Preymaker

What Preymaker does

Preymaker is a privately held, cloud-native creative technology studio founded in New York in 2020 by Angus Kneale (Chief Creative Officer), Melanie Wickham (Executive Producer), and Verity Grantham (Executive Producer), all veterans of The Mill. The company delivers integrated visual effects, design, color grading, immersive experiences, original content, and technology consulting for global enterprise brands and advertising agencies, with a client roster that spans automotive (Ford, Toyota, Mercedes, Lincoln, Volkswagen, Audi, BMW), technology (Meta, Google, Xfinity, HP), beverage and consumer (Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Bacardi), transportation (Delta), financial services (State Street, Mastercard), healthcare (Abbott), and gaming/entertainment (FanDuel, BetMGM, ESPN).

The studio's technical stack is built around real-time rendering with Epic Games' Unreal Engine, cloud infrastructure on AWS, NVIDIA and Coreweave GPUs, and Autodesk (Maya/Arnold) and Adobe pipelines, with ACES color compliance and proprietary tools such as the custom Brickmaker voxelizer and a pseudo-2D facial rig optimized for Unreal Engine. Preymaker positions itself as one of the world's first 100% cloud-native creative studios, enabling global collaboration across teams in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Cape Town, and has used this architecture to produce original short films 'BLUE' (20+ international festival awards) and 'Denmark' (premiered at New York Shorts International Film Festival, September 2025).

Revenue is generated through project-based professional services across VFX, design, color grading, immersive experiences, and consulting, supplemented by licensing/royalties on original content such as BLUE and Denmark. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales, executed directly with brand marketers and creative agencies and supported by a US regional sales rep network (Representation Co for East Coast, The Department of Sales for West Coast, Baer Brown for Midwest). Pricing is quote-based per project and not publicly disclosed. The company is independently owned by its three co-founders with no disclosed institutional investors or parent company.

Name

Preymaker

Legal name

Preymaker, LLC

Website

https://preymaker.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Preymaker is a cloud-native creative technology studio founded in 2020, delivering visual effects, design, color grading, and immersive experiences for global enterprise brands and advertising agencies across automotive, tech, beverage, and entertainment sectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Creative Production Services

akta.pro primary industry

Outsourced Art/Audio Production Services (2D/3D, Animation, VFX, Audio/VO) (MPAFAKAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Production & Talent Services (Casting, Crew, Production Management) (MPAAAMAF), Virtual Production Production Management & Collaboration Tools (MPAHADAK)

Keywords

• Visual effects production
• Color grading services
• Immersive experience design
• Creative technology studio
• Real-time rendering services

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Creative Services - VFX: Visual effects services for advertising campaigns, including character animation, compositing, and photoreal CGI for commercials and brand content
2. Creative Services - Design: Design thinking and visual design services for campaigns including motion graphics, branding, and experiential design
3. Creative Services - Color Grading: Cinematic color grading services integrated with VFX workflows for seamless visual consistency
4. Immersive Experiences: VR/AR experiences, virtual production, and interactive installations for brands
5. Technology Consulting: Consulting services helping brands develop forward-thinking solutions in AI and real-time technology
6. Original Content: Development and creation of original short films and entertainment properties, including award-winning shorts like BLUE and Denmark

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Preymaker is a fully cloud-native creative technology studio that produces visual effects, design, color grading, and immersive experiences for enterprise brands and global advertising agencies. The studio specializes in real-time rendering using Epic Games' Unreal Engine, AI-augmented VFX workflows, and original short-form content creation. Services are delivered across studios in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Cape Town for clients such as Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Coca-Cola, Meta, Ford, Volkswagen, Delta Air Lines, Xfinity, Lincoln, and FanDuel.

Product overview

Preymaker is an award-winning creative collective and fully cloud-native studio specializing in visual effects, design, color grading, and creative technology. The company operates as a single integrated offering across three service pillars — VFX (visual effects, character animation, compositing, simulation), Immersive Experiences (VR environments, virtual production, spatial computing), and Original Content (award-winning short films and interactive experiences) — complemented by Design, Color Grading, and Consulting services. Notable proprietary products include original short films Blue and Denmark, both created entirely in Unreal Engine and representing pioneering work in real-time storytelling. The studio also produces client-facing campaigns across these capabilities for major brands including Toyota, Mercedes, Ford, Coca-Cola, Meta, VW, Delta, Xfinity, Lincoln, and FanDuel. The company has locations in New York, Los Angeles, and Cape Town, and was founded in 2020 by Angus Kneale, Melanie Wickham, and Verity Grantham.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Visual Effects (VFX) Full-service VFX production combining photoreal CGI, character animation, compositing, and simulation, ranging from subtle effects to creature animation and full CG environments, with integrated color grading for advertising agencies and enterprise brands.
• Immersive Experiences Spatial computing and immersive architecture production including VR environments, large-scale video walls, airport installations, virtual production sets, and Times Square takeovers, ranging from enterprise VR games to virtual keynote environments for major brands.
• Design Design services applying design thinking to visual storytelling, including motion graphics, graphic design for OOH campaigns, and art direction across commercial and branded content projects for advertising clients.
• Color Grading

Quantifiable outcome

• 20+ international awards for real-time short film BLUE
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Epic GamescoreTechnology or IntegrationStrategic technology partnership for real-time rendering using Unreal Engine. Preymaker creates content entirely in Unreal Engine and has developed expertise as a leader in real-time storytelling, creating award-winning shorts like BLUE and Denmark.
• GooglecoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partner providing cloud infrastructure and platform integrations for creative work
• MetacoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partner for virtual production and immersive experiences including Meta Quest headset environments
• NvidiacoreTechnology or IntegrationGPU technology partner supporting real-time rendering and visual effects production workflows
• AWScoreTechnology or IntegrationCloud infrastructure partner enabling cloud-native production capabilities
• AutodeskcoreTechnology or Integration3D software partner using Maya and Arnold for VFX and rendering, key to their creative technology stack
• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and SciencescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdherence to ACES (Academy Color Encoding System) standards, working closely with the Academy to ensure compliance with industry color standards
• AudiminorOthersBrand partner for automotive visual effects and creative campaigns
• BMWminorOthersBrand partner for automotive visual effects and creative campaigns
• DeltaminorOthersBrand partner for airline advertising campaigns
• McDonald'sminorOthersBrand partner for QSR advertising campaigns
• NantStudiosminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for virtual production Volume stage work on Meta Gaming Keynote project

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Method Studios: VFX studio with strong advertising and episodic content practices. Directly comparable service offering (CGI, compositing, color) and enterprise client base spanning automotive, tech, and beverage categories that overlap with Preymaker's roster.
• Psyop: Creative-directed VFX and content studio specializing in advertising. Highly comparable in scope — combines art direction, CG animation, and VFX for major brand campaigns (Nike, Google, BMW) with a similar premium, awards-driven positioning.
• Buck: Design-driven motion graphics and VFX studio serving global brands. Comparable to Preymaker's design + VFX integration, with similar capabilities in real-time rendering, experiential/immersive work, and a Fortune 500 brand roster.
• B-Reel: Creative technology studio producing films, interactive experiences, and brand campaigns. Closely comparable to Preymaker in blending VFX with interactive/immersive deliverables, and in operating at the intersection of advertising and emerging technology.
• Nexus Studios: Independent studio combining VFX, animation, and interactive storytelling for brands. Comparable in scale and positioning — premium advertising VFX with growing original-content IP (short films, interactive experiences) and global brand clients.
• Unit Image: European VFX and animation studio with strong advertising practice (Renault, Ubisoft, Lacoste). Comparable mix of CGI, character animation, and immersive content for major brands, and overlapping automotive client base with Preymaker.
• Framestore: Award-winning VFX studio with deep advertising and episodic content practices. Comparable to Preymaker in targeting premium brand campaigns (Coca-Cola, Hyundai, etc.), integrating CGI with live-action, and producing immersive/VR experiences for enterprise clients.
• MPC (Moving Picture Company): Global VFX and post-production studio with strong advertising arm. Competes head-to-head with Preymaker for high-end automotive and consumer brand campaigns, offering similar integration of CGI, color, and design across global offices.
• The Mill: Global VFX and creative content studio serving the advertising industry. Most direct comparable — all three Preymaker co-founders came from The Mill, and both studios compete for the same Fortune 500 brand campaigns and agency-of-record relationships in automotive, beverage, and tech verticals.

Broad incumbents

• Digital Domain: Large VFX and digital production group spanning film, episodic, advertising, and immersive. Overlaps with Preymaker on automotive and tech brand advertising, but operates at significantly larger scale across a broader content portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@preymaker9411
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/preymaker
• Instagraminstagram.com/preymaker

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Preymaker