M5 Industries

M5 Industries, Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryMotion picture support services
GenreVisual Effects
Founded1997; 27 years ago (1997)
FounderJamie Hyneman
Headquarters1268 Missouri Street,
San Francisco, California
,
U.S.
Services
  • Research and development
  • Custom fabrication and testing
  • MythBusters
OwnerJamie Hyneman
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

M5 Industries (M5) is a special effects company located in San Francisco, California, best known as the working lab of the TV series MythBusters. Founded in 1997 by Jamie Hyneman, it specialized in producing props for movies and television. Following the conclusion of filming the Mythbusters series, it became a research and development firm.[1]

History

In 1997, Jamie Hyneman took over the Colossal Pictures workshop, using it to establish M5 Industries.[2][3][4] The company originally produced special effects props for film, including animatronic puppets, such as those seen in James and the Giant Peach and The Nightmare Before Christmas. 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.[5][6]

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,[a] dubbed "M7" was leased for them.[3][7][8] Many of the people who appear on MythBusters were originally employees of M5, notably Kari Byron and Tory Belleci.[9][10]

Since the end of production for Mythbusters, the company no longer does special effects for movies and television, now focusing on research and development,[11] such as engineering a tank which can be used to fight wildfires.[6] The workshop does not offer tours or allow visits from the public because of insurance issues.[12][13]

Name

The company's name was suggested by Adam 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.[14] Savage alleges that Hyneman never paid him the promised $50 prize for having his suggestion selected.[2]

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 Imahara was thinking that the final M comically stood for Mustache.[15] M5 Industries' website from 2000 says "M5 stands for Models, Machines, Miniatures, Manufacturing... and yes, at least a little bit of Magic."[16]

References

  1. ^ "Inside 'MythBusters'". HowStuffWorks. 23 June 2008. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  2. ^ a b ""Transcript of Jamie and Adam's Nov. 10, 2004, Online Chat," pg. 5". Archived from the original on 30 October 2007. Retrieved 11 October 2006.
  3. ^ a b http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/mythbusters3.htm "MythBusters" Shop: M5 Industries, HowStuffWorks
  4. ^ "Jamie Hyneman". MythBusters: Jamie and Adam Unleashed. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  5. ^ US patent 6458008, Jamie Hyneman, "Remote Control Device with Gyroscopic Stabilization and Directional Control", issued 2002-10-01 
  6. ^ a b "Jamie Hyneman Wildlife Tank". 13 November 2018. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  7. ^ "A day with the 'MythBusters'". Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 7 March 2008.
  8. ^ "Jamie Hyneman Answers Fan Questions". 22 April 2007. Archived from the original on 27 April 2007. Retrieved 7 March 2008.
  9. ^ Mammy, Joe. "The Joe-Mammy.com interview with Kari Byron". Joe-Mammy.com. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  10. ^ David, Emilia (23 May 2020). "What Tory Belleci Has Been Up To Since Mythbusters". Grunge. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  11. ^ "M5 Industries, Inc". 29 July 2019. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  12. ^ "M5 Industries Visual Effects". Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  13. ^ "What does M5 Industries do now? – JanetPanic.com". janetpanic.com. Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  14. ^ Ask Adam Savage: The Origin of M5, M6 and M7 (Plus, Their Neighbors), retrieved 13 May 2022, ...and then he [Jamie Hyneman] had a little contest among his employees to name the company, and I was thinking you should name it after the British Secret Service. But because the internet barely existed at this point...we weren't googling everything...so I thought that the British Secret Service was called 'M5', not 'MI6', and so I suggested calling the company 'M5' and Jamie did.
  15. ^ Grant Imahara speaks at University of Alabama in Huntsville April 2011 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c_E0nxLulE
  16. ^ "M5 Industries – Portfolio". m5industries.com. Archived from the original on 11 January 2001. Retrieved 29 March 2016.

Notes

  1. ^ Located at 37°44′47.5″N 122°23′52.6″W

37°45′01″N 122°23′45″W / 37.750371°N 122.395712°W / 37.750371; -122.395712