The Visual Effects Society (VES) has announced the winners for the 2026 VES Awards, recognizing excellence in the craft across 25 categories, including film, television, special venue projects, technological innovation, student projects and more.
Avatar: Fire and Ash led the winners with seven including the top prize of outstanding visual effects in a photoreal feature. KPop Demon Hunters led the animation category wins with three trophies, including the top prize of outstanding animation in an animated feature.
Sinners won the award for outstanding supporting visual effects in a photoreal feature, while Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age won the award for outstanding visual effects in a photoreal episode.
Heading into the evening, Avatar: Fire and Ash led nominations with 10 overall. Other nominees in the society’s top award category were F1: The Movie, Jurassic World Rebirth, The Lost Bus and How To Train Your Dragon.
The 2026 VES Awards were held at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. Jerry Bruckheimer received the VES Lifetime Achievement Award, and Weta Workshop co-founder and chief creative officer Sir Richard Taylor was honored with the VES Visionary Award. Comedy duo Randy and Jason Sklar (the Sklar Brothers) hosted the event.
Enuka Okuma (Paradise), Haley Joel Osment (The Burbs, Happy Gilmore 2), Jazz Raycole (The Lincoln Lawyer), Lil Rel Howery (One of Them Days), Omar Benson Miller (Sinners) and singer/songwriter Raphael Saadiq (Sinners) presented awards.
“The VES is honored to recognize brilliant artistry and technological innovation across a wide range of disciplines,” VES Board Chair Kim Davidson said in a statement. “The craft of visual effects is constantly evolving to push the limits of our imaginations, and tonight’s inspiring winners and nominees represent best-in-class work from around the world. Congratulations to all!”
See below for the full list of 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