In a busy weekfor IFP/New York the organisation has elected Ira Deutchman as new boardchairman, added four new board members, and announced the first formal meetingof a new producers coalition formed under the aegis of IFP/New York.

Deutchman, afounding father of Cinecom and Fine Line Features and currently president andchief executive officer of New York-based digital production and exhibitioncompany Emerging Pictures, replaces outgoing chairman and Rainbow EntertainmentServices president Ed Carroll.

Anthony Bregman(Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind) and Tim Williams (In The Bedroom) join the board, along with marketingconsultant Jeanne Berney and the UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund chief PaulTrijbits.

Meanwhile thefirst meeting of the fledgling IFP/New York's Producers' Group has beenscheduled for Apr 19.

The group wasset up in the wake of the 2003-04 screener ban debacle and representsindividual producers and production companies working on large and smallindependent productions.

The Group'ssteering committee comprises InDigEnt's Jake Abraham, The 7th Floor's AllenBain, Blue Raincoat Productions' Adam Brightman, Deutsch Open City/HD NetFilms' Jason Kliot, Killer Films' Katie Roumel, and GreeneStreet's TimWilliams.

"The energy thathas sparked the formation of the Producers Group is at the foundation ofIFP/New York's efforts," Deutchman said. "This new group, coupled with theaddition of several new board members, has increased efforts to build astronger and more unified atmosphere for independent film and filmmakers."

IFP/New York iscurrently in the middle of a public spat with its LA counterpart IFP/LosAngeles, which has announced its intentions to change its name anddifferentiate itself from its east coast counterpart.