Animation studio DNEG promotes Tom Jacomb, makes five senior hires

London-based VFX and animation studio DNEG has promoted Tom Jacomb to president of its animation division and has made five new hires.

Tom Jacomb

Jacomb has been upped from DNEG MD, in which position he helped launch the feature animation business in 2014 and guided the growth of the team to more than 500 employees across the company’s animation studios in London, LA, Montreal and Mumbai.

As president, Jacomb will oversee further worldwide investment into and expansion of DNEG Animation, including expansion into Vancouver and the creation of up to 100 new animation roles in the Canadian city.

Jacomb’s promotion is effective concurrently with the appointment of five new senior members of DNEG Animation’s team, while the studio is also expanding its slate of feature film and episodic animation productions.

The new hires are Freddy Chaleur (Sherlock Gnomes, Gnomeo & Juliet) and Yancy Lindquist (The Boss Baby, Trolls) as VFX supervisors; Jay Boose (The Little Prince, Up) as animation director; Sonja Burchard (Rise of the Guardians, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) as head of look development; and Audrey Ford (Turbo, Tangled) as producer.

DNEG Animation’s recent projects include feature Ron’s Gone Wrong, Paramount Animation film Under the Boardwalk, animated short Mr Spam Gets a New Hat and the first feature-length animated adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

DNEG CEO Namit Malhotra said: “This promotion, and the onboarding of five new senior members of the team, supports our ambition for DNEG Animation to become one of the best and most highly regarded animation studios in the world.

“Tom is continuing to build a superlative global team that is delivering fantastic work, delighting our clients and winning some fantastic film and episodic projects, and we will continue to build upon these great successes.”