DNEG

A London-headquartered visual effects and animation studio, formerly Double Negative, behind effects for Inception, Dune and Chernobyl.

About DNEG

DNEG, formerly called Double Negative, is a visual effects, animation and creative technology company. It describes itself as providing visual effects, animation and creative technologies for film, TV and immersive content. Its website lists five parts of the business: DNEG VFX, DNEG Animation, DNEG IXP (for advertising, gaming, music and other non-film work), DNEG Art and DNEG Technology. Wikipedia credits it with effects for Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, Tenet and both Dune films, television including Chernobyl and The Last of Us, and animated films such as Nimona and The Garfield Movie.

The company opened in London in 1998 as Double Negative. Its founders were Peter Chiang, Matt Holben, Alex Hope and Paul Franklin, and its first project was Pitch Black, released in 2000. In 2014 it merged with the Indian effects company Prime Focus World and took the name DNEG. Its stated mission is to work with leading filmmakers and studios to realise their stories, under the line "Partnering with the world's most visionary filmmakers to bring incredible stories to life". It says "deep collaboration from the very outset is key", and names directors such as Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve and Bong Joon-ho as partners.

DNEG's head office is in London, at 160 Great Portland Street in Fitzrovia, a six-floor building the company says has room for about 1,000 people, with two large cinema rooms, smaller screening rooms and a coffee shop in the central atrium. We did not find any other UK studio confirmed. Beyond London, the company says it has 19 studios worldwide, including Vancouver, Mumbai, Los Angeles, Montreal and Sydney, and Wikipedia gives about 9,000 staff worldwide. It presents itself as "proudly global", working as one team across those sites.

On culture, DNEG's own site features "Life at DNEG" stories about things like sculpting classes, a charity event in Sydney and staff screenings of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey in 70mm IMAX. These are the company's own pictures of workplace life and we have not independently checked them. Its range of divisions suggests a place where artists, engineers and producers work together, and Wikipedia notes awards including eight Academy Awards, mostly for visual effects.

The jobs at a large effects studio cover far more than drawing. They include compositors, lighters, animators, effects artists, matchmove and tracking artists, developers and pipeline engineers, producers and coordinators, and the finance, people and technology teams that support them. If you enjoy art, film, computing, maths or physics, you can see where each might lead. The company's website lists current roles.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Effects for films and TV series, from environments to creatures and simulations.', 'title': 'Visual effects'}
• {'desc': 'Feature animation produced through DNEG Animation.', 'title': 'Animation'}
• {'desc': 'Content for advertising, games, music and other non-film clients through DNEG IXP.', 'title': 'Immersive and brand work'}

Key facts

• Opened in London in 1998 as Double Negative by Peter Chiang, Matt Holben, Alex Hope and Paul Franklin
• Head office at 160 Great Portland Street, Fitzrovia, London, with room for about 1,000 people
• 19 studios worldwide (company site); about 9,000 staff worldwide (Wikipedia)
• Eight Academy Awards, mostly for visual effects (Wikipedia)

Website: www.dneg.com