From the epic fire and water simulations in Avatar: Fire and Ash to the incredibly realistic and expressive facial animation in KPop Demon Hunters, it goes without saying that visual effects are one of the most pivotal parts of storytelling. On Feb. 25, the Visual Effects Society, the VFX industry’s professional global honorary society, hosted its 24th Annual VES Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The spectacular event, hosted by comedy duo Randy and Jason Sklar (the Sklar Brothers) for the second consecutive year, celebrated the awe-inspiring work of visual effects artists, focusing on 25 categories across film, television, technology, gaming, special venues, student projects, and more.

The night’s big winner was Avatar: Fire and Ash, which won seven awards at the event, including the top prize of Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature. KPop Demon Hunters had a golden night as well, taking home three awards, including the top prize of Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature and Outstanding Character in an Animated Feature for Rumi.

“Rounding out the top category wins, Sinners won the award for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature, Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age won for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode, and BMW’s Heart of Joy: Meet Okto the Octopus won for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial” (source: press release).

The brilliant awards show also brought together icons in the film industry. Profound film producer and legend Jerry Bruckheimer was honored with the VES Lifetime Achievement Award. Longtime collaborator and F1: The Movie director Joseph Kosinski presented the award to Bruckheimer.

During his acceptance speech, Bruckheimer praised the incredible visual effects visionaries and said, “You create the magic. You create the things that people go to theaters for. You’re the people that we dream about when we go to the movies, when we go into that dark space in the theater, and the work that you do is truly phenomenal.”

Visual effects trailblazer and co-founder/Chief Creative Officer of the special effects company Wētā Workshop, Sir Richard Taylor, received this year’s VES Visionary Award. He said, “Thank you to the VES for this honor. It is a privilege to be part of this remarkable community and a joy to be with you all here on this special night. And if I can leave one thought with you, as I say to our team, there’s only four tenets by which I operate, and that is simply: love of oneself, love of what you do, love of who you do it with, and love of who you do it for. If you can strike those four in your life, you’re doing pretty well.”

Other terrific celebrities who showed their support and presented at the VES Awards included Lil Rel Howery (One of Them Days), Omar Benson Miller (Sinners), Enuka Okuma (Paradise), Oona Chaplin (Game of Thrones, Avatar: Fire and Ash), and singer/songwriter Raphael Saadiq (Sinners).

The VES Awards was a marvelous event celebrating the magnificent creatives who allow us all to step into different worlds through their unrivaled mastery and skills.

Check out the full list of winners at the 24th Annual VES Awards and see some photos from the event below.

Photo Credits: Danny Moloshok / Moloshok Photography, Inc.

2026 VES Awards Winners

1. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Richard Baneham
Peter Litvack
Eric Saindon
Nicky Muir
Steve Ingram

2. OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Sinners

Michael Ralla
James Alexander
Nick Marshall
Espen Nordahl
Donnie Dean

3. OUTSTANDING ANIMATION IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

KPop Demon Hunters

Joshua Beveridge
Jacky Priddle
Benjamin Hendricks
Clara Chan

4. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age; “The Big Freeze”

Russell Dodgson
Tracey Gibbons
François Dumoulin
Gavin McKenzie

5. OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

The Residence; “The Fall of the House of Usher”

Seth Hill
Tesa Kubicek
John Nelson
Gabriel Vargas

6. OUTSTANDING VISUAL ARTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT

Ghost of Yōtei

Jason Connell
Matt Vainio
Joanna Wang
Jasmin Patry

7. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL

BMW; “Heart of Joy | Meet Okto the Octopus”

Tom Raynor
Helen Tang
Jack Harris
Alex Kulikov

8. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT

The Wizard of Oz at Sphere

Ben Grossmann
Tamara Watts Kent
Dr. Irfan Essa
Matt Dougan
Glenn Derry

9. OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Avatar: Fire and Ash; Varang: Leader of the Ash Clan

Stephen Clee
Stuart Adcock
Keven Norris
Joseph Kim

10. OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

KPop Demon Hunters; Rumi

Sophia (Seung Hee) Lee
Andrea Matamoros
Marc Souliere
Joshua Beveridge

11. OUTSTANDING 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
Chloé Ostiguy
Jonathan Bourdua

12. OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Avatar: Fire and Ash; Bridgehead Industrial City

Gianluca Pizzaia
Steve Bevins
Dziga Kaiser
Zsolt Máté

13. OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Zootopia 2; Marsh Market

Limei Z. Hshieh
Alexander Nicholas Whang
Joshua Fry
Ryan DeYoung

14. OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODIC, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

Andor; “Welcome to the Rebellion;” The Senate District

John O’Connell
Falk Boje
Hasan Ilhan
Kevin George

15. OUTSTANDING CG CINEMATOGRAPHY

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Steve Deane
A.J. Briones
Zachary Brake
Andrew Moffett

16. OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT

Avatar: Fire and Ash; The Windtraders’ Gondola

Michael Smale
Sam Sharplin
Joe W. Churchill
Jacqi Dillon

17. OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Avatar: Fire and Ash; Simulating Pandora

Nicholas James Illingworth
Sarah C. Farmer
James Robinson
Ryan Bowden

18. OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

KPop Demon Hunters

Filippo Maccari
Nikolaos Finizio
Daniel La Chapelle
Srdjan Milosevic

19. OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age; The Big Freeze

Edward Ferrysienanda
Kevin Christensen
Guy Schuleman
Kevin Tarpinian

20. OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE

F1: The Movie; Modern Race and POV Footage

Hugo Gauvreau
Chris Davies
Raushan Raj
Amaury Rospars

21. OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE

The Last of Us; “Through the Valley;” A Storm of Ice, Fire and Flesh

Tobias Wiesner
Mark Julien
Owen Longstaff
Brendan Naylor

22. OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL

BMW; “Heart of Joy | Meet Okto the Octopus”

Alex Kulikov
Jack Harris
Adam Chabane
Nicola Borsari

23. OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT

Andor; “Who Are You?”

Luke Murphy
Dean Ford
Jody Eltham
Darrell Guyon

24. EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD

Avatar: Fire and Ash; Kora Fire Toolset

Alexey Dmitrievich Stomakhin
John Edholm
Murali Ramachari
Aleksandr Isakov

25. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT

Azimuth

Thomas Teisseire
Cassandre Cinier
Martin Bluy
Mathis Giraudeau