For those who don’t know the Event: The Visual Effects Society is the industry’s professional body for VFX artists and supervisors. Its annual VES Awards recognise work across film, episodic, animation, realtime and emerging technology.

The 24th Annual VES Awards took place on 25 February 2026, honouring visual effects work across 24 competitive categories, alongside two special awards. The ceremony recognises artists, supervisors and teams working in film, episodic television, commercials, games, real-time projects and special venue productions. The Society currently represents more than 5,500 members in over 50 countries and now spans 18 regional Sections worldwide . The Awards are presented by the Visual Effects Society, founded in 1997.

This year’s VES Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to producer Jerry Bruckheimer, “the most successful film and television producer of all time” and a career spanning more than 50 years, with credits including the Pirates of the Caribbean, Top Gun, National Treasure and Bad Boys franchises . His recent productions cited in the programme include F1, Top Gun: Maverick and Bad Boys: Ride or Die.

The VES Visionary Award was presented to Sir Richard Taylor, co-founder of Wētā Workshop in Wellington, New Zealand. TWētā Workshop has provided design and physical effects for more than 160 films, numerous television shows and multiple location-based experiences . Taylor is credited with five Academy Awards across special effects makeup, visual effects and costume design.

Full winners list

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature: Avatar: Fire and Ash; Richard Baneham, Peter Litvack, Eric Saindon, Nicky Muir, Steve Ingram.

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature: Sinners; Michael Ralla, James Alexander, Nick Marshall, Espen Nordahl, Donnie Dean.

Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature: KPop Demon Hunters; Joshua Beveridge, Jacky Priddle, Benjamin Hendricks, Clara Chan.

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode: Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age; “The Big Freeze”; Russell Dodgson, Tracey Gibbons, François Dumoulin, Gavin McKenzie.

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.

Outstanding Visual Arts in a Real-Time Project: Ghost of Yōtei; Jason Connell, Matt Vainio, Joanna Wang, Jasmin Patry.

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial: BMW; “Heart of Joy | Meet Okto the Octopus”; Tom Raynor, Helen Tang, Jack Harris, Alex Kulikov.

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.

Outstanding Character in a Photoreal Feature: Avatar: Fire and Ash; Varang: Leader of the Ash Clan; Stephen Clee, Stuart Adcock, Keven Norris, Joseph Kim.

Outstanding Character in an Animated Feature: KPop Demon Hunters; Rumi; Sophia (Seung Hee) Lee, Andrea Matamoros, Marc Souliere, Joshua Beveridge.

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.

Outstanding Environment in a Photoreal Feature: Avatar: Fire and Ash; Bridgehead Industrial City; Gianluca Pizzaia, Steve Bevins, Dziga Kaiser, Zsolt Máté.

Outstanding Environment in an Animated Feature: Zootopia 2; Marsh Market; Limei Z. Hshieh, Alexander Nicholas Whang, Joshua Fry, Ryan DeYoung.

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.

Outstanding CG Cinematography: Avatar: Fire and Ash; Steve Deane, A.J. Briones, Zachary Brake, Andrew Moffett.

Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project: Avatar: Fire and Ash; The Windtraders’ Gondola; Michael Smale, Sam Sharplin, Joe W. Churchill, Jacqi Dillon.

Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature: Avatar: Fire and Ash; Simulating Pandora; Nicholas James Illingworth, Sarah C. Farmer, James Robinson, Ryan Bowden.

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature: KPop Demon Hunters; Filippo Maccari, Nikolaos Finizio, Daniel La Chapelle, Srdjan Milosevic.

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.

Outstanding Compositing and Lighting in a Feature: F1: The Movie; Modern Race and POV Footage; Hugo Gauvreau, Chris Davies, Raushan Raj, Amaury Rospars.

Outstanding Compositing and 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.

Outstanding Compositing and Lighting in a Commercial: BMW; “Heart of Joy | Meet Okto the Octopus”; Alex Kulikov, Jack Harris, Adam Chabane, Nicola Borsari.

Outstanding Special (Practical) Effects in a Photoreal Project: Andor; “Who Are You?”; Luke Murphy, Dean Ford, Jody Eltham, Darrell Guyon.

Emerging Technology Award: Avatar: Fire and Ash; Kora Fire Toolset; Alexey Dmitrievich Stomakhin, John Edholm, Murali Ramachari, Aleksandr Isakov.

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project: Azimuth; Thomas Teisseire, Cassandre Cinier, Martin Bluy, Mathis Giraudeau.

The post VES Awards 2026 names winners and honours first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.