Former Pascal Pictures executive Negin Salmasi to oversee Los Angeles-based operation.

Negin Salmasi

Coming off a busy Cannes where they premiered How To Talk To Girls At Parties and Top Of The Lake: China Girl, See-Saw Films joint MD’s Iain Canning and Emile Sherman have opened a Los Angeles office, effective immediately.

Negin Salmasi will head the US hub and has joined the company in the newly created role of vice-president of creative affairs for the film and television divisions. 

Salmasi, who most recently served as a film and TV development executive at Amy Pascal’s Sony-based Pascal Pictures, will work closely with See-Saw’s UK and Australian offices.

“We are thrilled to have Negin join the See-Saw family,” Canning and Sherman said. “It’s clear that Negin is an extremely talented creative executive with wonderful talent relationships and a deep understanding of quality material. Negin is the perfect person to spearhead our US presence as part of what is now a truly international production company.”

Salmasi said: “I am beyond thrilled to join the See-Saw team and very much look forward to establishing our US presence. I have always been so impressed by Iain and Emile’s exceptional taste, flawless reputation, and desire to take on ambitious projects, winning the hearts of international audiences as well as critical acclaim on top of it all. To be welcomed into this next phase of growth is truly exciting.”

During her tenure at Pascal Pictures Salmasi worked on projects such as Cleopatra, Warhol, which has Jared Leto attached to star, and Maestra.

She began her entertainment career at the international department of William Morris Endeavor, and also worked in the worldwide acquisitions team at Fox Searchlight, and at Sidney Kimmel Entertainment.

See-Saw’s upcoming film and TV line-up includes Mary Magdalene starring Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix, John Cameron Mitchell’s recent Cannes world premiere How To Talk To Girls At Parties starring Elle Fanning and Nicole Kidman, and Jane Campion’s TV series Top Of The Lake: China Girl, which also debuted on the Croisette and stars Elisabeth Moss, Nicole Kidman and Gwendoline Christie.

See-Saw is currently producing Widows from Steve McQueen to star Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez, Cynthia Erivo, Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall, Daniel Kaluuya and Brian Tyree Henry. 

Also in production is See-Saw’s live-action TV series The Legend Of Monkey for Netflix, ABC Australia and TVNZ.

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