Technicolor Group S.A. (formerly Technicolor Creative Studios, Technicolor SA, and Thomson Multimedia) is a French company that is involved in visual effects, motion graphics and animation services for the entertainment, media and advertising industries. Headquartered in Paris, France, it is a spin-off of Technicolor SA, which subsequently renamed itself as Vantiva.
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| Formerly |
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|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | |
| Predecessors | Production Services division of Technicolor SA |
| Founded | 1915 |
| Founder |
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| Headquarters | Paris , France |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
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| Services | |
| Revenue |  €601 million (2021) |
| Total assets | €866 million (2021) |
| Total equity | €227 million (2021) |
Number of employees | 10,695 (2021) |
| Divisions | |
| Subsidiaries |
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| Website | www |
| Footnotes / references [1] | |
The company operates the visual effects, motion graphics and animation units for films, episodic series and video games under their subsidiaries: Moving Picture Company (MPC), The Mill, Mikros Animation, and Technicolor Games.
Background
editThe creation of Technicolor dates back to 1916 while the first version of said picture processing technology was patented[2] and followed by the later versions in the several decades. The original company that owned the technology, Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation, was co-founded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduates Herbert Kalmus and Daniel Frost Comstock in 1915.[3] The first commercially film that used Technicolor is The Gulf Between, which released on September 13, 1917, and was lost in a fire incident on March 25, 1961.[4]
Technicolor has been involved in ownership changes in several years. In 1982, MacAndrews & Forbes acquired Technicolor for $100 million, then sold it in 1988 to the British company Carlton Communications for $780 million.[5] In 2001, French-based media and electronics company Thomson Multimedia acquired Technicolor from Carlton for $2.1 billion.[6] On February 1, 2010, Thomson Multimedia changed its name to Technicolor SA, assuming the name of the picture processing technology which has been widely known for more than 95 years.[7][8]
Prior to transforming the Production Services division into its Creative Studios unit, Technicolor sold its post-production unit to Streamland Media on May 4, 2021.[9]
History
editOn May 19, 2021, the Production Services division of Technicolor SA, transformed into Technicolor Creative Studios to specifically "focused on the future of film, episodic, gaming, brand experiences and advertising". The unit has been led by Christian Roberton as the CEO, reporting to Technicolor SA CEO Richard Moat. With the formation of Technicolor Creative Studios, bringing the robust of studios such as The Mill, MPC, Mikros Animation, and Mr. X.[10] In January 2022, Technicolor Creative Studios announced the integration of MPC Advertising under The Mill[11] as well as the integration of MPC Film, MPC Episodic and Mr. X under the MPC brand.[12]
On February 24, 2022, when Technicolor SA announced the full year 2021 results, the company also intended to list and spin-off 65% of Technicolor Creative Studios through a distribution-in-kind to Technicolor shareholders, while Technicolor will remain listed on Euronext Paris and post-spin off will retain up to 35% ownership of TCS. The business operations of Technicolor will divided into Technicolor Creative Studios and Technicolor's Connected Home and DVD services, which later known as Vantiva.[13] On September 27, 2022, Technicolor Creative Studios became independently public-listed company, while Technicolor SA eventually rebranded as Vantiva, completed the spin-off process.[14][15]
On May 26, 2024, Technicolor Creative Studios became Technicolor Group.[16]
Operations
editTechnicolor Creative Studios has four distinct operating units:
- Moving Picture Company (MPC), a global leader in VFX, animation and visualization for over 45 years. MPC involved in several projects, such as Apple TV+ documentary series Prehistoric Planet and Disney's 2019 remake of The Lion King.
- The Mill, a global network of award-winning VFX artists and creative technologists with decades of experiences across the advertising and branding. The Mill involved in several projects, such as the posters of the Jordan Peele film Nope.
- Mikros Animation, providing creative services for feature, long-form and short-form animation. Mikros has involved in several projects such as Paramount Animation feature film The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run and Nickelodeon animated series Star Trek: Prodigy.
- Technicolor Games, a division that applying the best VFX, animation and technologies for video games with the collaborative approach with several game developers. The projects which Technicolor Games involved such as WWE 2K22 and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction.
References
edit- ^ "Technicolor Creative Studios Combined Financial Statements (2021)" (PDF). Retrieved November 16, 2022.
- ^ US 1208490, Comstock, Daniel F., "Auxiliary registering device for simultaneous projection of two or more pictures", published 1916-12-12, assigned to Technicolor Motion Picture Corp.
- ^ "Technicolor is born". Technicolor Creative Studios. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
- ^ Trenholm, Richard (September 9, 2017). "A century ago, the first Technicolor film was a total disaster". CNET. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
- ^ Delugach, Al (September 10, 1988). "British Concern Agrees to Buy Technicolor Inc.: Carlton to Pay About $780 Million for the Movie-Film Processor". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
- ^ Murphy, Barbara (January 30, 2001). "Acquisition of Technicolor Will Boost Thomson Profit". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
- ^ "Shareholders approve restructuring plan. Thomson becomes Technicolor". Technicolor SA. January 27, 2010. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
- ^ Cohen, David S. (January 26, 2010). "Technicolor reinventing itself". Variety. Archived from the original on February 3, 2010.
- ^ "Streamland Media Finalizes Acquisition of Technicolor Post". PR Newswire. May 4, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
- ^ "Technicolor Unveils New Creative Organization and Vision to Go Beyond Imagination". Technicolor SA. May 19, 2021. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
- ^ "The Mill and MPC Advertising Unite Under The Mill Brand to Create the World's Largest VFX Studio for the Advertising & Brand Experience Industries". Technicolor SA. January 12, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
- ^ "VFX Studios MPC Film, MPC Episodic Integrate with Mr. X Under Moving Picture Company Brand, Helmed by New President, Tom Williams". Technicolor SA. January 13, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
- ^ "Technicolor: Full Year 2021 Results and planned listing of Technicolor Creative Studios". Technicolor SA. February 24, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
- ^ "Technicolor Creative Studios: We Are Now an Independent Company". Technicolor Creative Studios. September 27, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
- ^ "Technicolor officially becomes Vantiva". Vantiva. September 27, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
- ^ Luton, Aimee (March 27, 2024). "Technicolor Group: A Framework for Transformation". Technicolor Group. Retrieved June 12, 2024.