There could hardly be a more striking example of the cold winds flowing through film-making and commercials than the demise of Technicolor’s UK business including storied post-production business The Mill, once the almost unchallenged home of high end commercials.
CEO Caroline Parot wrote to staff: “As we have communicated over the past months, the Group has been experiencing difficulties linked to a variety of factors and has not been spared from external headwinds: the difficult operational situation resulting from post-Covid recovery, a costly and complex separation from the previous group followed by the writers’ strike leading to a slowdown in customer orders causing severe cash flow pressures.
“In each country, an appropriate framework for the orderly protection and way forward is currently being put in place to allow, where possible, business continuity. In the United Kingdom, Technicolor Creative Studios UK Limited will be filing for administration on Monday 24 February. Administrators from Interpath Advisory will be appointed to handle the affairs of the UK entity, TCS UK Limited, and will be responsible for liaising with all UK employees.”
The details of the “costly and complex separation” from the previous group we know not but the most recent manifestation of the company was the result of a long series of mergers, way back including the absorption of Mike Luckwell’s Moving Picture Company, another aristocrat of the Soho production scene.
Technicolor, which latterly specialised in Hollywood movies including Ridley Scott’s Gladiators, is a global business – employing 2000 or so in India. Some of these may find buyers. Commercials, though, used to be a big part of the business and their relative demise in the digital and now AI era will have a played a substantial part in Technicolor’s misfortunes.
