After months of rumors about London-headquartered effects and design studio The Mill opening a branch here – it’s official. The company announced today it will share space with The Whitehouse when it settles here during the first quarter of 2013 – a date to be determined.
The Mill/New York’s executive producer/head of production Jared Yeater will move to Chicago during early 2013 and lead a staff of key people who will be recruited from among The Mill’s current employees in London, New York and Los Angeles, and transferred to Chicago.
The Mill’s objective is to carefully and steadily grow the Chicago team, as they did when opening their New York and L.A. offices, starting with a dozen employees here. (London, by the way, has a staff of 500, L.A., 105 and New York, 150.)
The new branch will boast all the attributes of a full Mill studio. It will occupy 5,000-sq. ft. of The Whitehall’s 16,000-sq. ft. space and be equipped with five Flame/Smoke suites, a color correction room and a CG/design studio, plus production offices.
Yeater, who will be attending Thursday’s AICP Show, will also be introduced to agency guests Friday morning at The Whitehouse’s morning-after AICP brunch.
The Whitehouse/L.A.’s cofounder/managing partner David Brixton (who worked in Chicago as an editor for a short time when the company first opened here in 1995) says the shared facility and association will give clients “an integrated end-to-end solution … the best available talent across both editorial and visual effects in an efficient and seamless workflow.”
The Mill and The Whitehouse have “a terrific history of working alongside each other” Says Robin Shenfield, The Mill CEO/cofounder. “Our two companies were established a block apart in London more than 20 years ago and Matthew Wood, their editor/partner in Chicago, actually began his career at The Mill in London.”
Yeater is a long-time member of The Mill New York’s production team with deep experience in finishing and VFX. He has served clients across the Midwest and managed the delivery of numerous high-profile national campaigns. As EP, he will link agency and clients to The Mill services in its other offices, as well.
