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Inception Wins Four VES Awards

The Visual Effects Society announced the winners of the 9th Annual VES Awards tonight at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.

Press Release from The Visual Effects Society

Los Angeles, February 1, 2011 - The Visual Effects Society announced the winners of the 9th Annual VES Awards tonight at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, 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 Christopher Nolan with the inaugural VES Visionary Award and Ray Harryhausen with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Inception’s Tom Hardy was on hand to present the award to Nolan while Harryhausen was feted by video tributes throughout the evening. Randy Cook and Dennis Muren presented from the stage to Harryhausen who appeared via video to thank VES for this honor. The event was hosted by Patton Oswalt.

Inception was the evening’s most honored project with four awards including Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture. The animated feature film How to Train Your Dragon was honored with three awards including Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture---both films winning in every nominated category. Television’s big winner was “The Pacific,” also grabbing three honors.

The 9th Annual VES Awards will premiere on REELZCHANNEL Saturday, February 19, 2011 at 10p ET/PT with encore presentations throughout February.

In accepting the first-ever Visionary award, Nolan came clean about the increasing importance of VFX in his films and that he believes in the "harmony" between special effects and visual effects. He also cited the influences of Ray Harryhausen (the life achievement recipient) and Stanley Kubrick.

Meanwhile, in light of TOY STORY 3 getting the BAFTA VFX nod, Jim Morris, general manager and evp of Pixar (as well as the producer of Andrew Stanton's JOHN CARTER OF MARS) told AWN that he's very hopeful about the Academy's VFX branch embracing animation. He said it will take further education and that he's willing to do what he can. "It's just a matter of time. But it has to happen organically."

The following is the complete list of winners of the 9th Annual VES Awards:

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual-Effects Driven Feature Motion PictureInceptionPaul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Mike Chambers, Matthew Plummer

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion PictureHereafterMichael Owens, Joel Mendias, Bryan Grill, Danielle Plantec

Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion PictureHow to Train Your DragonSimon Otto, Craig Ring, Bonnie Arnold

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or a SpecialThe PacificJohn Sullivan, David Taritero, William Mesa, Marco Requay

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast SeriesCapricaMichael Gibson, Gary Hutzel, Davey Morton, Jesse Mesa Toves

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast ProgramBoardwalk EmpireRobert Stromberg, Dave Taritero, Richard Friedlander, Paul Graff

Outstanding Achievement in an Animated ShortDay & NightTeddy Newton, Kevin Reher, Michael Fu, Tom Gately

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Live Action CommercialHalo: ReachDan Glass, Dan Seddon, Matt Dessero, Stephanie Gilgar

Outstanding Animated CommercialCadbury's Spots V StripesJake Mengers, Julie Evans, Jorge Montiel Meurer, Michael Gregory

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue ProjectKing Kong 360 3DMatt Aitken, Kevin Sherwood, Eric Reynolds, R. Christopher White

Outstanding Real-Time Visual Effects in a Video GameHalo: ReachMarcus Lehto, Joseph Tung, Stephen Scott, CJ Cowan

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Video Game TrailerWorld of WarcraftMarc Messenger, Phillip Hillenbrand, Jr.

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion PictureHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 - DobbyMathieu Vig, Ben Lambert, Laurie Brugger, Marine Poirson

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion PictureHow to Train Your Dragon – ToothlessGabe Hordos, Cassidy Curtis, Mariette Marinus, Brent Watkins

Outstanding Animated Character in a Broadcast Program or CommercialCitron C3 The Spacebox – CitroMichael Nauzin, Anne Chatelain, Gregory Mougne, Cedric Nicolas

Outstanding Animated Character in a Video GameStarCraft II - Sarah KerriganFausto De Martini, Xin Wang, Glenn Ramos, Scott Lange

Outstanding Effects Animation in an Animated Feature Motion PictureHow to Train Your DragonAndy Hayes, Laurent Kermel, Jason Mayer, Brett Miller

Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Feature Motion PictureInception - Paris DreamscapeBruno Baron, Dan Neal, Graham Page, Per Mork-Jensen

Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Broadcast ProgramThe Pacific - The Battle of Iwo JimaMarco Recuay, Morgan McDermott, Nick Lund-Ulrich

Outstanding Models & Miniatures in a Feature Motion PictureInception - Hospital Fortress DestructionIan Hunter, Scott Beverly, Forest Fischer, Robert Spurlock

Outstanding Models & Miniatures in a Broadcast Program or CommercialBoardwalk Empire - The Ivory TowerJ. John Corbett, Matthew Conner, Brendan Fitzgerald

Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion PictureInceptionAstrid Busser-Casas, Scott Pritchard, Jan Maroske, George Zwier

Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program or CommercialThe Pacific - Peleliu landingJeremy Nelson, John P. Mesa, Dan Novy, Tyler Cote

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student ProjectLOOMRegina Welker, Jan Bitzer, Ilija Brunck, Csaba Letay

About the VESThe VES is a professional, honorary society, dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences, and applications of visual effects and to upholding the highest uniform standards and procedures for the visual effects profession. The VES is the entertainment industry's only official organization representing the extended community of visual effects practitioners including supervisors, artists, producers, technology developers, educators and studio executives. Its over 2,000 global members contribute to all areas of entertainment from film, animation, television and commercials to music videos, games and new media. VES strives to enrich and educate its members and the entertainment community at large through many domestic and international events, screenings and programs. Visual effects professionals constitute a vital creative force in content creation and are literally shaping the future of entertainment. For more information regarding the Visual Effects Society visit: www.visualeffectssociety.com.

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