With a staff of 150 people skilled in the art and science of modern storytelling — writers, producers, directors, DPs, art directors, editors, composers, set designers and more — Mills James provides a scaled-down version of the classic Hollywood studio.
We offer the creative talent and resources necessary to meet the diverse media needs of today's audiences — audiences with more choices than ever before.
The entertainment business model is changing, adapting to today's lifestyles and technologies. With hundreds of cable channels, a growing appetite for DVDs and the impact of broadband video, there have never been so many new opportunities for innovative programming — and so many ways to reach an audience.
At Mills James, our experience includes everything from a weekly public television series to documentaries, television specials, game shows, situation comedies and Internet video.
Listed below are examples of several programs produced at Mills James.
Scott Houston has been called "the Pied Piper of recreational music-making."
Since the debut of his highly successful public television special, Play Piano in a Flash, produced by Mills James, millions of viewers have been introduced to his motivational and entertaining approach to learning to play non-classical piano.
The popularity of the special led to the creation of Scott's weekly public TV series, The Piano Guy, in April 2004. One year later, the program became one of the first "how-to" shows to be produced in high-definition.
Numbering over 100 half-hour episodes, the Emmy Award-winning series has become "must-see" programming for music lovers and recreational music makers across the country. During each episode, Scott is usually joined by one of many talented guest pianists to discuss the breakdown of specific songs, genres, and other piano playing topics.
Besides the countless array of Piano Guy products available to the consumer, segments can also be viewed as Video on Demand (VoD) offerings on cable systems as well as streaming video features on the Internet, making Scott's programs available to audiences worldwide. (See The Show)
"The beauty of VoD is that you can watch it whenever you want," says Producer R J Cavallaro. "It's perfect for a ‘how-to' show." A lot of Scott's viewers like to record his programs and view them at their leisure. With VoD, you can pause, rewind or fast-forward and watch it again and again.
"This is very much like the early days of television. Viewing habits are changing, and we're seeing entirely new ways of reaching target audiences. Whether it's high-definition images or Video on Demand, we're committed to providing viewers with experiences that make sense for today's lifestyles and technologies."
Broadcasts of The Piano Guy are made possible on public television by a valued team of corporate sponsors. (Underwriters)
For more information on Scott Houston, his videos, books and workshops, visit his Web site at www.ScottThePianoGuy.com.
The Cash Explosion® Double Play weekly television game show has returned to the air after the Ohio Lottery re-launched the 20-year-old brand.
The updated Cash Explosion Double Play show premiered in fall of 2007. It features Ohio talent — Sharon Bicknell, David McCreary and Cheri McClain — as co-hosts.
Mills James — which has been the Ohio Lottery's production company of record for the show since 2002 — conducted an extensive, regional talent search and reviewed more than 300 live and taped auditions before casting Bicknell, McCreary and McClain in their roles. The show also features a newly designed set and graphics package, both of which Mills James created and produced.
Cash Explosion Double Play is known as "the winningest show on television" because each week, eight studio contestants and 24 "Play at Home" players get to keep everything they win. Studio contestants win a minimum of $3,200 up to a top prize of $200,000 in cash for returning champions. As one of the most popular and recognizable Ohio Lottery games, Cash Explosion instant tickets average $1 million in sales each week. Since 1987, more than 7,000 people have appeared on the game show and have won more than $90 million in cash.
The Cash Explosion places a renewed focus on the Lottery's contributions to education, and Mills James worked with the Ohio Lottery Commission to craft the show's new education message and theme.
When America marked its 400th anniversary in May 2007, Mills James was there to help bring the commemoration to a national television audience.
America's 400th Anniversary Weekend helped reintroduce the country to the 1607 founding of Jamestown, Va., the first permanent English settlement in the Americas, and its legacies of democracy, free enterprise and cultural diversity.
Mills James was chosen by Prosody Creative Services, executive producer of the event and television special, to record and edit entertainment highlights — including more than 50 hours of event footage from eight cameras, satellite feeds and 48-track audio masters — into a 60-minute nationally syndicated television program. The resulting special, hosted by CBS News Anchor Russ Mitchell, required more than 200 hours of video editing and sophisticated audio mixing in a nine-day editing window. The show includes appearances by Queen Elizabeth II and President George W. Bush, a 400-piece orchestra with 1,607-voice choir, and performances by Bruce Hornsby & The Noise Makers, R&B artist Chaka Khan, and bluegrass master Ricky Skaggs.
The program was syndicated by a consortium of Virginia CBS affiliates and aired in more than 60 television markets across the country. "Having worked with Mills James in the past we felt that their level of expertise and state of the art editing facilities was a perfect match for creating a quality product in a very short time frame," said Ken Ashby of Prosody Creative Services, "and they exceeded all our expectations."
Welcome to Drooling Creek is a half-hour situation comedy pilot produced by Evan Evans and Mills James Productions.
Drooling Creek is the quaint farming community and fictional hometown to the show's title character, Evan. The seemingly steadfast Amish farmer is played by Evan Evans (the show's executive producer and writer) and deals with his masquerading life in the Amish community.
The show follows the misadventures of Evan and his wife as they try to navigate both the modern world and the old world traditions of the Amish, complicated by a new set of neighbors, a runaway nephew and one simple lie — Evan is not Amish.
Mills James shot the 22-minute pilot episode in and around several smaller cities in Ohio. Many months of pre-production preceded the shoot to ensure every last detail was ready for the camera to roll — from script, locations, talent selection, wardrobe and props.
Directed by one of Mills James' Emmy Award-winning producers, John Jackson, the 15-person crew stayed on a tight schedule to meet all the needs of the demanding shoot. Edited in just over five days, the piece then went to Mills James composer, Mike Jackson, for an original score. The whole thing was tweaked in audio post for final sound design and mixing.
The show is currently being shopped to television and cable networks.
Currently in production, this as yet untitled documentary tells the story of Jeff Smith, the creator of the internationally acclaimed comic series, "Bone."
Smith's interest in cartooning began in kindergarten, and the characters he experimented with at that very early age became the basis of the "Bone" comics, a phenomenal best-seller that began as a self-published comic and today selling millions of copies in its various form, while being published in 15 languages.
Focusing on Jeff's experiences with Bone, the documentary also explores the influence of comic books and graphic novels in our society, and includes interviews with several well-known comic artists and authorities.
