Mr Colin Anderson is setting out to rewrite the script for the Northern Ireland Film Commission.

In the five years since the commission was established, 15 feature films costing £35 million sterling (#58 million) have been produced in the North. Of this, just £7 million has been spent in the Northern Ireland economy, compared to an estimated £100 million that has gone directly into the Republic's economy during the same period.

Now the time has come, according to new commission chairman Mr Anderson, for Northern Ireland to grab a bigger slice of the action. "There is no point in being in this business if we cannot attract attention and, at this particular moment, we are trying to simultaneously build the product and sell the product.

"Five years ago there was no industry to speak off. We are building a culture and we are building a reputation and, compared to where we were, the Northern Ireland Film Commission has achieved a lot in a short space of time." Attracting attention is something Mr Anderson is well versed in. For the past 20 years he has been at the helm of one of Northern Ireland's largest advertising agencies, the Anderson Spratt Group.

A former president of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce, he has a reputation for being outspoken, opinionated and for getting things done. And he is not afraid to take difficult decisions.

While he was president of the chamber, he established a series of lunches whereby the leaders of all of Northern Ireland's political parties would get the opportunity to address key business people. He duly invited politicians from all walks of life to take part. But Mr Anderson received strong criticism and in some cases personal threats because of his decision to involve all shades of political persuasion.

It did not deter him and he has taken up the cause of the Northern Ireland Film Commission with the same determination. Mr Anderson had barely taken over from the commission's first chairman, Mr Ronnie Kells, the former chief executive of Ulster Bank, when he was thrust into the spotlight of the Cannes Film Festival.

The Northern Ireland Film Commission and the Film Board of Ireland have, for the past three years, run a joint promotion at the Cannes Film Festival.

Mr Anderson would like to see the North's operation working closely with its southern counterpart. But he admits that he also wants Northern Ireland to be competitive when it comes to winning new investment and projects from the film industry.

One of the major issues he wants to address is the level of financial assistance available to the film sector in the North compared to what can be provided in the Republic. "No matter how beautiful our locations are, no matter how wonderful the experience is of meeting the people who live in Northern Ireland, the one thing that is going to really attract inward investment from film producers and directors is financial incentives," he said.

He believes one of the most obvious areas to consider is tax breaks. Mr Anderson is hoping to win the support of the Northern Ireland Executive in this regard.

A new board of directors is shortly expected to be appointed to the Film Commission and its first task, according to its chairman, will be to review where the industry is at this time.

The Northern Ireland Film Commission currently has a budget of £2 million, £1 million of which is set aside to invest in films.

Mr Anderson said: "It may not seem like a lot of money but it can act as a catalyst for the industry to raise finance as a result of it.

One of Belfast's famous landmarks, Harland and Wolff, is playing a supporting role. The Paint Hall Studios, located in the shipyard, is home to four 85-foot tall structures, one of which has been refurbished to become the Titanic Stage.

Mr Anderson also plans to set about wooing some of the industry's key players, from actors to directors and location chiefs. "Northern Ireland has produced some very fine actors and actresses, from Liam Neeson to Kenneth Branagh. We would hope they would like to take a part in promoting the future of the industry.

"There is no doubt that Hollywood is going to be part of our strategy - we would love to attract a blockbuster film to Northern Ireland, whether or not we can do that remains to be seen," he said.