Liz Watts is See-Saw Films’ new head of television and film, Australia.
Joint managing directors Emile Sherman and Iain Canning announced Watt’s appointment today, with The Animal Kingdom producer to oversee the development and production of all film and television projects out of See-Saw’s Sydney office, including joint venture Picking Scabs with Samantha Strauss.
Watts has previously worked with See-Saw on Garth Davis’ Mary Magdalene, which she produced with Sherman and Canning.
Effective December 14, she will report directly to the MDs, as well as as well as See-Saw’s UK-based creative director Helen Gregory.
“I’ve long admired the brilliance, creative drive and tenacity of See-Saw, and the excellent taste of its managing directors Emile and Iain. Stacked with so many talented people with so many skillsets, it’s a truly global production house,” Watts said.
“I’m hugely excited about joining a company that isn’t resting on its laurels but is firmly looking to the future of original, enthralling television and feature storytelling. I can’t wait to dive in!”
Watts brings to See-Saw a select slate of projects she was developing under her banner Spirit Pictures, which she formed last year after the closure of of Porchlight Films, the company she co-founded with Vincent Sheehan and Anita Sheehan. She will continue to executive produce key shows developed under Spirit’s first look TV deal with Matchbox Pictures.
Among Watts’ current projects is Foxtel’s The Twelve, which she is EP’ing alongside Michael Brooks and Hamish Lewis from Warners Bros. Television International Production Australia. She also an EP on Nakkiah Lui and Gabe Dowrick’s Preppers, currently airing on the ABC.
In a joint statement, Sherman and Canning said: “We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Liz Watts into the See-Saw family. Liz brings an extraordinary wealth of experience and an unwavering eye for quality as a film and television producer and executive producer, with so many deep creative relationships with the most exciting Australian voices. The opportunity for Australian content is stronger than it’s ever been, both locally and internationally, and we’re excited to grow our Australian business with Liz at the helm.”
See-Saw is currently in its busiest year yet, with the release of Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog, Andrew Haigh’s The North Water, written and John Madden’s and Operation Mincemeat, while in TV Warwick Thornton and Brendan Fletcher’s Indigenous vampire series Firebite launches next week on AMC+.
Other series in production include the second season of State of the Union for SundanceTV, Netflix’s Heartstopper, and The Essex Serpent and Slow Horses, both for Apple TV+, while the company’s upcoming film slate includes Florian Zeller’s The Son, Garth Davis’ Foe, due to shoot in Australia early next year, and Thomas M. Wright’s The Stranger (previously The Unknown Man), which shot in SA last year.
Rachel Gardner was previously See-Saw Films’ head of drama, Australia. She departed in July to be Playmaker Media’s creative director.