Picture Mill, a Hollywood-based house best known for main title, prologue and motion graphics work for feature films and TV programs, has launched PXM, a creative division looking to help the company more meaningfully diversify into commercials. .
PXM recently wrapped its first spot job, designing the new Ford F150 truck logo for J. Walter Thompson, Detroit, that airs during NFL telecasts. Picture Mill artisans are available via PXM to take on ad assignments. Picture Mill staffers forming the core PXM team include executive producer Ty Van Huisen, creative director William Lebeda and exec director Rick Probst.
PXM has secured two-thirds of its spot sales force in the U.S., signing independent rep firms Finn/Saxon Represents to handle the West Coast, and Nikki Weiss & Co. to cover the Midwest. Van Huisen is currently looking for East Coast representation.
Picture Mill’s credits include feature film title sequences for The Grudge, The Village, Panic Room, I-Robot and The Day After Tomorrow. The company also turned out the opening and closing sequences for Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds. Additionally, Picture Mill has created trailers to promote such movies as Pirates of the Carribean and Spiderman.
Picture Mill is no stranger to the TV ad arena, having worked in the past on spots for Ford, Burger King, L’oreal and Nextel, among others. But until now, the studio didn’t make a concerted effort to build its commercialmaking business. “Picture Mill was under represented in the commercial market, but PXM will change that,” said Van Huisen
