The Moving Picture Company Sold
Posted 13 December 2004, Leonard Teo
Thomson has
announced the acquisition of The
Moving Picture Company (MPC) from British broadcaster, ITV,
for £52.7 million (€76 million). The Moving Picture Company, which
is located in the Soho district of London and employs around 400
people, is known for its visual effects (VFX) and post-production
services for the feature motion picture and commercial advertising
industries.
The worldwide post-production market is growing rapidly, and is
currently valued at around €4 billion. Visual effects have become
one of the highest profile and fastest growing value-added post-production
services, representing around €500 million of the worldwide post-production
market. In 2004, all of Hollywood’s top grossing films utilized
visual effects, continuing a trend that has spanned several years.
MPC provides VFX for major Hollywood studios including Warner Bros, Twentieth Century Fox and Universal Pictures. Recent titles include “Alexander,” all three “Harry Potter” films, “Troy” “Alien vs. Predator” and “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”. As a result of its unique technical and creative capabilities, MPC is expected to continue its position in one of the fastest growing segments in services for content owners. Over the last 12 months, MPC has generated over £44 million (€63 million) in total sales.
MPC is also widely recognized in the commercial advertising industry
for producing high-end commercial content for many world-leading
advertisers including Nike, Levis, Motorola, Adidas, and Coca Cola – as
well as other Fortune 500 companies and major European advertisers.
The addition of MPC will provide the cornerstone for future growth
of Thomson’s visual effects offerings worldwide for both feature
film and commercial advertising customers. With a strong client
base, specialized know how and a stellar reputation with the creative
community, MPC will provide a strong complement to Technicolor’s
Emmy Award-winning Hollywood-based broadcast visual effects and
Toronto-based VFX facilities.
“We are delighted to be joining the Thomson/Technicolor family,” said David Jeffers, Managing Director of MPC. “The advantages of bringing together two organizations which are so focused on service and quality will be a huge benefit to our customers, and will help assure the success of our efforts going forward”.
“MPC’s outstanding team of respected professionals, and reputation for service and high quality expertise, fits perfectly with the goals of our entire group,” stated Lanny Raimondo, Thomson Senior Executive Vice President, Services. “As a key provider to the Hollywood studios of superb VFX work, MPC maintains great relationships with the creative community worldwide, including local UK productions, and the strengths of MPC fit strategically into Thomson’s ‘best of breed’ palette of service offerings to our customers.”
Related Links
The Moving Picture Company
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