House develops with Playground exec

House Productions, the fledgling prodco backed by BBC Worldwide (BBCWW) and Danny Cohen’s Access Entertainment, has appointed three execs to its development team including a director from Playground Television.

House was launched by Tessa Ross and Juliette Howell

Tom Leggett and Polly Buckle join as development producers while Ann Philips has been named development executive, with the trio working on the company’s development slate across film and TV, from its London base.

Leggett joins from Playground Television where he was director of development, working on shows for the BBC, Channel 4 and Sky in the UK as well as Starz in the US. Prior to that he was senior development editor at Film4 with credits including The Riot Club and 12 Years a Slave.

Buckle most recently produced Working Title’s You, Me and the Apocalypse for Sky1 and has worked in script development for Shine and on shows including Merlin for BBC1.

Philips, meanwhile, joins from See-Saw Films where she worked across the development of the film slate, collaborating with talent such as Steve McQueen, Simon Beaufoy, Garth Davis and Philippa Goslett.

House was set up earlier this year by Tessa Ross, previously controller of film and drama at UK terrestrial C4, and Juliette Howell, who was Working Title’s head of television for five years prior to stepping down last year.

Ross, joint CEO of House Productions, said: “Tom, Polly and Ann all bring a wealth of expertise, huge energy and very good taste to the company, and we so look forward to building our slate with them across film and television.”

Howell, also joint CEO of House Productions, added: “Tom, Polly and Ann share an appetite with us for bold and original storytelling and their combined knowledge, taste and talent relationships are a great fit for House.”