Randy Lake will join DreamWorks Animation as its new chief operating officer starting in July, the studio on announced on Wednesday.
Lake moves to DreamWorks after a 13-year stint at Sony Pictures. In his new role, Lake will oversee DreamWorks’ strategic planning and primary business operations, including feature and TV production, post-production, business and legal affairs, finance and technology. The appointment was made by DreamWorks Animation president Margie Cohn.
“I’m thrilled to be joining Margie and her passionate and talented team and look forward to this opportunity to build upon DreamWorks’ storied legacy during such an exciting time at the studio,” Lake said in a statement.
Lake’s move to the Universal-owned DreamWorks follows Amy Pascal who moved her production shingle from Sony to Universal earlier this month.
DreamWorks and Universal have been taking steps in the early part of the year to solidify their executive ranks. DreamWorks, in February, named new chief creative officers for the feature department as well as for TV in Kristin Lowe and Peter Gal respectively.
In March, Universal made key changes to its production development team after Universal Filmed Entertainment Group chairman Donna Langley rounded out her executive team with Peter Levinsohn, Jimmy Horowitz, Peter Cramer and Abhijay Prakash.
“As we solidify our leadership team, Randy provides a strong strategic vision that will be beneficial to the entire studio as we partner in taking DreamWorks into the future,” DreamWorks Animation President Margie Cohn said in a statement. “His years of experience working cross-divisionally will allow us to expand upon the successful collaboration between our film and television divisions, as well as with our colleagues at Universal, furthering DreamWorks position as one of the most prolific animation studios in the world.”
Lake most recently served as president of studio operations and Imageworks at Sony Pictures Entertainment. He oversaw all operations, strategy, and planning for Sony Pictures Imageworks, post-production services, production services, global mastering & servicing and asset management. Lake joined Sony in 2006 as vice president, and later senior vice president of corporate development.
Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Motion Picture Group Chairman Tom Rothman said in a memo to staff on Wednesday that Michelle Grady will be promoted to executive vice president overseeing Sony Pictures Imageworks when Lake leaves.
Prior to Sony, he served as a strategy consultant to the entertainment, media and technology industries for Booz Allen in New York, London and San Francisco.
Upcoming DreamWorks movies slated for release include “Abominable” in September, and “Trolls World Tour” and “The Croods 2” in 2020. On the TV side, DreamWorks is in production on more than 20 series, including Guillermo del Toro’s “3Below,” “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power” and “Spirit Riding Free.” The studio has several original series slated to debut in 2019, including the highly anticipated “Fast & Furious” animated series, “Where’s Waldo?” and “Archibald’s Next Big Thing” from creator and executive producer Tony Hale.