Alan Maher has said that his departure from the Irish Film Board won’t affect any of the projects on which he is currently working.

The news that Maher was to step down after six years as Production Executive was announced quietly just prior to Cannes. He will be leaving the Board in mid-July when his current contract expires. In his six years at the Board, Maher has been credited in particular with helping galvanize the Irish documentary scene. He has been involved in such festival favourites at Knuckle, Colony and The Pipe.

Last year, Maher was instrumental in setting up a new alliance between the Irish Film Board and BBC Storyville under Nick Fraser. The two partners are collaborating on The London Nobody Knows, the new project from Marc Isaacs which is being produced by Rachel Wexler through Bungalow Town.

The Irish Film Board and BBC are currently partnering on new Passion Pictures feature doc The Summit. Directed by Nick Ryan and exec produced by John Battsek, this is billed as a film about “the deadliest day in modern mountain climbing history.” It chronicles the tumultuous and tragic events when 22 climbers from several international expeditions converged on High Camp of K2. 48 hours later, 11 had been killed or had simply vanished into thin air. Now in post-production, the film is bound to draw comparison with Kevin Macdonald’sTouching The Void.

Speaking from business training progarmme Inside Pictures 2012, where he is currently one of the participants, Maher paid tribute to the Film Board.

“I am very excited about the future of the Film Board. I think James Hickey is a terrific CEO,” Maher said. “I think the new project manager system is going to be very effective.”

Maher will continue to “consult” on the projects on which he has already been involved through the Irish Film Board.

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