The Mill announced on Tuesday, February 6th, that they will be diving back into film and theatrical work with a new location in Adelaide, Australia. Though there are plans for VR, AR, and interactive media (pegged with the usual buzzwords “emerging and immersive markets” in their initial press release), their initial focus is on visual effects for major production companies and streaming services.

Their specific inclusion of streaming and online content is a clear recognition of a space that we all know has changed in the past several years. The Mill’s first foray into the film industry began in 1996, six years after the company’s initial creation. In this era, their commercial success translated quite well to the silver screen primarily in Ridley Scott collaborations “Black Hawk Down”, and “Gladiator” which roped them a much-deserved Academy Award win for Best Visual Effects.

This first iteration of The Mill’s film unit eventually closed its doors in 2002 due to inconsistent work. In the all to common cycle of hires and fires, as projects come and go, the commercial savvy company struggled to stay afloat without the ability to retain consistent employees. At the time, CEO Robin Schenfield cited inconsistent work from the U.S (which they strongly relied on) for the closure. 

Just years later, The Mill would have another go at a narrative focused studio with projects such as the local “Doctor Who” and “Sherlock” for BBC, along with feature work including Pete Travis’s 2012 remake “Dredd”. This team eventually closed down as well during the Rhythm and Hues era of shutdowns. 

The sunny Australian location of The Mill’s third attempt comes as no surprise to those within the industry. The latest expansion of 

the country’s PDV Offset for post-production, digital, and visual effects work promises a 30 percent rebate incentive regardless of the shooting location of a given project. An insane rate on its own, this comes on top of another cash incentive which the state has reportedly offered to Technicolor (The Mill’s parent company) for building the office and bringing more economic growth to the city.

Beyond offering the infamous subsidies that keep all of us moving around the globe, the Australian location increases Technicolor’s presence in the Asia Pacific region where they currently have multiple offices. In 2002, The Mill’s film efforts were thwarted by a fickle U.S film economy, but today, booming industries in China and India have increased demand around their new location and formed a massive market (along with some beautiful films).

China, in particular, is in a golden age of box office growth. A report by Deloitte puts projections for 2020 at around $30B in box office revenue, after the country brought in around $7B in 2015 according to the same report. This marks blistering growth for film in China and ripe opportunities for both companies and aspiring artists. With a future that relies largely on co-productions with the U.S., (see: “Warcraft”, and “The Great Wall”) Technicolor has the new Mill Film well positioned, able to use existing relationships with major studios through their ownership of infamous effects company MPC.  

The Australian city of Adelaide also proves to be a strong location for recruitment, another focus which impacted Mill Film’s geographical decision. Their press release outlines “a vision to inspire the next generation of visual effects artists,” something which seems likely from a headhunting perspective at the very least; Adelaide is home to several major colleges including The University of Adelaide, The University of Southern Australia, and Flinders University.

As their projects begin to roll out, we’ll see if the third time’s a charm for The Mill. Their world-class talent in visual effects is unquestionable, and they’ve remained near the top of commercial effects for most of their history, but their longevity will come down to the tooth and nail business decisions of the film industry and their ability to consistently secure projects. 

With a respectable history, a strong choice of location on multiple fronts, and a region exploding with opportunity around them, Mill Film has at least the chance to hit the ground running in 2018; in good faith that they can avoid some of the worker mistreatment that plagues Technicolor’s other film effects company MPC, it even may be a careers page to refresh in the future.  

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