LOS ANGELES — The Visual Effects Society (www.visualeffectssociety.com) recently held its 20th Annual VES Awards, recognizing outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation in film, animation, television, commercials, video games and special venues. The event marked the Society’s 20th VES Awards program, and is being celebrated during the organization’s 25th anniversary.
Industry guests gathered at the Beverly Hilton on Tuesday, March 8th to celebrate VFX talent in 25 awards categories. Dune was named the photoreal feature winner, garnering four awards. Encanto was named top animated film, also winning four awards. Foundation; The Emperor’s Peace was named best photoreal episode. Sheba; Hope Reef topped the commercial field with two wins.
Jim Morris, VES, president of Pixar Animation and founding VES chair, presented the VES Lifetime Achievement award to EVP/general manager of Lucasfilm, Lynwen Brennan. Academy Award-winning VFX pioneer Phil Tippett, VES, presented the VES Award for Creative Excellence to Academy Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. Presenters also included: Academy Award-nominated director Denis Villeneuve and actors Alfred Molina, Tawny Newsome, Mouzam Makkar, Emma Caulfield and Deborah Cox. Eric Bourque, Autodesk’s senior director of engineering, media & entertainment, presented the Autodesk Student Award.
“As we celebrate the Society’s 25th Anniversary and 20th Annual VES Awards, we’re honored to keep shining a light on remarkable visual effects artistry and innovation,” says VES Chair Lisa Cooke. “In all of our colleagues honored tonight, we see best in class work that elevates the art of storytelling and exemplifies the spirit of adaptation and ingenuity — talents that have kept audiences engaged and uplifted, now, more than ever. The VES Awards is the only venue that showcases and honors these outstanding global artists across a wide range of disciplines, and we are extremely proud of all our winners and nominees!”
Winners of the 20th Annual VES Awards are as follows:
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Dune
Paul Lambert
Brice Parker
Tristan Myles
Brian Connor
Gerd Nefzer
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Last Night in Soho
Tom Proctor
Gavin Gregory
Julian Gnass
Fabricio Baessa
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
Encanto
Scott Kersavage
Bradford Simonsen
Thaddeus P. Miller
Ian Gooding
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
Foundation; The Emperor’s Peace
Chris MacLean
Addie Manis
Mike Enriquez
Chris Keller
Paul Byrne
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
See; Rock-A-Bye
Chris Wright
Parker Chehak
Javier Roca
Tristan Zerafa
Tony Kenny
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT
Call of Duty: Vanguard
Yi-chao Sandy Lin-Chiang
Joseph Knox
Gareth Richards
Shane Daley
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL
Sheba; Hope Reef
Grant Walker
Sophie Harrison
Hernan Llano
Michael Baker
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT
Jurassic World Adventure
Eugénie von Tunzelmann
Maximilian McNair MacEwan
Stephen Goalby
Brad Silby
OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Finch; Jeff
Harinarayan Rajeev
Matthias Schoenegger
Simon Allen
Paul Nelson
OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
Encanto; Mirabel Madrigal
Kelly McClanahan
Sergi Caballer
Mary Twohig
Jose Luis “Weecho” Velasquez
OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN EPISODE OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
The Witcher; Nivellen the Cursed Man
Marko Chulev
Rasely Ma
Mike Beaulieu
Robin Witzsche
OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN A COMMERCIAL
Smart Energy; Einstein Knows Best; Einstein
Alex Hammond
Harsh Borah
Clare Williams
Andreas Graichen
OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Spider-Man: No Way Home; The Mirror Dimension
Eric Le Dieu de Ville
Thomas Dotheij
Ryan Olliffe
Claire Le Teuff
OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
Encanto; Antonio’s Room
Camille Andre
Andrew Finley
Chris Patrick O’Connell
Amol Sathe
OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
Sheba; Hope Reef
Henrique Campanha
Baptiste Roy
Luca Veronese
Timothee Maron
OUTSTANDING VIRTUAL CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A CG PROJECT
Encanto; We Don’t Talk about Bruno
Nathan Detroit Warner
Dorian Bustamante
Tyler Kupferer
Michael Woodside
OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT
Dune; Royal Ornithopter
Marc Austin
Anna Yamazoe
Michael Chang
Rachael Dunk
OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Dune; Dunes of Arrakis
Gero Grimm
Ivan Larinin
Hideki Okano
Zuny Byeongjun An
OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
Raya and the Last Dragon
Le Joyce Tong
Henrik Fält
Rattanin Sirinaruemarn
Jacob Rice
OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
Foundation; Collapse of the Galactic Empire
Giovanni Casadei
Mikel Zuloaga
Steven Moor
Louis Manjarres
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE
Dune; Attack on Arrakeen
Gregory Haas
Francesco Dell’Anna
Abhishek Chaturvedi
Cleve Zhu
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE
Loki; Lamentis; Shuroo City Destruction
Paul Chapman
Tom Truscott
Biagio Figliuzzi
Attila Szalma
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL
Verizon; The Reset
David Piombino
Rajesh Kaushik
Manideep Sanisetty
Tim Crean
OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT
Jungle Cruise
JD Schwalm
Nick Rand
Robert Spurlock
Nick Byrd
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT
Green
Camille Poiriez
Arielle Cohen
Eloise Thibaut
Louis Florean