Luisa Bonello, who has occupied the post of Film Commissioner for the past four years, has resigned, and Anthony Sammut has been appointed Acting Film Commissioner until a replacement is chosen.

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech, under whose umbrella the Film Commission falls, thanked Ms Bonello for her valuable work. She has been involved in the Film Commission since its inception and resigned for personal reasons, saying that after 11 years in the industry, she felt it was an appropriate time to “move on and seek new challenges”.

Ms Bonello leaves behind a film-servicing industry that is doing particularly well, with several productions lined up for 2011, continuing the consistency that has been achieved over the last few years. The local creative sector is also responding well to recent developments as regards training and the film fund.

Since 2007, a production was in prep, or shooting every day of the year, except for a few months in 2009 due to the global financial crisis.

People working in the industry were full of praise for the outgoing Film Commissioner and sorry about her resignation.

Reacting to the news, freelance line producer Malcolm Scerri-Ferrante said Ms Bonello was doing “sterling” work in promoting Malta and administering incentives, leaving a question mark as to who could replace her.

“She grasped this specialised industry incredibly fast, even though these things take time. I think I can speak on behalf of the industry when I express concern about who could take her place,” Mr Scerri-Ferrante said.

“This is not an easy role to occupy and it is important to speak the language. You have to understand the mind of producers and the politics involved,” he said.

“Whoever replaces her must not have any private economic interests in the film industry and must not use their position for personal benefit on the side – a strict rule in the International Association of Film Commissioners,” Mr Scerri-Ferrante insisted.

For Simon Sansone, Small Island Films production manager, Ms Bonello was an “incredible asset” to the industry and great at nurturing productions, from attracting them to Malta to their realisation.

“Apart from the political aspect of handling the producers very well, she was very hands-on in terms of assisting with the day-to-day nitty gritty and understanding the importance of her assistance.”

Ms Bonello covered a wide spectrum of required qualities, from knowing the industry and what was going on overseas to the financing and conceptual point of view, right down to being available for productions that had operational problems, he said.