See-Saw calls at Number 9 for production hire

UK-, US- and Australia-based prodco See-Saw Films has hired the former head of production at On Chesil Beach producer Number 9 Films.

Joanna Laurie

Working from London, Joanna Laurie will act as producer or executive producer on select film and TV projects at See-Saw Films, reporting to joint MDs Iain Canning and Emile Sherman.

Laurie joins See-Saw after more than a decade at Number 9 Films where she served as head of production working alongside Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen before becoming an independent producer.

Her producing credits include Hyena by writer and director Gerard Johnson and The Limehouse Golem, written by Jane Goldman, directed by Juan Carlos Medina and starring Bill Nighy and Olivia Cooke.

Laurie was an associate producer on Youth, a Number 9 Films coproduction with Indigo Films written by Paolo Sorrentino and starring Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel, as well as Byzantium, directed by Neil Jordan and starring Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan.

Her credits as head of production at Number 9 Films include Carol, Their Finest, On Chesil Beach and Colette.

“These are clearly uncertain times but audiences remain committed to great stories and quality material. Jo’s drive, extensive experience and talent relationships will be indispensable to our ability to widen our slate of unique projects and protect and nurture the projects we are moving towards production,” said Canning and Sherman in a joint statement.

See-Saw’s current TV slate includes The North Water, written and directed by Andrew Haigh, adapted from the novel by Ian McGuire and starring Jack O’Connell, Colin Farrell and Stephen Graham, and Slow Horses, the international drama series starring Gary Oldman. The latter was adapted from Mick Herron’s books by Will Smith and commissioned for Apple TV+.

The End, Top of the Lake and State of the Union producer See-Saw’s television division is run by executive producers Hakan Kousetta and Jamie Laurenson.