President of Heyday Television Tom Winchester has departed the company to set up his own production outfit, Pure Fiction Television.
See-Saw Films (“Power of the Dog”) and talent agency Hamilton Hodell have minority stakes in the new company. The plan is for Pure Fiction to be “distributor agnostic and free to find the best homes for each show.”
Winchester will focus the company on prestige commercial television for both domestic and international audiences as well as working closely with writers, actors and directors to develop and produce their work.
See-Saw will also provide business affairs and production support while its COO, Simon Gillis, will sit on Pure Fiction’s board. Gillis brokered the deal alongside Jeremy Gawade of Lee & Thompson for Hamilton Hodell and Michael Brader of Wiggin for Winchester.
Winchester was with Heyday, which is owned by NBCUniversal, for almost three and a half years where he oversaw a slate of dramas including “Clickbait,” starring Adrien Grenier and “The Capture,” which is currently in production on its second season.
See-Saw also houses sales arm Cross City Films, screen financier Fulcrum Media and joint venture Picking Scabs, with writer Sam Strauss and director Garth Davis.
Hamilton Hodell represent talent including Daisy Edgar-Jones, Hayley Atwell and Tom Hiddleston.
“At Pure Fiction we want to reflect the changes afoot within our industry by redefining how partnerships work with talent,” said Winchester. “We believe in celebrating collaboration, so that everyone benefits and we make the best work possible.”
Iain Canning and Emile Sherman of See-Saw Films added: “Tom is a clear creative and entrepreneurial force, and we are excited to support him with our resources from See-Saw as Pure Fiction grows.”
Christian Hodell, CEO of Hamilton Hodell, said: “My partners and I are delighted to take part in this creative venture. When Tom approached us with this concept and it became clear that he would be collaborating with the brilliant team at See-Saw, we agreed that this was an undeniably attractive proposition. We are particularly excited to create opportunities for our clients through Pure Fiction, but we are also excited for Tom to team up with other creatives throughout the industry. Tom has a bold vision for his company, and we support that.”