India – September 28, 2022 – DNEG, a leading visual effects (VFX) and animation studio for the creation of feature film, television and multiplatform content, announced today that the UK’s 20th Asian Achievers Awards have named DNEG CEO and Chairman Namit Malhotra a winner in this year’s Arts & Culture category. Malhotra was nominated alongside Simone Ashley (“Bridgerton”), classical music singer Chandra Chakraborty, and multi-platinum selling singer-songwriter Charli XCX.
In addition to his role at DNEG, Malhotra is also the founder and non-executive director of DNEG’s parent company, Prime Focus Limited. As a film producer, he has credits including the recently released action-adventure epic Brahmastra (2022) and the upcoming animated feature film Garfield (2024), which DNEG Animation is co-producing with Alcon Entertainment for Sony Pictures.
“To be recognised with this award amid such a talented group of nominees is a great honor,” said Malhotra. “It also recognizes the tireless work of my amazing teams at DNEG, ReDefine and Prime Focus. Together, and through our groundbreaking work with our industry partners and clients, we are delivering pioneering and innovative visual effects and animation that continue to set the bar for quality and excellence in our industry.”
The third generation of a filmmaking family, Malhotra’s journey began in 1995 with a garage start-up in Mumbai. Since then, he has overseen Prime Focus’ listing on the National Stock Exchange of India, having pioneered a series of technology firsts in the Indian film industry and built India’s largest independent media services company.
Malhotra later expanded Prime Focus’ reach to the United Kingdom and North America, acquiring Double Negative, rebranded as DNEG, where he scaled the company to create a global network of visual effects and animation studios. Since then, DNEG has expanded its headcount from 700 to more than 8,000, adding new services and divisions, and earned seven total Academy Awards® for Best Visual Effects – most recently for Dune (2022) and Tenet (2021).
Additionally, Malhotra oversaw the investment of $250 million by Novator Capital Advisers, LLP, in August 2021, positioning DNEG to further capitalize on the high demand in the content services marketplace, including gaming, original content and IP creation. In April 2022, Malhotra’s DNEG entered into an expanded multiyear services agreement to provide visual effects and virtual production services for Netflix on Netflix series and feature programming through 2025.
Beginning in 2000, the Asian Achievers Awards seek to honor outstanding work of those in the United Kingdom’s South Asian community that hold leadership positions across a range of fields, including politics, business and civil society. Held for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, this year’s awards ceremony took place on September 23, 2022.
