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Technicolor’s future looks more monochromatic than ever. In a note to employees obtained by Deadline and Variety, Technicolor Creative Studios warned staff in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago that operations and offices of subsidiaries The Mill, MPC Advertising, and Mikros Animation could close as soon as today. “Despite exhaustive efforts—including restructuring initiatives, discussions with potential investors, and exploring acquisition opportunities—we have been unable to secure a viable path forward,” the notice, sent to employees on Friday, reads, in part. “Unfortunately, this leaves us with no alternative but acknowledging that the Company may be forced to foreclose.”
In the United Kingdom, the company told staff on Sunday that they were filing for administration (similar to what Americans would call bankruptcy), citing “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.” And in France, the company has similarly begun receivership proceedings for the Mikros Image, The Mill France, Technicolor Group, Technicolor Animation Production, and Technicolor Trademark Management companies, per Deadline. A letter to French employees reads “placement in receivership has no impact on the operations of the companies concerned,” though “The purpose of the receivership procedure is to enable a company to continue trading, and may result in the assets and employees of each of the companies in the procedure being taken over as part of a disposal plan presented by a third-party buyer,” which, frankly, doesn’t sound all that reassuring.
Though the term “technicolor” is generally associated with the super-saturated musicals of the Golden Age Of Hollywood, the company and its subsidiaries have continued to contribute animation, VFX, and creative services, in particular through its subsidiaries. Deadline notes that the company has recently contributed to Mufasa: The Lion King, Emilia Pérez, and the upcoming Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, while AdWeek adds that The Mill recently worked on the Willem Dafoe-Catherine O’Hara-Michelob Ultra Super Bowl commercial. The Financial Times previously reported in October that the company was in talks for a sale, whether to another media company or a private equity group.
