Matt Gannon has decided to leave his position as head of development at Pathe's UK operation, managing director Francois Ivernel confirmed on Thursday.

Although Gannon has developed some of the company's highest-profile productions - including The Magic Roundabout and Pride And Prejudice: The Bollywood Musical - Pathe is scaling back its longterm development activities.

The operation aims to secure product more quickly for its sales and distribution pipelines and reduce costs by focusing less on in-house development and more on third-party projects, which it aims to typically board closer to production.

"Matt is excellent at what he does," Ivernel said. "But he felt it was time to move on."

"I love building projects from the ground up," Gannon told Screendaily, "When I first joined Pathe, two-and-a-half years ago, my ambition was to re-build the slate and improve the quality of the films and I'm proud of what my team and I have accomplished."

Although Pathe is reducing its development expenditure, Ivernel denied that the re-focusing was linked to Pathe nearing the end of its $47m (£30m)-plus National Lottery franchise. He said that UK producers now have more development cash than when the franchise was launched six years ago since support body the Film Council has awarded a host of slate deals.

Pathe, which is negotiating a six month extension to spend its remaining lottery cash, has instead made Celine Haddad head of creative affairs to work with the creative community. Ivernel said the operation will still back some projects at an early stage. This month, Pathe partnered with Catherine Zeta-Jones' Milkwood Films and Starboard Entertainment to develop and produce romantic comedy Getting And Spending.

Gannon, formerly Fox Searchlight's director of production/development in Los Angeles, worked on some of Pathe's most keenly anticipated upcoming projects, including Gurinder Chadha's Pride And Prejudice: The Bollywood Musical and The Magic Roundabout. He also brought Suzie Gold and Natural History, two current productions, into the company and co-ordinated Girl With The Pearl Earring.

While Pathe's move may be significantly less dramatic, it echoes fellow lottery franchise The Film Consortium's decision to cut back on longterm development and make its sales operation The Works the focus of its business.

Matt Gannon has decided to leave his position as head of development at Pathe's UK operation, managing director Francois Ivernel confirmed on Thursday.

"Matt is excellent at what he does," Ivernel said. "But he felt it was time to move on."

Although Gannon has developed some of the company's highest-profile productions - including The Magic Roundabout and Pride And Prejudice: The Bollywood Musical, the move coincides with Pathe UK's restructuring of its development activities to focus less on in-house development and more on third-party projects which it aims to typically board closer to production.

Although Pathe is trimming its development expenditure, Ivernel denied that the re-focusing was linked to Pathe nearing the end of its £30m-plus National Lottery franchise.

He added that UK producers now have more development cash than when the franchise was launched six years ago since support body the Film Council has awarded a host of slate deals.

Pathe, which is negotiating a six month extension to spend its remaining lottery cash, has instead made Celine Haddad head of creative affairs to work with the creative community.

Ivernel said the operation, which combines UK distribution and international sales, aims to develop fewer, higher profile films. However, it will still back some projects at an early stage, having announced this month that it had partnered with Catherine Zeta-Jones' Milkwood Films and Starboard Entertainment to develop and produce a romantic comedy based on the stage play Getting And Spending.

Ivernel pointed out that one of Pathe's most keenly anticipated upcoming projects, Gurinder Chadha's Pride And Prejudice: The Bollywood Musical, was the result of internal development. Another large-scale internal development project is The Magic Roundabout.

"I loved building projects from the ground up," Gannon told Screendaily, "When I first joined Pathe, two-and-a-half years ago, my ambition was to re-build the slate and improve the quality of the films and I'm proud of what my team and I have accomplished."

Gannon also brought Suzie Gold and Natural History, two current productions, into the company and co-ordinated Girl With The Pearl Earring.

While Pathe's move may be significantly less dramatic, it echoes fellow lottery franchise The Film Consortium's decision to cut back on development deals and make its sales operation The Works the focus of its business.