Post production company Ministry of illusion, best known for visual effects and animation, has completed a black empowerment deal with 50 percent of the company’s shares now in the hands of its new partner, Sceptre Marketing.
Sceptre Marketing is the same company that made industry headlines in 2005 when it acquired 46 percent of leading experiential agency, VWV Group.
Ministry of illusion’s MD, Gerd Müller says, “Selecting the right BEE partner with a highly reputable track record in industry strategy and general management was high on our priority list. It wasn’t about a credentials window dressing exercise where quotas made up the deal’s checks and balances.”
Wanda Shuenyane, of Sceptre concurs, “We will play an active role at a non-executive level, to ensure the integration of Sceptre’s experience and associations to bolster the company and see it climb to new heights.” Future plans include the launch of ‘Ministry of illusion Academy’ that will set out to grow black talent in the animation sector of the industry.
Award-winning Ministry of illusion has been involved in many well known TV adverts, such as Cell C’s ‘Little People’, Audi’s ‘Shar-Pei’, the Vodacom Meerkat, and various Coca Cola ads.
Ministry of illusion was also commissioned by FIFA to produce the graphics for the Preliminary Draw. The visual showcase included animated icons for SA host cities, a soccer player figure performing ten different actions, and a 3D gold soccer ball unfolding to reveal the continents inside it. So impressed was FIFA’s David Ausseil, Head of TV Events that Ministry of illusion received a personal nod of approval for its work.
As a result the company was commissioned to handle the Confederations cup draw and is also currently involved in the upcoming FIFA 2010 pitch being presented in Zurich. Additionally it has been officially nominated to create graphics for the FIFA final draw later this year.
Gerd Müller and Marios Nicolletis founded the business nine years ago and will remain at the helm of the Ministry of illusion business.
