Talk with Ollie Allgrove - Executive producer from The Mill

Ollie Allgrove – Executive producer

We were lucky enough go get to talk to Ollie Allgrove who works for a company called The Mill, the worlds biggest animation company, people have been coming to them for over 30 years to get their story told through images.

 

About him?

Ollie went to university and didn’t study a film degree, however he knew when he left he wanted to work in the media industry and be interactive with people. He began as a runner, and made film sets at a company he did this for about 2 to 3 years learning the ways of the industry getting amazing experiences.

He sells the Mill’s work, and at the office there are 30 directors who are animation, 3-d directors and he takes what is in there and sells it. He has up to 15 live briefs at a time, where they write a budget, production logistics and collaborate on how to progress with that idea. The Mill says

“We are artists, technologists and makers for all media, working at the frontiers of visual narrative.” 

There aim is to make the impossible possible. They actually won the first visual effects Oscar for a film called Gladiator. The company has 1000 people working for them, with a huge variety of jobs that they need for example some people have PHD’s in math’s and focus on computer science allowing stories to develop whilst others run around with a camera all day shooting those stories and making them a visual reality.

The technology developments mean they can develop their business line and widen their clientele. 

They have had people come to them wanting a real looking animal in their video. For example one advertising agency came to them with an idea, to do with animal rights they wanted a real life chimpanzee surrounded by industrial human power. Having got this brief they shot all the film for real with an actual animal, then brought the animal into that world through the use of technology that has never been seen before. Ollie told us that being prepared and thinking about how to get your work across is how to become successful.

 

Back to basics: 10 YEARS ago music videos were on the decline, we could not look at format that allowed us to use big content there was less video production and budgets were awfully low. Then you-tube happened and changed everything, however the global scale got so large companies like The Mill have had to battle for the promo’s/ video space on sites like you-tube as the completion to get people watching your video has increased by so much.

 

Landing the Job: Find a brief, find a band and remember you have to think of an idea, work out how to produce, cut and finish it. Use your own personal taste, make it special and work out what you like and sometimes you can afford to be picky, about what you want to do. Ultimately the people who are going to be willing to spend money on a music video, will want good communication and ideas, otherwise they won’t invest.

 

What’s the big idea: Speak to the video commissioner and the guys with the checkbook. The artists who will put your images to their music want to know you are invested in their music and want to create something visually stunning, when you come up with your idea think of it like a love letter, make it stand out and be desirable. As an A2 Media student I am currently in the process of creating my idea for my music video, so therefore I need to think what is it that will help make my video amazing and different. When you look at what you want to create there is a fine balance between pushing the idea, and finding a solution of how to create it. The industry is hugely competitive and therefore there is never enough money, time and flexibility in schedules. That is why it has to be a creative solution and involve team -work. You find a base and what you want in pre-production and then focus on location. As a director it should not have to be so specific so that without the favoured location you can still shoot exactly the idea and it doesn’t fall apart, therefore your idea needs to be adaptable to do this when in the industry be pragmatic and creative.

 

Write a treatment: You have to help sell the story in the treatment, between the band the production team and the record label. The more clear and concise you can be the better. Talk about why you like that band and why you found their music has that ability to speak to you. When writing treatments in the industry you have to write it as a simple intro and establish the connection. It is not just a script; you need to be telling a story. Sometimes videos are very abstract. As a director you have to convince people what is in your head is achievable. The references and images in your treatment are key; the less you say in a wordy manner the better. For it to be desirable it needs to be visually appealing, through images as ultimately artists and bands and people working in the industry are creative people therefore they don’t just want words on a page, like you they think outside the box therefore don’t make it bland.

 One of the most important rules to success is making a connection with the artists. As I am at school and a student this is not likely to be possible just yet, however down the line It’s crucial to make the connection physically with the artist if possible, if not you can use social media things like Skype to talk about your ideologies and theirs. The more connections you make, the more likely you will land the jobs.

Everything can be done on visual effects these days; the industry is adapting and changing all the time. Dan Cohen commissioner at Mercury and now at Universal took a gamble on a music video for The Chemical Brothers and their song ‘wide open’. With that music video he said if they could pull off the idea, he would give the money. In this particular idea they collaborated with Dominic and The Mill to explore a creative idea that would simply be a ballerina in a basement. The longest visual effects shot was done. 

The idea cost a lot of money, however the two companies looked at it like an investment into breaking grounds within the technology world and gave them the possibility to do something that’s never been done before.  For example this idea meant they had to build a new model that we see through, they had to scan the dancers body and match her figure with a 3-D model to give the exact plates. They wrote a whole new software to do this it was one continuous shot. They shot the film very easily however it took months in pre and postproduction to complete it. 

As they were the first to do it, the video cost roughly 10 grand to make which is a lot of money, but now it has been done the prices for creating such visual effects will become cheaper. This process takes place and is what helps the visual effects industry move forward.

 

Overall The Mill believes in the value and importance of music videos for brining through new talent, and creating a huge variety of jobs. According to Ollie, video’s that are reaching authentic audiences are the best ones. They are finding it interesting how so many different genres of music are created, music is growing and there are so many crossovers in terms of music and film techniques and the mass of people involved is extremely large. For example the music nominations this year were very hard to do, as the industry can no longer split the awards into different groups because of the entire crossover.

 

Treatment advice = at the entry level its simplicity that light- bulb moment of how you tell that story. Generally when presenting the pitch the simpler it is the easier it will be to understand. People have short attention spans; therefore it has got to be deliverable. There is nothing wrong with a cliché if it’s dealt with in the right way, however at the end of the day it comes down to communicating with your band and production team.  An example of this was the video lost shadows done in one shot however simple, Alex Turner from artic monkeys was in charge and the execution was brilliant. It was about trying to be clever in a single shot. Which they pulled off, so there are no specific rules in creating a great product, its about being able to adapt.

As young filmmakers we have lots of ideas but it’s important to create an idea on budget. Whatever the genre, style the album is you need to portray your version of the story. The importance is to never throw an idea away; you never know when it might come in handy. In terms of developing an idea that you get stuck on, the key is to share it. A good producer will help the director understand the concept and make sure the label and band are happy. Get the idea, put it on a piece of paper and share it. You need people who can understand and help.

 Overall hearing from Ollie, the executive producer has been extremely helpful, as I know have a broader understanding of what you need to do to be successful in this industry and how you approach the different aspects of the job.