The Jungle Book leads feature film wins with 5 awards; Kubo and The Two Strings is top animated feature film; Game of Thrones and John Lewis: Buster the Boxer score broadcast and commercial wins.
Los Angeles, CA – Today, the Visual Effects Society (VES), the industry’s global professional honorary society, held the 15th 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 24 awards categories and herald the VES’ 20th anniversary. The Jungle Book was named photoreal feature film winner, earning five awards. Kubo and The Two Strings was named top animated film. Game of Thrones was named best photoreal episode and garnered five awards. And John Lewis: Boxer the Buster won top honors in the commercial field.
Director Taika Waititi presented the VES Visionary Award to acclaimed producer and Marvel Studios Executive Vice President of Physical Production Victoria Alonso. Jim Morris, President, Pixar Animation Studios, presented the VES Lifetime Achievement Award to multiple Academy Award®-winning visual effects pioneer Ken Ralston. Awards presenters included directors Gareth Edwards and Albert Hughes, Yara Shahidi, Auli’I Cravalho, Jessica Parker Kennedy and Brenton Thwaites.
Winners of the 15th Annual VES Awards are as follows:
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
The Jungle Book
- Robert Legato
- Joyce Cox
- Andrew R. Jones
- Adam Valdez
- JD Schwalm
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
Deepwater Horizon
- Craig Hammack
- Petra Holtorf-Stratton
- Jason Snell
- John Galloway
- Burt Dalton
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature
Kubo and the Two Strings
- Travis Knight
- Arianne Sutner
- Steve Emerson
- Brad Schiff
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
Game of Thrones; Battle of the Bastards
- Joe Bauer
- Steve Kullback
- Glenn Melenhorst
- Matthew Rouleau
- Sam Conway
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
Black Sails; XX
- Erik Henry
- Terron Pratt
- Aladino Debert
- Yafei Wu
- Paul Stephenson
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project
Uncharted 4
- Bruce Straley
- Eben Cook
- Iki Ikram
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
John Lewis; Buster the Boxer
- Diarmid Harrison-Murray
- Hannah Ruddleston
- Fabian Frank
- William Laban
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
Pirates of the Caribbean; Battle for the Sunken Treasure
- Bill George
- Amy Jupiter
- Hayden Landis
- David Lester
Outstanding Animated Performance in a Photoreal Feature
The Jungle Book; King Louie
- Paul Story
- Dennis Yoo
- Jack Tema
- Andrei Coval
Outstanding Animated Performance in an Animated Feature
Finding Dory; Hank
- Jonathan Hoffman
- Steven Clay Hunter
- Mark Piretti
- Audrey Wong
Outstanding Animated Performance in an Episode or Real-Time Project
Game of Thrones; Battle of the Bastards; Drogon
- James Kinnings
- Michael Holzl
- Matt Derksen
- Joseph Hoback
Outstanding Animated Performance in a Commercial
John Lewis; Buster the Boxer
- Tim van Hussen
- David Bryan
- Chloe Dawe
- Maximilian Mallmann
Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature
Doctor Strange; New York City
- Adam Watkins
- Martijn van Herk
- Tim Belsher
- Jon Mitchell
Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature
Moana; Motunui Island
- Rob Dressel
- Andy Harkness
- Brien Hindman
- Larry Wu
Outstanding Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
Game of Thrones; Battle of the Bastards; Meereen City
- Deak Ferrand
- Dominic Daigle
- François Croteau
- Alexandru Banuta
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Photoreal Project
The Jungle Book
- Bill Pope
- Robert Legato
- Gary Roberts
- John Brennan
Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project
Deepwater Horizon; Deepwater Horizon Rig
- Kelvin Lau
- Jean Bolte
- Kevin Sprout
- Kim Vongbunyong
Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature
The Jungle Book; Nature Effects
- Oliver Winwood
- Fabian Nowak
- David Schneider
- Ludovic Ramisandraina
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature
Moana
- Marc Henry Bryant
- David Hutchins
- Ben Frost
- Dale Mayeda
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
Game of Thrones; Battle of the Bastards; Meereen City
- Thomas Hullin
- Dominik Kirouac
- James Dong
- Xavier Fourmond
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Feature
The Jungle Book
- Christoph Salzmann
- Masaki Mitchell
- Matthew Adams
- Max Stummer
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Episode
Game of Thrones; Battle of the Bastards; Retaking Winterfell
- Dominic Hellier
- Morgan Jones
- Thijs Noij
- Caleb Thompson
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Commercial
John Lewis; Buster the Boxer
- Tom Harding
- Alex Snookes
- David Filipe
- Andreas Feix
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project
Breaking Point
- Johannes Franz
- Nicole Rothermel
- Thomas Sali
- Alexander Richter
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 3,400 members in 35 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 and follow us on Twitter @VFX Society.
