DNEG

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), it has grown from a small team to 9,000 members of staff worldwide.

Over the years, DNEG has worked on over 250 movies and developed working relationships with a number of leading directors. Its first project was Pitch Black, released in 2000. Since then, DNEG's work can be seen in recurring franchises like Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, James Bond, Bourne, Fast & Furious, Mission: Impossible and the DC Extended Universe. DNEG has worked on award-winning projects such as Inception, Interstellar, Ex Machina, Dunkirk, Blade Runner 2049, Black Mirror ("Metalhead"), Altered Carbon, First Man, Chernobyl, Tenet, Star Trek: Discovery (season 3), The Last of Us, and Dune: Parts One and Two.

DNEG's visual effects work has been honored with eight Academy Awards, eight British Academy Film Awards, twenty-six Visual Effects Society Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards.

Ownership

In July 2014, Indian visual effects company Prime Focus World merged with Double Negative; the merged company was rebranded as DNEG.

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.

On 25 January 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. DNEG called off the merger and public listing in June 2022, with CEO Malhotra vowing to expand further.

International expansion

In 2009, Double Negative opened its Singapore office, and subsequently closed it in March 2016.

After merging with Prime Focus in 2014, DNEG established a branch in Mumbai branch and expanded its global presence with facilities in Vancouver, Los Angeles, Hyderabad, Chennai, Montréal, Mohali, Bangalore and Toronto.

Visual effects

Originally established as a visual effects (VFX) studio specialized in VFX for feature films, DNEG has evolved to offer a broader range of services, including VFX and animation for feature films and episodic projects, along with stereo conversion.

In 2013, DNEG launched its Episodic VFX team, specifically dedicated to producing visual effects for television, OTT, and streaming platforms. This initiative was designed to give content producers and networks access to DNEG's expertise and infrastructure for non-theatrical projects.

Animation

DNEG Animation (formerly known as DNEG Feature Animation) was founded in April 2014 following a collaboration between DNEG and Locksmith Animation. The studio has collaborated with IP creators and filmmakers to deliver animation services for feature-length and episodic animated projects. In its early years, the studio produced a series of shorts in 2018 featuring a Queen's Guard soldier with a giant pencil. DNEG Animation's first full-length animated feature film Ron's Gone Wrong, was theatrically released in 2021 as a co-production with Locksmith Animation, 20th Century Animation for 20th Century Studios. The film won a British Animation Award for "Best Long Form" in 2022. That same year, the short film Mr. Spam Gets A New Hat in 2022, directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker William Joyce, was released and won numerous awards, including "Best Animation" at the New York Shorts International Film Festival, "Best Animated Short" at the Cleveland International Film Festival, "Best Animation" at the LA Shorts Festival, "Best Animated Short" at the Cordillera International Film Festival and "Best 3D Narrative Short" at the SPARK Animation Festival. Later in 2022, DNEG Animation worked on the Netflix television special Entergalactic, created by Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi and Kenya Barris.

In June 2023, the studio released Nimona, an adaptation of the webcomic of the same name by ND Stevenson for Netflix and Annapurna Pictures, released in June 2023. The project had initially begun at Blue Sky Studios, but after its closure by The Walt Disney Company, DNEG Animation took over to bring the film to completion. A few months later, in October 2023, Under the Boardwalk premiered and produced for Paramount Animation. In May 2024, The Garfield Movie was released, with DNEG co-producing alongside Alcon Entertainment for Sony Pictures.