Winners of the 15th Annual VES Awards were announced last night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel at a ceremony hosted by comedian Patton Oswalt. The prestigious awards recognize outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation in film, animation, television, commercials and video games and the VFX supervisors, VFX producers and hands-on-the-keys artists who bring this work to life.
The Jungle Book was the big winner taking five trophies including Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature.
Other big winners included Game of Thrones, Deep Water Horizon, Disney’s Moana, and UK’s John Lewis ad Buster The Boxer.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, received the most nominations this year with seven and ended up going home empty-handed.
Ken Ralston, a four-time VFX Oscar winner for Forrest Gump, Death Becomes Her, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Cocoon, received the VES Lifetime Achievement Award.
The VES Visionary Award went to Victoria Alonso, a VFX producer on Iron Man and producer of Marvel films including The Avengers, Thor, Captain America and Guardians of the Galaxy franchises.
Congratulations to all the winners!
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
The Jungle Book
Robert Legato
Joyce Cox
Andrew R. Jones
Adam Valdez
JD Schwalm
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 Visual Effects in a Commercial
John Lewis; Buster the Boxer
Diarmid Harrison-Murray
Hannah Ruddleston
Fabian Frank
William Laban
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 a Commercial
John Lewis; Buster the Boxer
Tim van Hussen
David Bryan
Chloe Dawe
Maximillian Mallman
Outstanding Animated Performance in an Episode or Real-Time Project
Game of Thrones; Battle of the Bastards; Drogon
James Kinnings
Michael Holzl
Matt Derksen
Joeseph Hoback
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; Motonui 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 Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project
Uncharted 4
Bruce Straley
Eben Cook
Iki Ikram
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
John M. Kosnik
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 Virtual Cinematography in a Photoreal Project
The Jungle Book
Bill Pope
Robert Legato
Gary Roberts
John Brennan
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 Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project
Deepwater Horizon; Deepwater Horizon Rig
Kelvin Lau
Jean Bolte
Kevin Sprout
Kim Vongbunyong
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project
Breaking Point
Johannes Franz
Nicole Rothermel
Thomas Sali
Alexander Richter
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Feature
The Jungle Book
Christoph Salzmann
Masaki Mitchell
Matthew Adams
Max Stummer
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Commercial
John Lewis; Buster the Boxer
Tom Harding
Alex Snookes
David Filipe
Andreas Feix
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Episode
Game of Thrones; Battle of the Bastards; Retaking Winterfell
Dominic Hellier
Morgan Jones
Thijs Noij
Caleb Thompson
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
Deepwater Horizon
Craig Hammack
Petra Holtorf-Stratton
Jason Snell
John Galloway
Burt Dalton
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
Black Sails; XX
Erik Henry
Terron Pratt
Aladino Debert
Yafei Wu
Paul Stephenson