Josh Mandel joins company to lead division

Josh Mandel DNEG

DNEG has launched an immersive division, DNEG IXP, with former The Mill global CEO Josh Mandel joining to run it.

The company states that the new division aims to deliver, ”super-premium content in service of businesses, brands, and game publishers looking to craft breakthrough creative experiences across gaming, concerts and other live events, theme parks, retail, product launches, location-based experiences, and more.”

It is already working on a number of projects, with an immediate focus on gaming, virtual concerts, and theme park ride experiences.

Mandel arrives with over 20 years’ experience in the media and entertainment industry, including most recently as global CEO of The Mill - which he left when it merged with MPC Advertising. He has also worked as an executive at R/GA, 72andSunny, and Nike.

DNEG CEO Namit Malhotra said: “As we expand and fortify DNEG’s services on a global scale, this new division allows us to diversify our offering to complement our Hollywood partnerships and projects. Ambitious businesses can now leverage DNEG’s Academy Award-winning talent and creative capabilities in order to fully realise and maximise the ways in which they connect with their audiences, whether on-stage, in-game, at a theme park, as part of a location-based experience, or through state-of-the-art headsets.”

He continued: “At DNEG, our overarching mission is to provide our partners with creative liberation through a potent combination of cutting-edge digital tools, artistic collaboration, and financial acumen. Josh has a wealth of experience working with some of the world’s biggest brands, building approaches around the vision of clients to support how they want to tell the story or shape the brand experience. DNEG IXP, under Josh’s leadership, brings to the fore yet another way in which DNEG is transforming the future of storytelling.”

Mandel added: “It has never been more challenging for a business to create a resonant, emotional relationship with its key customers. An ever-fragmenting media landscape makes it harder than ever for a business to reach its audience in meaningful ways. Businesses need a partner that can help them decide what to make and how to make it; a partner that can provide breakthrough creative ideas, the technologies to craft them, and the production nous to get them from concept to reality. This is where DNEG IXP comes in.”

He added: “No-one knows the ambitions, desires and needs of a brand’s key audiences better than the brand itself. Through DNEG IXP, brands can work directly with the entertainment industry’s most talented thinkers and makers to create immersive experiences across a range of media that resonate with and feed the passions of their most important audiences.”