M5 Industries

M5 Industries, Inc.
Industry Motion picture support services
Genre Visual Effects
Founder Jamie Hyneman
Headquarters 1268 Missouri Street, San Francisco, CA 94107, United States, San Francisco, California, United States
Key people
 Jamie Hyneman
Services Research and development;
custom fabrication and testing
Owner Jamie Hyneman
Website www.m5industries.com

M5 Industries (M5i) is a special effects company located in San Francisco, California[1] that once produced special effects props for commercials and film, stop motion animation, and animatronic puppets, such as those seen in James and the Giant Peach and The Nightmare Before Christmas. They also extend into prototype development and various display projects.

M5 Industries has produced special effects for many commercials, such as a motorized 7 Up soft drink vending machine that shoots soda cans at people and a remote-controlled shoe for Nike. The company's previous works date back to The Right Stuff (1983).

A statement on the M5 Industries Web site says the company no longer does special effects for movies and television. Their facilities are now mostly used for the production of the television show MythBusters. The company now performs research and development work for various other companies, which include developing electric vehicles, various lifesaving devices, and other useful gadgetry.

The company was founded by Jamie Hyneman,[2][3] co-host with Adam Savage of MythBusters on the Discovery Channel. Many of the people who appear on MythBusters were originally employees of M5, notably Kari Byron. When the series began, its primary shooting location was the M5 Industries workshop, now known itself as "M5". During the second season, when a second team of MythBusters was introduced, a second space located at 2200 Jerrold Avenue San Francisco, CA 94124(37°44'47.5"N 122°23'52.6"W), dubbed "M6" was leased for them. However, the show caused significant disruption to neighbouring tenants, resulting in a loss of the lease on M6. M6 was followed by M7, a separate annex of M5 located just 800 yards (730 m) away.[2][4][5]

The company's name was suggested by Savage. He intended to suggest the name of either the branch of the British secret service which built gadgets in James Bond fiction (Q Branch) or British secret service itself (MI6), but was mistaken as to the correct name, and suggested M5. Savage alleges that Hyneman never paid him the promised $50 prize for having his suggestion selected.[3]

Grant Imahara also explained that he asked Jamie Hyneman what the "M" stood for in M5 to which he replied "Movies, Monsters, Mechanics, Machining..." and Grant was thinking that the final M comically stood for Mustache.[6]

The workshop does not offer tours or allow visits from the public because of insurance issues.[7]

References

  1. ↑ M5 Industries, Inc., 1268 Missouri St., San Francisco, CA 94107, Tel. +1 415-550-0688 37°45′01″N 122°23′44″W / 37.75028°N 122.39556°W (37.750333,-122.395639)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/mythbusters3.htm "MythBusters" Shop: M5 Industries, HowStuffWorks
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Transcript of Jamie and Adam's Nov. 10, 2004, Online Chat," pg. 5 Retrieved October 11, 2006.
  4. ↑ A day with the 'MythBusters' Retrieved March 7, 2008
  5. ↑ Jamie Hyneman Answers Fan Questions Published April 22, 2007. Retrieved March 7, 2008
  6. ↑ Grant Imahara speaks at University of Alabama in Huntsville April 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c_E0nxLulE
  7. ↑ http://www.m5industries.com/m5i_2.html, Retrieved July 27, 2010

External links

Coordinates: 37°45′01″N 122°23′45″W / 37.750371°N 122.395712°W