The 2023 VES Awards celebrated outstanding visual effects artistry Wednesday evening at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles. From a field of nominees teeming with innovative effects in animation, film, commercials, and video games – here are the VFX teams and projects that left the 21st Annual VES Awards as winners.
The 2023 VES Awards winners are…
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Avatar: The Way of Water
Richard Baneham
Walter Garcia
Joe Letteri
Eric Saindon
JD Schwalm
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Thirteen Lives
Jason Billington
Thomas Horton
Denis Baudin
Michael Harrison
Brian Cox
Our fan favorite host @pattonoswalt with the dynamic duo - VES Exec Director Nancy Ward & Board Chair Lisa Cooke! #VESAwards pic.twitter.com/XTXWHtXcOQ
— VisualEffectsSociety (@VFXSociety) February 16, 2023
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Aaron Weintraub
Jeffrey Schaper
Cameron Carson
Emma Gorbey
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power; Udûn
Jason Smith
Ron Ames
Nigel Sumner
Tom Proctor
Dean Clarke
Recipient of the VES Board of Directors Award recipient #EricRoth celebrated by all six current & former Board chairs..,giving a call to action to the global VFX industry. #VESAwards pic.twitter.com/5AHqYIqq4o
— VisualEffectsSociety (@VFXSociety) February 16, 2023
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
Five Days at Memorial; Day Two
Eric Durst
Danny McNair
Matt Whelan
Goran Pavles
John MacGillivray
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT
The Last of Us Part I
Erick Pangilinan
Evan Wells
Eben Cook
Mary Jane Whiting
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL
Frito-Lay; Push It
Tom Raynor
Sophie Harrison
Ben Cronin
Martino Madeddu
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT
ABBA: Voyage
Ben Morris
Edward Randolph
Stephen Aplin
Ian Comley
OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Avatar: The Way of Water; Kiri
Anneka Fris
Rebecca Louise Leybourne
Guillaume Francois
Jung-Rock Hwang
Congrats to the team from #AvatarTheWayOfWater for winning 9 awards at #VESAwards pic.twitter.com/0ZCfbyrMtr
— VisualEffectsSociety (@VFXSociety) February 16, 2023
OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio; Pinocchio
Oliver Beale
Richard Pickersgill
Brian Leif Hansen
Kim Slate
OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
The Umbrella Academy; Pogo
AIdan Martin
Hannah Dockerty
Olivier Beierlein
Miae Kang
OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Avatar: The Way of Water; The Reef
Jessica Cowley
Joe W. Churchill
Justin Stockton
Alex Nowotny
OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio; In the Stomach of a Sea Monster
Warren Lawtey
Anjum Sakharkar
Javier Gonzalez Alonso
Quinn Carvalho
OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power; Adar; Númenor City
Dan Wheaton
Nico Delbecq
Dan LeTarte
Julien Gauthier
OUTSTANDING VIRTUAL CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A CG PROJECT
Avatar: The Way of Water
Richard Baneham
Dan Cox
Eric Reynolds
A.J Briones
OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT
Avatar: The Way of Water; The Sea Dragon
Sam Sharplin
Stephan Skorepa
Ian Baker
Guillaume Francois
OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Avatar: The Way of Water; Water Simulations
Johnathan M. Nixon
David Moraton
Nicolas Illingworth
David Caeiro Cebrian
OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Derek Cheung
Michael Losure
Kiem Ching Ong
Jinguang Huang
OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power; Udûn; Water and Magma
Rick Hankins
Aron Bonar
Branko Grujcic
Laurent Kermel
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE
Avatar: The Way of Water; Water Integration
Sam Cole
Francois Sugny
Florian Schroeder
Jean Matthews
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE
Love, Death and Robots; Night of the Mini Dead
Tim Emeis
José Maximiano
Renaud Tissandié
Nacere Guerouaf
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL
Ladbrokes; Rocky
Greg Spencer
Theajo Dharan
Georgina Ford
Jonathan Westley
OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT
Avatar: The Way of Water; Current Machine and Wave Pool
JD Schwalm
Richie Schwalm
Nick Rand
Robert Spurlock
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT (AWARD SPONSORED BY AUTODESK)
A Calling. From the Desert to the Sea
Mario Bertsch
Max Pollmann
Lukas Löffler
Till Sander-Titgemeyer
Bravo to our VES - @autodesk Outstanding Student Project winners - A Calling. From the Desert. To The Sea - presented by Autodesk CMO @daratreseder - congrats! #VESAwards pic.twitter.com/2Jg5gQpl7a
— VisualEffectsSociety (@VFXSociety) February 16, 2023
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD
Avatar: The Way of Water; Water Toolset
Alexey Dmitrievich Stomakhin
Steve Lesser
Sven Joel Wretborn
Douglas McHale
Congratulations to all the 2023 VES nominees, Award winners, and VFX artists who poured themselves into innovative and captivating projects in 2022. Now we look forward to the class of 2023.
