"Avatar" Wins Big at the VES Awards

From the Visual Effects Society:

Los Angeles, February 28, 2010 - The Visual Effects Society announced the winners of the 8th Annual VES Awards tonight at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The annual event recognizes outstanding visual effects in more than twenty categories of film, animation, television, commercials and video games.

Filmmakers, producers and guests joined more than a thousand attendees from the visual effects industry for the sold-out gala which honored James Cameron with the VES Lifetime Achievement Award and Dr. Ed Catmull with the Georges Méliès Award for Pioneering.

Avatar was the evening’s big winner taking home six awards including Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture. The animated feature film Up was honored with three awards including Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture.

The 2010 VES Awards will premiere on Friday, March 5 at 10pm ET/PT on REELZCHANNEL.

And here are all of the winners of the live-action feature film categories. (To see all the nominees, click here.) Congratulations to all the winners!

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Feature Motion Picture
AVATAR
Richard Baneham, Joyce Cox, Joe Letteri, Eileen Moran

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture
SHERLOCK HOLMES
Dan Barrow, Jonathan Fawkner, Chas Jarrett, David Vickery

Best Single Visual Effect of the Year
AVATAR- Neytiri Drinking
Thelvin Cabezas, Joyce Cox, Joe Letteri, Eileen Moran

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
AVATAR - Neytiri
Andrew R. Jones, Joe Letteri, Zoe Saldana, Jeff Unay

Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Feature Motion Picture
AVATAR - Pandora
Jean-Luc Azzis, Peter Baustaedter, Brenton Cottman, Yvonne Muinde

Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Feature Motion Picture
AVATAR - Samson/Home Tree / Floating Mountains / Ampsuit
Simon Cheung, Paul Jenness, John Stevenson-Galvin, Rainer Zoettl

Outstanding Created Environment in a Feature Motion Picture
AVATAR - Jungle / Biolume
Shadi Almassizadeh, Jessica Cowley, Dan Cox, Ula Rademeyer, Eric Saindon

Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture
DISTRICT 9
Janeen Elliott, Simon Hughes, Hamish Schumacher, Shervin Shogian

For more information on the VES Awards, sponsorship and tickets, please visit www.visualeffectssociety.com.

More About ILM and "Avatar"

Thank you so much to everyone who wrote me with kind words on our VES Award nomination. Even though there are four names associated with the nomination for Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture (Jay Cooper, Beth D'Amato, Eddie Pasquarello and Todd Vaziri), the nod belongs to the entire ILM team that worked on "Avatar." Our ILM work for the film was also nominated for Best Single Visual Effect of the Year, for the Quaritch Escape (Jill Brooks, John Knoll, Frank Losasso Petterson and Tory Mercer).

The full credits for the film are here: Avatar: How Many People Does It Take To Make A Movie?, from the Birmingham Sunday Mercury, where you'll see the full visual effects credits for Weta Digital, ILM, Framestore, Prime Focus, Hybride, hy*drau"lx, Buf, Lola Visual Effects, Look Effects, Pixel Liberation Front, and Spy Post. Putting this ambitious film together took the skill, artistry and talent of hundreds upon hundreds of individuals, as you'll see when you read through the credits.

Who do the ILM nominations belong to? The folks listed below: the ILM team for "Avatar."

Visual Effects & Animation by
INDUSTRIAL LIGHT & MAGIC
A Lucasfilm Ltd. Company

ILM Visual Effects Supervisor JOHN KNOLL
ILM Animation Supervisor PAUL KAVANAGH
ILM Visual Effects Producer JILL BROOKS
Digital Production Supervisor MICHAEL DICOMO
Compositing Supervisor EDDIE PASQUARELLO
CG Supervisors PAT CONRAN PHILIPPE REBOURS DAVID WEITZBERG
Digital Matte Supervisor RICHARD BLUFF
Digital Model Supervisors DAVE FOGLER BRUCE HOLCOMB
Viewpaint Supervisor RON WOODALL
Creature Supervisor KARIN COOPER
Layout Supervisor JOHN LEVIN
Roto and Paint Supervisor BETH D'AMATO

Sequence Supervisors
JAY COOPER, THOMAS FEJES, JEN HOWARD, TORY MERCER, MARK NETTLETON, GREG SALTER, ROBERT WEAVER

Digital Artists Leads
FRANCOIS ANTOINE, JASON BILLINGTON, YANICK DUSSEAULT, CHRIS FOREMAN, CHRISTOPHER HORVATH, FRANK LOSASSO PETTERSON, JOHN SIGURDSON, JIM SOUKUP, TODD VAZIRI, DAN WHEATON

Digital Artists
JOAKIM ARNESSON, JEREMY BLOCH, AMANDA BRAGGS, TRIPP BROWN, CATHERINE BURROW, KELA CABRALES, MICHAELA CALANCHINI CARTER, JEREMY CANTOR, TAMI CARTER, LANNY CERMAK, GRADY COFER, MIKE CONTE, MICHAEL CORDOVA, TIM DOBBERT, SELWYN EDDY III, CONNY FAUSER, SIMON FILLAT, SHINE FITZNER, BRIAN FLYNN, TIM FORTENBERRY, MARIA GOODALE, DAVID GOTTLIEB, GILES HANCOCK, TREVOR HAZEL, SHERRY HITCH, PEG HUNTER, JIRI JACKNOWITZ, PATRICK JARVIS, RYAN L. JONES, KIMBERLY LASHBROOK, ASIER LAVINA, HILMAR KOCH, MARSHALL KRASSER, DAVID MARSH, TIA MARSHALL, MARCEL MARTINEZ, KENT MATHESON, JOSEPH METTEN, CARLOS MONZON, DAVID MORRIS, TIM MUELLER, MYLES MURPHY, DAVID NAKABAYASHI, MARLA NEWALL, BEN O'BRIEN, AKIRA ORIKASA, COS¸ KU ÖZDEMIR, SCOTT PRIOR, EDWARD QUINTERO, MICHAEL RICH, ANTHONY RISPOLI, SHANE ROBERTS, ELSA RODRIGUEZ, BARRY SAFLEY, JEFF SALTZMAN, STEVE SAUERS, JERRY SELLS, JOE STEVENSON, FLORIAN STROBL, ALAN TRAVIS, YUSEI UESUGI, NOAH VICE, KELLY WALSH, DAVID WASHBURN, TALMAGE WATSON, SCOTT YOUNKIN, DEAN YÜRKE, RITA ZIMMERMAN

Animators
JEREMY CANTOR, JEAN-DENIS HAAS, ALEX LEE, ERIK MORGANSEN, STEVE RAWLINS, GREG TOWNER, TIM WADDY, ANDY WONG, JOHN ZDANKIEWICZ

Digital Models and Simulation
LEIGH BARBIER, ANDY BUECKER, DAVID DEUBER, KALENE DUNSMOOR, CHRIS EVANS, CHRIS HAVREBERG, KELVIN LAU, SEUNGHUN LEE, GREG MAGUIRE, SCOTT MAY, STEVE SAUERS, AARON WILSON

Visual Effects Editor JIM MILTON
Production Coordinators STACY BISSELL, MARISSA GOMES
Production Assistants KAT BACHERT, LEE BRIGGS
Production Support MELISSA DE SANTIS, PETER LEBER, MIKE McCABE, PETER NICOLAI, JULIAN SALVADOR, JEROME SOLOMON, MARCI VELANDO, KEVIN WONG
Technical Support SEAN BITTINGER, CHANTELL BROWN, KAI CHANG, RAYMOND CHOU, GEORGE GAMBETTA, SHAHZAD KHAN, FRANKIE KWAK, SAM PENROSE, JESSICA RIEWE
Research & Development AARON ELDER, RONALD MALLET, ROBERT MOLHOLM, JOHN OLMSTEAD, POITR STANCZYK, STEVE SULLIVAN
ILM Executive Producer GRETCHEN LIBBY
ILM Senior Staff LYNWEN BRENNAN, CHRISSIE ENGLAND, CURT MIYASHIRO

VES Announces Nominations for 8th VES Awards

Here's the press release sent out by the Visual Effects Society, announcing their nominees for the 8th Annual VES Awards.

"Avatar" earned 11 nominations (from 8 live-action feature film categories). Other multiple nominees include "2012" and "District 9" with 3 nominations each, and "Star Trek," "Terminator: Salvation" and "Sherlock Holmes" grabbing 2 nominations each.

What follows is an edited list of nominees, listing live-action feature film categories only.

-todd

VES Announces Nominees for 8th Annual VES Awards
Los Angeles, January 19, 2010 - The Visual Effects Society (VES) today announced the nominees for the 8th Annual VES Awards ceremony recognizing outstanding visual effects artistry in over twenty categories of film, animation, television, commercials and video games. Nominees were chosen Saturday, January 16, 2010, by numerous blue ribbon panels of VES members who viewed submissions at the FotoKem screening facilities in Burbank and San Francisco as well as at other facilities in London, Sydney and Vancouver.

“The Visual Effects Society is proud to present these nominations as the most outstanding work in the field this year,” said Jeffrey A. Okun, Chair of the Visual Effects Society. “It’s important to keep in mind that it wasn’t machines that created these images but incredibly talented artists. We congratulate them all and look forward to seeing who is chosen as the best of the best at the awards show in February.”

As previously announced, this year James Cameron will be honored with the VES Lifetime Achievement Award and Dr. Ed Catmull with the Georges Méliès Award for pioneering.

The 8th Annual VES Awards will take place on Feb. 28, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, CA.

The nominees for the 8th Annual VES Awards for live-action feature film categories are the following (click here for full list):

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Feature Motion Picture
2012
Volker Engel, Josh Jaggars, Marc Weigert
AVATAR
Richard Baneham, Joyce Cox, Joe Letteri, Eileen Moran
DISTRICT 9
Stefanie Boose, Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, James Stewart
STAR TREK
Burt Dalton, Russell Earl, Roger Guyett, Shari Hanson
TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN
Scott Benza, Wayne Billheimer, Scott Farrar, John Frazier

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture
ANGELS & DEMONS
Angus Bickerton, Mark Breakspear, Ryan Cook, Barrie Hemsley
THE BOX
Peter Cvijanovic, Mark Kolpak, Olcun Tan, Thomas Tannenberger
INVICTUS
Geoff Hancock, Dennis Hoffman, Cyndi Ochs, Michael Owens
THE ROAD
Mark O. Forker, Paul Graff, Ed Mendez, Phillip Moses
SHERLOCK HOLMES
Dan Barrow, Jonathan Fawkner, Chas Jarrett, David Vickery

Best Single Visual Effect of the Year
2012 - Escape from L.A.
Volker Engel, Josh R. Jaggars, Mohen Leo, Marc Weigert
AVATAR - Quarich's Escape
Jill Brooks, John Knoll, Frank Losasso Petterson, Tory Mercer
AVATAR- Neytiri Drinking
Thelvin Cabezas, Joyce Cox, Joe Letteri, Eileen Moran
KNOWING - Plane Crash
Dan Breckwoldt, Camille Cellucci, Andrew Jackson, Angelo Sahin
TERMINATOR SALVATION - VLA Escape
Chantal Feghali, Charles Gibson, Susan Greenhow, Ben Snow

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
AVATAR - Neytiri
Andrew R. Jones, Joe Letteri, Zoe Saldana, Jeff Unay
DISTRICT 9 - Christopher Johnson
Brett Ineson, Jeremy Mesana, Steve Nichols, Vera Zivny
G-FORCE - Bucky
Benjamin Cinelli, Peter Tieryas, Dustin Wicke, Ryan Yee
WATCHMEN - Doctor Manhattan
Aaron Campbell, Kevin Hudson, Victor Schutz, Keith Smith

Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Feature Motion Picture
AVATAR - Pandora
Jean-Luc Azzis, Peter Baustaedter, Brenton Cottman, Yvonne Muinde
FRANKLYN - Meanwhile City Scapes
Tania Richard, Christoph Unger
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE
David Bassalla, Emily Cobb, Tania Richard
STAR TREK
Brett Northcutt, Shane Roberts, Masahiko Tani, Dan Wheaton

Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Feature Motion Picture
AVATAR - Samson/Home Tree / Floating Mountains / Ampsuit
Simon Cheung, Paul Jenness, John Stevenson-Galvin, Rainer Zoettl
CORALINE
Deborah Cook, Matthew DeLeu, Paul Mack, Martin Meunier
NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN - National Air and Space Museum Escape
Robert Chapin, Tony Chen, Forest Fischer, Ian Hunter
TERMINATOR SALVATION-Practical Models and Miniatures
Nick d'Abo, Brian Gernand, Geoff Heron, Patrick Sweeney

Outstanding Created Environment in a Feature Motion Picture
2012 - Los Angeles Destruction
Haarm-Pieter Duiker, Marten Larsson, Ryo Sakaguchi, Hanzhi Tang
AVATAR - Floating Mountains
Dan Lemmon, Keith F. Miller, Cameron Smith
AVATAR - Jungle / Biolume
Shadi Almassizadeh, Jessica Cowley, Dan Cox, Ula Rademeyer, Eric Saindon
AVATAR - Willow Glade
Thelvin Cabezas, Miae Kang, Daniel Macarin, Guy Williams

Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture
AVATAR
Erich Eder, Robin Hollander, Giuseppe Tagliavini, Erik Winquist
AVATAR - End Battle
Jay Cooper, Beth D'Amato, Eddie Pasquarello, Todd Vaziri
DISTRICT 9
Janeen Elliott, Simon Hughes, Hamish Schumacher, Shervin Shogian
SHERLOCK HOLMES - Wharf Explosion Sequence
Jan Adamczyk, Alex Cumming, Sam Osborne, Kate Windibank,


For more information on the VES Awards, sponsorship and tickets, please visit www.visualeffectssociety.com.