Top Story: Despite A Large Number Of Detractors, Animation Guild Members Ratify New Contract

Nominations were announced today for the 17th annual VES Awards, recognizing outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation in film, animation, television, commercials, and video games.

Disney-Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War garnered the most feature film nominations with six, while Disney-Pixar’s Incredibles 2 topped the animated film categories with five noms. For broadcast, Netflix’s Lost in Space garnered six nominations.

In the overall visual effects category, the nominees were Avengers: Infinity War, Christopher Robin, Ready Player One, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and Welcome to Marwen. The second-most nominated vfx-driven feature is Ready Player One, which received five nominations.

The nominees for the animated feature vfx prize are Incredibles 2, The Grinch, Isle of Dogs, Ralph Breaks the Internet, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse. Of those films, Grinch, Ralph, and Spider-Man each have four nominations apiece.

Notable snubs were Black Panther and Mary Poppins Returns, both of which came up empty-handed in all categories. They are the only two films among the Academy’s current 10-film vfx shortlist that were not nominated for any VES Awards.

On the other hand, Walt Disney Animation Studio’s first virtual reality project, Cycles, earned three nominations.

The nominees in 24 categories were selected by VES members via events hosted by 11 of the organization’s sections, including Australia, the Bay Area, Germany, London, Los Angeles, Montreal, New York, New Zealand, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington.

The VES Awards will be held on February 5 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. In addition to the juried categories, the VES Visionary Award will be presented to writer/director/producer Jonathan Nolan, and the VES Award for Creative Excellence will be presented to creators/writers/directors David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

The complete list of nominees is below:

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

Avengers: Infinity War
Daniel DeLeeuw
Jen Underdahl
Kelly Port
Matt Aitken
Daniel Sudick

Christopher Robin
Chris Lawrence
Steve Gaub
Michael Eames
Glenn Melenhorst
Chris Corbould

Ready Player One
Roger Guyett
Jennifer Meislohn
David Shirk
Matthew Butler
Neil Corbould

Solo: A Star Wars Story
Rob Bredow
Erin Dusseault
Matt Shumway
Patrick Tubach
Dominic Tuohy

Welcome to Marwen
Kevin Baillie
Sandra Scott
Seth Hill
Marc Chu
James Paradis

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

12 Strong
Roger Nall
Robert Weaver
Mike Meinardus

Bird Box
Marcus Taormina
David Robinson
Mark Bakowski
Sophie Dawes
Mike Meinardus

Bohemian Rhapsody
Paul Norris
Tim Field
May Leung
Andrew Simmonds

First Man
Paul Lambert
Kevin Elam
Tristan Myles
Ian Hunter
JD Schwalm

Outlaw King
Alex Bicknell
Dan Bethell
Greg O’Connor
Stefano Pepin

Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature

Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch
Pierre Leduc
Janet Healy
Bruno Chauffard
Milo Riccarand

Incredibles 2
Brad Bird
John Walker
Rick Sayre
Bill Watral

Isle of Dogs
Mark Waring
Jeremy Dawson
Tim Ledbury
Lev Kolobov

Ralph Breaks the Internet
Scott Kersavage
Bradford Simonsen
Ernest J. Petti
Cory Loftis

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Joshua Beveridge
Christian Hejnal
Danny Dimian
Bret St. Clair

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode

Altered Carbon; “Out of the Past”
Everett Burrell
Tony Meagher
Steve Moncur
Christine Lemon
Joel Whist

Krypton; “The Phantom Zone”
Ian Markiewicz
Jennifer Wessner
Niklas Jacobson
Martin Pelletier

Lost in Space; “Danger, Will Robinson”
Jabbar Raisani
Terron Pratt
Niklas Jacobson
Joao Sita

The Terror; “Go For Broke”
Frank Petzold
Lenka Líkařová
Viktor Muller
Pedro Sabrosa

Westworld; “The Passenger”
Jay Worth
Elizabeth Castro
Bruce Branit
Joe Wehmeyer
Michael Lantieri

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode

Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan; “Pilot”
Erik Henry
Matt Robken
Bobo Skipper
Deak Ferrand
Pau Costa

The Alienist; “The Boy on the Bridge”
Kent Houston
Wendy Garfinkle
Steve Murgatroyd
Drew Jones
Paul Stephenson

The Deuce; “We’re All Beasts”
Jim Rider
Steven Weigle
John Bair
Aaron Raff

The First; “Near and Far”
Karen Goulekas
Eddie Bonin
Roland Langschwert
Bryan Godwin
Matthew James Kutcher

The Handmaid’s Tale; “June”
Brendan Taylor
Stephen Lebed
Winston Lee
Leo Bovell

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project

Age of Sail
John Kahrs
Kevin Dart
Cassidy Curtis
Theresa Latzko

Cycles
Jeff Gipson
Nicholas Russell
Lauren Nicole Brown
Jorge E. Ruiz Cano

Dr Grordbort’s Invaders
Greg Broadmore
Mhairead Connor
Steve Lambert
Simon Baker

God of War
Maximilian Vaughn Ancar
Corey Teblum
Kevin Huynh
Paolo Surricchio

Marvel’s Spider-Man
Grant Hollis
Daniel Wang
Seth Faske
Abdul Bezrati

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial

Beyond Good & Evil 2
Maxime Luere
Leon Berelle
Remi Kozyra
Dominique Boidin

John Lewis; “The Boy and the Piano”
Kamen Markov
Philip Whalley
Anthony Bloor
Andy Steele

McDonald’s; “#ReindeerReady”
Ben Cronin
Josh King
Gez Wright
Suzanne Jandu

U.S. Marine Corps; “A Nation’s Call”
Steve Drew
Nick Fraser
Murray Butler
Greg White
Dave Peterson

Volkswagen; “Born Confident”
Carsten Keller
Anandi Peiris
Dan Sanders
Fabian Frank

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project

Beautiful Hunan; “Flight of the Phoenix”
B. R. Rajeev
Suhit Saha
Arish Fyzee
Unmesh Nimbalkar

Childish Gambino’s Pharos
Keith Miller
Alejandro Crawford
Thelvin Cabezas
Jeremy Thompson

DreamWorks Theatre Presents Kung Fu Panda
Marc Scott
Doug Cooper
Michael Losure
Alex Timchenko

Osheaga Music and Arts Festival
Andre Montambeault
Marie-Josee Paradis
Alyson Lamontagne
David Bishop Noriega

Pearl Quest
Eugénie von Tunzelmann
Liz Oliver
Ian Spendloff
Ross Burgess

Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature

Avengers: Infinity War; Thanos
Jan Philip Cramer
Darren Hendler
Paul Story
Sidney Kombo-Kintombo

Christopher Robin; Tigger
Arslan Elver
Kayn Garcia
Laurent Laban
Mariano Mendiburu

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom; Indoraptor
Jance Rubinchik
Ted Lister
Yannick Gillain
Keith Ribbons

Ready Player One; Art3mis
David Shirk
Brian Cantwell
Jung-Seung Hong
Kim Ooi

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature

Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch; The Grinch
David Galante
Francois Boudaille
Olivier Luffin
Yarrow Cheney

Incredibles 2; Helen Parr
Michal Makarewicz
Ben Porter
Edgar Rodriguez
Kevin Singleton

Ralph Breaks the Internet; Ralphzilla
Dong Joo Byun
Dave K. Komorowski
Justin Sklar
Le Joyce Tong

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse; Miles Morales
Marcos Kang
Chad Belteau
Humberto Rosa
Julie Bernier Gosselin

Outstanding Animated Character in an Episode or Real-Time Project

Cycles; Rae
Jose Luis Gomez Diaz
Edward Everett Robbins III
Jorge E. Ruiz Cano
Jose Luis -Weecho- Velasquez

Lost in Space; Humanoid
Chad Shattuck
Paul Zeke
Julia Flanagan
Andrew McCartney

Nightflyers; All That We Have Found; Eris
Peter Giliberti
James Chretien
Ryan Cromie
Cesar Dacol Jr.

Spider-Man; Doc Ock
Brian Wyser
Henrique Naspolini
Sophie Brennan
William Salyers

Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial

McDonald’s; Bobbi the Reindeer
Gabriela Ruch Salmeron
Joe Henson
Andrew Butler
Joel Best

Overkill’s The Walking Dead; Maya
Jonas Ekman
Goran Milic
Jonas Skoog
Henrik Eklundh

PETA; Best Friend; Lucky
Bernd Nalbach
Emanuel Fuchs
Sebastian Plank
Christian Leitner

Volkswagen; Born Confident; Bam
David Bryan
Chris Welsby
Fabian Frank
Chloe Dawe

Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature

Ant-Man and the Wasp; Journey to the Quantum Realm
Florian Witzel
Harsh Mistri
Yuri Serizawa
Can Yuksel

Aquaman; Atlantis
Quentin Marmier
Aaron Barr
Jeffrey De Guzman
Ziad Shureih

Ready Player One; The Shining, Overlook Hotel
Mert Yamak
Stanley Wong
Joana Garrido
Daniel Gagiu

Solo: A Star Wars Story; Vandor Planet
Julian Foddy
Christoph Ammann
Clement Gerard
Pontus Albrecht

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature

Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch; Whoville
Loic Rastout
Ludovic Ramiere
Henri Deruer
Nicolas Brack

Incredibles 2; Parr House
Christopher M. Burrows
Philip Metschan
Michael Rutter
Joshua West

Ralph Breaks the Internet; Social Media District
Benjamin Min Huang
Jon Kim Krummel II
Gina Warr Lawes
Matthias Lechner

Spider-Man; Into the Spider-Verse; Graphic New York City
Terry Park
Bret St. Clair
Kimberly Liptrap
Dave Morehead

Outstanding Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project

Cycles; The House
Michael R.W. Anderson
Jeff Gipson
Jose Luis Gomez Diaz
Edward Everett Robbins III

Lost in Space; “Pilot”; Impact Area
Philip Engström
Kenny Vähäkari
Jason Martin
Martin Bergquist

The Deuce; 42nd St
John Bair
Vance Miller
Jose Marin
Steve Sullivan

The Handmaid’s Tale; “June”; Fenway Park
Patrick Zentis
Kevin McGeagh
Leo Bovell
Zachary Dembinski

The Man in the High Castle; Reichsmarschall Ceremony
Casi Blume
Michael Eng
Ben McDougal
Sean Myers

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Photoreal Project

Aquaman; Third Act Battle
Claus Pedersen
Mohammad Rastkar
Cedric Lo
Ryan McCoy

Echo; Time Displacement
Victor Perez
Tomas Tjernberg
Tomas Wall
Marcus Dineen

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom; Gyrosphere Escape
Pawl Fulker
Matt Perrin
Oscar Faura
David Vickery

Ready Player One; New York Race
Daniele Bigi
Edmund Kolloen
Mathieu Vig
Jean-Baptiste Noyau

Welcome to Marwen; Town of Marwen
C. Kim Miles
Matthew Ward
Ryan Beagan
Marc Chu

Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project

Avengers: Infinity War; Nidavellir Forge Megastructure
Chad Roen
Ryan Rogers
Jeff Tetzlaff
Ming Pan

Incredibles 2; Underminer Vehicle
Neil Blevins
Philip Metschan
Kevin Singleton

Mortal Engines; London
Matthew Sandoval
James Ogle
Nick Keller
Sam Tack

Ready Player One; DeLorean DMC-12
Giuseppe Laterza
Kim Lindqvist
Mauro Giacomazzo
William Gallyot

Solo: A Star Wars Story; Millennium Falcon
Masa Narita
Steve Walton
David Meny
James Clyne

Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature

Avengers: Infinity War; Titan
Gerardo Aguilera
Ashraf Ghoniem
Vasilis Pazionis
Hartwell Durfor

Avengers: Infinity War; Wakanda
Florian Witzel
Adam Lee
Miguel Perez Senent
Francisco Rodriguez

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
Dominik Kirouac
Chloe Ostiguy
Christian Gaumond

Venom
Aharon Bourland
Jordan Walsh
Aleksandar Chalyovski
Federico Frassinelli

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature

Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch; Snow, Clouds and Smoke
Eric Carme
Nicolas Brice
Milo Riccarand

Incredibles 2
Paul Kanyuk
Tiffany Erickson Klohn
Vincent Serritella
Matthew Kiyoshi Wong

Ralph Breaks the Internet; Virus Infection & Destruction
Paul Carman
Henrik Fält
Christopher Hendryx
David Hutchins

Smallfoot
Henrik Karlsson
Theo Vandernoot
Martin Furness
Dmitriy Kolesnik

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Ian Farnsworth
Pav Grochola
Simon Corbaux
Brian D. Casper

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project

Altered Carbon
Philipp Kratzer
Daniel Fernandez
Xavier Lestourneaud
Andrea Rosa

Lost in Space; “Jupiter is Falling”
Denys Shchukin
Heribert Raab
Michael Billette
Jaclyn Stauber

Lost in Space; “The Get Away”
Juri Bryan
Will Elsdale
Hugo Medda
Maxime Marline

The Man in the High Castle; “Statue of Liberty Destruction”
Saber Jlassi
Igor Zanic
Nick Chamberlain
Chris Parks

Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Feature

Avengers: Infinity War; Titan
Sabine Laimer
Tim Walker
Tobias Wiesner
Massimo Pasquetti

First Man
Joel Delle-Vergin
Peter Farkas
Miles Lauridsen
Francesco Dell’Anna

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
John Galloway
Enrik Pavdeja
David Nolan
Juan Espigares Enriquez

Welcome to Marwen
Woei Lee
Saul Galbiati
Max Besner
Thai-Son Doan

Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Episode

Altered Carbon
Jean-François Leroux
Reece Sanders
Stephen Bennett
Laraib Atta

The Handmaid’s Tale; June
Winston Lee
Gwen Zhang
Xi Luo
Kevin Quatman

Lost in Space; “Impact”; Crash Site Rescue
David Wahlberg
Douglas Roshamn
Sofie Ljunggren
Fredrik Lönn

Silicon Valley; “Artificial Emotional Intelligence”; Fiona
Tim Carras
Michael Eng
Shiying Li
Bill Parker

Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Commercial

Apple; “Unlock”
Morten Vinther
Michael Gregory
Gustavo Bellon
Rodrigo Jimenez

Apple; “Welcome Home”
Michael Ralla
Steve Drew
Alejandro Villabon
Peter Timberlake

Genesis; “G90 Facelift”
Neil Alford
Jose Caballero
Joseph Dymond
Greg Spencer

John Lewis; “The Boy and the Piano”
Kamen Markov
Pratyush Paruchuri
Kalle Kohlstrom
Daniel Benjamin

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project

Chocolate Man
David Bellenbaum
Aleksandra Todorovic
Jörg Schmidt
Martin Boué

Proxima-b
Denis Krez
Tina Vest
Elias Kremer
Lukas Löffler

Ratatoskr
Meike Müller
Lena-Carolin Lohfink
Anno Schachner
Lisa Schachner

Terra Nova
Thomas Battistetti
Mélanie Geley
Mickael Le Mezo
Guillaume Hoarau