See-Saw Films, 18 Months Into Mediawan Ownership, Bets on IP

Eighteen months after France's Mediawan took a controlling stake in See-Saw Films, the production company behind "The King's Speech" and "Slow Horses" says the deal has expanded its ambition rather than constrained it. In their first major interview since the March 2025 acquisition, joint founders and CEOs Emile Sherman and Iain Canning, alongside joint managing director Simon Gillis, told Variety the relationship has accelerated their slate across formats.

"I think the first thing to say is that it's a scary thing to do a deal and sell a chunk of your company," Sherman said. "We'd never done that before, so didn't really know what to expect or how it was going to play out."

The outcome, he said, brought "a real alignment on taste and quality" and a "real hustling energy, which very much meets ours."

Mediawan, run by CEO and co-founder Pierre-Antoine Capton, has been on a buying streak: See-Saw joined Plan B, Leonine and, later, LuckyChap International, North Road and — just this week — Hello Sunshine in the group's portfolio.

What has actually changed at See-Saw?

Concrete results are already visible. There's the announced Entourage deal, a $50 million film finance partnership that Canning says "gives us a fast track to green light" in a market where financing is "getting harder and harder." Then there's "The Great White" from the Australian office, where Mediawan came on as sales and distribution arm and found co-commission opportunities.

Gillis pointed to Capton's background as a producer: "he really gets the alchemy of production and the risk-taking that goes into it." North Road joining the group, he added, opens up U.S. opportunities.

The company remains prolific. "Slow Horses," the Gary Oldman-led Apple TV spy series, has season 6 streaming with seasons 7 and 8 in production. Netflix's "Heartstopper" closed after three seasons with a spin-off film. The Marian Keyes adaptation "Grown Ups," shot in Ireland by the Sydney team, lands on Netflix soon. And with Mediawan stablemate Miraculous Corp, See-Saw has announced a live-action series adaptation of the animated hit "Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir."

Why was 'Tenzing' their hardest shoot?

This week brings See-Saw's most ambitious film to date: "Tenzing," from "Sherpa" director Jennifer Peedom, now on Apple TV after a short cinema run. It tells the 1953 first ascent of Everest through sherpa-mountaineer Tenzing Norgay (Genden Phuntsok), who climbed with Edmund Hillary (Tom Hiddleston). It was shot between Nepal and New Zealand, whose mountains stood in for the Himalayas.

"It was an insane production to make," Sherman said. "This is definitely our most challenging production. Other studios had looked at it and felt that it was just not something that was achievable."

The logistics show up in the details. Crews reached locations by helicopter in New Zealand; sometimes clouds forced departures within two minutes. The actors were harnessed to the mountain. Sherman recalled the lead producer's version of the standard time warning: on this shoot it was "We need to get off the mountain."

Canning argues the difficulty is invisible on screen — and that it gives the film integrity. "The logistical challenges of it are all invisible in front of the camera," he said. Peedom, a first-time narrative feature director, wanted an authentic feel of being on the mountain, and the production structure circled around that priority. "It's like you've really gone up Everest with Tenzing and Hillary," Sherman said.

What about 'The NeverEnding Story'?

The film adaptations of Michael Ende's novel, announced more than two years ago, are moving. "We're very much on our timeline!" Canning said, confirming the creative team has been finalized while declining to name names. He described developing Bastian's world and Fantastica "for a contemporary audience in a four quadrant way" as "a lot of my focus and been a lot of fun."

The Mediawan deal broadened the project's scope. "As a global studio, they want to own and control IP and fantastic IP and 'The NeverEnding Story' is a bullseye," Sherman said. Gillis added that the arrangement with the estate lets See-Saw participate in success "across all of those different verticals," hopefully giving the property "a sort of NeverEnding franchise life across lots of different media and business models."

What does this mean for 'Slow Horses'?

Sherman framed the strategy plainly: "We're in the business of creating IP." That means stage plays, spin-offs of existing projects, games, and translating formats across cultures and languages through Mediawan's other companies. "The Great White" is original IP built from the ground up, and the company invests heavily in optioning and building IP.

The annual rhythm of "Slow Horses" — six episodes every year — was a deliberate structure, Canning said, one that Doug Urbanski, Gary Oldman's manager and an EP on the show, identified early: "it just creates a rhythm with an audience that is satisfying, rather than sometimes having to wait two or three years." Production on seasons 7 and 8 is the current focus.

See-Saw turns 20 in 2028. Canning's plan for the milestone is simple: "I think we'll just try and keep on making great work" — with, if he gets his wish, the whole London and Sydney team gathered in one room to celebrate.