Los Angeles, CA – Today, the Visual Effects Society (VES), the industry’s global professional honorary society, held the 14th 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 to the more than 1000 guests gathered at the Beverly Hilton to celebrate VFX talent in 23 awards categories. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the big winner of the evening garnering four awards, with The Revenant close behind with three wins. The teams from The Good Dinosaur (animated feature), Games of Thrones (photoreal episode) and SSE (commercial) led the wins in their respective categories, taking home three awards each.
Kate Mara accompanied by taped congratulations from Matt Damon and Juliana Margulies made a crowd-pleasing presentation to award-winning director-producer Sir Ridley Scott, recipient of the VES Lifetime Achievement Award. Industry veteran Scott Ross presented the VES Visionary Award to acclaimed conceptual artist Syd Mead. The show also featured a salute to ILM’s 40th anniversary. Awards presenters included directors Pete Docter and Zack Snyder, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Terry Crews, Michael Pena, Dennis Haysbert, Portia Doubleday, Erika Christensen, Camilla Luddington and Sharlto Copley.
Winners of the 14th Annual VES Awards are as follows:
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- Roger Guyett
- Luke O’Byrne
- Patrick Tubach
- Paul Kavanagh
- Chris Corbould
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
The Revenant
- Rich McBride
- Ivy Agregan
- Jason Smith
- Nicolas Chevallier
- Cameron Waldbauer
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature
The Good Dinosaur
- Sanjay Bakshi
- Denise Ream
- Michael Venturini
- Jon Reisch
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
Game of Thrones; The Dance of Dragons
- Joe Bauer
- Steve Kullback
- Eric Carney
- Derek Spears
- Stuart Brisdon
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
Vikings; To the Gates
- Dominic Remane
- Bill Halliday
- Paul Wishart
- Ovidiu Cinazan
- Paul Byrne
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project
The Order: 1886
- Nathan Phail-Liff
- Dana Jan
- Anthony Vitale
- Scot Andreason
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
SSE; Pier
- Neil Davies
- Tim Lyall
- Hitesh Patel
- Jorge Montiel
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
Fast and Furious: Supercharged
- Chris Shaw
- Alysia Cotter
- Ben White
- Diego Guerrero
Outstanding Animated Performance in a Photoreal Feature
The Revenant; The Bear
- Matt Shumway
- Gaelle Morand
- Karin Cooper
- Leandro Estebecorena
Outstanding Animated Performance in an Animated Feature
Inside Out; Joy
- Shawn Krause
- Tanja Krampfert
- Jacob Merrell
- Alexis Angelidis
Outstanding Animated Performance in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
SSE; Pier; Orangutan
- Jorge Montiel
- Sauce Vilas
- Philippe Moine
- Sam Driscoll
Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature
Star Wars: The Force Awakens; Falcon Chase / Graveyard
- Yanick Dusseault
- Mike Wood
- Justin van der Lek
- Quentin Marmier
Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature
The Good Dinosaur; The Farm
- David Munier
- Matthew Webb
- Matt Kuruc
- Tom Miller
Outstanding Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
Game of Thrones; City of Volantis
- Dominic Piche
- Christine Leclerc
- Patrice Poissant
- Thomas Montminy-Brodeur
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Photoreal Project
Star Wars: The Force Awakens; Falcon Chase / Graveyard
- Paul Kavanagh
- Colin Benoit
- Susumu Yukuhiro
- Greg Salter
Outstanding Models in a Photoreal or Animated Project
Star Wars: The Force Awakens; BB-8
- Joshua Lee
- Matthew Denton
- Landis Fields
- Cyrus Jam
Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature
Mad Max: Fury Road; Toxic Storm
- Dan Bethell
- Clinton Downs
- Chris Young
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature
The Good Dinosaur
- Stephen Marshall
- Magnus Wrenninge
- Michael Hall
- Hemagiri Arumugam
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
Game of Thrones; Hardhome
- David Ramos
- Antonio Lado
- Piotr Weiss
- Félix Bergés
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Feature
The Revenant; Bear Attack
- Donny Rausch
- Alan Travis
- Charles Lai
- TC Harrison
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Episode
Game of Thrones; Hardhome
- Eduardo Díaz
- Guillermo Orbe
- Oscar Perea
- Inmaculada Nadela
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Commercial
SSE; Pier
- Gary Driver
- Greg Spencer
- Grant Connor
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project
Citipati
- Andreas Feix
- Francesco Faranna
About the Visual Effects Society
The Visual Effects Society is a professional global honorary society dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences and applications of visual effects and to upholding the highest standards and procedures for the visual effects profession. It is the entertainment industry’s only official organization representing the extended global community of visual effects practitioners, including supervisors, artists, producers, technology developers, educators and studio executives. VES’ more than 3,000 members in 30+ countries worldwide contribute to all areas of entertainment – film, television, commercials, animation, music videos, games and new media. To learn more about the VES, visit www.visualeffectssociety.com. Go Social: follow us on Twitter @VFXSociety.
