Namit Malhotra is Chairman and CEO of industry-leading visual effects and animation company DNEG, and also the founder and non-executive director of DNEG’s parent company, Prime Focus Limited. As a film producer, Namit has credits including upcoming Bollywood epics ‘Brahmastra’ and ‘Ramayana’, and the animated feature film ‘Garfield’, which will be distributed by Sony Pictures. The third-generation of a filmmaking family, Namit’s journey began in 1995 with a garage start-up in Mumbai, a single Apple Mac computer and a vision that convinced three of the tutors from his computer graphics course to join him. Fast forward ten years and Namit was listing his company – Prime Focus – on the National Stock Exchange of India, having pioneered a series of technology firsts in the Bollywood film industry and built India’s largest independent media services company.
His success in India enabled Namit to head west, first to the UK and then on to North America. A series of acquisitions allowed him to quickly create a global footprint for Prime Focus, bridging the gap between East and West. In 2014 Namit acquired respected British visual effects studio Double Negative, and as CEO of the newly rebranded DNEG he has scaled the company to create a global network of visual effects and animation studios, grown the company’s headcount from 700 to almost 7,000, added new services and divisions, and seen his company’s work recognised by the industry with five Academy Award wins for Best Visual Effects in the last seven years. These achievements have successfully positioned DNEG for the next stage of its growth.
In August 2021, Namit oversaw an investment of $250 million by Novator Capital Advisers, LLP in subsidiaries of Prime Focus Limited, positioning DNEG to capitalize on the high demand in the content services marketplace and to explore opportunities in adjacent categories and formats, including gaming and original content and IP creation. In building his businesses Namit has always led from the front, seeking out projects that will expand the strengths of his company and challenge his teams to push themselves to the next level. He is committed to nurturing talent and ambition, and to delivering world-class creative and technical services and intelligent financial solutions.
