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.
