Digital Production | Cold Storage VFX

The Mill Film & Series teams, formerly MPC Paris, contributed to STUDIOCANAL’s feature film Cold Storage, a horror-comedy directed by Jonny Campbell and written by David Koepp, based on his novel of the same name. The project showcases the studio’s ability to combine large-scale visual effects work with high-end image post-production within a unified creative and technical pipeline.

Across an ambitious production spanning 18 months, The Mill delivered more than 540 visual effects shots, supporting the film’s wide-ranging visual requirements. The scope of work extended from invisible clean-up and digital enhancements to full CG environments, complex creature design, macroscopic simulations and large-scale destruction sequences. The diversity of these tasks engaged the full breadth of disciplines across the Film & Series teams, reflecting a production built on both technical depth and creative flexibility.

At the centre of the film lies the evolving parasitic fungus, designed as a character in its own right. The teams developed its visual identity through extensive research into organic growth patterns, textures and motion behaviour, creating a system capable of scaling from microscopic detail to full environmental contamination. The challenge required a balance between biological plausibility and cinematic impact, ensuring the organism remained both believable and visually striking throughout the narrative.

As co-VFX Supervisors Nikolas D’Andrade and Bastien Chauvet explain, the project demanded coverage of the entire VFX spectrum, from subtle enhancements to complete digital destruction of environments. This breadth of work required close collaboration across departments and a highly integrated approach between on-set supervision, asset creation, simulation and compositing teams.

“Creatively, Cold Storage was a true challenge, covering the entire VFX spectrum: from basic rig cleanup to full environment destruction, creatures, digital set extensions, and the enhancement of practical SFX makeup.”

Beyond visual effects, our team also handled image post-production for the project, ensuring continuity and consistency across the full visual pipeline through to final delivery. This integrated approach enabled seamless alignment between creative intent and technical execution, from editorial through to final grading and mastering.

A big thank you to Bela Beier and the Digital Production team for highlighting our work and sharing the story behind the visual effects. To discover more about the making of the film and the full interview with the team, we encourage you to read the complete article on Digital Production: https://digitalproduction.com/2026/03/09/mpcs-cold-storage/