Palak Patel, the longtime film executive who oversaw the Venom movies at Columbia Pictures, has been named chief content officer for Prime Focus Studios, the finance and production arm of visual effects powerhouse DNEG.
Prime Focus Studios, run by CEO Namit Malhotra, recently co-produced The Garfield Movie with Alcon Entertainment for Sony. The movie grossed more than $257 million globally. The company is currently in production on Animal Friends, with Legendary Pictures, and The Angry Birds Movie 3. It is also developing a big-screen telling of the Indian epic story Ramayana.
As the company sought to ramp up production and develop well-known IP, it sought out an exec that could navigate the worlds of big studios.
In announcing the hire, Malhotra stated, “Prime Focus Studios brings a new and entrepreneurial approach to the development and creation of the world’s biggest movies. Partnership and collaboration with studios and filmmakers are already part of our DNA, and this new venture pushes that partnership to the next level. I’m excited that Palak is joining us on this journey. His extensive production experience and understanding of the medium will help us to create a next-generation studio that will bring together the very best of cutting-edge technology, creative talent, and strategic investment, to create something truly unique.”
Patel, who was with Sony/Columbia for almost ten years and held the post of exec vp, production and development, oversaw the studio’s many Spider-Man spin-off movies and acted as the studio’s point man on the Tom Holland-starring Spider-Man films, which were co-productions with Marvel Studios.
The Spider-Man movies became the highest-grossing titles in Sony’s history while the Venom trilogy grossed over $1.8 billion. The exec also shepherded the much-maligned flops such as Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web.
Prior to Sony, Patel was president of production and development at Roth Films, the banner founded by producer Joe Roth. Among the films under his purview were Oz the Great and Powerful, directed by Sam Raimi, Snow White and the Huntsman, and Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie.
In a statement, Patel said that the combined might of Prime Focus and DNEG would be an asset to filmmakers.
“Prime Focus Studios and DNEG joining forces as one company to offer full studio capabilities is game-changing – from acquiring IP, to developing scripts, to assisting filmmakers maximize their creativity while minimizing financial risk – with all the resources provided, from our state-of-the-art soundstages to utilizing DNEG’s artists early in the development process to deliver across all formats and genres,” Patel said in a statement.
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