Sony Pictures Imageworks has elevated former Executive Vice President and General Manager Michelle Grady to the role of President.
A 20-plus-year veteran of the VFX and post-production industry in Vancouver, Grady’s time at Imageworks has seen the delivery of acclaimed animated features including the Oscar-nominated The Mitchells vs. the Machines and The Sea Beast, Hotel Transylvania: Transformania and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse — the blockbuster sequel to the Oscar-winning 2018 hit Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
The promotion was announced in a memo penned by Tom Rothman, Chairman & CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group. He wrote:
“I am delighted to share that Michelle Grady has been promoted to President of Sony Pictures Imageworks.
Under Michelle’s leadership for the last seven years, Imageworks has become the most innovative and ground-breaking visual effects and animation facility in the world, renowned for its work on first of their kind CG features and large scale live-action VFX projects. Michelle and her talented team contributed greatly to the phenomenal success of Sony Pictures Animation’s visually spectacular Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which has won the hearts of critics and audiences around the world and earned nearly $690 million globally.
With the studio’s headquarters in Vancouver, an office in Culver City, and its recent expansion into Montreal as well as a growing repertoire of films — including Academy Award winning film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the Academy Award nominated films The Mitchells vs. the Machines and The Sea Beast, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – Michelle is well positioned to further Imageworks’ remarkable growth and continue to break new ground.”
Grady joined Imageworks from MPC, where she was Head of Film, managing the studio’s VFX production for box office hits including Suicide Squad, Godzilla, Maleficent and Life of Pi, which won four Academy Awards including Best Visual Effects. Prior to MPC, Grady was VP & General Manager at Technicolor, where she oversaw a 35mm film laboratory, digital post-production and VFX divisions.
In a company bio questionnaire, Grady — who has served on boards and committees for the Animation & VFX Alliance of BC, the MPPIA of BC and Creative BC — shared that her inspiration to get into the film industry was, “The same thing that inspired me still; working with talented, smart people who are passionate about what they do.”
[Source: Deadline]
