A Small Goodbye to The Mill
With the recent news of Technicolor abruptly closing, and bringing down with it some of the biggest names in the VFX industry I thought it was only fitting to write a few words about the first VFX job I had in London.
Arriving back in London at the start of summer 2017 from 5 (glorious) years in Australia, I wanted to leave the Arch Vis industry and sidestep into VFX. I'd been putting the hours into learning Houdini, and figured I'd be able to find something to get my foot in the door... especially since I did have a healthy amount of experience already in a very related field.
I was quite wrong.
Over 2 months passed, and I'd heard nothing. Not a peep! Not one single email to even acknowledge my reel had been seen, by any studio I'd applied to. Feeling disheartened, I checked The Mill's website and saw an opening for an FX Artist. Why not, I thought. I'm running out of options here, might as well see what happens. I'd always thought I wasn't good enough/ready to apply there but I was getting desparate.
As luck would have it, that was the only application that got a response. A week after applying I turned up to an interview with the 3D HOD at Windmill St, marvelled at how nice the office looked. So many people, and this was just the ground floor! I left that interview thinking it went well but I don't tick enough of the boxes to get the job.
Well, a couple of hours later to my surprise I got a call offering me what I'll always remember described to me as:
"a trial, as much for us as yourself to see how it goes"
Of course I eagerly accepted and the following week I was sat down at a computer asking the person next to me how to launch Maya (which I had actually never used before!). The rest, really is history now ☺️.
I recount the above story to say, I wouldn't have had my start in VFX if it wasn't for The Mill taking a chance on me. They saw something, and gave me an opportunity. That was really something that every day there I felt; if you put in 100% you got back 100%. The knowledge, the people, the way it felt less like a job and more like just hanging out with friends. The laughs, the adventures, the late nights, the level of craft. All of it was there, but you had to reach out and grab the opportunities.
There are moments that I like to call a perfect storm; when the stars seem to align and the balance is right. Those years at The Mill were definitely one of my career perfect storms; I'm glad I got to experience it however brief it may be in the grand scheme of things.
Thanks Mill, for opening the door to my VFX career and helping to nurture that seed into what it is today. Sad that you had to go down the way you did.
Carlo