“Lincoln is an exceptional executive and brilliant technologist whose contributions to DreamWorks Animation have already been monumental,” said DreamWorks Animation’s chief executive officer, Jeffrey Katzenberg. “I am thrilled that he has become our chief technology officer and I look forward to working with him as he continues to lead the company’s rapidly expanding range of technological initiatives.”
“With pixels replacing paint as the artistic medium for animation, cutting-edge technology has become key to creating films that are ever more visually spectacular,” added the company’s chief operating officer, Ann Daly. “At DreamWorks, our technological expertise has reached a level where it is making it possible for us to head in exciting new directions. As our head of animation technology, Lincoln helped get us to this transformative moment, and as CTO, he will be instrumental in leading us to exciting new possibilities for our company.”
“I am thrilled to assume the CTO position at such a seminal moment in DreamWorks Animation’s history,” said Wallen. “With a top in-house team, plus industry-leading partners and alliances with some of the world’s best technology brands, we are now positioned to leverage our unique expertise in new areas of technological IP that will come to define the company alongside our high-quality animated content.”
In his previous role as DreamWorks Animation’s head of animation technology, Wallen was responsible for the strategic vision, creation and deployment of the studio’s CG production platform and software tools. Wallen joined DreamWorks Animation in 2008 as head of research and development. Prior to that, he served as chief technology officer for mobile services at Electronic Arts, where he led the gaming company’s technical approach to publishing and videogame development for cell phones. Before joining the entertainment industry, Wallen enjoyed a distinguished career as a professor at Oxford University, and was the first director for the multidisciplinary Smith Institute for Industrial Mathematics and Systems Engineering. He holds degrees in math and physics from Durham University and a PhD in artificial intelligence from Edinburgh University.
The role of chief technology officer had previously been held by Ed Leonard, who is now serving as CEO of Ptch, a new mobile app incubated at DreamWorks Animation that will continue the studio’s push to provide quality immersive entertainment experiences across platforms. “Ed provided an excellent foundation for the progress of DreamWorks Animation’s technology initiatives and we look forward to continuing to work with him on Ptch,” said Daly. “Lincoln brings both continuity and new perspectives as we keep evolving and growing the ambitions of DreamWorks Animation as a technology enterprise.”
