pathe's UK operation Pathe Entertainment, and Cameron McCracken, deputy managing director of Pathe Pictures.