Namit Malhotra makes India Proud for his work on Dune and No Time to Die

DNEG team receives two Oscar nominations for the 94th Academy Awards
Nominated in the ‘Best Visual Effects’ category for its work on Dune and No Time to Die.

Namit Malhotra is India’s man in Hollywood at the moment. Leading visual effects (VFX) and animation studio DNEG, led by Namit Malhotra, has received two nominations in the ‘Best Visual Effects’ category for the 94th Academy Awards, which is scheduled for March 27, 2022 in Los Angele.

DNEG has been nominated in the ‘Best Visual Effects’ category for its work on Dune and No Time to Die.

Speaking about the nominations, Namit Malhotra, DNEG Chairman and CEO shared, “I am very grateful to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for these nominations and I am proud to see our teams receiving this well-deserved recognition. These nominations validate our high ambitions for DNEG to become the foremost and most highly-regarded VFX and animation company in the world, and to make my country, my India, proud.”

DNEG’s VFX work has previously won six Academy Awards for ‘Best Visual Effects’ – including five of the last seven – for Tenet (2021), First Man (2019), Blade Runner 2049 (2018), Ex Machina (2016), Interstellar (2015) and Inception (2011).

Earlier this month, DNEG won a BAFTA for its VFX work on Dune further exemplifying the company’s exceptional and leading capabilities in the visual effects and animation industries. This BAFTA award – combined with the seven 2022 Visual Effects Society awards that DNEG picked – makes this year one of DNEG’s most impressive to date, with two Academy Award ® nominations for Best Visual Effects awaiting (Dune, No Time To Die).

Four of the five 2022 BAFTA-nominated films in the ‘Special Visual Effects’ category feature DNEG-led VFX work – Dune, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, The Matrix Resurrections and No Time to Die.

DNEG also received an unprecedented 12 nominations for the 2022 Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards, across six shows – Dune, The Matrix Resurrections, No Time to Die, Last Night In Soho, Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Foundation.

DNEG has previously also won seven BAFTA Awards, as well as 18 Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards and three Primetime Emmy Awards.

About Namit Malhotra

The third generation of a filmmaking family, Namit Malhotra is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DNEG. Actively seeking out projects that will expand the strengths of the company and challenge its teams to push themselves to the next level, Namit is devoted to nurturing talent and ambition, and to delivering world-class creative and technical services, and intelligent financial solutions.

Namit’s perpetual optimism and entrepreneurial spirit has been an important component of DNEG’s growth and success, which has included the opening of facilities in Vancouver, Montréal, Mumbai, Los Angeles, Chennai and Chandigarh, and most recently in Bangalore and Toronto, alongside five Best VFX Oscar wins for DNEG in the last seven years. Namit also recently oversaw the deal with Sports Ventures Acquisition Corp. (“Sports Ventures”), which will eventually make DNEG the Only Pure-Play Publicly Traded Visual Effects and Animation Company.

After establishing Video Workshop (Prime Focus’ predecessor) in 1995, Namit founded Prime Focus, which listed its shares on BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India – and would eventually become the parent company of DNEG. Having served as Chair and CEO of Prime Focus, as well as being a current Board member and non-executive Director, Namit has been responsible for the strategic growth and success of that business from its modest beginnings in Mumbai in 1997 to its current position as the world’s largest independent and integrated media services powerhouse.

About DNEG

DNEG (www.dneg.com) is one of the world’s leading visual effects (VFX) and animation companies for the creation of feature film, television, and multiplatform content. DNEG employs nearly 7,000 people with worldwide offices and studios across North America (Los Angeles, Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver), Europe (London) and Asia (Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai and Mumbai).

DNEG’s critically acclaimed work has earned the company six Academy Awards® for Best Visual Effects and numerous BAFTA and Primetime EMMY® Awards for its high-quality VFX work. Current and upcoming DNEG projects on behalf of its Hollywood and global studio and production company partners include “Stranger Things” (season 4) (May 2022), Bullet Train (July 2022), The Flash (November 2022), Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (December 2022), Borderlands (2022), Knives Out 2 (2022), The Last of Us (2022), The School for Good and Evil (2022), Super/Natural (2022), Haunted Mansion (March 2023) and Shazam! Fury of the Gods (June 2023).