About Us
We’re an independent theatre and film production company, founded as Simon Friend Entertainment in 2015, rebranded as Melting Pot in 2025. We develop, produce and manage all of our own productions, which have won multiple Academy Awards, BAFTAs, Tony Awards and Olivier Awards.
We get excited by any good story, and we are particularly honoured to have been entrusted with the exclusive rights to adapt some of this century's most enduring and popular fiction for the stage.
Simon Friend
Director
Simon founded the company in 2015. Before that he was Producer for Theatre Royal Bath. Simon was named in The Stage 100 most influential people in British theatre, and has recently expanded into producing film and television.
Hanna and Simon have been working together since 2017.
Previous roles include at Playful Productions, ETT, Mark Rubinstein Ltd, Shared Experience and Cheek by Jowl, and representing Independent Producers on the Old Vic New Voices T.S. Eliot US/UK Exchange. Hanna also lectured at City Lit in Arts Administration.
Hanna is on the Board of the League of Independent Producers.
Rich joined Melting Pot in 2026.
He was recently Senior General Manager at National Theatre Productions, working on the UK Tour of War Horse and West End transfers of Inter Alia, The Importance of Being Earnest and Till The Stars Come Down.
Prior to that he was General Manager for Fiery Angel where he managed the West End productions of Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder, King Lear, Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol, Touching The Void, The Son, and Home I’m Darling as well as UK and international tours of And Then There Were None, Unexpected Twist, Animal Farm, The Good Life, Holes and The Jungle Book.
He has also previously worked at Neil Laidlaw Productions, 101 Productions in New York, The Really Useful Group and Arden Entertainment.
He graduated from the University of Bristol with a BA in Drama and Theatre Studies.
Sophie Visscher-Lubinizki
General Manager
Sophie (She/They) is a producer and general manager working between London and New York, specializing in interdisciplinary queer storytelling across theatre, dance, and comedy. Sophie is the co-founder of Speakerphone Productions, where she develops and produces new work.
Sophie previously worked as Production Coordinator for National Theatre Productions (Standing at the Sky’s Edge, The Lehman Trilogy) and as the Production Assistant at Runaway Entertainment (2:22 A Ghost Story, Newsies). With a BA in Dance and Education from Barnard College, Columbia University, Sophie’s career began in New York, where she worked as the Company Manager at Second Stage Theater (Take Me Out, To My Girls), as the Assistant Company Manager on Jersey Boys (New World Stages), and on the Ticketing and Operations Team of the 74th Tony Awards.
Oli Branton
Associate General Manager
Oli’s background is in national touring, audience development, and learning and engagement. At the National Theatre, he was a leading member of the Theatre Nation Partnerships programme, collaborating with venues across England for over six years. He also led the National Theatre’s schools touring programme, developing and overseeing new productions for nationwide tours. Oli has also worked as a freelance producer across theatre, film and live events across the UK.
Mia Franey
Production Coordinator
After graduating from the University of Leeds, Mia began working at Melting Pot in 2023 as the Production Assistant and Office Administrator, before taking on the role of Production Coordinator. She has also independently produced small scale shows around the UK and at Edinburgh Fringe.
Poppy Maxwell
Production Coordinator
Poppy joined Meling Pot in 2024 after graduating from the University fo Cambridge. She worked as the Office Admin Assistant, and then Production Assistant before taking on the role of Production Coordinator.
Since graduating in 2024 she has produced the political satire PARATROOPERS (Edinburgh Fringe and The Hope Theatre) and the Offest Award Nominated one-woman show Squidge (UK Tour & Riverside Studios).
Andie joined Melting Pot in 2026. Previously, she was the Assistant to the Director on Here There Are Blueberries with The Tectonic Theatre Project at Theatre Royal Stratford East, and a Production Runner on Romeo and Juliet with Empire Street Productions on the West End. Andie was a Production Assistant at Deus Ex Machina Productions, working on The Book Thief, Alice in Wonderland, Austenland, and more. Independently, Andie is the creator and producer of Joop's Story: A Veiled Resistance, an award-winning Holocaust play. She received her MA in Creative Producing from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and her BSc in Theatre and Psychology from Northeastern University.
Francesca Oldnall
Payroll Manager
George Bradley
Finance Director
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