Framestore Montreal Taps Former DNEG Exec as New Head of Studio

With a career spanning 20+ years, Thompson-Godoy, her last 10 have been with DNEG, where she held roles such as head of production for Montreal and senior producer at its London office. Her VFX production career credits include Avengers: Infinity War and three installments of the Hunger Games franchise, as well as 16 episodes of the TV series Lost.
Framestore has announced key changes in its Montreal office, with Melinka Thompson-Godoy joining as head of studio to lead the company’s continued growth in Canada. Also, Chloe Grysole was promoted to MD Canada, Film & Episodic expanding her duties to include the new Vancouver studio as well as the Montreal studio. Her responsibilities include the growth of both studios and maintaining creative and technological synchronicity.
As managing director for the Montreal office over the past four years, Grysole has overseen the studio’s growth in the delivery of visuals for notable film and episodic projects. Prior to her tenure at Framestore, she held a variety of roles, including general manager of Cinesite’s Montreal facility and over 15 years producing VFX on a range of projects including the Harry Potter franchise, Edge of Tomorrow, and Skyfall.
Debbie Diamond Sarto is assistant news editor at Animation World Network.
Framestore’s film and episodic headcount is growing by some 40% due to the integration of Method Studios’ film and episodic teams in Montreal, Vancouver, and Melbourne, as well as the expansion of its new Mumbai Studio and its pre-production services division.
“Over the past few years, we’ve seen our Montreal studio go from strength to strength, forging a reputation as a beacon of VFX excellence both locally and worldwide,” commented Fiona Walkinshaw, Global Managing Director, Film & Episodic. “Chloe has been instrumental to this growth and for engendering such a strong sense of community, so I’m delighted to see her take on a new role overseeing our expanded Canadian operations. I’m also pleased to be welcoming someone as respected and experienced as Melinka to head up our award-winning Montreal studio – her reputation precedes her, and with a brilliant career across film and episodic we’re in an incredibly strong place to deliver for bigger and ever more exciting projects.”
“Melinka is a fantastic addition to the Framestore team, and exactly the kind of person we need to help drive our Montreal studio forward,” added Grysole. “We’re working on an incredible slate of film and episodic projects at the moment and have even more on the horizon, so having a strong, experienced management team is absolutely vital. With Melinka in Montreal and Naomi Stopa and Jinnie Pak recently joining in Vancouver it feels like we have exactly who we need in place to win and deliver the very best work.”