The Visual Effects Society (VES), the industry’s global professional honorary society, recently held the 18th Annual VES Awards, the prestigious yearly celebration that recognizes outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation in film, animation, television, commercials, video games and special venues.
Comedian Patton Oswalt served as host for the 9th time to the more than 1000 guests gathered at the Beverly Hilton to celebrate VFX talent in 25 awards categories. The Lion King was named the photoreal feature winner, garnering three awards. Missing Link was named top animated film, winning two awards. The Mandalorian was named best photoreal episode and garnered two awards, with Game of Thrones and Stranger Things 3 also winning two awards each. Hennessy: The Seven Worlds topped the commercial field with two wins.
Andy Serkis presented the VES Award for Creative Excellence to acclaimed visual effects supervisor Sheena Duggal. Joey King presented the VES Visionary Award to acclaimed director-producer-screenwriter Roland Emmerich. And VFX Supervisor Pablo Helman presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Academy, DGA and Emmy Award-winning director-producer-screenwriter Martin Scorsese, accepting via video from New York. Scorsese’s The Irishman also picked up two awards, including Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature. Presenters also included: helmers J.J. Abrams, Jon Favreau, Rian Johnson and Josh Cooley, actors Storm Reid, Madeline Brewer, Janina Gavankar, Sophie Skelton and Maxwell Jenkins. Lisa Campbell, Autodesk’s Chief Marketing Office and SVP, presented the Autodesk Student Award.
Winners of the 18th Annual VES Awards are as follows:
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
THE LION KING
- Robert Legato
- Tom Peitzman
- Adam Valdez
- Andrew R. Jones
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
THE IRISHMAN
- Pablo Helman
- Mitchell Ferm
- Jill Brooks
- Leandro Estebecorena
- Jeff Brink
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature
MISSING LINK
- Brad Schiff
- Travis Knight
- Steve Emerson
- Benoit Dubuc
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
THE MANDALORIAN; The Child
- Richard Bluff
- Abbigail Keller
- Jason Porter
- Hayden Jones
- Roy K. Cancino
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
CHERNOBYL; 1:23:45
- Max Dennison
- Lindsay McFarlane
- Clare Cheetham
- Paul Jones
- Claudius Christian Rauch
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project
Control
- Janne Pulkkinen
- Elmeri Raitanen
- Matti Hämäläinen
- James Tottman
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
Hennessy: The Seven Worlds
- Carsten Keller
- Selçuk Ergen
- Kiril Mirkov
- William Laban
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
- Jason Bayever
- Patrick Kearney
- Carol Norton
- Bill George
Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature
ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL; Alita
- Michael Cozens
- Mark Haenga
- Olivier Lesaint
- Dejan Momcilovic
Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature
MISSING LINK; Susan
- Rachelle Lambden
- Brenda Baumgarten
- Morgan Hay
- Benoit Dubuc
Outstanding Animated Character in an Episode or Real-Time Project
STRANGER THINGS 3; Tom/Bruce Monster
- Joseph Dubé-Arsenault
- Antoine Barthod
- Frederick Gagnon
- Xavier Lafarge
Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial
Cyberpunk 2077; Dex
- Jonas Ekman
- Jonas Skoog
- Marek Madej
- Grzegorz Chojnacki
Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature
THE LION KING; The Pridelands
- Marco Rolandi
- Luca Bonatti
- Jules Bodenstein
- Filippo Preti
Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature
TOY STORY 4; Antiques Mall
- Hosuk Chang
- Andrew Finley
- Alison Leaf
- Philip Shoebottom
Outstanding Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
GAME OF THRONES; The Iron Throne; Red Keep Plaza
- Carlos Patrick DeLeon
- Alonso Bocanegra Martinez
- Marcela Silva
- Benjamin Ross
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a CG Project
THE LION KING
- Robert Legato
- Caleb Deschanel
- Ben Grossmann
- AJ Sciutto
Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project
THE MANDALORIAN; The Sin; The Razorcrest
- Doug Chiang
- Jay Machado
- John Goodson
- Landis Fields IV
Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER
- Don Wong
- Thibault Gauriau
- Goncalo Cababca
- François-Maxence Desplanques
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature
FROZEN 2
- Erin V. Ramos
- Scott Townsend
- Thomas Wickes
- Rattanin Sirinaruemarn
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
STRANGER THINGS 3; Melting Tom/Bruce
- Nathan Arbuckle
- Christian Gaumond
- James Dong
- Aleksandr Starkov
Outstanding Compositing in a Feature
THE IRISHMAN
- Nelson Sepulveda
- Vincent Papaix
- Benjamin O'Brien
- Christopher Doerhoff
Outstanding Compositing in an Episode
GAME OF THRONES; The Long Night; Dragon Ground Battle
- Mark Richardson
- Darren Christie
- Nathan Abbott
- Owen Longstaff
Outstanding Compositing in a Commercial
Hennessy: The Seven Worlds
- Rod Norman
- Guillaume Weiss
- Alexander Kulikov
- Alessandro Granella
Outstanding Special (Practical) Effects in a Photoreal or Animated Project
THE DARK CRYSTAL: THE AGE OF RESISTANCE; She Knows All the Secrets
- Sean Mathiesen
- Jon Savage
- Toby Froud
- Phil Harvey
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project
THE BEAUTY
- Marc Angele
- Aleksandra Todorovic
- Pascal Schelbli
- Noel Winzen