It was a slightly curious evening on the twenty third VES Awards, which had been handed out Tuesday on the Beverly Hilton.
The Visual Effects Society knelt earlier than The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, handing it the marquee prize for Excellent Visible Results in a Photoreal Characteristic — nevertheless it was the lone win on six nominations for the tenth movie within the venerable franchise.
The larger winners with 4 apiece had been Dune: Part Two, which got here into the evening with a leading seven nominations, and The Wild Robot, sizzling off dominating the Annie Awards over the weekend.
That raises a query: Which movie has the within monitor for the Oscar subsequent month?
Properly, the VES Awards and the Academy of Movement Image Arts and Sciences haven’t adopted the identical script a lot through the previous decade-plus, with solely 5 of the Visible Results Society’s marquee winners since 2013 happening to attain the FX Oscar. That pattern held final yr, when VES bowed before The Creator, however the Academy Award was fed to Godzilla Minus Zero.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Dune: Half Two will vie for the Oscar in opposition to Alien: Romulus, Higher Man and Depraved. The Wild Robotic is up for Animated Characteristic.
Two extra for the historical past buffs: Dune led the VES Awards in 2022, and Battle for the Planet of the Apes won the Photoreal Feature category in 2018.
A24’s Civil Battle triumphed within the Supporting VFX class, and Paramount’s Higher Man received for Character in a Photoreal Characteristic — that being the CGI chimp portraying Robbie Williams within the musical biopic. Not a nasty evening for the apes general.
twentieth Century Studios’ Alien: Romulus took the VES Award for Excellent Mannequin for its Renaissance House Station.
On the TV facet, Disney+’s The Penguin and FX’s Shōgun tied with three awards apiece after coming into the ceremony with 4 noms every to steer all TV applications.
The group behind FX’s Emmy-laden sequence Shōgun took the primary trophy of the evening, for Excellent Surroundings in an Episode, Business, Recreation Cinematic or Actual-Time Undertaking and later picked up a Results Simulations win. It capped its massive evening with the award for Excellent Visible Results in a Photoreal Episode.
The Penguin waddled residence with Supporting Visible Results. Earlier it received two classes in a row, choosing up the statuette for Compositing in an Episode earlier than profitable for Particular (Sensible) Results in a Photoreal Undertaking.
The Coca-Cola industrial titled “The Heroes” additionally was a double winner Tuesday, choosing up trophies for Visible Results and Compositing & Lighting.
A number of Emmy-winning Shōgun actor-producer Hiroyuki Sanada acquired the VES Award for Creative Excellence, a lifetime achievement award introduced by one Keanu Reeves. He delighted the group of VFX professionals by saying, “Y’all do some superb shit right here.” The honoree then promised that Season 2 “would take it to the subsequent degree.”
The opposite particular honorees Tuesday evening had been VR/immersive expertise pioneer Dr. Jacquelyn Ford Morie (VES Georges Méliès Award) and Oscar-winning director and VFX supervisor Takashi Yamazaki (VES Visionary Award).
The VES Awards — which acknowledges excellent visible results artistry and innovation in 25 classes spanning options, TV, animation, commercials, video games and new media — opened with Visible Impact Society Exec Director Nancy Ward thanking the primary responders who risked all of it to say lives and property through the devastating Los Angeles wildfires final month. Cheers to that.
The Sklar Brothers made their internet hosting debut for the occasion.
Listed here are the winners on the 2025 VES Awards:
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Erik Winquist
Julia Neighly
Paul Story
Danielle Immerman
Rodney Burke
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
The Wild Robotic
Chris Sanders
Jeff Hermann
Jeff Budsberg
Jacob Hjort Jensen
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
Shōgun; Anjin
Michael Cliett
Melody Mead
Philip Engström
Ed Bruce
Cameron Waldbauer
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Civil Battle
David Simpson
Michelle Rose
Freddy Salazar
Chris Zeh
J.D. Schwalm
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
The Penguin; Bliss
Johnny Han
Michelle Rose
Goran Pavles
Ed Bruce
Devin Maggio
OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
The Wild Robotic; Roz
Fabio Lignini
Yukinori Inagaki
Owen Demers
Hyun Huh
OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
Ronja the Robber’s Daughter; Vildvittran the Queen Harpy
Nicklas Andersson
David Allan
Gustav Åhren
Niklas Wallén
OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Higher Man; Robbie Williams
Milton Ramirez
Andrea Merlo
Seoungseok Charlie Kim
Eteuati Tem
OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Dune: Half Two; Atomic Explosions and Wormriding
Nicholas Papworth
Sandy la Tourelle
Lisa Nolan
Christopher Phillips
OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
The Wild Robotic
Derek Cheung
Michael Losure
David Chow
Nyoung Kim
OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
Shōgun; Damaged to the Fist; Landslide
Dominic Tiedeken
Heinrich Löwe
Charles Guerton
Timmy Lundin
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE
Dune: Half Two; Wormriding, Geidi Prime, and the Ultimate Battle
Christopher Rickard
Francesco Dell’Anna
Paul Chapman
Ryan Wing
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL
Coca-Cola; The Heroes
Ryan Knowles
Alex Gabucci
Jack Powell
Dan Yarcigi
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE
The Penguin; After Hours
Jonas Stuckenbrock
Karen Chang
Eugene Bondar
Miky Girón
OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT
The Penguin; Protected Weapons
Devin Maggio
Johnny Han
Cory Candrilli
Alexandre Prod’homme
OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT
Alien: Romulus; Renaissance House Station
Waldemar Bartkowiak
Trevor Broad
Matt Middleton
Ben Shearman
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT
Pittura (entry from ARTFX – Colleges of Digital Arts)
Lauriol Adam
Lassère Titouan
Vivenza Rémi
Marre Helloïs
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD
Right here; Neural Efficiency Toolset
Jo Plaete
Oriel Frigo
Tomas Koutsky
Matteo Oliviero Dancy
OUTSTANDING CG CINEMATOGRAPHY
Dune: Half Two; Arrakis
Greig Fraser
Xin Steve Guo
Sandra Murta
Ben Wiggs
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT
D23; Actual-Time Rocket
Evan Goldberg
Alyssa Finley
Jason Breneman
Alice Taylor
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT
Star Wars Outlaws
Stephen Hawes
Lionel Le Dain
Benedikt Podlesnigg
Bogdan Draghici
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL
Coca-Cola; The Heroes
Greg McKneally
Antonia Vlasto
Ryan Knowles
Fabrice Fiteni
OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Dune: Half Two; The Arrakeen Basin
Daniel Rhein
Daniel Anton Fernandez
Marc James Austin
Christopher Anciaume
OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
The Wild Robotic; The Forest
John Wake
He Jung Park
Woojin Choi
Shane Glading
OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
Shōgun; Osaka
Manuel Martinez
Phil Hannigan
Keith Malone
Francesco Corvino
Peter Stubbs
