Nominees in 25 categories for this year’s VES awards were selected by VES members at 27 in-person and virtual nomination events conducted worldwide last weekend (the event unfortunately overlapped with the Oscar Bake-off). The VES has nearly 4,500 members in 45 countries worldwide who contribute to all areas of entertainment – film, television, commercials, animation, music videos, games, and new media.
This year marks the first VES Emerging Technology Award, which celebrates the technology behind the visuals and honors the inventors of a novel and uniquely innovative tool, device, software, or methodology of outstanding value to the art and science of visual effects, gaming, or animation.
The nominees for the 21st Annual VES Awards in 25 categories are:
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
- Director James Cameron and actor Sam Worthington behind the scenes of AVATAR 2. Photo by Mark Fellman.Avatar: The Way of Water
Richard Baneham
Walter Garcia
Joe Letteri
Eric Saindon
JD Schwalm - Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
Christian Mänz
Olly Young
Benjamin Loch
Stephane Naze
Alistair Williams - Jurassic World: Dominion
David Vickery
Ann Podlozny
Jance Rubinchik
Dan Snape
Paul Corbould - The Batman
Dan Lemmon
Bryan Searing
Russell Earl
Anders Langlands
Dominic Tuohy - Top Gun: Maverick
Ryan Tudhope
Paul Molles
Seth Hill
Bryan Litson
Scott Fisher
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
- I Wanna Dance With SomebodyDeath on the Nile
George Murphy
Claudia Dehmel
Mathieu Raynault
Jonathan Bowen
David Watkins - I Wanna Dance With Somebody
Paul Norris
Tim Field
Don Libby
Andrew Simmonds - The Fabelmans
Pablo Helman
Jennifer Mizener
Cernogorods Aleksei
Jeff Kalmus
Mark Hawker - The Gray Man
Swen Gilberg
Viet Luu
Bryan Grill
Cliff Welsh
Michael Meinardus - The Pale Blue Eye
Jake Braver
Catherine Farrell
Tim Van Horn
Scott Pritchard
Jeremy Hays - Thirteen Lives
Jason Billington
Thomas Horton
Denis Baudin
Michael Harrison
Brian Cox
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
- Guillermo del Toro’s PinocchioGuillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Aaron Weintraub
Jeffrey Schaper
Cameron Carson
Emma Gorbey - Mad God
Chris Morley
Phil Tippett
Ken Rogerson
Tom Gibbons - Strange World
Steve Goldberg
Laurie Au
Mark Hammel
Mehrdad Isvandi - The Bad Guys
Pierre Perifel
Damon Ross
Matt Baer
JP Sans - The Sea Beast
Joshua Beveridge
Christian Hejnal
Stirling Duguid
Spencer Lueders - Turning Red
Domee Shi
Lindsey Collins
Danielle Feinberg
Dave Hale
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
- House of Dragons (photo: OLLIE UPTON / HBO)House of the Dragon; The Black Queen
Angus Bickerton
Nikeah Forde
Sven Martin
Michael Bell
Michael Dawson - Prehistoric Planet; Ice Worlds
Lindsay McFarlane
Fay Hancocks
Elliot Newman
Kirstin Hall - Stranger Things 4; The Piggyback
Jabbar Raisani
Terron Pratt
Niklas Jacobson
Justin Mitchell
Richard E. Perry - The Boys; Payback
Stephan Fleet
Shalena Oxley-Butler
Tristan Zerafa
Anthony Paterson
Hudson Kenny - The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power;
Jason Smith
Ron Ames
Nigel Sumner
Tom Proctor
Dean Clarke
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
- SeveranceFive Days at Memorial; Day Two
Eric Durst
Danny McNair
Matt Whelan
Goran Pavles
John MacGillivray - See; I See You
Chris Wright
Parker Chehak
Tristan Zerafa
Oscar Perea
Tony Kenny - Severance; Pilot
Vadim Turchin
Nicole Melius
David Piombino
David Rouxel - The Old Man; Episode III
Erik Henry
Matt Robken
Jamie Klein
Sylvain Théroux
J.D. Streett - Vikings: Valhalla; The Bridge
Ben Mossman
Melanie Callaghan
Matt Schofield
Chris Cooper
Paul Byrne
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT
- God of War: RagnarökGod of War: Ragnarök
Christopher Lloyd
Carrie Watts
James Adkins
Kevin Huynh - Gotham Knights
Jay Evans
Bryan Theberge
Mathieu Houle
Alexandre Bélanger - Supermassive Games; The Quarry
Aruna Inversin
Paul “Pizza” Pianezza
Kevin Williams
Kimberly Cheifer - The Callisto Protocol
Glen Schofield
Steve Papoutsis
Chris Stone
Demetrius Leal - The Last of Us Part I
Erick Pangilinan
Evan Wells
Eben Cook
Mary Jane Whiting
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL
- Rocky reimagined by LadbrokesB&Q; Flip
Patrick Krafft
Holly Treacy
Alex Snookes - Frito-Lay; Push It
Tom Raynor
Sophie Harrison
Ben Cronin
Martino Madeddu - Ladbrokes; Rocky
Greg Spencer
Alex Fitzgerald
Mickey O’Donoghue
Adame Boutrif - Minions: The Rise of Gru
Gerome Viavant
Gilles de Lusignan
Benjamin Le Ster - Virgin Media; Highland Rider
Amir Bazzazi
George Reid
Sebastian Caldwell
Alex Kulikov
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT
- ABBA VoyageABBA: Voyage
Ben Morris
Edward Randolph
Stephen Aplin
Ian Comley - Avengers: Quantum Encounter
Alan Woods
Bernice Howes
Scott Sohan
Jason Fox - Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Christopher Smith
Meghan Short
William George
Jon Alexander - Jumanji: The Adventure
Martin Cutbill
Liam Thompson
Baptiste Roy
Marco Parenzi - Star Wars: Galactic Star Cruiser
Rob Blue
Patrick Kearney
Khatsho Orfali
Gabe Sabourin
Daniel Joseph - Stranger Things: The Experience
Javier Roca
Antoine Sitruk
Cale Jacox
Julien Forest
Camille Michaud
OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
- Avatar: The Way of Water; Kiri
Anneka Fris
Rebecca Louise Leybourne
Guillaume Francois
Jung-Rock Hwang - Beast; Lion
Alvise Avati
Bora Şahin
Chris McGaw
Krzysztof Boyoko - Disney’s Pinocchio; Honest John
Christophe Paradis
Valentina Rosselli
Armita Khanlarpour
Kyoungmin Kim - Slumberland; Pig
Fernando Lopes Herrera
Victor Dinis
Martine Chartrand
Lucie Martinetto
OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
- Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio; Geppetto
Charles Greenfield
Peter Saunders
Shami Lang-Rinderspacher
Noel Estevez-Baker - Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio; Pinocchio
Oliver Beale
Richard Pickersgill
Brian Leif Hansen
Kim Slate - Strange World; Splat
Leticia Gillett
Cameron Black
Dan Lipson
Louis Jones - Turning Red; Panda Mei
Christopher Bolwyn
Ethan Dean
Bill Sheffler
Kureha Yokoo
OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
- She-HulkShe-Hulk: Attorney at Law; She-Hulk
Elizabeth Bernard
Jan Philip Cramer
Edwina Ting
Andrew Park - Skull & Bones; Sam
Jonas Skoog
Jonas Törnqvist
Goran Milic
Jonas Vikström - The Callisto Protocol; Jacob Lee
Martin Contel
Glauco Longhi
Jorge Jimenez
Atsushi Seo - The Umbrella Academy; Pogo
AIdan Martin
Hannah Dockerty
Olivier Beierlein
Miae Kang
OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
- Avatar: The Way of Water; Metkayina Village
Ryan Arcus
Lisa Hardisty
Paul Harris
TaeHyoung David Kim - Avatar: The Way of Water; The Reef
Jessica Cowley
Joe W. Churchill
Justin Stockton
Alex Nowotny - Jurassic World Dominion; Biosyn Valley
Steve Ellis
Steve Hardy
Thomas Dohlen
John Seru - Slumberland; The Wondrous Cuban Hotel Dream
Daniël Dimitri Veder
Marc Austin
Pavan Rajesh Uppu
Casey Gorton
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 - Lightyear; T’Kani Prime Forest
Lenora Acidera
Amy Allen
Alyssa Minko
Jose L. Ramos Serrano - Strange World; The Windy Jungle
Ki Jong Hong
Ryan Smith
Jesse Erickson
Benjamin Fiske - The Sea Beast; The Hunting Ship
Yohan Bang
Enoch Ihde
Denil George Chundangal
John Wallace - Wendell & Wild; The Scream Fair
Tom Proost
Nicholas Blake
Colin Babcock
Matthew Paul Albertus Cross
OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
- Andor; Reckoning; Ferrix
Pedro Santos
Chris Ford
Jeff Carson-Bartzis
Alex Murtaza - The Book of Boba Fett; In the Name of Honor; Mos Espa
Daniel Schmid Leal
Phi Tran
Hasan Ilhan
Steve Wang - The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power; Adar; Númenor City
Dan Wheaton
Nico Delbecq
Dan LeTarte
Julien Gauthier - The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power; Adrift; Khazud Dûm
James Ogle
Péter Bujdosó
Lon Krung
Shweta Bhatnagar
OUTSTANDING VIRTUAL CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A CG PROJECT
- ABBA: Voyage
Pär M. Ekberg
John Galloway
Paolo Acri
Jose Burgos - Avatar: The Way of Water
Richard Baneham
Dan Cox
Eric Reynolds
A.J Briones - Prehistoric Planet
Daniel Fotheringham
Krzysztof Szczepanski
Wei-Chuan Hsu
Claire Hill - The Batman; Rain Soaked Car Chase
Dennis Yoo
Michael J. Hall
Jason Desjarlais
Ben Bigiel
OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT
- Avatar: The Way of Water; The Sea Dragon
Sam Sharplin
Stephan Skorepa
Ian Baker
Guillaume Francois - The Sea Beast
Maxx Okazaki
Susan Kornfeld
Edward Lee
Doug Smith - Top Gun: Maverick; F-14 Tomcat
Christian Peck
Klaudio Ladavac
Aram Jung
Peter Dominik - Wendell & Wild; Dream Faire
Peter Dahmen
Paul Harrod
Nicholas Blake
OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
- Avatar: The Way of Water; Fire and Destruction
Miguel Perez Senent
Xavier Martin Ramirez
David Kirchner
Ole Geir Eidsheim - Avatar: The Way of Water; Water Simulations
Johnathan M. Nixon
David Moraton
Nicolas Illingworth
David Caeiro Cebrian - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; City Street Flooding
Matthew Hanger
Alexis Hall
Hang Yang
Mikel Zuloaga - Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
Jesse Parker Holmes
Grayden Solman
Toyokazu Hirai
Rob Richardson
OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
- Lightyear
Alexis Angelidis
Chris Chapman
Jung-Hyun Kim
Keith Klohn - Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Derek Cheung
Michael Losure
Kiem Ching Ong
Jinguang Huang - Strange World
Deborah Carlson
Scott Townsend
Stuart Griese
Yasser Hamed - The Sea Beast
Spencer Lueders
Dmitriy Kolesnik
Brian D. Casper
Joe Eckroat
OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
- Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities; Graveyard Rats
Amit Khanna
Oleg Memukhin
Mario Marengo
Josh George - Stranger Things 4; Hawkins Destructive Fissures
Ahmad Ghourab
Gavin Templer
Rachel Ajorque
Eri Ohno - The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power; Udûn; Volcano Destruction
Kurt Debens
Hamish Bell
Robert Kelly
Gabriel Roccisano - 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; Landing Rockets Forest Destruction
Miguel Santana Da Silva
Hongfei Geng
Jonathan Moulin
Maria Corcho - Avatar: The Way of Water; Water Integration
Sam Cole
Francois Sugny
Florian Schroeder
Jean Matthews - The Batman; Rainy Freeway Chase
Beck Veitch
Stephen Tong
Eva Snyder
Rachel E. Herbert - Top Gun: Maverick
Saul Davide Galbiati
Jean-Frederic Veilleux
Felix B. Lafontaine
Cynthia Rodriguez del Castillo
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE
- House of the Dragon; The Black Queen; Dance of Dragons
Kevin Friederichs
Sean Raffel
Florian Franke
Andreas Steinlein - Love, Death and Robots; Night of the Mini Dead
Tim Emeis
José Maximiano
Renaud Tissandié
Nacere Guerouaf - The Book of Boba Fett; From the Desert Comes a Stranger; Luke Alike
Peter Demarest
Tami Carter
Brandon McNaughton
Sirak Ghebremusse - The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power; Udûn; Tirharad Cavalry Charge
Sornalingam P
Ian Copeland
Nessa Mingfang Zhang
Yuvaraj S
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL
- Cartier; Tank
Stephane Pivron
Mathias Barday
Valentin Lesueur
Eric Lemains - Ladbrokes; Rocky
Greg Spencer
Theajo Dharan
Georgina Ford
Jonathan Westley - Samsung; Playtime is Over
Damien Canameras
Guillaume Dadaglio
Sébastien Podsiadlo
Christophe Plouvier - Samsung; The Spider and the Window
Marta Carbonell Amela
Stefan Susemihl
Lonni Wong
Jiyoung Lee
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 - Black Adam; Robotic Flight
JD Schwalm
Nick Rand
Andrew Hyde
Andy Robot - Mad God
Phil Tippett
Chris Morley
Webster Colcord
Johnny McLeod - The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power; Adrift; Middle Earth Storm
Dean Clarke
Oliver Gee
Eliot Naimie
Mark Robson
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT
- A Calling. From the Desert to the Sea
Mario Bertsch
Max Pollmann
Lukas Löffler
Till Sander-Titgemeyer - Boom
Romain Augier
Charles Di Cicco
Gabriel Augerai
Laurie Pereira De Figueiredo - Macula
Hady Abou Ghazale
Lothaire Rialhe
Marta Rodriguez-Noriega Nava
Jules Machicot - Maronii
Maxime Guitet
Dimitri Allonneau
Lucas Plata
Ngoc Mai Nguyen
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD
- Avatar’s new facial systemAvatar: The Way of Water; Depth Comp
Dejan Momcilovic
Tobias B. Schmidt
Benny Edlund
Joshua Hardgrave - Avatar: The Way of Water; Facial System
Byungkuk Choi
Stephen Cullingford
Stuart Adcock
Marco Revelant - Avatar: The Way of Water; Water Toolset
Alexey Dmitrievich Stomakhin
Steve Lesser
Sven Joel Wretborn
Douglas McHale - Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio; 3D Printed Metal Armature
Richard Pickersgill
Glen Southern
Peter Saunders
Brian Leif Hansen - Turning Red; Profile Mover and CurveNets
Kurt Fleischer
Fernando de Goes
Bill Sheffler
The Awards will be presented at the 21st Annual VES Awards on February 15, 2023 at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.