VFX studio BlueBolt has strengthened its pipeline and systems team with a new appointment and two promotions.
BlueBolt Co-Chief Technology Officer Tom Mawby has been promoted to CTO, Ben Starkey to Head of Systems and Priam Sampaio has joined BlueBolt as Head of Pipeline.
Having been appointed as co-CTO in 2023 alongside CTO George Siddiqui, Mawby will take the reins as sole CTO as Siddiqui steps into a supporting consultancy role for BlueBolt, effective immediately.
Mawby is responsible for BlueBolt’s technology strategy and operations including systems, pipeline and R&D to support the studio’s roster of film and episodic projects. He has over 20 years in technical, R&D and software development leadership roles at visual effects studios DNEG and Framestore; software vendor Foundry; the UK civil service and most recently as Head of Pipeline and co-CTO at BlueBolt. He joined BlueBolt in 2020 from Mill Film where he led an international software team building a visual effects pipeline for Technicolor.
Now Head of Systems, Ben Starkey joined BlueBolt in 2023 as Lead Systems Engineer from gaming studio nDreams bringing extensive experience leading systems infrastructure projects gained over 20 years at Supermassive Games, Trustpay Global and British Airways. Priam Sampaio has joined BlueBolt as Head of Pipeline following seven years as Senior Pipeline Technical Director at ILM and previous roles at The Imaginarium Studios and The Senate VFX.
Tom Mawby, Chief Technology Officer, BlueBolt said: “What makes BlueBolt special isn’t just our creative track record – it’s the people behind it. As we grow this year, I’m focused on making sure our tech can keep pace with our artists’ imaginations, and get out of the way to let them do their incredible work. We’re already seeing real benefits from our microservice framework and our new USD pipeline, and the way that AI tools have been helping accelerate both our developers and artists has been eye-opening. Having Ben and Priam on the tech leadership team brings fresh energy and expertise at the perfect time.”
Tracy McCreary, Managing Director, BlueBolt said: “Tom has done an incredible job as co-CTO over the past two years, alongside George as part of the senior team. Under his technological leadership we look forward to continuing to expand our creative boundaries and maximise our team’s ability to deliver the highest standards of work on screen.”
BlueBolt’s recent projects include VES-nominated work on Robert Egger’s Nosferatu; Steven Knight’s A Thousand Blows; Wolf Hall: The Mirror And the Light (BBC); Emmy-nominated work on True Detective: Night Country; BAFTA-nominated work on Ridley Scott’s Napoleon; Belgravia: The Next Chapter and Bad Sisters season 2 (Apple TV+).
BlueBolt is currently in production on projects including Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale and The Thursday Murder Club (Netflix).
Jon Creamer
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