Visual Effects Artistry in the Spotlight

Patton Oswalt hosts the 18th Annual VES Awards.

The Visual Effects Society held the 18th 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, and the VFX supervisors, VFX producers and hands-on artists who bring this work to life.

Comedian Patton Oswalt served as host for the ninth time to the more than 1,000 guests gathered at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Los Angeles, on January 29, 2020 to celebrate VFX talent in 25 awards categories.

The Lion King was named the photoreal feature winner, garnering three awards in total. Missing Link was named the top animated film, winning two awards. The Mandalorian was named best photoreal episode and garnered two awards. Game of Thrones and Stranger Things 3 also won two awards each. Hennessy: The Seven Worlds topped the commercial field with two wins.

Nominees in the 25 categories were selected by VES members via events hosted by 11 VES Sections, including Australia, the Bay Area, Germany, London, Los Angeles, Montreal, New York, New Zealand, Toronto, Vancouver and Washington.

The VES Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Academy, DGA and Emmy Award-winning director-producer-screenwriter Martin Scorsese by VFX Supervisor Pablo Helman. Scorsese’s The Irishman won two awards.

The VES Visionary Award was presented to acclaimed director-producer-screenwriter Roland Emmerich by actress Joey King. The VES Award for Creative Excellence was presented to acclaimed visual effects supervisor Sheena Duggal by actor-director Andy Serkis via video.

Award presenters included directors J.J. Abrams, Jon Favreau, Rian Johnson and Josh Cooley, actors Storm Reid, Madeline Brewer, Janina Gavankar, Sophie Skelton and Maxwell Jenkins. Lisa Campbell, Autodesk’s Chief Marketing Officer and SVP, presented the Autodesk Student Award.

NOTE: The following two Award-winning categories did not have any representatives on hand for photos.

• The VES Award for Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial went to Cyberpunk 2077 (Dex) and the team of Jonas Ekman, Jonas Skoog, Marek Madej and Grzegorz Chojnacki.
• The VES Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project went to Control and the team of Janne Pulkkinen, Elmeri Raitanen, Matti Hämäläinen and James Tottman.

All photos by: Danny Moloshok and Phil McCarten