TWO Irish executives have been appointed to plum positions in the European Commission's MEDIA II Programme (1996-2000), which supports the European audio visual industry. David Kavanagh, former director of the Irish Film Institute and most recently director general of the European Script Fund, has been made head of the London based European Media Development Agency (EMDA), which, drawing upon an international network of over 100 experts, will assist the Commission in the pre selection of development projects.

John Dick, who ran the enterprising Dublin video store, Metropolis, before taking the job of chief executive with Espace Video Europeen (EVE) in Dublin, has been appointed head of the Brussels based D & S Media, which will assist the Commission on the pre selection of financial proposals by European distribution companies for cinema, video and television distribution. D & Media will have a Dublin office, specialising in video distribution and headed by Norma Cairns, formerly of EVE.

The next deadline for MEDIA II development support is September 16th. Funding is available for production projects in fiction (cinema and television), creative documentary, animation and projects using new technologies and multi media. Funding for production companies will be in the form of loans for the creation of specific posts, for the modernisation of companies and for company overheads. For further details, contact Sara Corcoran at MEDIA Desk Ireland, 6 Eustace Street, Dublin 2.