The Mill (company)

The Mill is a VFX and creative production studio headquartered in London, England, with three offices in the United States (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago), one in Germany (Berlin) and one office in India (Bangalore). The Mill is a global creative partner for agencies, production companies and brands, working across all media channels and platforms. The Mill produces visual effects, moving image, design, experiential and digital projects for the advertising, games and music industries. In January 2021, Josh Mandel became Global Chief Executive Officer of The Mill after having initially joined The Mill’s studio in Los Angeles as Managing Director/President in 2019.

The Mill
IndustryVisual effects
Founded1990
FoundersRobin Shenfield and Pat Joseph
Headquarters11–14 Windmill Street
London
W1T 2JG
United Kingdom
Number of locations
6 total in the UK, US, Germany and India
OwnerTechnicolor SA
Websitethemill.com

History

Founding

In 1990, Robin Shenfield and Pat Joseph opened The Mill in Soho, London. Starting as a visual effects house for the advertising industry, it was the first VFX company in Europe to use exclusively digital methods.[1][2]

Global Operations

2002 saw The Mill open a studio in New York, becoming the first UK visual effects house to do so. The extension of operations to the US was successful, with the company growing to employ over 100 staff by 2009.

The Mill was also launched in Los Angeles in 2007 – the first UK visual effects house to open on the West Coast – and the new venture was highly successful.

In 2013 The Mill opened an office in Chicago, sharing its premises with editorial house The Whitehouse in the Courthouse Place building.[3]

Ownership

In 2011 The Mill was acquired by The Carlyle Group, who then sold it to Barclays Private Equity (later rebranded as Equistone Partners Europe).[4] On 15 September 2015, Technicolor SA acquired The Mill for €259 million from Equistone.[5]

In May 2020, the "Mill Film" section of the company was folded into the visual effects firm MR. X (another division of Technicolor) in response to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, while The Mill continued as a separate entity.[6]

Current Operations

Offerings

The Mill was involved in a range of visual effects and design projects in the commercial, gaming and music industries. The company's supervisors, producers and artists supported all stages of production, from pre-visualisation and conceptual artwork, shoot supervision, 3D, 2D and colour grading through to delivery of the finished project.

Expanded Offerings

Beam.tv was launched in 2002 as an online digital delivery and content management platform.[7] Beam was originally established as an in-house FTP process to allow clients to review and approve visual-effects work being completed by The Mill in London. AdText.tv launched in 2008 for commercial subtitling.[8]

Mill+ launched in 2013 as a creative studio focusing on motion graphics, design and animation.[9]

BEAM.TV
BEAM.TV
TypeSubsidiary
Headquarters
London, England
,
United Kingdom
Number of employees
125 (2011)
ParentThe Mill
Websitewww.beam.tv

BEAM.TV is an online digital delivery and content management platform. Beam, still part of the Mill group, was established as an in-house FTP process following the making of the film Gladiator. This simple process enabled director Sir Ridley Scott to immediately review and approve visual effects work being completed by The Mill in London – while he was still shooting in Malta. This required a real-time digital platform with a toolset that would instinctively serve the demands of the filmmaking process.

In 2011 Beam has over 125 people working in London, New York City and Los Angeles.

Beam distributes almost half of all UK television commercials and is the exclusive partner to Unilever for the international distribution of all its television commercials worldwide.

Beam has developed bespoke systems to manage the entry and judging processes for international advertising awards, including Cannes Lions, BTAA (British Arrows) and The ANDY's.

Filmography

Feature Films

Television

ITV“1” idents 2006

BBC TWO curve idents 2018–

Commercials

Awards
Film and Television
Year Award Category Work Result Notes
2001 Academy Awards Best Visual Effects Gladiator Won [10]
2004 MTV Video Music Awards Best Visual Effects "Walkie Talkie Man" by Steriogram Nominated
2006 Royal Television Society Craft & Design Awards Visual Effects – Digital Effects Doctor Who (series 2) Nominated [11]
2007 British Academy Television Craft Awards Visual Effects Doctor Who Nominated [12]
2008 British Academy Television Craft Awards Visual Effects Doctor Who ("Voyage of the Damned") Nominated [13]
2009 British Academy Television Craft Awards Visual Effects Doctor Who ("The Fires of Pompeii") Won [14][15]
2009 Royal Television Society Craft & Design Awards Visual Effects – Digital Effects Doctor Who ("The Next Doctor") Won [16]
2010 British Academy Television Craft Awards Visual Effects Doctor Who ("The Fires of Pompeii") Nominated [17]
2010 British Academy Television Craft Awards Visual Effects Merlin Nominated [17]
2010 Royal Television Society Craft & Design Awards Visual Effects – Digital Effects Merlin ("The Last Dragonlord") Nominated [18]
2011 British Academy Television Craft Awards Visual Effects Merlin Won [19][20]
2011 British Academy Television Craft Awards Visual Effects Doctor Who Nominated [19]
2011 MTV Video Music Awards Best Visual Effects "Don't Turn the Lights On" by Chromeo Nominated
2011 Royal Television Society Craft & Design Awards Visual Effects – Digital Effects Doctor Who ("A Christmas Carol") Nominated [21]
2012 British Academy Television Craft Awards Visual Effects Sinbad ("Pilot") Nominated [22]
2013 British Academy Television Craft Awards Visual Effects & Graphic Design Doctor Who Nominated [23]

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. The Mill: Europe's First Fully Digital VFX House, Animation World Network, 5 June 2003
  3. Goldrich, Robert. "The Mill Opens Chicago Studio Under Aegis of Executive Producer Jared Yeater". ShootOnline. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  4. "Barclays Private Equity acquires The Mill, the market leading visual effects company, from The Carlyle Group for £119m". Equistone Partners Europe. 19 April 2011.
  5. "TECHNICOLOR ACQUIRES VISUAL EFFECTS LEADER IN ADVERTISING THE MILL FOR €259 MILLION". Technicolor SA. 15 September 2015.
  6. Milligan, Mercedes (29 May 2020). "Technicolor Folds Mill Film into Mr. X in Response to COVID-19 Crisis".
  7. "Beam.tv". www.beam.tv.
  8. "Adtext - Add value, Adtext". www.adtext.tv.
  9. "The Mill | Creating the extraordinary | VFX | Colour | Design | AR | VR | Animation | Experiential | Directors". The Mill.
  10. "Q&A: Oscar-winning digital trickery". BBC. 6 July 2001.
  11. "RTS CRAFT AND DESIGN WINNERS 2006". Royal Television Society.
  12. "BAFTA Awards: Television Craft in 2007". British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
  13. "BAFTA Awards: Television Craft in 2008". British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
  14. "Bafta craft awards 2009: full list of winners". The Guardian. 18 May 2009.
  15. "BAFTA Awards: Television Craft in 2009". British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
  16. "RTS CRAFT AND DESIGN WINNERS 2009". Royal Television Society.
  17. "BAFTA Awards: Television Craft in 2010". British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
  18. "RTS CRAFT AND DESIGN WINNERS 2010". Royal Television Society.
  19. "BAFTA Awards: Television Craft in 2011". British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
  20. "Bafta Craft awards: BBC Wales wins five prizes". BBC. 9 May 2011.
  21. "RTS ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF CRAFT & DESIGN AWARDS 2011". Royal Television Society.
  22. "RTS ANNOUNCES WINNERS FOR CRAFT & DESIGN AWARDS 2012". Royal Television Society.
  23. "BAFTA Awards: Television Craft in 2013". British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
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