Mia Bays is leaving her post as head of marketing and distribution at UK National Lottery franchise The Film Consortium to launch her own production company, Missing In Action Films.

Bays has already assembled a broad slate of commercial and edgier fare, mostly at first draft stage, including horror title Regeneration, thriller Close At Hand and an adaptation of Jay Basu's novel The Stars Can Wait.

'It is a natural progression for me after 12 years of working on other filmmakers' projects,' Bays said. 'I am passionate about cinema, about finding and nurturing both new talent and established filmmaking talent, whilst also understanding the pressure upon financiers to make successful investments.'

Bays, who last year took part in the high-profile Inside Pictures business course run by Michael Kuhn and the UK Film Council, recently worked on campaigns for 24 Hour Party People and the upcoming 3D Imax feature Bugs