Dune: Part Two and House of the Dragon each scored two HPA Awards during a gala ceremony at the Television Academy’s Wolf Theatre in North Hollywood, Calif. on Thursday night (11/7). The HPA Awards honor trailblazing talent in the postproduction industry, celebrating standout achievements in color grading, sound, editing, restoration, and visual effects across theatrical features, commercials, and episodics.
Dune: Part Two topped the Outstanding Color Grading–Live Action Theatrical Feature and the Outstanding Sound–Theatrical Feature categories.
House of the Dragon’s two wins were for “The Red Dragon and the Gold” episode which scored for Outstanding Visual Effects–Live Action Episode or Series Season, and Outstanding Editing–Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature (Over 30 Minutes). In the latter HPA Creative Category, House of the Dragon tied with the “Part Six: Far,l Far Away” episode of Ahsoka.
The HPA’s Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation honored Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour. This recognition celebrates the profound impact on both live and filmed entertainment that defined The Eras Tour, underscoring its exceptional impact on audiences and the industry. The jury issued a statement outlining their choice: “Celebrated as the cultural phenomenon of 2023, Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour set new records in box office sales, tour revenues, and attendance. The tour showcased exceptional artistry and innovation, making a profound impact on both live and filmed entertainment.”
This year, FotoKem was awarded the Charles S. Swartz Award for its role in supporting filmmakers, studios, cinematographers, and artists across diverse film and media landscapes. Also celebrated were the previously announced recipients of the esteemed Engineering Excellence awards, recognizing the cutting-edge technology that fuels creative breakthroughs in postproduction.
Here’s a rundown of the evening’s winners, starting with the HPA Awards Creative Categories:
Outstanding Color Grading – Live Action Theatrical Feature
“Dune: Part Two”
David Cole // FotoKem
Outstanding Color Grading – Animated Theatrical Feature
“Inside Out 2”
Mark Dinicola // Pixar Animation Studios
Outstanding Color Grading – Live Action Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature
“Time Bandits – Kevin Haddock”
Damian McDonnell // The Rebel Fleet
Outstanding Color Grading – Animated Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature
“Leo”
Keiran Lee // Feature Animation at Netflix
Outstanding Color Grading – Documentary
“Trilogy: New Wave”
Alastor Pan Arnold // FotoKem
Outstanding Color Grading – Commercial
Air Canada – “Ticket to Dream”
Wade Odlum // Alter Ego
Outstanding Editing – Theatrical Feature
“The Holdovers”
Kevin Tent, ACE
Outstanding Editing – Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature (30 Minutes and Under)
“Hacks – Better Late”
Rob Paglia
Outstanding Editing – Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature (Over 30 Minutes)
A tie between:
“Ahsoka – Part Six: Far, Far Away”
James D. Wilcox, ACE
“House of the Dragon – The Red Dragon and the Gold”
Katie Weiland, ACE
Outstanding Editing – Documentary
“Ren Faire – Daddy’s Dyin’, Who’s Got The Will?”
Max Allman, Nicholas Nazmi
Outstanding Sound – Theatrical Feature
“Dune: Part Two”
Richard King, Dave Whitehead, Martin Kwok, Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Andrew Bock // Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services
Outstanding Sound – Episode or Non-Theatrical Feature
“No One Will Save You”
Will Files, Chris Terhune, Ailene Roberts, James Miller, Matt “Smokey” Cloud // Pacific Standard Sound
Outstanding Sound – Documentary
“Porcelain War”
Robert Mackenzie, Sam Hayward, Jared Dwyer, Andrew Miller, Alex Francis, Karina Rezhevska // RMS
Outstanding Visual Effects – Live Action Feature
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”
Erik Winquist, Danielle Immerman, Stephen Unterfranz, Phillip Leonhardt, Sean Noel Walker // Wētā FX
Outstanding Visual Effects – Animated Feature
“Ultraman: Rising”
Hayden Jones, Stefan Drury, Sean M. Murphy, Mathieu Vig, Kyle Winkelman // Industrial Light & Magic
Outstanding Visual Effects – Live Action Episode or Series Season
“House of the Dragon – The Red Dragon and the Gold”
Sven Martin, Fausto Tejeda, Mark Spindler, Matt Perrin, James Thompson // Pixomondo
Outstanding Visual Effects – Animated Episode or Series Season
“X-Men ‘97 – Season 1”
Chris Graf, Dan McNaughton, Husain Untoro, Quentin Cordonnier, Andrew Stadler // Marvel Animation Studios
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects – Episode or Series Season
“All The Light We Cannot See – Season 1”
Laurens Ehrmann, Harry Bardak, Elisa Perez, Julien Martins // The Yard VFX
Outstanding Achievement in Restoration
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”
1937
Disney
As previously announced, winners of the coveted Engineering Excellence Award were Adobe (Enhance Speech in Premiere Pro), Disguise and Cuebric (AI-Driven 2.5D Workflow), and Evercast (Evercast for Apple Vision Pro).
