The Association of Film Commissioners International has picked Rajiv Dalal for the newly created role of President, it was announced today at the group’s 41st Annual Cineposium here in L.A.
The new direction at the top of the AFCI also saw ex-British Film Commission exec Jess Conoplia appointed to the also the newly created position of EVP/COO. Both the former deputy at L.A.’s Office of Motion Picture and Television Production and Conoplia will be based in the City of Angels with the latter reporting to the former.
“The leadership and strategic changes announced today represent a significant turning point for our organization,” said AFCI Board Chair and New Zealand regional film commissioner Kevin Jennings on Friday. “Rajiv and Jess bring the expertise, international experience, and industry relationships needed for AFCI to better serve its members and the production community.”
With growing demands on tax incentives regionally and globally, the duo’s brief is to focus on bridging gaps between governments and creators and fueling industry economic growth. That’s a similar agenda to when the ex-Time Warner exec was working with L.A. Film Czar and heavyweight lawyer Ken Ziffren to see a successful $330 million expansion of California’s Film and TV tax credit program back in 2014.
“It is imperative that policymakers around the world understand the positive effect that content creation has on driving economic development and job growth,” Dalal told Deadline today. “To date, there hasn’t been an industry wide concerted effort to right the global production policy landscape, and the commissioners look forward to working with the production community in developing a more favorable environment for economic growth,” the newly minted AFCI Prez added.
Dalal exited his L.A. Film and TV office perch in the spring of 2015 for a run for the state assembly.
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