Sony Pictures Animation is shoring up its executive ranks with the addition of Damien de Froberville, who has been named executive vice president of production and operating strategy.
De Froberville comes from the Spain-based shop Sergio Pablos Animation and will largely assume a portfolio held by long-serving SPA executive Pam Marsden. Marsden will retire in 2024 after nearly two decades with the studio.
Kristine Belson, leader at Sony Pictures Animation behind films like the Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse,” informed her staff of the hire in a memo circulated on Monday. She touted de Froberville’s “remarkable career” and said “weknow Damien will help us break new ground at SPA.”
As an independent producer, de Froberville was behind the critically acclaimed animated short film “Sith”as part of the “Star Wars: Visions” anthology series at Disney+. He was also an early employee at Netflix’s animation unit, overseeing flagship productions like the Oscar-nominated “Klaus.” He’s also held roles at Paramount, DreamWorks Animation and the video game development company Virtuos.
Erik Vignau, senior vice president of physical production for television series, will continue in his role. A search is underway for a similar position overseeing day-to-day on feature animated films. Both of those offices will report to de Froberville, as will artist management and operations, finance, technology and post-production.
In addition to lucrative franchises like “Spider-verse” and “Hotel Transylvania,” the unit is at work on the R-Rated comedy “Fixed” from Genndy Tartakovsky and the upcomingfinale to the Spider-Verse trilogy, “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.”
