The studios' best-kept secret

Mylands in the movies

A century before they dressed your walls, our colours were dressing the greatest sets in cinema. Quiet on set… we're painting.

1884 · From the music halls to the studios

A century of sets

It all began backstage. Founded in 1884 in south London, Mylands first supplied its varnishes, polishes and paints to the neighbourhood's Victorian music halls, then to the theatres of the West End. When cinema settled around London in the early twentieth century, its production designers came knocking at the manufactory's door quite naturally - and never really left.

Ever since, from the stages of Pinewood to the studios of Leavesden, the scenic artists of Britain's biggest productions have worked with our colours: sets built in a few nights, filmed under unforgiving lights, and watched frame by frame by millions. There is no harder school for a paint - and it has been our proving ground for more than a hundred years.

A scenic artist at work on a monumental backdrop — The set is born by brush, long before the first take

Productions

As seen in the credits

You never see our name on screen - only our colours. Here are the productions we are allowed to name.

The world's best-dressed spy: James Bond every film since Dr. No (1962)
A certain school of wizardry: Harry Potter all eight films
A galaxy rather far away: Star Wars the British-shot productions
Seven kingdoms and one throne: Game of Thrones the original series
Yorkshire aristocracy: Downton Abbey the series and the films

… and all the ones our confidentiality agreements still keep us from naming.

Titles of works are cited strictly factually, as part of the house's history as a supplier to the studios. The works and marks named remain the property of their respective rights holders, who do not sponsor and are not affiliated with this page.

The reasons for the choice

Why the studios choose Mylands

On set, paint gets no excuses: the camera comes within a foot of the wall, the lights flatten everything, and the set must be dry by dawn. Three reasons bring production designers back to the same house.

A matt that swallows the light

Under a thousand lights, the slightest stray sheen betrays the set. Our ultra-matt finishes, saturated with natural pigments, never flash on camera - and our blacks stay black, even in full light.

The rhythm of the stages

A set goes up in a few nights, shoots in the morning and comes down the same evening. Fast drying, recoating without the wait, and a finish that stands up to a full crew: our formulas were born of that rhythm.

Any colour, at any scale

Matching the exact shade of a designer's sketchbook, then delivering it by the hundreds of litres, identical from the first pot to the last: bespoke colour mixing has been our trade since 1884.

Paint pots and brushes lined up backstage — Backstage, the colour waits for its cue

A scenic painter's hands ageing a fake-stone set flat — A castle wall, born of a timber panel and three glazes

Gilded lettering painted in FTT Rich Gold — FTT Rich Gold - the gold of the sets, applied by brush

Born on set

FTT — Film, Television & Theatre

A range forged by cinema. Our FTT references - for "Film, Television & Theatre" - were developed with and for the studios: working colours built to hold the screen, take after take, under the harshest lights.

The most celebrated are our metallics: the rich gold, the silver and their nuances - the very ones that gild the mouldings of period sets - are on sale today, in the same studio quality, from the same London workshop.

Discover the FTT metallics

From the screen to the sitting room