Northern Film and Media (NFM) is looking for the founding chairman to put into the screen mediaŠs hottest seat, charged with uniting three existing film and media help agencies into a single screen agency covering the North of England.

As in Northern Exposure, Northern Production Fund (part of Northern Arts) Northern Film Commission and Northern Media Training had begun sharing the same office space some time ago. It was clearly forerunner to their closer integration into an all-purpose support agency for the screen media, on similar lines to Scottish Screen. That will be the first job for the new chair.

The new agency will cover the full range of activity and interests in film, broadcasting and narrow casting, media and new media including production, exhibition, education, archives, locations support and training.

NFM will receive and distribute funds from Film Council, including lottery funds, One NorthEast, Northern Arts as well as European Regional Development Funds.

A strategy and business plan has been developed and NFM is currently establishing its founding board prior to registration as a company limited by guarantee. The founding chair will play a key role in the development of the new agency.

Crucially, the job description sets out the relationship between the chair and the organisationŠs chief executive that the new chair has to recruit almost as a first task.

The chair is intended to be in regular contact with the chief executive, through regular meetings with agreed agendas, with the relationship between them envisaged as a partnership based on good communication and agreement over the activities, position and profile of the agency.

One of the first jobs of the new chief exec will be to draft mission, strategies and objectives with the support of the chair and agreed by the board.