VFX Supervisor Rocheron Joins DNEG
Visual effects and animation studio DNEG has added Guillaume Rocheron as VFX supervisor. The multiple Oscar and BAFTA-winning supervisor joins DNEG with more than two decades of industry experience and is based at the company’s Los Angeles studio.

Rocheron’s list of VFX supervisor credits includes Jordan Peele’s otherworldly sci-fi thriller Nope, Sam Mendes’ groundbreaking war film 1917, Michael Dougherty’s big budget monster movie Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and Rupert Sanders’ sci-fi techno-thriller Ghost in the Shell. Rocheron has most recently overseen the visual effects work for Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths.

In 2020, Rocheron was honored with an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for his work on 1917. He had previously taken home an Academy Award, a BAFTA and a Visual Effects Society (VES) Award for his work on Ang Lee’s Life of Pi.

One of Us Names Rachael Penfold CEO
One of Us, a VFX studio with recent titles that include The Sandman, Fantastic Beasts, The Matrix Resurrections, and Bridgerton, has appointed co-founder and director Rachael Penfold as CEO. 

In 2004 Penfold alongside co-founders Dominic Parker and Tom Debenham launched One of Us in London. The company has since added a Paris studio. Penfold, Parker and Debenham retain ownership of the company. Penfold will head a hand picked band of new appointments in addition to existing members of the senior team. The studio is now home to around 400 people.

Among the new appointments, Neil Boughen is now CTO, Rob Shers becomes head of production and Aimee Dadswell moves to the role of production executive, working alongside Louise Hasting. Ben Harrison has been named head of resourcing..

Cinesite Lines Up $235M In Funding
The Cinesite group, an independent VFX and animation studio collective, has executed a series of transactions which will result in a $235 million funding package. This support will enable the company to continue its organic and acquisition revenue growth over the next few years, further develop its world class talent and serve its customers with creative innovation and reliability.

NatWest Corporate Bank led the financing alongside Barclays who are the company’s long standing bankers, with flexibility to allow more institutions to join the banking club as required. The overall package includes, debt, equity and mezzanine lines from existing shareholders.

The Cinesite group, which has grown its revenue 14-fold since 2014, will use the funding to accelerate its growth by offering clients greater creative capacity, allowing the company to enter new geographies and business segments while building on its studio partnership model to expand its talent base and global footprint.

Cinesite is a studio group with more than 30 years of industry experience. Its expanding capacity of over 2,500 artists and technicians serve Hollywood studios, streaming services and international production companies. Headquartered in London, the Cinesite group also has facilities in Montreal and Vancouver alongside partner studios in Berlin, Munich (Trixter) Belgrade, Skopje (FX3X) Montreal (Squeeze Animation & L’Atelier Animation), Quebec City (Squeeze), Mumbai (Assemblage Entertainment) and Vancouver (Image Engine) enabling it to scale to thousands of VFX and animation artists worldwide.

Cinesite group CEO Antony Hunt, “Across the Cinesite group we are very well positioned with significant opportunities to capitalize on increasing demand from Hollywood studios, production companies and streaming services. The platform we have built over the last few years coupled with the three decades of experience, world-class talent and trusted reputation will help us greatly in scaling and widening the scope of our business.”

Recent Cinesite group credits include Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Willow, The School for Good & Evil, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Witcher S2, Matilda, Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, Thor: Love & Thunder, The Book of Boba Fett, The Addams Family 2 and She-Hulk.

The studios are currently in production on projects including Iwaju (Disney+) , Foundation S2 (Apple), Poirot (20th Century Studios), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (Nickelodeon), The Witcher S3 (Netflix) and I Am Groot (Marvel  Studios).