LOS ANGELES – On Wednesday, February 25th, the Visual Effects Society (https://vesglobal.org) held its 24th Annual VES Awards at The Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles. Avatar: Fire and Ash was the night’s biggest winner, taking home seven awards, including the top prize of Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature. Additional wins for Avatar: Fire and Ash included Outstanding Character in a Photoreal Feature for Varang (played by Oona Chaplin, who was on hand at tonight’s awards as a presenter); Outstanding CG Cinematography; and the Emerging Technology Award, given to the Kora Fire Toolset.
Photo (L-R): Adam Savage, Sir Richard Taylor and VES executive director Nancy Ward
In the animation categories, KPop Demon Hunters led the night with three awards, including the top prize of Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature, and Outstanding Character in an Animated Feature for Rumi. Rounding out the top category wins, Sinners won the award for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature; Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age won for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode; and BMW’s Heart of Joy: Meet Okto the Octopus won for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial.
This year’s VES Awards hosts were the comedy duo Randy and Jason Sklar (the Sklar Brothers). Acclaimed film producer Jerry Bruckheimer was honored with the VES Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by his longtime collaborator, F1: The Movie director Joseph Kosinski. Wētā Workshop co-founder and chief creative officer Sir Richard Taylor received this year’s VES Visionary Award, presented by Adam Savage. Additional presenters included Enuka Okuma (Paradise), Haley Joel Osment (The Burbs, Happy Gilmore 2), Jazz Raycole (The Lincoln Lawyer), Lil Rel Howery (One of Them Days), Omar Benson Miller (Sinners) and singer/songwriter Raphael Saadiq (Sinners).
The following is the complete list of winners:
1. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Richard Baneham Peter Litvack Eric Saindon Nicky Muir Steve Ingram
2. OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Sinners
Michael Ralla James Alexander Nick Marshall Espen Nordahl Donnie Dean
3. OUTSTANDING ANIMATION IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
KPop Demon Hunters
Joshua Beveridge Jacky Priddle Benjamin Hendricks Clara Chan
4. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age; “The Big Freeze”
Russell Dodgson Tracey Gibbons François Dumoulin Gavin McKenzie
5. OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
The Residence; “The Fall of the House of Usher”
Seth Hill Tesa Kubicek John Nelson Gabriel Vargas
6. OUTSTANDING VISUAL ARTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT
Ghost of Yōtei
Jason Connell Matt Vainio Joanna Wang Jasmin Patry
7. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL
BMW; “Heart of Joy | Meet Okto the Octopus”
Tom Raynor Helen Tang Jack Harris Alex Kulikov
8. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT
The Wizard of Oz at Sphere
Ben Grossmann Tamara Watts Kent Dr. Irfan Essa Matt Dougan Glenn Derry
9. OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Avatar: Fire and Ash; Varang: Leader of the Ash Clan
Stephen Clee Stuart Adcock Keven Norris Joseph Kim
10. OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
KPop Demon Hunters; Rumi
Sophia (Seung Hee) Lee Andrea Matamoros Marc Souliere Joshua Beveridge
11. OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN EPISODIC, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
IT: Welcome to Derry; “The Thing in the Dark;” The Pickle Monster
Philip Harris-Genois Pierric Danjou Chloé Ostiguy Jonathan Bourdua
12. OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Avatar: Fire and Ash; Bridgehead Industrial City
Gianluca Pizzaia Steve Bevins Dziga Kaiser Zsolt Máté
13. OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
Zootopia 2; Marsh Market
Limei Z. Hshieh Alexander Nicholas Whang Joshua Fry Ryan DeYoung
14. OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODIC, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
Andor; “Welcome to the Rebellion;” The Senate District
John O’Connell Falk Boje Hasan Ilhan Kevin George
15. OUTSTANDING CG CINEMATOGRAPHY
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Steve Deane A.J. Briones Zachary Brake Andrew Moffett
16. OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT
Avatar: Fire and Ash; The Windtraders’ Gondola
Michael Smale Sam Sharplin Joe W. Churchill Jacqi Dillon
17. OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Avatar: Fire and Ash; Simulating Pandora
Nicholas James Illingworth Sarah C. Farmer James Robinson Ryan Bowden
18. OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
KPop Demon Hunters
Filippo Maccari Nikolaos Finizio Daniel La Chapelle Srdjan Milosevic
19. OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age; The Big Freeze
Edward Ferrysienanda Kevin Christensen Guy Schuleman Kevin Tarpinian
20. OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE
F1: The Movie; Modern Race and POV Footage
Hugo Gauvreau Chris Davies Raushan Raj Amaury Rospars
21. OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE
The Last of Us; “Through the Valley;” A Storm of Ice, Fire and Flesh
Tobias Wiesner Mark Julien Owen Longstaff Brendan Naylor
22. OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL
BMW; “Heart of Joy | Meet Okto the Octopus”
Alex Kulikov Jack Harris Adam Chabane Nicola Borsari
23. OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT
Andor; “Who Are You?”
Luke Murphy Dean Ford Jody Eltham Darrell Guyon
24. EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD
Avatar: Fire and Ash; Kora Fire Toolset
Alexey Dmitrievich Stomakhin John Edholm Murali Ramachari Aleksandr Isakov
25. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT
Azimuth
Thomas Teisseire Cassandre Cinier Martin Bluy Mathis Giraudeau
