TheUK Film Council has appointed Lenny Crooks as the new head of the New CinemaFund, effective Sept 18. His initial contract is for a two-year term, with theoption to extend by a further two years.

Crookswill replace Paul Trijbits, whose six-year tenurewith the fund ends in September as expected.

Crooks current serves asdirector of the Glasgow Film Office and he previously worked at Glasgow FilmFinance Ltd, the Glasgow Film Fund, and Inverclyde Productions.

Duringhis 20-year film career, he has worked with films including Gaby Dellal's On a Clear Day, Peter Mullan'sThe Magdalene Sisters, Ken Loach's My Nameis Joe, Lynne Ramsay's Morvern Callar, and David Mackenzie's Young Adam.

"Lenny has an exceptional track-record infinding the most exciting new film talent at the early stage of their careers,"said John Woodward, CEO of the UK Film Council. "He has also been highlysuccessful in helping producers build alliances with European partners."

Crooksadded: "I am enormously excited about taking on this challenge. Paul, as theoutgoing head of the fund, has established an incredible legacy in supportingsuch a fantastic range of films and nurturing the talent involved. I am lookingforward to doing what I can to bring through creatively exciting andchallenging filmmakers who can secure an even brighter future for new Britishcinema."

TheNew Cinema Fund, which has $27.3m (£15m) of Lottery funding to invest infeatures and shorts over three years, has recently supported films such as The Wind That Shakes The Barley, Red Road, Bullet Boy and Touching The Void. It also runsthree short-film schemes and is a partner in the Warp X low-budget studioprogramme.