‘The Creator’ and ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' Lead VES Award Nominations

The Creator, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and The Last of Us lead all nominees for the 22nd Annual VES Awards, the yearly celebration that recognizes outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation in features, animation, television, commercials and video games and the VFX supervisors, VFX producers and hands-on artists responsible for its creation. The awards ceremony is set for February 21, 2024 at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.

In feature films, The Creator garnered seven nominations. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse leads all animation category contenders with six nominations, while The Last of Us leads all TV category nominees with six.

Nominees in 25 categories were selected by VES members at 39 in-person and virtual nomination events conducted worldwide over a 36-hour continuous process.  The distinctive and thoughtful VES Awards nominations protocol included a review of each awards submission including “Befores and Afters” by a minimum of three different judging panels.  Participating VES members on the panels represented 25 countries, highlighting the full breadth of the Society’s diverse global membership.  

“The artistry, ingenuity and passion of visual effects practitioners around the world have come together to create remarkable imagery,” said Kim Davidson, newly elected VES Chair.  “We are seeing best in class work that elevates the art of storytelling and exemplifies the spirit of innovation.  The VES Awards is the only venue that showcases and honors these outstanding artists across a wide range of disciplines, and we are extremely proud of our nominees.”

“Autodesk is thrilled to once again sponsor the Visual Effects Society Student Award, honoring bright and innovative upcoming filmmakers and artists,” said Leona Frank, Director, Media & Entertainment Marketing, Autodesk. “Year after year, we are amazed by these talented young minds' boundless creativity and technical prowess. The submissions for this year's award have left us in awe, showcasing an exceptional level of imagination, craftsmanship, and skill. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to all of this year’s deserving student nominees.” 

This year’s nominees are as follows:

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

• Ben Snow
• Diana Giorgiutti
• Khalid Almeerani
• Scott Benza
• Sam Conway

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

• Stephane Ceretti
• Susan Pickett
• Alexis Wajsbrot
• Guy Williams
• Dan Sudick

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

• Andrew Whitehurst
• Kathy Siegel
• Robert Weaver
• Julian Hutchens
• Alistair Williams

Oppenheimer

• Andrew Jackson
• Mike Chambers, VES
• Giacomo Mineo
• Dave Drzewiecki
• Scot Fisher

The Creator

• Jay Cooper
• Julian Levi
• Ian Comley
• Charmaine Chan
• Neil Corbould, VES

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

John Wick: Chapter 4

• Janelle Croshaw Ralla
• Reina Sparks
• Jonathan Rothbart
• Javier Roca
• Gerd Nefzer

Killers of the Flower Moon

• Pablo Helman
• Brian Barlettani
• Sam Bassett
• Brandon Keys McLaughlin

Napoleon

• Charley Henley
• Sarah Tulloch
• Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet
• Simone Coco
• Neil Corbould, VES

Nyad

• Jake Braver
• Fiona Campbell Westgate
• R. Christopher White
• Mohsen Mousavi

Society of the Snow

• Félix Bergés
• Micaela Gagliano
• Laura Pedro
• Ezequiel Larrú
• Pau Costa

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

• Jon Biggins
• Jim Lewis
• Charles Copping
• Matthew Perry

Elemental

• Peter Sohn
• Denise Ream
• Sanjay Bakshi
• Stephen Marshall

Nimona

• Archie Donato
• Yancy Lindquist
• Theodore Ty
• Anthony Kemp

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

• Alan Hawkins
• Christian Hejnal
• Michael Lasker
• Matt Hausman

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

• Matthieu Rouxel
• Marie Balland
• Jacques Daigle
• Vincent Leroy

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

Ahsoka; Season 1; Dreams and Madness

• Richard Bluff
• Jakris Smittant
• Paul Kavanagh
• Enrico Damm
• Scott Fisher

Loki; Season 2; Glorious Purpose

• Christopher Townsend
• Allison Paul
• Matthew Twyford
• Christopher Smallfield
• John William Van Der Pool

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters

• Sean Konrad
• Jessica Smith
• Jed Glassford
• Khalid Almeerani
• Paul Benjamin

The Last of Us; Season 1; Infected

• Alex Wang
• Sean Nowlan
• Stephen James
• Simon Jung
• Joel Whist

The Mandalorian; Season 3; The Return

• Grady Cofer
• Abbigail Keller
• Victor Schutz IV
• Cameron Neilson
• Scott Fisher

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

A Murder at The End of the World; Season 1; Crypt

• Aaron Raff
• Tavis Larkham
• Douglas Stichbury
• Mat Ellin

Citadel; Season 1; Secrets in Night Need Early Rains

• Wesley Froud
• Scott Shapiro
• Aladino Debert
• Greg Teegarden

Ted Lasso: Season 3; Mom City

• Gretchen Bangs
• Bill Parker
• Lenny Wilson

The Crown; Season 6; Dis-Moi Oui

• Ben Turner
• Reece Ewing
• Oliver Bersey
• Joe Cork

Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty; Season 2; BEAT LA

• Raymond McIntyre Jr.
• Victor DiMichina
• Javier Menéndez Platas
• Damien Stantina

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT

Alan Wake 2

• Janne Pulkkinen
• Johannes Richter
• Daniel Kończyk
• Damian Olechowski

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

• Jakub Knapik
• Paweł Mielniczuk
• Maciej Włodarkiewicz
• Kacper Niepokólczycki

Immortals of Aveum

• Joseph Hall
• Kevin Boyle
• Dave Bogan
• Julia Lichtblau

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

• Jacinda Chew
• Jeannette Lee
• Bryanna Lindsey
• Alan Weider

Mortal Kombat 1

• Christopher Chapman
• Scott Quinn
• James DeSousa
• Jeff Palmer
• Matt Gilmore

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL

Accenture; Changing Tree

• Simon French
• Vic Lovejoy
• David Filipe
• Matteo La Motta

Apple; Air Pods Pro; Quiet The Noise

• Iain Murray
• Oscar Wendt
• Dean Robinson
• Sergio Morales Paz

Coca-Cola; Masterpiece

• Ryan Knowles
• Antonia Vlasto
• Gregory McKneally
• Dan Yargici

Jean Paul Gaultier; Divine Perfume

• Stéphane Pivron
• Cécile Hubin
• Guillaume Dadaglio
• Mathias Barday

Virgin Media; Goat Glider

• Ben Cronin
• George Reid
• Sam Driscoll
• Christian Baker

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT

Hypersphere 360; SeaWorld Abu Dhabi

• Daren Ulmer
• Cedar Connor
• Lindsey Sprague
• Ryan Kravetz

Postcard From Earth

• Aruna Inversin
• Eric Wilson
• Corey Turner
• Bill George

Rembrandt Immersive Artwork

• Andrew McNamara
• Sebastian Read
• Andrew Kinnear
• Sam Matthews

The Marvels: Goose the Flerken Cat

• Tim Kafka
• Mari Suarez
• Toya Drechsler
• Sebastian Niño Florez

Zootopia: Hot Pursuit

• Blaine Kennison
• Jeanne Angel
• Darin Hollings
• Aaron Arendt

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom; Topo the Octopus

• Thomas Ward
• Andrew Butler
• Felix Slinger-Thompson
• Jacob Burstein

Godzilla Minus One; Godzilla

• Kosuke Taguchi
• Takashi Yamazaki

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3; Rocket

• Nathan McConnel
• Andrea De Martis
• Antony Magdalinidis
• Rachel Williams

Wonka; Oompa Loompa

• Dale Newton
• Kunal Ayer
• Valentina Ercolani
• Gabor Foner

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Elemental; Ember

• Gwendelyn Enderoglu
• Jared Fong
• Jonathan Hoffman
• Patrick Witting

Elemental; Wade

• Max Gilbert
• Jacob Kuenzel
• Dave Strick
• Benjamin Su

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; Spot

• Christopher Mangnall
• Craig Feifarek
• Humberto Rosa
• Nideep Varghese

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem; Superfly

• Gregory Coelho
• Anne-Claire Leroux
• Simon Cuisinier
• Olivier Pierre

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

Diablo IV; Inarius and Lilith Cinematic; Lilith

• Matt Onheiber
• Jason Huang
• Maia Neubig

Shadow and Bone; Season 2; No Funerals; Nichevo’ya the Shadow Monster

• José María del Fresno
• Matthieu Poirey
• Carlos Puigdollers
• Guillermo Ramos

The Last of Us; Endure & Survive; Bloater

• Gino Acevedo
• Max Telfer
• Pascal Raimbault
• Fabio Leporelli

The Nevers; It’s a Good Day; Robot Dog

• Christian Leitner
• Bernd Nalbach
• Sebastian Plank
• Martin Wellstein

Virgin Media; Goat Glider; The Goat

• Sam Driscoll
• Kanishk Chouhan
• Suvi Jokiniemi
• Chloe Dawe

OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3; Knowhere

• Omar Alejandro Lavrador Ibanez
• Fabien Julvecourt
• Klaudio Ladavac
• Benjamin Patterson

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny; Underwater Wreck Environment

• Johan Gabrielsson
• Adrian Tsang
• Stefan Andersson
• Martin Eneroth

John Wick: Chapter 4; Place de L'Étoile

• Manuel Gaudreau
• Fabrice Vienne
• Vignesh Ravi
• Laurent Makowski

The Creator; Floating Village

• John Seru
• Guy Williams
• Vincent Techer
• Timothée Maron

OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget; Chicken Island

• Charles Copping
• Matthew Perry
• Jim Lewis
• Jon Biggins

Elemental; Element City

• Chris Bernardi
• Brandon Montell
• David Shavers
• Ting Zhang

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; Mumbattan City

• Taehyun Park
• YJ Lee
• Pepe Orozco
• Kelly Han

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem; Midtown Manhattan

• Olivier Mitonneau
• Eddy Frechou
• Guillaume Chevet
• Arnaud Philippe-Giraux

OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

Loki; Season 2: 1983; World’s Fair White City

• Christian Waite
• Ben Aickin
• Francesco Ferraresi
• Pieter Warmington

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds; The Broken Circle

• Nathaniel Larouche
• Owen Deveney
• Mujia Liao
• Alex Morin

The Last Of Us; Look for the Light; Salt Lake City

• Pascal Raimbault
• Nick Cattell
• Jasper Hayward
• Kristine -Joeann Jasper

The Last of Us: Post-Outbreak Boston

• Melaina Mace
• Adrien Lambert
• Juan Carlos Barquet
• Christopher Anciaume

OUTSTANDING VIRTUAL CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A CG PROJECT

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

• Joanna Davison
• Cheyana Wilkinson
• Michael Cozens
• Jason Desjarlais

Migration

• Guylo Homsy
• Damien Bapst
• Antoine Collet
• David Dangin

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

• Rich Turner
• Randolph Lizarda
• Daniela Campos Little
• Thomas Campos

The Creator

• Roel Coucke
• Christopher Potter
• Amanda Johnstone-Batt
• Jeremy Bloch

OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3; The Arête

• Kenneth Johansson
• Jason Galeon
• Tim Civil
• Artur Vil

Peter Pan & Wendy; Jolly Roger

• Patrick Comtois
• Thomas Gallardo
• Harrison Stark
• David Thibodeau

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; Spider HQ

• Dongick David Sheen
• Mark JeongWoong Lee
• Mikaela Bantog
• René Völker

The Creator; Nomad

• Oliver Kane
• Mat Monro
• Florence Green
• Serban Ungureanu

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Napoleon

• Koen Hofmeester
• Gianmichele Mariani
• Clair Bellens
• Hernan Llano Duque

Nyad; Stormy Waters

• Korbinian Meier
• Sindy Saalfeld
• David Michielsen
• Andreas Vrhovsek

The Creator

• Ludovic Ramisandraina
• Raul Essig
• Mathieu Chardonnet
• Lewis Taylor

The Nun 2

• Laurent Creusot
• Sebastien Podsiadlo
• Michael Moercant
• Benjamin Saurine

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Elemental

• Kristopher Campbell
• Greg Gladstone
• Jon Reisch
• Kylie Wijsmuller

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

• Pav Grochola
• Filippo Maccari
• Naoki Kato
• Nicola Finizio

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

• Louis Marsaud
• Paul-Etienne Bourde
• Serge Martin
• Marine Pommereul

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

• Simon Pate
• Christophe Vazquez
• Milo Riccarand

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

Citadel; Secrets in Night Need Early Rains; Ocean Water

• James Reid
• Mathew Rotman
• Filipp Elizarov
• Nardeep Chander

Invasion; Season 2; A Voice from the Other Side

• Zybrand Jacobs
• Alex Marlow
• Tim Jenkinson
• Tobias Grønbeck Andersen

Loki; Season 2; Science/Fiction; Spaghettification

• Rafael Camacho
• Jonathan Lyddon-Towl
• Julien Legay
• Benedikt Roettger

The Mandalorian; Season 3; Lake Monster Attack Water

• Travis Harkleroad
• Florian Wietzel
• Rick Hankins
• Aron Bonar

Willow; Children of the Wyrm; Crone Duststorm and Magical Effects

• Michael Cashmore
• Robert Zeltsch
• Jiyong Shin
• Audun Ase

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

• Indah Maretha
• Beck Veitch
• Nathan Abbot
• Steve McGillen

John Wick: Chapter 4; Apartment Massacre Videogame Style

• Javier Roca
• Julien Forest
• Thomas Bourdis
• Dominik Kirouac

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

• Bret St.Clair
• Kieron Cheuk-Chi Lo
• Kelly Christophers
• Rowan Young

The Creator; Bar

• Phil Prates
• Min Kim
• Nisarg Suthar
• Toshiko Miura

The Creator; Spaceships

• Ben O-Brien
• Juan Espigares Enriquez
• Wesley Roberts
• Hayes Brien

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE

The Last of Us; Endure and Survive; Infected Horde Battle

• Matthew Lumb
• Ben Roberts
• Ben Campbell
• Quentin Hema

The Last of Us; Infected; Boston

• Casey Gorton
• Francesco Dell'Anna
• Vaclav Kubant
• Natalia Valbuena

The Mandalorian; Season 3; The Return

• Sam Wirch
• Tory Mercer
• Donny Rausch
• Erich Ippen

Willow; Children of the Wyrm

• Jeremy Sawyer
• Steve Hardy
• Martin Tardif
• Miguel Macaya Ten

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL

Accenture; Changing Tree

• David Filipe
• Matteo La Motta
• Jordan Dunstall
• Taran Spear

Coca-Cola; Masterpiece

• Ryan Knowles
• Greg Mckneally
• Taran Spear
• Jordan Dunstall

Smirnoff; Cocktail

• Vittorio Barabani
• Peter Hodsman
• Giacomo Verri
• Marc Greyvenstein

Starfield

• Jimmy Bullard
• Ajit Menon
• Ruairi Twohig
• Karim Moussa

OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT

I’m a Virgo

• John McLeod
• Scott Kirvan
• Alec Gillis
• Carl Miller

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

• Neil Corbould, VES
• Ray Ferguson
• Keith Dawson
• Chris Motjuoadi

Oppenheimer

• Scott Fisher
• James Rollins
• Mario Vanillo

Society of the Snow

• Pau Costa
• Carlos Laguna
• Guillermo F. Aldunate
• Eloy Cervera

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT (AWARD SPONSORED BY AUTODESK)

Au 8ème Jour

• Flavie Carin
• Agathe Sénéchal
• Alicia Massez
• Elise Debruyne

L'Animal Sauce Ail

• Aurélien Duchez
• Ysaline Debut
• Diane Mazella
• Camille Rostan

Loup y es-tu ?

• Célina Lebon
• Louise Laurent
• Emma Fessart
• Annouck François

Silhouette

• Alexis Lafuente
• Antoni Nicolaï
• Chloé Stricher
• Elliot Dreuille

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD

Blue Beetle; Machine Learning Cloth

• JohnMark Gibbons
• Allen Ruilova
• Momme Carl
• David Minor

Elemental; Volumetric Neural Style Transfer

• Vinicius C. Azevedo
• Byungsoo Kim
• Raphael Ortiz
• Paul Kanyuk

The Flash; Volumetric Capture

• Stephan Trojansky
• Thomas Ganshorn
• Oliver Pilarski
• Lukas Lepicovsky

Wish; Dynamic Screen Space Textures for Coherent Stylization

• Brent Burley
• Daniel Teece
• Brian J. Green

Source: Visual Effects Society

Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.