Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/121914
ing It was back in England as a child, where The Mill LA's Ben Hampshire developed his love of spots, like this one for Microsoft. w hen you look back at what inspired you to do the job you have today, what do you see? Last year when I first tackled this story, Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark came up often. This year, it's a bit different. While some people believe they were born to do what they do now, others sort of found their way there. Regardless, they all have a passion for their work that goes beyond learning. It's something you have to feel. BEN HAMPSHIRE How did Ben Hampshire get from the English countryside to Los Angeles, where he is currently managing director of commercial house The Mill LA (www.themill.com). Well, it involves William Hurt, Liam Neeson, and a random meeting in a pub. But to be more specific, it likely all began for Hampshire as a child. Looking back, he points to watching TV with his dad. "He was 50 when he had me and my twin brother, plus there were five other kids, so some of the only bonding time I had with him was watching TV. We would watch cricket or boxing, all the things he liked." In between his dad's favorites, there were, of course, commercials. "There were a couple my brother and I could sing along with. It was the '70s, and the ads were full of jingles, and we would sing them. There was one for this Cadbury bar called Cadbury's Caramel with a slightly sexy female bunny. We loved that. It struck me years later when I was working in commercials that it must have had a big influence on me because that was the one thing we used to recite and test each other on — commercials. That was probably my first influence." Hampshire's path to The Mill began after college, where he had studied economics and social history — back then it was more about traditional education. After school, his path brought him into the entertainment industry, working for three years as the assistant for film actor William Hurt. "He flew me all around the world. I worked on Michael with him, John Travolta and Andie MacDowell. It was about a road trip, so I got to see the States." He had also worked as a PA on the Liam Neeson non-singing version of Les Miserables with Uma Thurman in Prague. And he worked with Stephen Frye and Sir John Gielgud. While all of this was fun and a great experience, he says he was "struggling with the fact I was always on the road." So he headed to London. "I wanted to do something inspiring and fun," he says. That is when fate sort of stepped in. Through a friend, he met a guy who worked at MPC, the London-based visual effects company. They were having drinks and chatting when this person got a look at some of Hampshire's pretty impressive contacts, and he got an idea. "He sees that I had worked with some amazing A-list Hollywood guys, and figured if I could do that, I could be of help. He literally gave me a job the next day, and in three months promoted me to junior producer. When he first showed me some of the work they had been doing, the commercials were glossy and vibrant. It was inspiring. I thought it was something I wanted to be part of." He spent three years at MPC. "I got my feet wet as visual effects producer, working on smaller projects, which I think are sometimes tougher because you really have to focus on the details. You have to fit in an awful lot of work during that short time you have in a day." He left to help set up a small visual effects company called Golden Square. During his three years there, working as a VFX producer, he ran into the then head of production at The Mill, Derryn Clarke. "I knew that The Mill's reputation as this absolutely fearless and creative company that did all the best work." They spoke for six months before he agreed to come on board in London as a senior producer. That was 10 years ago. He then moved up to executive producer, then head of production. He calls The Mill COO/co-founder Pat Joseph an incredibly inspirational man to work for. "Learning to be a producer at The Mill was entirely different than anything I had learned before. As a producer you are placed at the creative core of a project and encouraged to add your opinion. Encouraged to think creatively. That inspired me to join." After being called in to help support a production shooting in Los Angeles, Hampshire knew where his future was. "Pat pushed me a bit. I spent a couple of weeks here, and we had just opened a small 5,000-square-foot office in Santa Monica. When I went back to London, I told Pat I wanted to be in LA. I want to help the team flourish, and spread The Mill culture in Los Angeles." When he first came to The Mill LA, there were eight people; there are now 107. To what does he attribute this kind of growth? "It's been about putting creatives at the center of everything we do." YVETTE PINEYRO It could be said that Yvette Pineyro, owner/editor of NYC-based WildChild (www.wildchildpost. com), has editing in her blood. As an eight-year-old living in Florida, she would visit her aunt in New www.postmagazine.com Post0413_016-18,20-How prosRAv6FINALREAD.indd 17 Post • April 2013 17 3/27/13 3:32 PM