Having gone into the big night with the most nominations, Disney’s Encanto and Warner Bros.’ Dune scored top prizes at last night’s VES Awards. The ceremony, recognizing outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation in film, animation, television, commercials, video games and special venues, marked the Visual Effects Society’s 20th awards program, celebrated during the organization’s milestone 25th Anniversary.
Industry guests gathered at the Beverly Hilton 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; 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,” said 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!”
The winners are:
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
- Encanto | Scott Kersavage Bradford Simonsen Thaddeus P. Miller Ian Gooding
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
- Dune | Paul Lambert, Brice Parker, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor, Gerd Nefzer
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 FEATURE
- Last Night in Soho | Tom Proctor, Gavin Gregory, Julian Gnass, Fabricio Baessa
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 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
