The Moving Picture Company: innovators and early adopters of british video post-production

The UK’s postproduction industry is, according to professional trade association Screen Alliance (2019), lacking in research and suffers from being regarded as separate to VFX rather than the larger industry within which the VFX sector is rooted. This article examines the history of the British VFX industry through a case study analysis of the Moving Picture Company (MPC), founded in 1970, adding a video postproduction division in 1974. The analysis is conducted through an in-depth semi-structured analysis of MPC’s founder, Mike Luckwell. In 1983, Luckwell executed a reverse takeover of Carlton, retaining overall control of MPC and acting as the managing director of Carlton until 1986. The article demonstrates that MPC operated across the supply chains for advertising, film and television, initially drawing R&D funding from the advertising industry, and latterly features. The author suggests that historians have a role to play within contemporary policy-facing research by contributing detailed analysis of supply chains and hidden labour through qualitative interviews and archival analysis. Further research into the R&D role of screen advertising is recommended.