Polly Leys and Kate Norrish launched
independent production company Hillbilly Films and Television in 2004.
Hillbilly specialises in producing high quality television drama and
feature films.
Hillbilly Television has an overhead and development deal with talkbackThames and Fremantle Media and
works closely with all the major UK broadcasters. Current projects
include an original series by Simon
Beaufoy, Syed
Rahman and Bille
Eltringham; an adaptation for BBC2 by acclaimed
playwright David Greig;
and two new series ideas with emerging talent Lucy Moore and Rachel Bennette.
Hillbilly Films is working with major financiers on a slate of original
projects and adaptations. Award winning novel Becoming Strangers
is being adapted by Ian
Rashid while Aschlin
Ditta is writing an original romantic comedy which is
being developed in conjunction with BBC Films.
In 2006 Kate and Polly produced Coming Up for Channel 4. Focussing on
new writers and directors the 8x30’ television dramas include
work by Jack Thorne, Debbie Tucker Green, Kate Hardie, Tom Shkolnik,
Ben Gregor, Tom Harper, Yann Demange and Alecky Blythe.
Reviews said the dramas were ‘terrific’ (Time Out),
‘the standard is impossibly high’ (The Times) and
‘quite possibly the best thing Channel 4 have shown this
year’ (The Observer).
Polly Leys’ previous credits include co-producer of The Full
Monty, The Closer You Get and The Emperor’s New Clothes (all
for Redwave Films); assistant producer on Palookaville (Redwave Films)
and The Crying Game (Palace Pictures). She is on the board of the Birds
Eye View Film Festival and also served as vice chair of Women in Film
and Television.
Kate Norrish was head of development at Maverick where she came up with the idea for Channel 4’s award winning Bollywood Star.
Before that she was Channel Four’s managing editor of programme
support where she led her team to win an interactive BAFTA. Kate was
also the executive director of Women in Film and Television.