The Visual Effects Society (VES) has named director-producer-screenwriter Roland Emmerich as the next recipient of the VES Visionary Award in recognition of his valuable contributions to filmed entertainment. The award will be presented at the 18th Annual VES Awards on January 29, 2020 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
The VES Visionary Award, bestowed by the VES Board of Directors, recognizes an individual who has uniquely and consistently employed the art and science of visual effects to foster imagination and ignite future discoveries by way of artistry, invention and groundbreaking work. VES will honor Emmerich, an inventive and highly visual storyteller, for his inspired vision and distinctive ability to harness craft and technology in creating epic cinematic experiences.
“Roland Emmerich has been at the forefront of utilizing visual effects to tell remarkable stories that transfix audiences and create new worlds,” said Mike Chambers, VES Board chair. “Roland has a unique ability to harness emerging technology to bring his expansive visions to life and he has made an indelible mark in the world of filmed entertainment. For this and more, we are honored to award him with the prestigious VES Visionary Award.”
Emmerich is an international director, producer and screenwriter whose films–including Independence Day, Stargate, Godzilla, The Patriot, The Day After Tomorrow, 2012, White House Down and Independence Day: Resurgence–have taken in more than $4 billion worldwide. His latest feature, Midway, recounts the epic naval clash between American and Japanese forces that marked a turning point in the Pacific Theater during World War II. The action-packed feature is based on real-life events, paying homage to the pilots, leaders and sailors, and their bravery. Summit Entertainment, a Lionsgate company, will release the film on Friday (11/8).
In his native Germany, Emmerich’s career began when his first film, a student project called The Noah’s Ark Principle, played in competition at the 1984 Berlin Film Festival. He subsequently set up Centropolis Entertainment in 1985 and under this banner, he has produced and directed over 20 feature films. Outside the focus of producing and directing, Emmerich is a campaigner and contributor for various charities and projects including, but not limited to, the Cambodian Children’s Fund, the Gay and Lesbian Education Network (GLSEN), Global Green, American Red Cross, and the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
Previous winners of the VES Visionary Award have been Jonathan Nolan, Victoria Alonso, Syd Mead, J.J. Abrams, Alfonso Cuarón, Ang Lee and Christopher Nolan.
As previously announced, Martin Scorsese, Academy, DGA and Emmy Award winning director-producer-screenwriter, is the forthcoming recipient of the VES Lifetime Achievement Award. And acclaimed visual effects supervisor Sheena Duggal is the forthcoming recipient of the VES Award for Creative Excellence.
James Earl Jones, Lauded Actor and Voice of Darth Vader, Dies At 93
James Earl Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen — eventually lending his deep, commanding voice to CNN, "The Lion King" and Darth Vader — has died. He was 93.
His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed Jones died Monday morning at home in New York's Hudson Valley region. The cause was not immediately clear.
The pioneering Jones, who was one of the first African American actors in a continuing role on a daytime drama and worked deep into his 80s, won two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors and was given an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement. In 2022, a Broadway theater was renamed in his honor.
He cut an elegant figure late in life, with a wry sense of humor and a ferocious work habit. In 2015, he arrived at rehearsals for a Broadway run of "The Gin Game" having already memorized the play and with notebooks filled with comments from the creative team. He said he was always in service of the work.
"The need to storytell has always been with us," he told The Associated Press then. "I think it first happened around campfires when the man came home and told his family he got the bear, the bear didn't get him."
Jones created such memorable film roles as the reclusive writer coaxed back into the spotlight in "Field of Dreams," the boxer Jack Johnson in the stage and screen hit "The Great White Hope," the writer Alex Haley in "Roots: The Next Generation" and a South African minister in "Cry, the Beloved Country."
He was also a sought-after voice actor, expressing the villainy of Darth Vader ("No, I am your father," commonly misremembered as "Luke, I am your father"), as... Read More