See-Saw hires Gilchrist in recruitment drive

See-Saw Films  announced that BAFTA-winning producer Lisa Gilchrist will be joining the UK and Australia based operation, working as part of the growing team of executive producers in the London office.  The company has also hired of executive producer Luke Franklin who has been consulting for the company for the last year, and Ana Jimenez as development producer based in the Sydney office.

Building on her background in factual drama, Lisa will be growing a slate of returning and limited TV drama. Luke will be working between Los Angeles and London, focusing on returning series. Lisa and Luke will both report to Helen Gregory, See-Saw’s creative director. Ana joins from Fremantle Australia and is working across See-Saw’s Australian slate, reporting to head of film and television, Liz Watts and working with development executive, Nicola Freedman.

Lisa, Luke and Ana will continue to grow See-Saw’s TV business across the highest quality entertainment which includes Slow Horses (Apple TV+), Heartstopper (Netflix) and upcoming titles such as Apple Cider Vinegar (Netflix), Sweetpea (Sky) and Grown Ups (Netflix).

Gregory said: “We’re delighted to welcome Luke and Lisa and the different perspectives they bring to the See-Saw UK slate. Luke’s experience of working with companies outside the UK is a fresh exciting lens on our work, and Lisa’s expertise in factual drama is a fantastic addition to the team.”

Watts said: “Ana has quickly become an invaluable member of the Sydney See-Saw TV and Film Slate. We feel very lucky to have Ana’s integrity, experience and smarts on script and are delighted to have her as development producer.”

 Gilchrist is a BAFTA-winning producer who has developed and produced a number of hard-hitting and critically acclaimed dramas. Lisa joins from Plimsoll Productions, where she was head of drama, and her slate included a number of high profile factual stories for drama as well the development of original, returning series. Lisa’s past projects include See No Evil: The Moors Murders which won the BAFTA for Best Drama; Mo starring Julie Walters for which Walters won a BAFTA and International Emmy for her performance as Mo Mowlam; Appropriate Adult which won three BAFTAS for the performances of Dominic West, Emily Watson and Monica Dolan; and The Moorside starring Sheridan Smith and Siobhan Finneran which was BAFTA nominated as Best Mini-Series.

Prior to joining See-Saw, Luke Franklin established and ran the London office of Swedish company Yellow Bird, where he oversaw the development, green light and production of the first season of Henning Mankell crime drama Young Wallander (Netflix), and The Playlist (Netflix), a limited series about the battle for the soul of the music business in the early days of streaming. Before that, Luke worked across development and production at Frank Spotnitz’s Big Light Productions, on The Man In the High Castle (Amazon) and two seasons of Ransom, a CBS procedural about a team of hostage negotiators.

Ana Jimenez joins from Fremantle Australia, where she was developing a slate of television shows, including producing the first two seasons of Heartbreak High for Netflix Australia, which won an International Emmy Award for its first season.