In a deal that shakes up the postproduction landscape, Streamland Media — formerly Picture Head Holding and the parent of leading audio post facility Formosa Group as well as companies such as Picture Shop and Picture Head — has revealed an intent to acquire Technicolor’s postproduction business for $36.5 million. Expected to close in the first half of the year, the deal is backed by Trive Capital and Five Crowns Capital.
Plans call for the Technicolor Post business to be merged into L.A.-headquartered Streamland’s post businesses, which also include Ghost VFX, The Farm Group, and Finalé Post. This expands the company’s talent pool and global reach, including at bases in the U.S., Canada, Europe and the UK. “We are thrilled to be adding Technicolor Post’s technologies and worldwide locations to Streamland. It will allow us to partner with all of our clients to an even greater degree,” said Streamland CEO Bill Romeo in a released statement.
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With the deal, Technicolor — a century old brand that has been synonymous with motion pictures — effectively exits key aspects of the business, including motion picture color grading. Still its not a surprise, as Technicolor has been struggling; in 2020 the France-headquartered business went through a restructuring after filing for bankruptcy under Chapter 15 and an acquisition has been anticipated.
Technicolor does remain in the business, however, through its technical services and notably its visual effects companies MPC, The Mill, Mr. X and Mikros Animation, which are not part of the deal. Said Technicolor CEO Richard Moat in a released statement: “The strategic sale of Technicolor Post is part of our long-term vision for Technicolor Production Services to focus on VFX and animation for the entertainment industry, and creative services and technologies for the advertising industry, which provide the maximum value to our clients.” This past year, MPC had seen success with its innovative work on The Lion King and VFX Oscar winner 1917, however it also shut down its Vancouver facility, rumored to be at least in part prompted by the debacle that was Tom Hopper’s Cats.
