M5 Industries (M5) is a special effects company located in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, best known as the working lab of the TV series ''

MythBusters ''MythBusters'' is a science entertainment television program, developed by Peter Rees and produced by Australia's Beyond Television Productions. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on January 23, 2003. It was broadcast internatio ...

''. Founded in 1997 by

Jamie Hyneman James Franklin Hyneman (born September 25, 1956) is an American special effects expert who is best known as the former co-host of the television series '' MythBusters'' alongside Adam Savage, where he became known for his distinctive beret and ...

, it specialized in producing props for

movies A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

. Following the conclusion of filming the ''Mythbusters'' series, it became a

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

firm.

History

In 1997, Jamie Hyneman took over the

Colossal Pictures Colossal Pictures (also styled as (Colossal) Pictures or (C)P) was an entertainment company that developed and produced television programming, advertising, network branding, and visual effects. Colossal's work has won every major industry award, ...

workshop, using it to establish M5 Industries.http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/mythbusters3.htm "MythBusters" Shop: M5 Industries, HowStuffWorks The company originally produced

special effect Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wor ...

s props for film, including

animatronic Animatronics refers to mechatronic puppets. They are a modern variant of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films and in theme park attractions. It is a multidisciplinary field integrating puppetry, anatomy a ...

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...

s, such as those seen in ''

James and the Giant Peach ''James and the Giant Peach'' is a popular children's novel written in 1961 by British author Roald Dahl. The first edition, published by Alfred Knopf, featured illustrations by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. There have been re-illustrated versions of ...

'' and ''

The Nightmare Before Christmas ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (also known as ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas'') is a 1993 American stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film directed by Henry Selick (in his feature directorial debut) and produced and ...

''. M5 Industries has produced special effects for many commercials, such as a motorized

7 Up 7 Up (stylized as 7up outside North America) is an American brand of lemon-lime-flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper although the beverage is internationally distributed by PepsiCo. 7 Up comp ...

soft drink vending machine that shoots soda cans at people and a remote-controlled shoe for

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

. The facilities were used extensively for the production of the television show ''MythBusters'', with the M5 Industries workshop used as the primary shooting location for the first season. During the second season, when a second team of MythBusters was introduced, a second space located at 2200 Jerrold Avenue in San Francisco, dubbed "M7" was leased for them. Many of the people who appear on ''MythBusters'' were originally employees of M5, notably

Kari Byron Kari Elizabeth Byron (born December 18, 1974) is an American television host, best known for her role on the ''MythBusters'' and ''White Rabbit Project'' series. Early life Byron was born in the Bay Area, California. She graduated from Los Gat ...

and

Tory Belleci Salvatore "Tory" Paul Belleci (born October 30, 1970) is an American television personality and model maker, best known for his work on the Discovery Channel television program ''MythBusters''. He has also worked with Industrial Light and Magic on ...

. Since the end of production for Mythbusters, the company no longer does special effects for movies and television, now focusing on research and development, such as engineering a tank which can be used to fight wildfires. The workshop does not offer tours or allow visits from the public because of insurance issues.

Name

The company's name was suggested by

Adam Savage Adam Whitney Savage (born July 15, 1967) is an American special effects designer and fabricator, actor, educator, and television personality and producer, best known as the former co-host (with Jamie Hyneman) of the Discovery Channel televisi ...

. He intended to suggest the name of either the branch of the British secret service which built gadgets in

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

fiction (

Q Branch Q is a fictional character in the James Bond films and film novelisations. Q (standing for Quartermaster), like M, is a job title rather than a name. He is the head of Q Branch (or later Q Division), the fictional research and development divis ...

) or British secret service itself (

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

), 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."Transcript of Jamie and Adam's Nov. 10, 2004, Online Chat," pg. 5
Retrieved 11 October 2006.

Grant Imahara Grant Masaru Imahara (October 23, 1970 – July 13, 2020) was an American electrical engineer, roboticist, and television host. He was best known for his work on the television series ''MythBusters'', on which he designed and built numerou ...

also explained that he asked Jamie Hyneman what the "M" stood for in M5 to which he replied "Movies, Monsters, Mechanics, Machining..." and Imahara was thinking that the final M comically stood for Mustache. M5 Industries' website from 2000 says "M5 stands for Models, Machines, Miniatures, Manufacturing... and yes, at least a little bit of Magic."

References

Notes

External links

* {{Authority control Animatronics companies Companies based in San Francisco American companies established in 1997 MythBusters Special effects companies