Spotlight on... Alice Neichols, VFX Producer

Alice Neichols, Visual Effects Producer, has been working at The Mill for 10 years. After graduating from engineering school, she started at The Mill (formerly Mikros VFX) as a coordination intern. She then pursued a career in production coordination for 4 years, gaining the necessary knowledge to become a VFX Producer today.

• What does your job entail?

As a VFX Producer, my job is to organize the entire production in collaboration with supervisors, leads, and coordinators. It involves managing project schedules, budgets, teams, and client relationships. 

This role allows me to have an overview of the entire production process. 

• What is the project that you have worked on and are most proud of?

The project I am most proud of is the film The Last Duel directed by Ridley Scott. With a small team, we always kept the spirits high and ended up delivery an enormous project, with astounding results! 

I greatly enjoyed working under the supervision of Yann Blondel on this film – We even had the opportunity to present our work at the PIDS 2022 festival. The audience was captivated by the explanations given by Yann Blondel, Mark Robinson, Romain Bavent, Kristina Prilukova, Christophe Courgeau, and myself:

• What would you say to a teenager who would like to pursue the same career as you? 

I would tell them that it is the ideal profession for people who are diligent, organized, and enjoy working with teams and beautiful images! There is no privileged path to this position, but organization is key, as well as a solid understanding of the VFX production pipeline. It’s important to consider exploring other positions in the field to grasp all the intricacies of 2D and 3D production.

• What is your favorite part or moment of your job?

I really enjoy the initial setup of a project. Discovering what we must accomplish, seeing the first images, and establishing the necessary tools. I also love seeing the progress of all the shots throughout the production, step by step. 

• In your opinion, what is the highlight of your career today?

I’m not sure if I have reached the pinnacle of my career yet, but logically, the position of VFX Producer at The Mill/MPC is a significant milestone in my journey thus far.

• What was the most challenging project in your career?

As mentioned earlier, one of the most enjoyable but at the same time most challenging projects in my career was The Last Duel. We had to deliver many shots within a tight deadline while simultaneously providing time-based deliveries for client screenings, all during COVID lockdowns.  

Managing two deadlines and dividing the team to ensure we met the deliveries, was a significant challenge to follow and organize. 

It was also the first time we’d worked on a film of this scale with a world-renowned director.