From fashion to films - ex-Zara boss Isla starts production company

MADRID (Reuters) - Former chief executive of textile giant Inditex, Pablo Isla, has started his own film production company, saying in a statement on Friday that he hoped to use his "deep passion for film" and business experience to advance Spain's movie industry.

Isla stepped down from the owner of the global fashion brand Zara in April after more than a decade leading the company's global expansion, passing the torch to Marta Ortega, the daughter of Inditex owner Amancio Ortega, who took over as non-executive chairwoman.

"I intend to contribute my business experience to the audiovisual world and, based on my deep passion for film, help the development of the thriving Spanish audiovisual industry," Isla wrote in the statement issued by the new company, Fonte Films.

Founded by Isla alongside Goya Award winning producer Carla Perez de Albeniz and lawyer Maria Jesus Roman, it aims to "develop projects with top technical quality for a global audience and promote new forms of audiovisual expression".

Following his departure from Inditex in April, Isla has remained a member of the board of Nestlé, joined U.S. private equity firm General Atlantic as a global senior adviser, and became advisory board chairman at Spain's IE University.

(Reporting by Christina Thykjaer; Editing by Alex Richardson)