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ves awards 2009

The Visual Effects Society celebrated the achievements of its artists at the Hyatt Century Plaza Hotel. The black tie affair was held on February 21, 2009.

The show attracted over 1100 visual effects industry pros to the grand ballroom. The capacity crowd filled every inch of the ballroom floor. Special honories included producers Frank Marshall & Kathleen Kennedy, who received the Visual Effects Society Lifetime Achievment Award. Phil Tippett received the Georges Méliès Award for his outstanding contributions to visual effects.

The VES continues to honor its members with this annual awards show. Other award shows typically poke fun at the "technical" catagories. Yet without the outstanding contributions of VES members, screen idols like Brad Pitt wouldn't look so old in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," or "Iron Man" couldn't fly.

Below is a list of the winners in each catagory, plus a photo gallery. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners!

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Eric Barba, Edson Williams, Nathan McGuinness, Lisa Beroud

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture

Changeling

Michael Owens, Geoffrey Hancock, Jinnie Pak, Dennis Hoffman

Outstanding Animation in an Animated Motion Picture

Wall-E

Andrew Stanton, Jim Morris, Lindsey Collins, Nigel Hardwidge

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or Special

John Adams – Join or Die

Steve Kullback, Erik Henry, Robert Stromberg, Jeff Goldman

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series

Battlestar Galactica Season Four – BSG Space Battle

Gary Hutzel, Michael Gibson, Doug Drexler, Kyle Toucher

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program

Fringe – Episode 101 - Pilot

Kevin Blank, Jay Worth, Andrew Orloff, Barbara Genicoff

Best Single Visual Effect of the Year

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Benjamin’s Secret

Eric Barba, Lisa Beroud, Steve Preeg, Jonathan Litt

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial

Bacardi - Sundance

Alex Thiesen, Nikos Kalaitzidis, Jay Barton, Zsolt Krajcsik

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project

U2 3D – Selected Shots

Peter Anderson, Steve Schklair, David Franks, Jeremy Nicolaides

Outstanding Real Time Visuals in a Video Game

Crysis Warhead

Zoltan Pocza, Gabor Mogyorosi, Tamas Schlagl

Outstanding Pre-Rendered Visuals in a Video Game

World of Warcraft – Wrath of the Lich King – Intro Cinematic

Jeff Chamberlain, Phillip Hillenbrand

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Benjamin Button

Steve Preeg, Matthias Wittmann, Tom St. Amand, David McLean

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Motion Picture

Wall-E – Wall-E and Eve Truck Sequence

Ben Burtt, Victor Navone, Austin Lee, Jay Shuster

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Broadcast Program or Commercial

Brains Dance

James Sindle, Jesus Parra, Josh Fourtwells

Outstanding Effects Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture

Wall-E – Effects in Wall-E

Jason Johnston, Keith Klohn, Enrique Vila, Bill Watral

Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Feature Motion Picture

Changeling – 1928 Downtown L.A.

Romain Bayle, Abel Milanes , Allan Lee, Debora Dunphy

Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Broadcast Program or Commercial

Doctor Who – Series 4 – Silence in the Library

Simon Wickers, Charlie Bennett, Tim Barter, Arianna Lago

Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Feature Motion Picture

The Dark Knight – Garbage Truck Crash Models and Miniatures

Ian Hunter, Forest Fischer, Scott Beverly, Adam Gelbart

Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Broadcast Program or Commercial

New Balance - Anthem

Ian Hunter, Jon Warren, Matt Burlingame, Raymond Moore

Outstanding Created Environment in a Feature Motion Picture

The Dark Knight – IMAX Gotham City Scapes

Peter Bebb, Stuart Farley, Philippe Leprince, Andrew Lockley

Outstanding Created Environment in a Broadcast Program or Commercial

John Adams – Join or Die – Episode 1 – The Boston Harbor

Paul Graff, Robert Stromberg, Adam Watkins

Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Benjamin Comes Together

Janelle Croshaw, Paul Lambert, Sonja Burchard, Sarahjane Javelo

Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program or Commercial

John Adams – Join or Die – Episode 1 – The Boston Harbor

Paul Graff, Joshua LaCross, Matt Collorafice

Outstanding Special Effects in a Motion Picture

The Dark Knight – Overall

Chris Corbould, Peter Notley, Ian Lowe

Outstanding Effects in a Student Project

Plastic – Transformation Sequence

Sandy Widyanata, Courtney Wise

In addition, director David Fincher ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button") presented producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall with the VES Lifetime Achievement Award, while ILM’s Dennis Muren presented Phil Tippett with the Georges Méliès Award.

For more information on the program and photos, please visit www.visualeffectssociety.com.

Bill Kallay
 
Special thanks to the Visual Effects Society, Kim Lavery, Eric Roth, Jerry Schmitz, Raulette Woods and Rob Newhart

Award winners text supplied by the VES
 
Photos: © William Kallay. All rights reserved.

Photo Gallery
ves committee 
The VES Awards Committee
(left-to-right)
Raulette Woods, Co-Chair Chuck Finance, Marty Shindler, George Macri, Jill Smolin, Habib Zargarpour, Francine Marchetti, Reid Paul, Co-Chair Kim Lavery, Jeff Kleiser, Consultant Dave Scammell and Chair Jeff Okun.
(not pictured) 
Bob Coleman, Colin Ritchie, Gene Rizzardi, Albert Mason and Co-Chair Mark Spatny
andrew stanton 
"Wall-E" writer/director Andrew Stanton
andy serkis 
Lord of the Rings’ “Gollum” and King Kong’s “Kong”, actor Andy Serkis
brian austin green 
Actor Brian Austin Green
ed catmull and daughter 
Disney/Pixar's Ed Catmull and his daughter Jeannie Catmull
frank marshall 
Producer Frank Marshall
kennedy marshall 
Frank Marshall & Kathleen Kennedy
roth marshall kennedy and serkis 
VES Executive Director Eric Roth, Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy and Andy Serkis
the kochinskis 
Mark & Julie Kochinski (Extreme Filmmaker.com)
tia carrere 
Actress Tia Carrere
phill tippet and family 
(left-to-right) Guest, Phil with wife Jules Roman & daughters Samantha and Maya. Jules Roman is also co-owner and co-founder/CEO of Tippett Studio
andrew stanton jim morris and jeff garlin 
Andrew Stanton, Jim Morris and Jeff Garlin ("Wall-E")
habib z and father 
EA Games' Habib Zargapour (right) and his father
jeff kleiser and friends 
Director Randal Kleiser ("Grease"), Susan Zwerman, Kelly Granite and Jeff Kleiser
the okuns 
Chair Jeff Okun and wife Elizabeth
lynda thompson and her husband bear 
Visual effects producer Lynda Thompson & her husband Bear 
peter anderson and his wife 
Peter Anderson and his wife Layne
richard taylor and friend 
EA Games’ Cinematic Director Richard Taylor ("TRON"), Mical Pedriana, KaiTai Tang and Benjamin Hopkins 
transformers guy  
Imagework’s Ken Ralston and guest  
weta digital  
(left-to-right) Susan Campbell, Scott Anderson, Kim Lavery, Vicki Jackways, David Prybil, Robin Prybil, Jennifer Bloomfield, Chris White, Ben Thompson and Raine Reen
benjamin button team 
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” VFX team: Eric Barba, Lisa Beroud, Nathan McGuinness, Edson Williams
peter anderson 
“U2 3D” team: Peter Anderson, ASC at podium with Steve Schklair (left) and David Franks, Jeremy Nicolaides 
student award winners 
VES Student Award recipients Sandy Widyanata and Courtney Wise
john f 
Director John Favreau ("Iron Man") 
jeff garlin 
Actor Jeff Garlin 
dennis muren 
Dennis Muren 
 tippett b
Tippett walks up to podium moved by the audience's standing ovation
dennis muren and phil tippett 
 Muren talks about working with the incredible Mr. Tippett 
 tippett
Tippett 
jim morris 
Producer Jim Morris accepts his award for "Wall-E" 
anderson stanton 
Andrew Stanton 
pixar team  
Producer Jim Morris, Lindsey Collins, and Nigel Hardwidge
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