British-Australian indie giant Seesaw Films has entered into a multi-year strategic slate production financing partnership with Paris-based investment firm Entourage Ventures.
Under the agreement, Entourage will invest up to $50 million in equity over the next three years in Mediawan’s recently acquired See-Saw suite of capabilities. See-Saw produces popular television shows such as “Slow Horses” and “Heartstopper” and award-winning films such as “The Power of the Dog,” “The Son” and “The King’s Speech.”
The structured equity commitment is expected to reduce See-Saw’s reliance on traditional pre-sales models and provide additional flexibility in its financing structure.
“At a moment of significant change for the independent film market, this partnership gives us the freedom and momentum to be even more ambitious and entrepreneurial in how we bring unique, filmmaker-driven stories to audiences around the world,” said Simon Gillis, co-managing director of See-Saw. “In addition to moving forward with our own plans, we also have the flexibility to partner with talented outside producers and filmmakers on projects that would make us feel at home at See-Saw.”
Julien Delageux, co-founder and president of Entourage Ventures, added: “Seesaw has one of the most distinctive voices in international filmmaker-driven cinema, with few rivals. We share their belief that ambitious, idiosyncratic storytelling for global audiences remains a strong long-term proposition, and we are pleased to extend our strategy to English-language international cinema through this partnership.”
See-Saw will continue to lead all aspects of creative development, packaging, production and sales, working with in-house sales division Cross City Films and filmmakers, cast, distribution and platform partners. See-Saw’s upcoming film releases include Apple Original Films’ “Tenzing” and Netflix’s “Heartstopper Forever.”
Entourage recently entered into a similar strategic agreement with Italy’s Media One-owned Our Films (which is at Cannes as producer of Paweł Pawlikowski’s Fatherland) to invest in films produced in partnership with global streamer Mubi.
The agreement between Entourage Ventures and See-Saw was signed by Gillis on behalf of See-Saw, Hubert Caillard (Intervista) on behalf of Entourage Ventures, and Vincent Lebègue on behalf of Mediawan.
