DreamWorks Animation names COO

US studio DreamWorks Animation (DWA) has appointed a Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) executive as its chief operating officer.

Randy Lake

Randy Lake will join the company in July having most recently served as president of studio operations and Imageworks at SPE.

Lake will be responsible for the animation studio’s strategic planning and primary business operations in the role, which was previously held by Abhijay Prakash.

This includes feature and television production, post-production, business and legal affairs, finance and technology.

DWA is a division of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group (UFEG), within NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. Prakash was tapped as president of UFEG earlier this year.

Lake’s appointment was made by DWA president Margie Cohn, who was named DWA’s boss at the beginning of this year and recently created two new leadership roles in addition to a realigned executive structure.

“As we solidify our leadership team, Randy provides a strong strategic vision that will be beneficial to the entire studio as we partner in taking DreamWorks into the future,” said Cohn.

“His years of experience working cross-divisionally will allow us to expand upon the successful collaboration between our film and television divisions, as well as with our colleagues at Universal, furthering DreamWorks’ position as one of the most prolific animation studios in the world.”

Lake joined Sony in 2006 as VP and later senior VP of corporate development. Prior to Sony, Lake served as a strategy consultant to the entertainment, media and technology industries for Booz Allen in New York, London and San Francisco.

DWA’s television arm is currently in production on more than 20 series, including Guillermo del Toro’s 3Below, She-Ra & the Princesses of Power and Spirit Riding Free.

The studio has several original series slated to debut in 2019, including a Fast & Furious animated series, Where’s Waldo? and Archibald’s Next Big Thing from creator and executive producer Tony Hale.