The VFX studio behind Inception and Interstellar, DNEG, has appointed Paul Salvini as global chief technology officer.
With its headquarters in London, DNEG has expanded substantially in recent years, adding several new business lines, new facilities in Vancouver, Mumbai, Los Angeles, Chennai, Montréal, Hyderabad, and Chandigarh, employing more than 7,000 people.
Salvini brings with him over 25 years of senior management experience in technology leadership positions and a deep understanding of the importance of the role of technology in creative storytelling.
Talking about his appointment, Salvini said: “Technology and science is playing an ever-more important role in the art and creativity of storytelling. I’ve been fortunate enough to have had a hand in many firsts during my career in the entertainment industry – from enabling collaboration for a newly emerging global talent-base of artists and technicians, to the development of software and processes that have fundamentally changed what is possible to achieve digitally. I feel that we are on the cusp of the next big change in our industry, and it is an honour for me to have the opportunity to explore the possibilities with a global leader of the caliber of DNEG.”
According to Deadline, Salvini will be responsible for “developing a new and innovative technology vision for the company”, managing its global technology and R&D teams and overseeing technology initiatives across all of its key strands: visual effects for film and episodic content, feature animation, stereo conversion, virtual production and its ReDefine division.
As the CTO of SideFX, where he worked for 15 years, Salvini oversaw the development of Houdini from beta onwards. After SideFX, he moved on to become CTO of audiovisual technology leader Christie Digital, where he was a key member of the global executive team, providing strategic and technical direction to the company’s 1,500 employees across 18 countries as well as conducting fundamental research into display systems in order to secure early IP for the company.
Most recently, Paul has been CEO of The Accelerator Centre, a not-for-profit business accelerator which provides guidance, mentorship and support for technology start-ups.
Outgoing CTO Graham Jack, who has been with the company since 2002, is said to be assisting him with the transition.