‘Avatar 2’ Dominates Visual Effects Awards With Nine Wins, Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Pinocchio’ Wins Three

“Avatar: The Way of Water” topped the 21^st Annual VES Awards with nine wins, including for photoreal feature.

Meanwhile, Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio” was named best animated feature and took home three awards total. On the TV side, Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” won three awards and was named best photoreal episode.

Rian Johnson, Domee Shi, Tig Notaro, Jay Pharoah, Tyler Posey and Randall Park were among the presenters for the night. James Cameron presented the VES Lifetime Achievement award to acclaimed producer Gale Anne Hurd.

Former VES executive director Eric Roth received the Board of Directors Award from the current board, which includes Lisa Cooke, current VES Chair; Jim Morris, VES, president of Pixar Animation and founding VES Chair; and former Chairs Jeffrey A. Okun, VES; Mike Chambers, VES; Carl Rosendahl, VES; and Jeff Barnes.

“As we celebrate the 21st Annual VES Awards, we’re honored to keep shining a light on remarkable visual effects artistry and innovation,” VES chair Lisa Cooke said in a statement. “In all of our colleagues honored tonight, we see best in class work that elevates the art of storytelling and exemplifies the spirit of adaptation and ingenuity — talents that have kept audiences engaged and uplifted, now, more than ever. The VES Awards is the only venue that showcases and honors these outstanding global artists across a wide range of disciplines, and we are extremely proud of all our winners and nominees!”

See the full list of winners below.

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

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

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

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
AJ 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 Nixon
David Moraton
Nicolas James 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
Richard 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

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD

“Avatar: The Way of Water” Water Toolset
Alexey Stomakhin
Steve Lesser
Sven Joel Wretborn
Douglas McHale