VES Awards Nominations Announced: Avatar Leads With 10
The Visual Effects Society has this week revealed the nominees for the 24th Annual VES Awards. The awards are unique in that they recognise excellence in visual effects, across both live-action and animated productions. They encompass 25 categories across film, TV, special venue projects, video games and more. The ceremony will be held on Februray 25, 2026 at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.
This year's most nominated project is Avatar: Fire and Ash. James Cameron's threequel picked up an impressive 10 nominations, including in the key category of Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature. In animation there is a three-way tie, with K-Pop Demon Hunters, Elio and Zootopia 2 all receiving five nominations. Leading the episodic field is Stranger Things, The Last Of Us and Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age, tied with four nominations apiece.
The nominees are selected by visual effects professionals from around the world. The society held a Global Nomination Event, which hosted 46 in-person and 14 virtual judging panels. The panels took place in seven worldwide locations, demonstrating the society's global reach.
“Visual effects artists and producers are at the forefront of cinematic artistry and technological innovation, whether their work is being seen on the big screen in a movie theater, on the device in your pocket, or in a special venue setting,” said VES Board Chair, Kim Davidson. “We’re thrilled to celebrate all of this year’s nominees, and we’re grateful to our member volunteers from around the world who make our rigorous peer review process possible.”
“The next generation of creators is advancing visual storytelling through bold ideas, emotional depth, and technical craft,” said Diana Colella, Executive Vice President of Media & Entertainment at Autodesk, sponsor of the VES Student Award. “This year’s student film submissions showcase the creative vision and incredible skill of up-and-coming filmmakers and visual effects artists. Congratulations to all of the student nominees.”
The complete list of nominees is below.
1. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
F1: The Movie
Nikeah Forde
Robert Harrington
Nicolas Chevallier
Jurassic World: Rebirth
Carlos Ciudad
Steve Aplin
Charmaine Chan
Neil Corbould, VES
The Lost Bus
Gavin Round
David Zaretti
Russell Bowen
Brandon K. McLaughlin
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Peter Litvack
Eric Saindon
Nicky Muir
Steve Ingram
How To Train Your Dragon
Christopher Raimo
Glen McIntosh
Glenn Melenhorst
Terry Palmer
2. OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Dongji Rescue
Celeste Chen
Christian Sjöstedt
Lea Benjovitz
A House of Dynamite
Dione Wood
Jon Mitchell
Matthew Lane
Warfare
Kaley Edwards
Andrew Kinnear
Samir Ansari
Ryan Conder
Sinners
James Alexander
Nick Marshall
Espen Nordahl
Donnie Dean
After the Hunt
Virginia Cefaly
Marco Fiorani Parenzi
Maura Manfredi
3. OUTSTANDING ANIMATION IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
The Bad Guys 2
Damon Ross
Matt Baer
Benjamin Willis
KPop Demon Hunters
Jacky Priddle
Benjamin Hendricks
Clara Chan
Zootopia 2
Laurie Au
Marlon West
Shweta Viswanathan
In Your Dreams
Carey Smith
Nicola Lavender
Steve Pilcher
Elio
Mary Alice Drumm
Harley Jessup
Dave Quirus
4. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
Andor; “Who Are You?”
TJ Falls
Scott Pritchard
Olivier Beaulieu
Luke Murphy
It: Welcome to Derry; “Winter Fire”
Steve Dellerson
Pier Lefebvre
Steven Tether
Darcy Callaghan
The Last of Us; “Through the Valley”
Fiona Campbell Westgate
Nick Epstein
Philip Engström
Joel Whist
Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age; “The Big Freeze”
Tracey Gibbons
Francois Dumoulin
Gavin McKenzie
Stranger Things; “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up”
Tessa Roehl
Michael Maher Jr.
Martin Hill
5. OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
Man vs Baby; “Chapter One”
Ashlee Turner
Jean-Nicolas Costa
Adrian Eugene Daniel Williams
The Residence; “The Fall of the House of Usher”
Tesa Kubicek
John Nelson
Gabriel Vargas
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon; “Costa Da Morte”
Justine Paynat-Sautivet
Sébastien Voisin
Xavier Allard
Pau Costa Moeller
Severance; “Hello, Ms. Cobel”
Sean Findley
Brian Holligan
Radost Ridlen
Death By Lightning; “The Man from Ohio”
Steve Kullback
Marko Ljubez
David Ramos
6. OUTSTANDING VISUAL ARTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT
Ghost of Yōtei
Matt Vainio
Joanna Wang
Jasmin Patry
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Yoji Shinkawa
Shota Hirasawa
Doom: The Dark Ages
Andrew Willis
Ian Malerich
Derek Best
South of Midnight
Yasmeen Leclerc
Petro Kosariekov
Connor Bugni
Battlefield 6
Sean Tomek
Skye White
Jacob Bergman
7. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL
Bruno Fukumothi
Ella Glazer
David Fleet
Martino Madeddu
BMW; “Heart of Joy | Meet Okto the Octopus”
Helen Tang
Jack Harris
Alex Kulikov
Virgin Media; “Trunk Trucker”
Larisa Covaciu
Ben Cronin
Alex Grey
Columbia Sportswear; “Engineered for Whatever”
Alexia Paterson
David Lochhead
Henrique Campanha
Battlefield 6; “It’s Good to Be Back”
James Alexander
Brian Creasey
Luca Pelegatta
8. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT
The Wizard of Oz at Sphere
Tamara Watts Kent
Dr. Irfan Essa
Matt Dougan
Glenn Derry
Zootopia: Better Zoogether!
Kirk Bodyfelt
Darin Hollings
Darren Simpson
Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment
Maximilian McNair MacEwan
Jason Fox
Iris Chailloux
Disney Tales of Magic
Patrick Aigouy
Adrien Mourey
Lydia Caplan
Stranger Things: Escape the Dark
Antoine Sitruk
Simon Lecavalier
Martin Hesselink
9. OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
A Minecraft Movie; Queen Malgosha
Fabio Leporelli
Matteo Stirati
Nick Grace
Lilo & Stitch; Stitch
Claus Pedersen
Xiying Zhai
Enrique Mateo-Sagasta
Superman; Krypto the Superdog
Martine Chartrand
Marianne Morency
Matthias Schoenegger
Avatar: Fire and Ash; Varang: Leader of the Ash Clan
Stuart Adcock
Keven Norris
Joseph Kim
10. OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
Elio; Ooooo the Liquid Supercomputer
Anna-Christine Lykkegaard
Ferdi Scheepers
Julian Teo
Elio; Glordon
Edgar Rodriguez
Ben Rush
Patrick Yu Wang
Zootopia 2; Gary De’Snake
Jennifer Stratton
Christoffer Pedersen
Jesse Erickson
KPop Demon Hunters; Rumi
Andrea Centeno
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
Pierric Danjou
Chloe Ostiguy
Jonathan Bourdua
It: Welcome to Derry; “Winter Fire;” Pennywise
Yan Morin-Dubuisson
Yan Detang
Jonathan Fleming-Bock
Stranger Things; “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up;” Mindflayer
Layne Howe
Shawn Warawa
Yoshihiro Harimoto
Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age; Female Smilodon
Marc-André Coulombe
Youen Leclerc
Andrea De Martis
12. OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Tron: Ares; Dillinger’s Grid City
Noor Valibhoy
Cody Gramstad
Stefan Litterini
The Lost Bus; The Wildfires of Roe Road
Francesco Ferraresi
Sergei Konorev
Frederick Vallee
Avatar: Fire and Ash; Bridgehead Industrial City
Steve Bevins
Dziga Kaiser
Zsolt Máté
The Lost Bus; Feather River Canyon by the Pulga Bridge
Mareike Loges
Björn Markgraf
Philipp Hafellner
The Gorge; The Bodyweb
Yosuke Inomata
Clint Rea
Gabriel Pires
13. OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
Zootopia 2; Marsh Market
Alexander Nicholas Whang
Joshua Fry
Ryan DeYoung
Elio; The Communiverse
Christopher M. Burrows
Andy Lin
Laura Murphy
KPop Demon Hunters; Seoul
Gunsik Kim
Tyquane Wright
Hee-Chel Nam
The Bad Guys 2; Cairo City
Greg Hettinger
Mikael Genachte-Le Bail
Mayumi Shimokawa
14. OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODIC, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
Foundation; “A Song for the End of Everything;” Clarion Station
Ilyes Boutemeur
Blake Dewoody
Benjamin Rojek
Andor; “Welcome to the Rebellion;” The Senate District
Falk Boje
Hasan Ilhan
Kevin George
The Last of Us; Post-Apocalyptic Seattle
Abraham Ibanez
David Desplat
Minguk Lee
The Residence; “Dial M for Murder;” The White House Exterior
Eric Schoellnast
Andrew Wilkins
Omer Gurkan
15. OUTSTANDING CG CINEMATOGRAPHY
Zootopia 2
Daniel Rice
Griselda Sastrawinata-Lemay
Avatar: Fire and Ash
AJ Briones
Zachary Brake
Andrew Moffett
Tron: Ares
Michael Beaulieu
Jayden Beveridge
Hayley Kim
KPop Demon Hunters
Gary H. Lee
Randolph Lizarda
Linh Mai Nguyen Chan
16. OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT
Mickey 17; The Niflheim Spaceship
Nikolai Razuev
Ajinkya Nitin Phokmare
Manoj Vijay Kamble
Wicked: For Good; Bison
Giorgio Pennisi
Sowmya Ramakumar
Balazs Meszaros
Avatar: Fire and Ash; The Windtraders’ Gondola
Sam Sharplin
Joe W. Churchill
Jacqi Dillon
Superman; The Fortress of Solitude
Martin Pelissier
Klaudio Ladavac
Conner Wessinger
17. OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Avatar: Fire and Ash; Simulating Pandora
Sarah C. Farmer
James Robinson
Ryan Bowden
Superman; Metropolis City Destruction
Marcel Kern
Eric Hollands
Masoud Aziminajjar
The Lost Bus; Escape from Hell
Mathieu Chardonnet
Chetan Patkar
David Schott
Together
Andrew Dunkerley
Ray Leung
Steve Oakley
18. OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
In Your Dreams
Dmitiry Kolesnik
Stephen Paschke
David Sellares
The Bad Guys 2
Landon Gray
Zachary Glynn
Steve Avoujageli
Zootopia 2
Stuart Griese
Zoran Stojanoski
Paul Carman
KPop Demon Hunters
Nikolaos Finizio
Daniel La Chapelle
Srdjan Milosevic
19. OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
Battlefield 6
Anders Egleus
Kasra Kalami
Craig Moroney
The Last of Us; “Through the Valley;” The Infected Horde
Claudio Gonzalez
Andre Castelao
Igor Bondar
Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age; The Big Freeze
Kevin Christensen
Guy Schuleman
Kevin Tarpinian
Stranger Things; “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up;” Assault on the Mindflayer
Brandon James Fleet
Yasunobu Arahori
Hoi Ying Fung
20. OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE
Avatar: Fire and Ash; Bridgehead Industrial City
Stefano Oggeri
Jaume Creus Costabella
Hugo Debat-Burkarth
F1: The Movie; Modern Race and POV Footage
Chris Davies
Raushan Raj
Amaury Rospars
Superman; Fights and Metropolis City Destruction
Nicolas Caillier
Bryan Smeall
Elona Musha
Avatar: Fire and Ash; The Wind Traders, Bridgehead, Rivers and Ocean
Gianfranco Sgura
Brad Floyd
Ari Ross
21. OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE
The Residence; “Pilot”
Gunnar Heiss
Alexander Greenberg
Eric Schoellnast
Stranger Things; “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up;” The Abyss and Vecna’s Face
Rachel E. Herbert
Don Bradford
Ken Lam
The Last of Us; “Through the Valley;” A Storm of Ice, Fire and Flesh
Mark Julien
Owen Longstaff
Brendan Naylor
Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age
Jean-Baptiste Noyau
Marion Nove-Josserand
Sue Nelson
22. OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL
Disney; “Best Christmas Ever”
Luke Warpus
Jinhui Wang
Alex Miller
BMW; “Heart of Joy | Meet Okto the Octopus”
Jack Harris
Adam Chabane
Nicola Borsari
Virgin Media; “Trunk Trucker”
Sebastian Caldwell
Nicola Borsari
Giacomo Cavaletti
Genesis; “No Old Ideas”
Christian Block
Alberto Pizzocchero
Alessandro Granella
23. OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT
Gen V; “Bags”
Curtis Carlson
John Koyama
Bruno Larizza
Andor; “Who Are You?”
Dean Ford
Jody Eltham
Darrell Guyon
24. EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD
Win or Lose; Detached Facial Features
Ana Gabriela Lacaze
Jonathan Page
Anna-Christine Lykkegaard
Mickey 17; REVIZE
Ben Ward
Thomas Rowntree
Robert Beveridge
Avatar: Fire and Ash; BodyOpt
Tobias Mack
Florian Fernandez
Niall Ryan
Elio; Real-Time High Fidelity Animation System Using Signed Distance Functions
Trent Crow
Anna-Christine Lykkegaard
Catherine Luo
Avatar: Fire and Ash; Kora Fire Toolset
John Edholm
Murali Ramachari
Aleksandr Isakov
25. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT
Au Delà des Mots
Antoine Barbannaud
Timothé Vergught
Mathis De Sauvecanne
Flying From War
Two Kings
Eliot Hervier Blondel
Mathieu Keraudran
Adrian Delmotte
Jonas Lopez Del Castillo
Azimuth
Cassandre Cinier
Martin Bluy
Mathis Giraudeau
A Sparrow’s Song
Vincent Maurer
Elias Weber
Lilli-Luisa Heckmann
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