Mark Benson named The Mill president

Mark Benson has been named president of The Mill, following the completion of its merger with MPC Advertising.

The merger, anonunced last year by the companies’ owner, Technicolor Creative Studios, creates a single global studio under The Mill brand. It has studios in Amsterdam, Bangalore, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Seoul, and Shanghai. It aims to, “deliver content and experiences across multiple platforms and every size of screen, from apps to 3D billboards.” It claims to be “the world’s largest VFX studio for the advertising and brand experience industries.”

Benson had previously been SVP of the studios global VFX business, and CEO of MPC Advertising, and originally began with MPC 25 years ago. From now, The Mill (VFX) and The Mill+ (creative production, design, experience) activities will now work and report into the regional studios’ respective MDs, who in turn will report to Benson. 

Josh Mandel had previously been president of advertising at Technicolor Creative Studios, with responsibility for running The Mill. Broadcast Tech has been told that he is leaving the company by “mutual agreement”. He had been with The Mill for almost four years, joining after a year as SVP of client solutions at agency, Essence. He has worked at a number of agencies, as well as in house at places such as Nike, over a 25+ year career. 

Benson said: “In my new role, I will focus on empowering The Mill’s creative, technology and production talent - creating a new legacy for the future. Mill colleagues will have the opportunity to thrive in varied creative environments thanks to our studios around the world in Amsterdam, Bangalore, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Seoul, and Shanghai. I am very excited about the unlimited potential for The Mill to continue to be a thought leader and trailblazer across the globe.”

Caroline Parot, CEO of Technicolor Creative Studios, commented: “I am excited to welcome Mark to this position, where he will harness The Mill’s outstanding creative heritage to craft more memorable and provocative work and challenge the status quo. Working with content creators around the world, we’ll continue to enhance and accelerate clients’ needs, realising our vision for crafting boundary-pushing content. I also would like to thank Josh Mandel for his outstanding leadership of The Mill over the last four years, the strategy he has set in place, and for his work in unifying The Mill brand.”