Alumnus recognised in King's Birthday Honours 2026

Paul Franklin is a filmmaker and a leading visual effects designer working in the international film industry. He first started making short films whilst studying Fine Art at St John’s in the late 1980s, working with a group of fellow students who had met through the College's drama society, known as the St John’s Mummers.

In the late 1990s, Paul founded Double Negative, a visual effects, computer animation and stereo conversion digital studio in Soho. By 2004, Paul and Double Negative were working alongside Christopher Nolan on Batman Begins.

Paul went on to work on all three films in Nolan’s Batman Trilogy, receiving an Oscar nomination for the visual effects of The Dark Knight in 2009. Paul’s surreal effects work for Nolan’s Inception brought him his first Academy Award in 2011, as well as a BAFTA and the Visual Effects Society award. Paul went on to win a second Oscar and a BAFTA in 2015 for his work on Nolan's Intellerstellar.

Paul's other notable credits include Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Captain America: Civil War. More recently, Paul has worked with Denis Villeneuve on Blade Runner 2049 and has overseen the visual effects for all three of Sony's Venom films.

In 2024, Paul left Double Negative to become Creative Director at the visual effects company beloFX. He plays a key role in shaping new opportunities for collaboration with directors, filmmakers and beloFX’s studio clients.

Paul's OBE recgonsises decades of innovation, creativity and leadership at the cutting-edge of visual effects design. Congratulations, Paul.