The Mill Los Angeles has promoted executive creative director Phil Crowe to chief creative officer and Chris Knight and Robert Sethi to executive creative directors. The move elevates a working partnership among the three that has already driven great success and positions The Mill’s L.A. studio for further growth.
Crowe and Knight, co-founders of The Mill’s LA studio, relocated from The Mill’s London base in 2007. They have each been with the company for over 20 years. Sethi came on board in 2009 to jointly head up the CG department. The trio has been involved in some of the studio’s most successful work over the past few years, with 2017 marking the studio’s most awarded year in its history.
In announcing the promotions, The Mill’s co-founder and CEO Robin Shenfield commented: “We have an immensely strong creative team in LA that, in their previous roles, Phil, Chris and Robert helped create. It is now time to elevate their responsibilities to ensure we are able to provide our clients with the increasingly diverse range of content they require.”
Crowe has led on groundbreaking visual effects campaigns such as Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” and P&G’s “Thank You, Mom.”
Knight recently led on commercials that ranked number one in the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter for two consecutive years with Kia’s “Hero’s Journey” and Amazon’s “Alexa Loses Her Voice.”
Sethi has consistently blurred the lines between computer generated imagery and reality for leading brands such as Xbox, Kia, Marvel and Energizer. He has been recognized multiple times by industry leaders including the VES Awards, D&AD and Cannes Lions for his creative solutions.
Rani Melendez, managing director of The Mill Los Angeles, added: “Phil, Chris and Robert share a passion for creating powerful and effective story-telling for our clients. These much-deserved promotions will strengthen our offering.”
The leadership team heralds a new era for creative at The Mill Los Angeles studio that will drive future thinking in an evolving landscape. Melendez concluded, “This newly formed creative powerhouse will focus on what is most important to us, which is contributing to world-class creative content across any format.”
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push โ one that could include paying millions of dollars โ to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist โ Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado โ beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 โ on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More