23rd VES Awards full winners list

The Visual Effects Society (VES) has announced the winners for the 23rd annual VES awards. The industry guests gathered at The Beverly Hilton hotel to celebrate VFX talent in 25 awards categories and special honourees.

The movie Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes received the top photoreal feature award while Dune: Part Two garnered the most photoreal feature wins, with four awards. The Wild Robot was named the top animated film, winning four awards. Live action series Shōgun and The Penguin both received three awards each.

Comedian duo The Sklar Brother made their debut as VES Awards hosts. Actor Keanu Reeves presented the VES Award for creative excellence to Golden Globe winning actor and producer Hiroyuki Sanada (Bullet Train, Mortal Kombat). VES Eyeline Studios chief research officer Paul Debevec presented the Georges Méliès Award to virtual reality/ immersive technology pioneer Dr. Jacquelyn Ford. Writer and director Michael Dougherty (Krampus, Trick ‘r Treat) presented Academy Award-winning filmmaker and VFX supervisor Takashi Yamazaki with the Visionary Award.

The award presenters included: Kelvin Harrison, Jr., Krys Marshall, Mary Mouser, Russell Hornsby, Tanner Buchanan, Eric Winter, Tia Carrere and Autodesk’s Senior Director, Business Strategy Rachael Appleton presented the VES-Autodesk Student Award.

VES chair Kim Davidson said, “As we celebrate the 23rd Annual VES Awards, we’re honoured to shine a light on outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation. The honourees and their work represent best-in-class visual effects, the work that engages audiences and enhances the art of storytelling. The awards is the only venue that showcases and honors these outstanding global artists across a wide range of disciplines, and we are extremely proud of all our winners and nominees!”

The winners of the 23rd Annual VES Awards in 25 categories are as follows:

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature 

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Erik Winquist
Julia Neighly
Paul Story
Danielle Immerman
Rodney Burke

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

Civil War

David Simpson
Michelle Rose
Freddy Salazar
Chris Zeh
J.D. Schwalm

Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature

The Wild Robot

Chris Sanders
Jeff Hermann
Jeff Budsberg
Jakob Hjort Jensen

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode

Shōgun; Anjin

Michael Cliett
Melody Mead
Philip Engström
Ed Bruce
Cameron Waldbauer

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode

The Penguin; Bliss

Johnny Han
Michelle Rose
Goran Pavles
Ed Bruce
Devin Maggio

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project

Star Wars Outlaws

Stephen Hawes
Lionel Le Dain
Benedikt Podlesnigg
Andi-Bogdan Draghici

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial

Coca-Cola; The Heroes

Greg McKneally
Antonia Vlasto
Ryan Knowles
Fabrice Fiteni

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project

D23; Real-Time Rocket

Evan Goldberg
Alyssa Finley
Jason Breneman
Alice Taylor

Outstanding Character in a Photoreal Feature

Better Man; Robbie Williams

Milton Ramirez
Andrea Merlo
Seoungseok Charlie Kim
Eteuati Tema

Outstanding Character in an Animated Feature

The Wild Robot; Roz

Fabio Lignini
Yukinori Inagaki
Owen Demers
Hyun Huh

Outstanding Character in an Episode, Commercial, Game Cinematic, or Real-Time Project

Ronja the Robber’s Daughter; Vildvittran the Queen Harpy

Nicklas Andersson
David Allan
Gustav Åhren
Niklas Wallén

Outstanding Environment in a Photoreal Feature

Dune: Part Two; The Arrakeen Basin

Daniel Rhein
Daniel Anton Fernandez
Marc James Austin
Christopher Anciaume

Outstanding Environment in an Animated Feature

The Wild Robot; The Forest

John Wake
He Jung Park
Woojin Choi
Shane Glading

Outstanding Environment in an Episode, Commercial, Commercial, Game Cinematic, or Real-Time Project

Shōgun; Osaka

Manuel Martinez
Phil Hannigan
Keith Malone
Francesco Corvino

Outstanding CG Cinematography

Dune: Part Two; Arrakis

Greig Fraser
Xin Steve Guo
Sandra Murta
Ben Wiggs

Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project

Alien: Romulus; Renaissance Space Station

Waldemar Bartkowiak
Trevor Wide
Matt Middleton
Ben Shearman

Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature

Dune: Part Two; Atomic Explosions and Wormriding

Nicholas Papworth
Sandy la Tourelle
Lisa Nolan
Christopher Phillips

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature

The Wild Robot

Derek Cheung
Michael Losure
David Chow
Nyoung Kim

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, Game Cinematic, or Real-Time Project

Shōgun; Broken to the Fist; Landslide

Dominic Tiedeken
Heinrich Löwe
Charles Guerton
Timmy Lundin

Outstanding Compositing & Lighting in a Feature

Dune: Part Two; Wormriding, Geidi Prime, and the Final Battle

Christopher Rickard
Francesco Dell’Anna
Paul Chapman
Ryan Wing

Outstanding Compositing & Lighting in an Episode

The Penguin; After Hours

Jonas Stuckenbrock
Karen Cheng
Eugene Bondar
Miky Girón

Outstanding Compositing & Lighting in a  Commercial

Coca-Cola; The Heroes

Ryan Knowles
Alex Gabucci
Jack Powell
Dan Yargici

Outstanding Special (Practical) Effects in a Photoreal Project

The Penguin; Safe Guns

Devin Maggio
Johnny Han
Cory Candrilli
Alexandre Prod’homme

Emerging Technology Award

Here; Neural Performance Toolset

Jo Plaete
Oriel Frigo
Tomas Koutsky
Matteo Olivieri-Dancey

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project

Pittura (entry from ARTFX – Schools of Digital Arts, France)

Adam Lauriol
Titouan Lassère
Rémi Vivenza
Helloïs Marre