Sydney- Caroline Pitcher has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Ausfilm, which markets Australia as a production destination. For the past four years, Pitcher has served as General Manager of Film Victoria’s Melbourne Film Office, which, like Ausfilm, seeks to attract major film and television projects. During her watch, projects including Where the Wild Things Are, Nightmares and Dreamscapes, Charlotte’s Web and Ghost Rider were filmed in Victoria, and Steven Spielberg’s miniseries The Pacific recently began production. At Ausfilm, Pitcher replaces Mark Woods, who stepped down August 17 after a two-year tenure, to manage the Melbourne International Film Festival’s new investment fund, and its new film market 37 South: Bridging the Gap. The MIFF fund will invest in Victorian feature films and documentaries; guidelines, application forms and funding rounds will be announced soon. Woods said it was “the perfect time to leave” Ausfilm after the government introduced a 15% rebate for post/digital/VFX work (PDV), and increased from 12.5% to 15% the incentive for big budget productions shot exclusively or primarily in Australia.