Since 2003, the Visual Effects Society has used the VES Awards to honor outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation in entertainment. VES revealed their 2026 nominees, and James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” leads the pack with 10. Not a huge surprise considering 2022’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” earned a record-setting 14 nominations, going home with 9 of them.
“Fire and Ash” is nominated in 8 of the 23 categories, competing against itself for Outstanding Compositing & Lighting in a Feature and the Emerging Technology Award
From the world of television, Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” HBO’s “The Last of Us,” and Apple TV/BBC Studios’ “Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age” earned four nominations each.
24th VES Awards Nominees are as follows:
Visual Effects In A Photoreal Feature
- “F1: The Movie” – Ryan Tudhope, Nikeah Forde, Robert Harrington, Nicolas Chevallier, and Keith Alfred Dawson
- “Jurassic World: Rebirth” – David Vickery, Carlos Ciudad, Steve Aplin, Charmaine Chan, Neil Corbould, and VES
- “The Lost Bus” – Charlie Noble, Gavin Round, David Zaretti, Russell Bowen, and Brandon K. McLaughlin
- “Avatar: Fire and Ash” – Richard Baneham, Peter Litvack, Eric Saindon, Nicky Muir, and Steve Ingram
- “How To Train Your Dragon” – Christian Manz, Christopher Raimo, Glen McIntosh, Glenn Melenhorst, and Terry Palmer
Supporting Visual Effects In A Photoreal Feature
- “Dongji Rescue” – Tim Crosbie, Celeste Chen, Christian Sjöstedt, and Lea Benjovitz
- “A House of Dynamite” – Chris Harvey, Dione Wood, Jon Mitchell, and Matthew Lane
- “Warfare” – Simon Stanley-Clamp, Kaley Edwards, Andrew Kinnear, Samir Ansari, and Ryan Conder
- “Sinners” – Michael Ralla, James Alexander, Nick Marshal, Espen Nordahl, and Donnie Dean
- “After the Hunt” – Fabio Cerrito, Virginia Cefaly, Marco Fiorani Parenzi, and Maura Manfredi
Animation In An Animated Feature
- “The Bad Guys 2” – Pierre Perifel, Damon Ross, Matt Baer, and Benjamin Willis
- “KPop Demon Hunters” – Joshua Beveridge, Jacky Priddle, Benjamin Hendricks, and Clara Chan
- “Zootopia 2” – Gregory Smith, Laurie Au, Marlon West, and Shweta Viswanathan
- “In Your Dreams” – Sacha Kapijimpanga, Carey Smith, Nicola Lavender, and Steve Pilcher
- “Elio” – Claudia Chung Sanii, Mary Alice Drumm, Harley Jessup, and Dave Quirus
Visual Effects In A Photoreal Episode
- “Andor” Episode: “Who Are You?” – Mohen Leo, TJ Falls, Scott Pritchard, Olivier Beaulieu, and Luke Murphy
- “It: Welcome to Derry” Episode: “Winter Fire” – Daryl Sawchuk, Steve Dellerson, Pier Lefebvre, Steven Tether, and Darcy Callaghan
- “The Last of Us” Episode: “Through the Valley” – Alex Wang, Fiona Campbell Westgate, Nick Epstein, Philip Engström, and Joel Whist
- “Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age” Episode: “The Big Freeze” – Russell Dodgson, Tracey Gibbons, Francois Dumoulin, and Gavin McKenzie
- “Stranger Things” Episode: “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up” – Betsy Paterson, Tessa Roehl, Michael Maher Jr., and Martin Hill
Supporting Visual Effects In A Photoreal Episode
- “Man vs Baby” Episode: “Chapter One” – Rob Duncan, Ashlee Turner, Jean-Nicolas Costa, and Adrian Eugene Daniel Williams
- “The Residence” Episode “The Fall of the House of Usher” – Seth Hill, Tesa Kubicek, John Nelson, and Gabriel Vargas
- “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon” Episode: “Costa Da Morte” – Jao M’Changama, Justine Paynat-Sautivet, Sébastien Voisin, Xavier Allard, and Pau Costa Moeller
- “Severance” Episode: “Hello, Ms. Cobel” – Eric Leven, Sean Findley, Brian Holligan, and Radost Ridlen
- “Death By Lightning” Episode: “The Man from Ohio” – Rainer Gombos, Steve Kullback, Marko Ljubez, and David Ramos
Visual Arts In A Real-Time Project
- “Ghost of Yōtei” – Jason Connell, Matt Vainio, Joanna Wang, and Jasmin Patry
- “Death Stranding 2: On the Beach” – Hideo Kojima, Yoji Shinkawa, and Shota Hirasawa
- “Doom: The Dark Ages” – Todd Boyce, Andrew Willis, Ian Malerich, and Derek Best
- “South of Midnight” – Ian Mac Gregor, Yasmeen Leclerc, Petro Kosariekov, and Connor Bugni
- “Battlefield 6” – Chris Bayol, Sean Tomek, Skye White, and Jacob Bergman
Visual Effects In A Commercial
- Coors Light; “Slow Monday” – Bruno Fukumothi, Ella Glazer, David Fleet, and Martino Madeddu
- BMW; “Heart of Joy | Meet Okto the Octopus” – Tom Raynor, Helen Tang, Jack Harris, and Alex Kulikov
- Virgin Media; “Trunk Trucker” – Sebastian Caldwell, Larisa Covaciu, Ben Cronin, and Alex Grey
- Columbia Sportswear; “Engineered for Whatever” – Kamen Markov, Alexia Paterson, David Lochhead, and Henrique Campanha
- Battlefield 6; “It’s Good to Be Back” – Michael Ralla, James Alexander, Brian Creasey, and Luca Pelegatta
Visual Effects In A Special Venue Project
- “The Wizard of Oz” at Sphere – Ben Grossmann, Tamara Watts Kent, Dr. Irfan Essa, Matt Dougan, and Glenn Derry
- “Zootopia: Better Zoogether!” – Rich Enders, Kirk Bodyfelt, Darin Hollings, and Darren Simpson
- “Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment” – Alan Woods, Maximilian McNair MacEwan, Jason Fox, and Iris Chailloux
- “Disney Tales of Magic” – Tim Lutkin, Patrick Aigouy, Adrien Mourey, and Lydia Caplan
- “Stranger Things: Escape the Dark” – Julien Héry, Antoine Sitruk, Simon Lecavalier, and Martin Hesselink
Character In A Photoreal Feature
- “A Minecraft Movie,” Queen Malgosha – Kevin Estey, Fabio Leporelli, Matteo Stirati, and Nick Grace
- “Lilo & Stitch,” Stitch – Matthew Shumway, Claus Pedersen, Xiying Zhai, and Enrique Mateo-Sagasta
- “Superman,” Krypto the Superdog – Loic Mireault, Martine Chartrand, Marianne Morency, and Matthias Schoenegger
- “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” Varang: Leader of the Ash Clan – Stephen Clee, Stuart Adcock, Keven Norris, and Joseph Kim
Character In An Animated Feature
- “Elio,” Ooooo the Liquid Supercomputer – Catherine Luo, Anna-Christine Lykkegaard, Ferdi Scheepers, and Julian Teo
- “Elio,” Glordon – Marco Burbano, Edgar Rodriguez, Ben Rush, and Patrick Yu Wang
- “Zootopia 2,” Gary De’Snake – Adam Green, Jennifer Stratton, Christoffer Pedersen, and Jesse Erickson
- “KPop Demon Hunters,” Rumi – Sophia (Seung Hee) Lee, Andrea Centeno, Marc Souliere, and Joshua Beveridge
Character In An Episodic, Commercial, Game Cinematic, Or Real-Time Project
- “It: Welcome to Derry;” “The Thing in the Dark;” The Pickle Monster – Philip Harris-Genois, Pierric Danjou, Chloe Ostiguy, and Jonathan Bourdua
- “It: Welcome to Derry;” “Winter Fire;” Pennywise – Théo Perronard, Yan Morin-Dubuisson, Yan Detang, and Jonathan Fleming-Bock
- “Stranger Things;” “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up;” Mindflayer – James Moore, Layne Howe, Shawn Warawa, and Yoshihiro Harimoto
- “Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age;” Female Smilodon – Alvise Avati, Marc-André Coulombe, Youen Leclerc, and Andrea De Martis
Environment In A Photoreal Feature
- “Tron: Ares;” Dillinger’s Grid City – Jared Michael, Noor Valibhoy, Cody Gramstad, and Stefan Litterini
- “The Lost Bus;” The Wildfires of Roe Road – Jamie Haydock, Francesco Ferraresi, Sergei Konorev, and Frederick Vallee
- “Avatar: Fire and Ash;” Bridgehead Industrial City – Gianluca Pizzaia, Steve Bevins, Dziga Kaiser, and Zsolt Máté
- “The Lost Bus;” Feather River Canyon by the Pulga Bridge – David Schulz, Mareike Loges, Björn Markgraf, and Philipp Hafellner
- “The Gorge;” The Bodyweb – Daniel James Cox, Yosuke Inomata, Clint Rea, and Gabriel Pires
Environment In An Animated Feature
- “Zootopia 2;” Marsh Market – Limei Z. Hshieh, Alexander Nicholas Whang, Joshua Fry, and Ryan DeYoung
- “Elio;” The Communiverse – Steve Arguello, Christopher M. Burrows, Andy Lin, and Laura Murphy
- “KPop Demon Hunters;” Seoul – Rafael Lescano, Gunsik Kim, Tyquane Wright, and Hee-Chel Nam
- “The Bad Guys 2;” Cairo City – John J. Lee, Greg Hettinger, Mikael Genachte-Le Bail, and Mayumi Shimokawa
Environment In An Episodic, Commercial, Game Cinematic, Or Real-Time Project
- “Foundation;” Episode: “A Song for the End of Everything;” Clarion Station – Sylvain Lesaint, Ilyes Boutemeur, Blake Dewoody, and Benjamin Rojek
- “Andor;” “Welcome to the Rebellion;” The Senate District – John O’Connell, Falk Boje, Hasan Ilhan, and Kevin George
- “The Last of Us;” Post-Apocalyptic Seattle – Romain Simonnet, Abraham Ibanez, David Desplat, and Minguk Lee
- “The Residence;” “Dial M for Murder;” The White House Exterior – Gabriel Vargas, Eric Schoellnast, Andrew Wilkins, and Omer Gurkan
Cg Cinematography
- “Zootopia 2’ – Tyler Kupferer, Daniel Rice, and Griselda Sastrawinata-Lemay
- “Avatar: Fire and Ash” – Steve Deane, AJ Briones, Zachary Brake, and Andrew Moffett
- “Tron: Ares” – Jhon Alvarado, Michael Beaulieu, Jayden Beveridge, and Hayley Kim
- “KPop Demon Hunters” – Benjamin Hendricks, Gary H. Lee, Randolph Lizarda, and Linh Mai Nguyen Chan
Model In A Photoreal Or Animated Project
- “Mickey 17;” The Niflheim Spaceship – Bikas Panigrahi, Nikolai Razuev, Ajinkya Nitin Phokmare, and Manoj Vijay Kamble
- “Wicked: For Good;” Bison – Marco Chau, Giorgio Pennisi, Sowmya Ramakumar, and Balazs Meszaros
- “Avatar: Fire and Ash;” The Windtraders’ Gondola – Michael Smale, Sam Sharplin, Joe W. Churchill, and Jacqi Dillon
- “Superman;” The Fortress of Solitude – Crystal Bretz, Martin Pelissier, Klaudio Ladavac, and Conner Wessinger
Effects Simulations In A Photoreal Feature
- “Avatar: Fire and Ash;” Simulating Pandora – Nicholas Illingworth, Sarah C. Farmer, James Robinson, and Ryan Bowden
- “Superman;” Metropolis City Destruction – Rick Hankins, Marcel Kern, Eric Hollands, and Masoud Aziminajjar
- “The Lost Bus;” Escape from Hell – Billy Copley, Mathieu Chardonnet, Chetan Patkar, and David Schott
- “Together” – Darcy George, Andrew Dunkerley, Ray Leung, and Steve Oakley
Effects Simulations In An Animated Feature
- “In Your Dreams” – Stephanie McNair, Dmitiry Kolesnik, Stephen Paschke, and David Sellares
- “The Bad Guys 2” – Michael Losure, Landon Gray, Zachary Glynn, and Steve Avoujageli
- “Zootopia 2” – Sujil Sukumaran, Stuart Griese, Zoran Stojanoski, and Paul Carman
- “KPop Demon Hunters” – Filippo Maccari, Nikolaos Finizio, Daniel La Chapelle, and Srdjan Milosevic
Effects Simulations In An Episode, Commercial, Game Cinematic, Or Real-Time Project
- “Battlefield 6” – Björn Åkerstedt, Anders Egleus, Kasra Kalami, and Craig Moroney
- “The Last of Us;” Episode “Through the Valley;” The Infected Horde – Duarte Victorino, Claudio Gonzalez, Andre Castelao, and Igor Bondar
- “Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age;” The Big Freeze – Edward Ferrysienanda, Kevin Christensen, Guy Schuleman, and Kevin Tarpinian
- “Stranger Things; Episode “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up;” Assault on the Mindflayer – Michael Chrobak, Brandon James Fleet, Yasunobu Arahori, and Hoi Ying Fung
Compositing & Lighting In A Feature
- “Avatar: Fire and Ash;” Bridgehead Industrial City – Ziad Shureih, Stefano Oggeri, Jaume Creus Costabella, and Hugo Debat-Burkarth
- “F1: The Movie;” Modern Race and POV Footage – Hugo Gauvreau, Chris Davies, Raushan Raj, and Amaury Rospars
- “Superman;” Fights and Metropolis City Destruction – Can Chang, Nicolas Caillier, Bryan Smeall, and Elona Musha
- “Avatar: Fire and Ash;” The Wind Traders, Bridgehead, Rivers and Ocean – Alex Klaricich, Gianfranco Sgura, Brad Floyd, and Ari Ross
Compositing & Lighting In An Episode
- “The Residence;” Episode: “Pilot” – Spencer Hecox, Gunnar Heiss, Alexander Greenberg, and Eric Schoellnast
- “Stranger Things;” Episode: “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up;” The Abyss and Vecna’s Face – Ben Roberts, Rachel E. Herbert, Don Bradford, and Ken Lam
- “The Last of Us;” “Through the Valley;” A Storm of Ice, Fire and Flesh – Tobias Wiesner, Mark Julien, Owen Longstaff, and Brendan Naylor
- “Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age” – Puff Pisanwalerd, Jean-Baptiste Noyau, Marion Nove-Josserand, and Sue Nelson
Compositing & Lighting In A Commercial
- Disney; “Best Christmas Ever” – Hudson Martins, Luke Warpus, Jinhui Wang, and Alex Miller
- BMW; “Heart of Joy | Meet Okto the Octopus” – Alex Kulikov, Jack Harris, Adam Chabane, and Nicola Borsari
- Virgin Media; “Trunk Trucker” – Alex Grey, Sebastian Caldwell, Nicola Borsari, and Giacomo Cavaletti
- Genesis; “No Old Ideas” – Greg McKneally, Christian Block, Alberto Pizzocchero, and Alessandro Granella
Special (Practical) Effects In A Photoreal Project
- “Gen V;” Episode: “Bags” – Hudson Kenny, Curtis Carlson, John Koyama, and Bruno Larizza
- “Andor;” “Who Are You?” – Luke Murphy, Dean Ford, Jody Eltham, and Darrell Guyon
Emerging Technology Award
- “Win or Lose;” Detached Facial Features – David Munier, Ana Gabriela Lacaze, Jonathan Page, and Anna-Christine Lykkegaard
- “Mickey 17;” REVIZE – John Bastian, Ben Ward, Thomas Rowntree, and Robert Beveridge
- “Avatar: Fire and Ash;” BodyOpt – Christoph Sprenger, Tobias Mack, Florian Fernandez, and Niall Ryan
- “Elio;” Real-Time High Fidelity Animation System Using Signed Distance Functions – Andrew Butts, Trent Crow, Anna-Christine Lykkegaard, and Catherine Luo
- “Avatar: Fire and Ash;” Kora Fire Toolset – Alexey Dmitrievich Stomakhin, John Edholm, Murali Ramachari, and Aleksandr Isakov
Visual Effects In A Student Project
- “Au Delà des Mots” – Antoine Barbannaud, Leandro Leijnen, Timothé Vergught, and Mathis De Sauvecanne
- “Flying From War” – Ciara Borgards
- “Two Kings” – Eliot Hervier Blondel, Mathieu Keraudran, Adrian Delmotte, and Jonas Lopez Del Castillo
- “Azimuth” – Thomas Teisseire, Cassandre Cinier, Martin Bluy, and Mathis Giraudeau
- “A Sparrow’s Song” – Tobias Eckerlin, Vincent Maurer, Elias Weber, and Lilli-Luisa Heckmann
The 24th annual VES Awards ceremony will take place on February 25th at the Beverly Hilton.
