Chris Fitchett has been put in charge of production support and investment on an interim basis at the new super agency Screen Australia, while Tait Brady is temporarily in charge of marketing.

Fitchett, whose responsibilities also include development, is the existing chief executive of the Australian Film Commission (AFC). This new role within Screen Australia means he won't be out of a job after June 30 as will Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC) head Brian Rosen and Film Australia (FA) head Daryl Karp.

The AFC, FFC and FA are the three agencies - they handle direct government support of development, investment and documentary respectively - that are being merged into Screen Australia.

The industry is getting increasingly agitated that no permanent chief executive, no chair and no board members have been appointed to Screen Australia, although it's due to officially open its doors on July 1. In reality it will be business as usual but under a new name.

Staff have been told about Fitchett and Brady's new roles but no public announcement has been made. Brady, a former Palace Films executive and Melbourne International Film Festival director, is an evaluation manager at the FFC. Fitchett has spent most of his career writing and producing.

Meanwhile, Australia is in the middle of a feature film production boom. This week saw cameras roll on director Andrew Lancaster's film Accidents Happen, starring Geena Davis and produced by Anthony Anderson (Somersault). This Monday is also the first day of principal photography for Rachel Ward's Beautiful Kate, starring Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under) and produced by Leah Churchill-Brown (Suburban Mayhem) and Bryan Brown (Dirty Deed).

Beautiful Kate , which is being sold by The Works, and Accidents Happen, sold by by Bankside Films, are both debut features.

The two other films now in production for Bankside are Rupert Glasson's thriller, Coffin Rock, and Rachel Perkins' musical, Bran Nue Dae.

Crews are also busy on writer/director Sean Byrne's horror film The Loved Ones for Arclight, and writer/director Mark Lewis's theatrical sequel to his famous documentary Cane Toads for Participant. Plus Glendyn Ivin's long-awaited first feature, The Last Ride, goes into production soon for ContentFilm.

David Caesar's Prime Mover wraps today and Bruce Beresford's Mao's Last Dancer wrapped one week ago.

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