^{Credit: Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios)} 

Following in the footsteps of its groundbreaking predecessors, Avatar: Fire and Ash dominated at the 24th Visual Effects Society Awards. The third entry in the blockbuster franchise won Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature, beating F1, How to Train Your Dragon, Jurassic World: Rebirth, and The Lost Bus. Avatar: Fire and Ash won six more VES Awards on what seems like an inevitable road to the Best Visual Effects Oscar. Fellow Oscar nominee Sinners won Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature, overcoming After the Hunt, Dongji Rescue, A House of Dynamite, and Warfare. In Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature, KPop Demon Hunters reigned over fellow nominees The Bad Guys 2, Elio, In Your Dreams, and Zootopia 2. KPop Demon Hunters picked up two additional awards, while Zootopia 2 also won one. On the TV side, Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age and Andor both picked up two apiece. 

Check out this year’s program book here and the full list of winners below: 

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
Francois 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 Centeno
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
Chloe 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
AJ 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 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 & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE
F1: The Movie: Modern Race and POV Footage
Hugo Gauvreau
Chris Davies
Raushan Raj
Amaury Rospars

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

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & 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

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1, 2, and 3. Available Now!