Himesh Kar will encourage Black and Asian film-makers to apply for the Film Council's New Cinema Fund - a £5m pot of lottery and other public funds.

The idea is to encourage black and Asian film-makers to work across genres and bring them into the mainstream.

It is a move that has been welcomed within the industry.

"From my experience of working in the UK I've recognised the need for a move towards the active promotion of black and Asian film-makers," said film director Shekur Kapur.

"I think Himesh will bring about an awareness and create and environment that is essential for the growth of talent working here today."

Himesh Kar: Keen to bring black and Asian film-makers into mainstream

A spokesman for the Film Council added: "We never dictate the content of films that come to us.

"But we would like to not just highlight stories from individual communities, but to get them working in the mainstream."

Kar will be looking at horror, romantic comedies, teen oriented films and thrillers - all areas not normally associated with ethnic minority film-makers.

A former development Himesh Kar was a development producer at Tony Garnett's World Productions, which made This Life, Cardiac Arrest and makes The Cops and Ballykissangel.