Mediawan buys controlling stake in See-Saw Films, maker of Slow Horses and Heartstopper

For Emile Sherman, the sale of a company he built with Iain Canning carried an admission that rarely makes it into deal announcements. “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,” said Sherman, an Australian producer who won an Academy Award for Best Picture for The King's Speech.

See-Saw Films was founded in 2008 by Sherman and Canning, with headquarters in the UK and Australia. Mediawan bought a controlling 51% majority stake in See-Saw in March 2025, and the acquisition was announced on 10/13/2026.

Sherman said the founders had entered unfamiliar territory. “We'd never done that before, so didn't really know what to expect or how it was going to play out.”

ACF investment bank ran the sales process, after See-Saw had been on the market since the prior year. Less than two years before the sale, the company had been described as one of the industry’s “most eligible bachelors”, a sign of interest from prospective buyers.

Over 18 years, See-Saw developed into an Academy Award, BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe-winning production house. Its work includes the television series Slow Horses and Heartstopper, the film Tenzing, and involvement with The NeverEnding Story. The company has also launched Fanboy, a joint venture with Heartstopper executive producer Patrick Walters.

Sherman has received three Academy Award nominations, five BAFTA nominations and two Emmy Award nominations. Canning is an executive producer on See-Saw’s planned live-action Miraculous series.

Helen Gregory and Simon Gillis continue to run See-Saw’s day-to-day business as Joint Managing Directors. Gillis is also an executive producer on the Miraculous project.

The buyer is led by Pierre-Antoine Capton, Mediawan’s co-founder and chief executive. Its acquisitions include Plan B, Leonine, LuckyChap International, North Road and Hello Sunshine, while its portfolio also includes Wildseed Studios. Mediawan also has production labels including Kinetic Content, Wiedemann & Berg, Palomar, Our Films, Drama Republic, Chapter2 and Chi-Fou-Mi.

Mediawan brands have produced films including F1 and The Greatest Showman, as well as television series such as Call My Agent!, Love Is Blind and New Girl.

See-Saw and Miraculous Corp, both Mediawan companies, are co-developing and co-producing a live-action adaptation of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir. Emme Hoy, a writer and co-executive producer on season 2 of Sweetpea for Sky and Starz, is adapting and executive producing the series.

See-Saw now sits within Mediawan’s expanding collection of independent production labels, while Gregory and Gillis remain responsible for its daily operations.