Beyond the Frame: Live from the 24th Annual VES Awards

Tonight, the stars of the digital realm are stepping out of the shadows and into the spotlight. Welcome to our live look at the 24th Annual Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards, broadcasting from the iconic Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. While other ceremonies celebrate the faces on screen, tonight is dedicated to the architects of the impossible—the artists, engineers, and visionaries who transform raw code into breathtaking cinematic worlds. From the photoreal depths of Pandora to the cutting-edge spectacles of episodic television, stay with us as we bring you the latest updates and celebrate every winner from the industry’s most prestigious night of technical mastery.

Below is the full list of nominees for the 24th Annual VES Awards:

24th Annual VES Awards Winners & Nominees

1. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Avatar: Fire and Ash [Winner]
- Richard Baneham, Peter Litvack, Eric Saindon, Nicky Muir, Steve Ingram
F1: The Movie
Jurassic World: Rebirth
The Lost Bus
How To Train Your Dragon

2. OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Sinners [Winner]
- Michael Ralla, James Alexander, Nick Marshall, Espen Nordahl, Donnie Dean
Dongji Rescue
A House of Dynamite
Warfare
After the Hunt

3. OUTSTANDING ANIMATION IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

KPop Demon Hunters [Winner]
- Joshua Beveridge, Jacky Priddle, Benjamin Hendricks, Clara Chan
The Bad Guys 2
Zootopia 2
In Your Dreams
Elio

4. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age; “The Big Freeze” [Winner]
- Russell Dodgson, Tracey Gibbons, François Dumoulin, Gavin McKenzie
Andor; “Who Are You?”
IT: Welcome to Derry; “Winter Fire”
The Last of Us; “Through the Valley”
Stranger Things; “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up”

5. OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

The Residence; “The Fall of the House of Usher” [Winner]
- Seth Hill, Tesa Kubicek, John Nelson, Gabriel Vargas
Man vs Baby; “Chapter One”
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon; “Costa Da Morte”
Severance; “Hello, Ms. Cobel”
Death By Lightning; “The Man from Ohio”

6. OUTSTANDING VISUAL ARTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT

Ghost of Yōtei [Winner]
- Jason Connell, Matt Vainio, Joanna Wang, Jasmin Patry
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Doom: The Dark Ages
South of Midnight
Battlefield 6

7. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL

BMW; “Heart of Joy | Meet Okto the Octopus” [Winner]
- Tom Raynor, Helen Tang, Jack Harris, Alex Kulikov
Coors Light; “Slow Monday”
Virgin Media; “Trunk Trucker”
Columbia Sportswear; “Engineered for Whatever”
Battlefield 6; “It’s Good to Be Back”

8. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT

The Wizard of Oz at Sphere [Winner]
- Ben Grossmann, Tamara Watts Kent, Dr. Irfan Essa, Matt Dougan, Glenn Derry
Zootopia: Better Zoogether!
Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment
Disney Tales of Magic
Stranger Things: Escape the Dark

9. OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Avatar: Fire and Ash; Varang: Leader of the Ash Clan [Winner]
- Stephen Clee, Stuart Adcock, Keven Norris, Joseph Kim
A Minecraft Movie; Queen Malgosha
Lilo & Stitch; Stitch
Superman; Krypto the Superdog

10. OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

KPop Demon Hunters; Rumi [Winner]
- Sophia (Seung Hee) Lee, Andrea Matamoros, Marc Souliere, Joshua Beveridge
Elio; Ooooo the Liquid Supercomputer
Elio; Glordon
Zootopia 2; Gary De’Snake

11. OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN EPISODIC, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

IT: Welcome to Derry; “The Thing in the Dark;” The Pickle Monster [Winner]
- Philip Harris-Genois, Pierric Danjou, Chloé Ostiguy, Jonathan Bourdua
IT: Welcome to Derry; “Winter Fire;” Pennywise
Stranger Things; “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up;” Mind Flayer
Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age; Female Smilodon

12. OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Avatar: Fire and Ash; Bridgehead Industrial City [Winner]
- Gianluca Pizzaia, Steve Bevins, Dziga Kaiser, Zsolt Máté
Tron: Ares; Dillinger’s Grid City
The Lost Bus; The Wildfires of Roe Road
The Lost Bus; Feather River Canyon by the Pulga Bridge
The Gorge; The Bodyweb

13. OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Zootopia 2; Marsh Market [Winner]
- Limei Z. Hshieh, Alexander Nicholas Whang, Joshua Fry, Ryan DeYoung
Elio; The Communiverse
KPop Demon Hunters; Seoul
The Bad Guys 2; Cairo City

14. OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODIC, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

Andor; “Welcome to the Rebellion;” The Senate District [Winner]
- John O’Connell, Falk Boje, Hasan Ilhan, Kevin George
Foundation; “A Song for the End of Everything;” Clarion Station
The Last of Us; Post-Apocalyptic Seattle
The Residence; “Dial M for Murder;” The White House Exterior

15. OUTSTANDING CG CINEMATOGRAPHY

Avatar: Fire and Ash [Winner]
- Steve Deane, A.J. Briones, Zachary Brake, Andrew Moffett
Zootopia 2
Tron: Ares
KPop Demon Hunters

16. OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT

Avatar: Fire and Ash; The Windtraders’ Gondola [Winner]
- Michael Smale, Sam Sharplin, Joe W. Churchill, Jacqi Dillon
Mickey 17; The Niflheim Spaceship
Wicked: For Good; Bison
Superman; The Fortress of Solitude

17. OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Avatar: Fire and Ash; Simulating Pandora [Winner]
- Nicholas James Illingworth, Sarah C. Farmer, James Robinson, Ryan Bowden
Superman; Metropolis City Destruction
The Lost Bus; Escape from Hell
Together

18. OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

KPop Demon Hunters [Winner]
- Filippo Maccari, Nikolaos Finizio, Daniel La Chapelle, Srdjan Milosevic
In Your Dreams
The Bad Guys 2
Zootopia 2

19. OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age; The Big Freeze [Winner]
- Edward Ferrysienanda, Kevin Christensen, Guy Schuleman, Kevin Tarpinian
Battlefield 6
The Last of Us; “Through the Valley;” The Infected Horde
Stranger Things; “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up;” Assault on the Mind Flayer

20. OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE

F1: The Movie; Modern Race and POV Footage [Winner]
- Hugo Gauvreau, Chris Davies, Raushan Raj, Amaury Rospars
Avatar: Fire and Ash; Bridgehead Industrial City
Superman; Fights and Metropolis City Destruction
Avatar: Fire and Ash; The Wind Traders, Bridgehead, Rivers and Ocean

21. OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE

The Last of Us; “Through the Valley;” A Storm of Ice, Fire and Flesh [Winner]
- Tobias Wiesner, Mark Julien, Owen Longstaff, Brendan Naylor
The Residence; “Pilot”
Stranger Things; “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up;” The Abyss and Vecna’s Face
Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age

22. OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL

BMW; “Heart of Joy | Meet Okto the Octopus” [Winner]
- Alex Kulikov, Jack Harris, Adam Chabane, Nicola Borsari
Disney; “Best Christmas Ever”
Virgin Media; “Trunk Trucker”
Genesis; “No Old Ideas”

23. OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT

Andor; “Who Are You?” [Winner]
- Luke Murphy, Dean Ford, Jody Eltham, Darrell Guyon
Gen V; “Bags”

24. EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD

Avatar: Fire and Ash; Kora Fire Toolset [Winner]
- Alexey Dmitrievich Stomakhin, John Edholm, Murali Ramachari, Aleksandr Isakov
Win or Lose; Detached Facial Features
Mickey 17; REVIZE
Avatar: Fire and Ash; BodyOpt
Elio; Real-Time High Fidelity Animation System

25. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT

Azimuth [Winner]
- Thomas Teisseire, Cassandre Cinier, Martin Bluy, Mathis Giraudeau
Au Delà des Mots
Flying From War
Two Kings
A Sparrow’s Song

For more information about the VES, visit https://www.vesglobal.org/.