British-Indian visual effects company
DNEG (formerly known as Double Negative and stylized as D N E G ) is a British-Indian visual effects , computer animation and 3-D conversion studio that was founded in 1998 in London , and rebranded as DNEG in 2014 after a merger with Indian VFX company Prime Focus; it was named after the letters "D" and "Neg" from their former name.[ 2]
The company has received seven Academy Awards for its work on the films Inception Interstellar Ex Machina Blade Runner 2049 First Man Tenet Dune [ 3] Inception Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Interstellar Blade Runner 2049 Tenet Dune Black Mirror ' s "Metalhead ",[ 4] Visual Effects Society awards for its work on films such as The Dark Knight Rises Sherlock Holmes Inception Interstellar Dunkirk Blade Runner 2049 Altered Carbon First Man Chernobyl Last Night In Soho Foundation Dune [ 5] Primetime Emmy Awards for its work on Dreamkeeper Chernobyl and season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery [ 6]
DNEG is headquartered in Fitzrovia , London with additional locations in Vancouver , Mumbai , Los Angeles , Chennai , Montréal , Mohali , Bangalore , Toronto , and Sydney .[ 7] [ 8] [ 9] [ 10]
History
Double Negative first opened its doors in 1998 in London . Founded by a small group of industry professionals, including Peter Chiang (Senior VFX Supervisor), Matt Holben (Joint MD), Alex Hope (Joint MD) and Paul Franklin (Senior VFX Supervisor),[ 11] [ 12] [ 13]
Over the years, DNEG has worked on over 200 movies and developed working relationships with a number of leading directors. Its first project was Pitch Black Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts Marvel Cinematic Universe , James Bond Jason Bourne Fast and Furious , Mission: Impossible DC Extended Universe .[ 14] Inception Interstellar Ex Machina Dunkirk Blade Runner 2049 Black Mirror – Metalhead Altered Carbon First Man Chernobyl Tenet Star Trek: Discovery (Season 3)Dune [ 15] [ 16] [ 17]
DNEG's visual effects work has been honored with seven Academy Awards, seven BAFTAs, eighteen Visual Effects Society Awards and three Primetime Emmy Awards.[ 6]
Ownership
In July 2014, Indian visual effects company Prime Focus World merged with Double Negative;[ 18] [ 19] [ 20]
In August 2021, UK-based firm Novator Capital Advisors invested $250 million in Prime Focus Limited, DNEG's parent company. This deal boosted CEO and Prime Focus founder Namit Malhotra 's stake in the parent to 70% from 35%, and as the owner of Novator, Icelandic billionaire Thor Björgólfsson received a 15% stake in DNEG.[ 21]
On January 25, 2022, DNEG announced its entry into a definitive business combination agreement with Sports Ventures Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: AKIC). Subject to customary closing conditions, which were expected in the first half of 2022, the combined public company would be named DNEG.[ 22] [ 23] [ 24]
International expansion
In 2009, Double Negative opened its Singapore office,[ 25] [ 26] [ 27] [ 28]
Following the 2014 merger with Prime Focus World, DNEG announced the upcoming opening of a Mumbai branch.[ 29] Vancouver , Los Angeles , Chennai , Montréal , Mohali , Bangalore and Toronto .
In November 2022, DNEG announced plans to open a location in Sydney , Australia , where its VFX and animation divisions will work. The new studio was scheduled to open in 2023 in Pyrmont and would be headed by VFX supervisor Andrew Jackson . It lead the visual effects for George Miller 's Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga [ 30] [ 31]
Services and divisions
Visual effects
DNEG started as a visual effects (VFX) studio specialised in VFX for feature films . Over the years its offering expanded to include VFX and animation for feature film and television, and stereo conversion.
In 2013 the company launched its Episodic VFX team dedicated to the creation of VFX for television , OTT and streaming providers and designed to allow content producers and networks access to DNEG's team and infrastructure for non-theatrical projects.[ 32] [ 33]
Animation
DNEG Animation (formerly known as DNEG Feature Animation ) was founded in April 2014 as DNEG Feature Animation after DNEG formed a deal with Locksmith Animation , with Tom Jacomb leading the studio.[ 34] Queen's Guard soldier with a giant pencil sometimes alongside a short six-leg robot guard are the mascots of the studio. Its first project was the short film Mr. Spam Gets A New Hat , directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker William Joyce and released in 2021, which won 'Best Animation' at 2021 New York Shorts International Film Festival, 'Best Animated Short' at Cleveland International Film Festival , 'Best Animation' at LA Shorts Festival, 'Best Animated Short' at Cordillera International Film Festival and 'Best 3D Narrative Short' at SPARK ANIMATION 2021. Its first feature film was Ron's Gone Wrong 20th Century Studios , also released in 2021, which won for 'Best Longform' at the British Animation Awards (BAA).[ 35] [ 36] [ 37] Mr. Spam Gets A New Hat in October 2021, and by early 2022, the studio was renamed to DNEG Animation. The studio then worked on the Netflix television special Entergalactic Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi and Kenya Barris and released in September 2022.[ 38] [ 39]
The studio's next feature film was Nimona webcomic of the same name by ND Stevenson for Netflix and Annapurna Pictures , released in June 2023; in the production of Nimona , DNEG would take over animation from Blue Sky Studios after the company was shut down by then-owner The Walt Disney Company before their production was completed.[ 40] Under the Boardwalk Paramount Animation , which was released in October of that year.[ 41] [ 42] [ 43] The Garfield Movie Alcon Entertainment for Sony Pictures , was released in May 2024.[ 44]
Projects currently in production include That Christmas The Cat in the Hat Warner Bros. Pictures Animation , Bad Fairies (2027) with Locksmith Animation and WBPA, The Angry Birds Movie 3 Rovio Entertainment and Sega Sammy Group , and an adaptation of The Great Gatsby
ReDefine
DNEG ReDefine was launched in 2019 to provide creative visual effects and animation services both to expanding international markets and to filmmakers and streaming companies.[ 45] [ 46] [ 47]
Stereo
DNEG Stereo (formerly known as Prime Focus World ) was the first in the world to convert a full Hollywood film from 2-D to 3-D and has since become one of the largest stereo conversion companies in the motion picture industry.[ 48]
Virtual Production
DNEG Virtual Production is a global, end-to-end virtual production service. It offers filmmakers and content creators access to a full range of real-time production services – from script breakdown, through development / pre-production, production and post-production, to final picture delivery. DNEG Virtual Production has delivered virtual production services for Andy Serkis ' Venom: Let There Be Carnage ,Keneth Branagh 's Death on the Nile David Leitch 's Bullet Train [ 49] [ 50]
Filmography
VFX
Feature films
1990s and 2000s
2010s
2020s
Upcoming films
DNEG Animation
2020s
Upcoming films
Television series and specials
Years active
Title
Creator(s)
Original network(s)
Notes
Ongoing series
2014 – present
Outlander Ronald D. Moore
Starz
2017 – present
Riviera Neil Jordan
Sky Atlantic
2017 – present
Strike Ben Richards and Tom Edge
BBC
2018 – 2022
Doctor Who Sydney Newman , C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson
BBC One
Series eleven , twelve , thirteen
2020 – 2022
Westworld Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy
HBO
Season three – Season four
2022 – present
Our Flag Means Death David Jenkins
HBO Max
Stranger Things The Duffer Brothers
Netflix
Season four – present
The Gilded Age Julian Fellowes
HBO
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay
Prime Video
2023 – present
The Last of Us Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann
HBO
Based on the video game of the same name
Citadel Josh Appelbaum and Bryan Oh
Prime Video
American Born Chinese Kelvin Yu
Disney+
2024–present
Avatar: The Last Airbender Albert Kim
Netflix
Based on the animated series of the same name [ 62]
Completed series
2011 – 2019
The Amazing World of Gumball Ben Bocquelet
Cartoon Network
Animated series.
2012
The Hollow Crown Rupert Goold , Ben Power , Richard Eyre and Dominic Cooke
BBC Two (United Kingdom) PBS (United States)
2013 – 2016
Mr Selfridge Andrew Davies
PBS (United States) ITV (International)
Series two–four only.
2014 – 2016;
Death in Paradise Robert Thorogood
BBC One (United Kingdom) France 2 (France)
Series three, four, five and seven only.
2014
Remember Me Gwyneth Hughes
BBC One
Miniseries .
2015 – 2016
Agent Carter Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
ABC
Set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
2015
Arthur & George Ed Whitmore
ITV
Miniseries.
2015
Bluestone 42 Richard Hurst and James Cary
BBC Three
Series three only.
2015
Childhood's End Matthew Graham
Syfy
Miniseries.
2015 – 2016
Home Fires Simon Block
ITV Studios
2015
Jekyll and Hyde Charlie Higson
ITV
2015
London Spy Tom Rob Smith
BBC Two
Miniseries.
2015
River Abi Morgan
BBC One
Miniseries.
2016
Hooten & the Lady Tony Jordan , James Payne, Sarah Phelps , Jeff Povey Sky One
2016
Love, Nina Nick Hornby
BBC One
2016
Plebs Tom Basden , Caroline Leddy, Sam Leifer and Teddy Leifer
ITV2
Series three only.
2016 – 2018
Stan Lee's Lucky Man Stan Lee and Neil Biswas
Sky One
2016
The Tunnel Ben Richards and Hans Rosenfeldt
Canal+
Series Two: Sabotage only.
2016
The Young Pope Paolo Sorrentino
Sky Atlantic (Italy) HBO (United States) Canal+ (France)
Miniseries.
2017
Black Mirror Charlie Brooker
Netflix
Only the episode, "Metalhead" .
2017
Emerald City Matthew Arnold and Josh Friedman
NBC
2017
Inhumans Scott Buck
ABC
Set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
2017 – 2019
Harlots Alison Newman and Moira Buffini
ITV Encore Starzplay (United Kingdom) Hulu (United States)
2017 – 2018
Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams Ronald D. Moore and Michael Dinner
Channel 4
2017
Will Craig Pearce
TNT
2018 – 2019
Krypton David S. Goyer
Syfy
2018 – 2020
Altered Carbon Laeta Kalogridis
Netflix
2022
Entergalactic Kid Cudi Netflix
A DNEG Animation special
References
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Retrieved 18 March 2022 . ^ "DNEG opens Sydney office with Mad Max VFX" . 16 November 2022.^ "VFX Veteran Alaric McAusland to Head DNEG Facility in Sydney" . 14 December 2022.^ Frei, Vincent (8 March 2012). "JOHN CARTER: Peter Chiang - VFX Supervisor & Co-founder - Double Negative" . The Art of VFX (in French). Retrieved 18 March 2022 . ^ Bickerton2021-10-26T09:35:00+01:00, Jake. "Former DNEG execs setup VFX firm beloFX" . Broadcast . Retrieved 18 March 2022 . {{cite web }}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link )^ "Paul Franklin" . St John's College . Retrieved 18 March 2022 .^ "DNEG Gives the 007 Series an Explosive Finale in 'No Time to Die' .^ "DNEG Wins Academy Award® for Best Visual Effects on 'Dune' .^ "Visual effects powerhouse invests in Australian base" . arts.gov.au . 25 November 2022. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2023 .^ "Jobs boom as Sydney secures Hollywood giant | NSW Government" . 17 November 2022.^ Cohen, David S. (25 June 2014). "Visual Effects Giants Prime Focus World, Double Negative to Merge" . Variety . Retrieved 10 February 2022 . ^ Cohen, David (25 June 2014). "Visual Effects Giants Prime Focus World, Double Negative to Merge" . Variety . Retrieved 11 January 2018 . ^ Philips, Emma Latham (14 June 2018). "DixonBaxi's rebrand for Oscar-winning VFX company DNEG "suggests motion and constant transformation" . It's Nice That . ^ Hayes, Dade (18 August 2021). "Visual Effects Oscar Heavyweight DNEG Gets $250M Injection From UK Investment Firm Novator" . Deadline . Retrieved 18 March 2022 . ^ Ramkumar, Amrith (25 January 2022). "WSJ News Exclusive | Hollywood Visual-Effects Studio DNEG Reaches $1.6 Billion SPAC Merger to Go Public" . Wall Street Journal . ISSN 0099-9660 . Retrieved 18 March 2022 . ^ "DNEG, visual effects studio behind "Tenet", to go public in $1.7 bln SPAC deal" . Reuters . 25 January 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022 .^ Szalai, Georg (16 June 2022). " . The Hollywood Reporter MRC and Penske Media Corporation . Retrieved 20 June 2022 . ^ Shetty, Chaitra. "Double Negative opens in Singapore" . Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. ^ Valecha, Amrita (7 January 2011). "Double Negative takes recruitment drive to Australia & New Zealand" . axapac . Archived from the original on 17 January 2011. ^ "Singapore statement" . Archived from the original on 27 March 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016 .^ Frater, Patrick; Cohen, David (23 March 2016). "Double Negative to Close VFX Facility in Singapore (EXCLUSIVE)" . Variety . Retrieved 11 January 2018 . ^ Frater, Patrick (11 June 2015). "India's Prime Focus and U.K.'s Double Negative to Open Mumbai VFX Plant" . Variety . Retrieved 11 January 2018 . ^ "DNEG Opens New VFX and Animation Studio in Sydney" . DNEG. 16 November 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2022 .^ Lang, Jamie (16 November 2022). "DNEG Sets Up VFX/Animation Studio In Sydney, First Project Is George Miller's 'Furiosa' . Cartoon Brew . Retrieved 18 November 2022 . ^ Bevir2013-04-25T08:37:00+01:00, George. "Double Negative plans to buck trend with TV VFX arm" . Broadcast . Retrieved 18 March 2022 . {{cite web }}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link )^ "DNEG TV is Open for Business!" . DNEG . 3 March 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2022 .^ Barraclough, Leo (10 April 2014). "Elisabeth Murdoch, Double Negative Back Sarah Smith's New U.K. Animation House Locksmith (EXCLUSIVE)" . Variety . Retrieved 28 January 2023 . ^ "Welcome DNEG Feature Animation!" . DNEG . 4 April 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2022 .^ Macnab2021-09-16T12:33:00+01:00, Geoffrey. "DNEG exec explains decision by UK VFX company to introduce overtime pay" . Screen . Retrieved 18 March 2022 . {{cite web }}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link )^ " . 10 March 2022.^ "How DNEG Animation gave 'Entergalactic' its stylized look" . befores & afters . 6 October 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2023 .^ "ANIMATING TO THE RHYTHM OF ENTERGALACTIC" . VFX Voice Magazine . 15 November 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2023 .^ Lang, Jamie (11 April 2022). " . Cartoon Brew . Retrieved 11 April 2022 . ^ "Under the Boardwalk and The Tiger's Apprentice Get Dated" . Paramount Animation . Archived from the original on 7 April 2021.^ "Under the Boardwalk" . Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved 11 October 2023 .^ "Paramount Will Give 'Under The Boardwalk' A Limited Theatrical Release On October 27" . Cartoon Brew . 19 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023 .^ Welk, Brian (1 November 2021). "Chris Pratt to Voice Garfield in Animated Film" . Retrieved 18 March 2022 . ^ televisual.com (17 May 2019). "DNEG launches vfx service for Chinese, Indian markets" . Televisual . Retrieved 18 March 2022 . ^ Team, AnimationXpress (30 June 2021). "ReDefine hires noted visual effects supervisor/producer Eric J Robertson as Executive Vice President" . AnimationXpress . Retrieved 18 March 2022 . ^ Team, AnimationXpress (10 March 2021). "ReDefine doubles down on VFX and CG Character and Creature capabilities with experienced new European team" . AnimationXpress . Retrieved 18 March 2022 . ^ em_pfguser (9 January 2015). "Creative Services" . www.primefocus.com . Retrieved 19 October 2018 . ^ "Dimension Takes Us Behind the Scenes of DNEG's Virtual Production Service | LBBOnline" . www.lbbonline.com . Retrieved 3 January 2023 .^ "The Fast and the Curious: DNEG Shoots the Works in 'Bullet Train' VFX" . Animation World Network . Retrieved 3 January 2023 .^ "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Production Notes" . Warner Bros. 9 June 2005. Archived from the original on 20 August 2014 – via HollywoodJesus.^ "Man of Steel vfx milestones" . FX Guide the original on 30 December 2019.^ Desowitz, Bill (15 October 2018). "Beyond Christopher Nolan: 'First Man' Redefines In-Camera VFX" . IndieWire . Archived from the original on 3 November 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2020 . ^ " . Cartoon Brew . 24 May 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2019 .^ Frei, Vincent (25 April 2019). "Men in Black International" . Art of VFX . Retrieved 3 September 2020 . ^ "50 per cent of 'Munjya' budget spent on VFX: director Aditya Sarpotdar" . Hindustan Times . Retrieved 27 July 2024 .^ "Kalki 2828 AD " . DNEG . Retrieved 24 May 2024 .^ "Animal Friends and The Gorge in production at DNEG" . DNEG . 30 June 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2024 .^ Vejvoda, Jim (15 October 2024). " . IGN . Retrieved 31 October 2024 . ^ Gajewski, Ryan (16 July 2024). "Warner Bros. Sets Animated Musical 'Bad Fairies' for 2027 Release" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 16 July 2024 . ^ "Rovio, SEGA, and Prime Focus Studios Announce The Angry Birds Movie 3 Is In Production At DNEG Animation" . Rovio . 6 June 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2024 .^ "Avatar: The Last Airbender" . DNEG . Retrieved 19 June 2022 .
51°31′16″N 0°08′31″W / 51.521114°N 0.141841°W / 51.521114; -0.141841
External links
