Interview: Iain Canning Discusses What’s Coming From See-Saw Films and Talks Widows

They started their company See-Saw Films over ten years ago. Its been behind films and TV shows like The King’s Speech, Shame, Lion, and Top of the Lake. I hopped on the phone for a quick chat with Iain Canning to talk about working with Steve McQueen and what we can expect next from See-Saw Films.

How did See-Saw Films begin?

We started ten years ago. Emile Sherman was Sydney based and I prior to this, worked with Film Financing who had an international sales arm. I’d been an executive producer on Control and Hunger. Emile had been a producer on Candy and we’d known each other about the marketplace and what films were working. We built up this bond and when there was this opportunity to work together and set up a company to produce films we wanted to do that because we shared each other’s taste. We thought there was an interesting opportunity to be the UK and Australian production company.

The King’s Speech was our first film and so that had a huge effect on us in terms of the company. We produced Shame, Jane Campion came to us with Top of the Lake and we made that our first TV show. We’ve been growing ever since with Macbeth, Mr Holmes, Lion, and Widows. On the TV front, we’ve done shows by Nick Hornby and we’re working on a new show by him. We’ve also got the second series of Top of the Lake.

How do you pick your projects and what do you look for?

It hasn’t really changed to be honest. It’s always about is it a great story? Then is it going to be a great story that will attract talent or have talent attached to that? Where it’s a great piece for a director, their vision? Does it say something about the world and the world we’re living in? Do we see a path to getting it financed? There can be great stories and talented people, but if we can’t see for the right budget level, it being made, that’s the hardest decision of all. It’s a tough ride taking people through years of development and no one wants to make it. It’s story, talent, saying something about the world, and the ability to finance it. Those are the main factors.

What do you recall about the British series of Widows?

I actually hadn’t seen the show. I’d see Prime Suspect. Steve had met with Lynda and said he was interested in making a film version of it. We were looking into the rights and so was New Regency. I watched the series in one flight. It was just incredible. It’s interesting that even when we were setting it up, people in the film business were saying it was a unique story. Here’s a 1983 version to say that there hadn’t been enough of that concept. The fact it’s still unique in 2018 as it was in ’83 is bizarre. I thought it was an amazing world to update in an American context.

What was your creative involvement in casting?

Steve is a huge collaborator. We’d both gone to see A Color Purple and that’s where we were made aware of Cynthia. I think she was the first person cast. Very quickly, Viola was an extraordinary Veronica. We had to go on a journey with the other roles. Steve and I talked about Alice and what she goes through. Then we had Michelle, we realized we had to persuade her.

There were 81 speaking roles in this film. So, we talked about finding the right people to fly in from across the USA and the world, but also to go deep into Chicago’s talent pool of actors and everyone was extraordinary. It’s a real process of collaboration. Steve gets a sense in his heart about whether someone is right for the role and he can make a decision really quickly.

What was it like seeing the finished product?

I was involved through the whole thing and through all the cuts. As a producer, you know everything that’s coming. You’re trying to make sure the emotional dynamics and criminal thriller aspects work seamlessly. We always knew it was going to be a film for audiences with the nature of that blueprint that Lynda gave us. We would be able to keep people intrigued by whatever was happening. The joy came when we were screening it and we were successful in surprising them and taking them on that ride.

What else can we expect from See-Saw?

We’re doing a mini-series with Andrew Haigh called The North Water and that’s an adaptation. We’re doing a short-form series by Nick Horby which stars Rosamund Pike and Chris O’Dowd. We also have a deal with New Regency so we’re looking to do some projects similar to what Widows was through that deal.