See-Saw ups Gillis to new film, TV role

UK- and Australia- based prodco See-Saw Films has promoted Simon Gillis to chief operating officer and appointed three new executives.

Simon Gillis

Gillis was previously COO for film and has now added TV to his responsibilities. He will continue to report to co-MDs Iain Canning and Emile Sherman.

Gillis’s remit has been widened due to the departure of head of TV Jamie Laurenson and COO for TV Hakan Kousetta, who left in February to set up their own prodco, 60Forty Films.

Gillis will now oversee day-to-day TV and film operations between See-Saw’s London and Sydney offices. He will lead commercial strategy for See-Saw and its Australian joint-venture prodcos I Am That and Picking Scabs.

In addition, Gillis will look after business development and strategy and run Cross City Films, See-Saw’s in house sales operation.

He joined the company in 2016 from US prodco Universal Pictures and has gone on to exec produce Francis Lee’s film Ammonite, among others.

In addition, See-Saw has hired former Film4 exec Emily Leach as senior production executive, reporting to UK head of production Nicky Earnshaw.

Katie FitzGerald Frazer and Ellen Lister are also joining as senior business and legal affairs execs. Fitzgerald Fraser joins from London entertainment law firm Sheridans, while Lister was at ITN Productions.

See-Saw is known for Apple TV+’s Slow Horses and BBC drama The North Water.