VES Awards Nominations: Sandworms, Apes, Felines & Tornadoes Vie For Top Film Prize

Dune: Part Two scored a leading seven nominations to lead the 2025 VES Awards, which the Visual Effects Society revealed today. Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi sequel will battle for the marquee Photoreal Feature category against Better Man, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Mufasa: The Lion King and Twisters.

The Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature race is among Blitz, Civil War, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter One, Nosferatu and Young Woman and the Sea. Battling for VFX in an Animated Feature are The Wild Robot — which leads all toon movies with five noms — Inside Out 2, Moana 2, Transformers One and Ultraman: Rising.

Shōgun and The Penguin nabbed received four nominations each to lead in the episodic TV field. See the list of nominees in all 25 categories below.

RELATED: Visual Effects Society Sets VR Pioneer Jacquelyn Ford Morie For Career Honor At VES Awards 

The VES Awards recognize outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation in features, animation, television, commercials, games and new media. The 23rd annual ceremony is set for February 11 at the Beverly Hilton.

“The artistry, ingenuity and passion of visual effects practitioners around the world have come together to create remarkable imagery,” VES Chair Kim Davidson said. “We are seeing best-in-class work that elevates the art of storytelling and exemplifies the spirit of innovation.”

Special honorees at the 2025 VES Awards include Emmy-winning actor-producer Hiroyuki Sanada (VES Award for Creative Excellence), Oscar-winning director and VFX supervisor Takashi Yamazaki (VES Visionary Award) and VR/immersive technology Pioneer Dr. Jacquelyn Ford Morie (VES Georges Méliès Award).

RELATED: Visual Effects Society 2024 Honorees Include Brooke Breton & Four New Hall Of Famers

The VES Awards and Movie Academy haven’t exactly seen camera eye-to-eye in recent years. Since 2013, only five of the Visual Effects Society’s marquee Photoreal Feature winners went on to score Oscars. Last year continued the trend, when The Creator took the VES prize and Godzilla Minus One gobbled up the Academy Award.

VES has 5,000-plus members from more than 50 countries. Here are its 2025 VES Awards nominees:

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Better Man
Luke Millar
Andy Taylor
David Clayton
Keith Herft
Peter Stubbs

Dune: Part Two
Paul Lambert
Brice Parker
Stephen James
Rhys Salcombe
Gerd Nefzer

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Erik Winquist
Julia Neighly
Paul Story
Danielle Immerman
Rodney Burke

Mufasa: The Lion King
Adam Valdez
Barry St. John
Audrey Ferrara
Daniel Fotheringham

Twisters
Ben Snow
Mark Soper
Florian Witzel
Susan Greenhow
Scott Fisher

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Blitz
Andrew Whitehurst
Sona Pak
Theo Demiris
Vincent Poitras
Hayley Williams

Civil War
David Simpson
Michelle Rose
Freddy Salazar
Chris Zeh
J.D. Schwalm

Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1
Jason Neese
Armen Fetulagian
Jamie Neese
J.P. Jaramillo

Nosferatu
Angela Barson
Lisa Renney
David Scott
Dave Cook
Pavel Ságner

Young Woman and the Sea
Richard Briscoe
Carrie Rishel
Jeremy Robert
Stéphane Dittoo
Ivo Jivkov

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Inside Out 2
Kelsey Mann
Mark Nielsen
Sudeep Rangaswamy
Bill Watral

Moana 2
Carlos Cabral
Tucker Gilmore
Ian Gooding
Gabriela Hernandez

The Wild Robot
Chris Sanders
Jeff Hermann
Jeff Budsberg
Jacob Hjort Jensen

Transformers One
Frazer Churchill
Fiona Chilton
Josh Cooley
Stephen King

Ultraman: Rising
Hayden Jones
Sean M. Murphy
Shannon Tindle
Mathieu Vig

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

Fallout; The Head
Jay Worth
Andrea Knoll
Grant Everett
Joao Sita
Devin Maggio

House of the Dragon; Season 2; The Red Dragon and the Gold
Daði Einarsson
Tom Horton
Sven Martin
Wayne Stables
Mike Dawson

Shōgun; Anjin
Michael Cliett
Melody Mead
Philip Engström
Ed Bruce
Cameron Waldbauer

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew; Episode 5
John Knoll
Pablo Molles
Jhon Alvarado
Jeff Capogreco

The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power; Season 2; Eldest
Jason Smith
Tim Keene
Ann Podlozny
Ara Khanikian
Ryan Conder

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

Expats: Home
Robert Bock
Glorivette Somoza
Charles Labbé
Tim Emeis

Lady in the Lake; It Has to Do With the Search for the Marvelous
Jay Worth
Eddie Bonin
Joe Wehmeyer
Eric Levin-Hatz
Mike Myers

Masters of the Air; Part Three; The Regensburg-Schweinfurt Mission
Stephen Rosenbaum
Bruce Franklin
Xavier Matia Bernasconi
David Andrews
Neil Corbould

The Penguin; Bliss
Johnny Han
Michelle Rose
Goran Pavles
Ed Bruce
Devin Maggio

The Tattooist of Auschwitz; Pilot
Simon Giles
Alan Church
David Schneider
James Hattsmith

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT

[REDACTED]
Fabio Silva
Matthew Sherman
Caleb Essex
Bob Kopinsky

Destiny 2: The Final Shape
Dave Samuel
Ben Fabric
Eric Greenlief
Glenn Gamble

Star Wars Outlaws
Stephen Hawes
Lionel Le Dain
Benedikt Podlesnigg
Bogdan Draghici

What If…? – An Immersive Story
Patrick N.P. Conran
Shereif Fattouh
Zain Homer
Jax Lee

Until Dawn
Nicholas Chambers
Jack Hidde Glavimans
Alex Gabor

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL

YouTube TV NFL Sunday Ticket: The Magic of Sunday
Chris Bayol
Jeremy Brooks
Lane Jolly
Jacob Bergman

Disney; Holidays 2024
Adam Droy
Helen Tang
Christian Baker-Steele
David Fleet

Virgin Media; Walrus Whizzer
Sebastian Caldwell
Ian Berry
Ben Cronin
Alex Grey

Coca-Cola; The Heroes
Greg McKneally
Antonia Vlasto
Ryan Knowles
Fabrice Fiteni

Six Kings Slam; Call of the Kings
Ryan Knowles
Joe Billington
Dean Robinson
George Savvas

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT

D23; Real-Time Rocket
Evan Goldberg
Alyssa Finley
Jason Breneman
Alice Taylor

The Goldau Landslide Experience
Roman Kaelin
Gianluca Ravioli
Florian Baumann

MTV Video Music Awards; Slim Shady Live
Jo Plaete
Sara Mustafa
Cameron Jackson
Andries Courteaux

Tokyo DisneySea; Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure
Michael Sean Foley
Kirk Bodyfelt
Darin Hollings
Bert Klein
Maya Vyas

Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony; Run
Benjamin Le Ster
Gilles De Lusigman
Gerome Viavant
Romain Tinturier

OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Better Man; Robbie Williams
Milton Ramirez
Andrea Merlo
Seoungseok Charlie Kim
Eteuati Tema

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes; Noa
Rachael Dunk
Andrei Coval
John Sore
Niels Peter Kaagaard

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes; Raka
Seoungseok Charlie Kim
Giorgio Lafratta
Tim Teramoto
Aidan Martin

Mufasa: The Lion King; Taka
Klaus Skovbo
Valentina Rosselli
Eli De Koninck
Amelie Talarmain

OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Inside Out 2; Anxiety
Alexander Alvarado
Brianne Francisco
Amanda Wagner
Brenda Lin Zhang

The Wild Robot; Roz
Fabio Lignini
Yukinori Inagaki
Owen Demers
Hyun Huh

Thelma The Unicorn; Vic Diamond
Guillaume Arantes
Adrien Montero
Anne-Claire Leroux
Gaspard Roche

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl; Gromit
Jo Fenton
Alison Evans
Andy Symanowski
Emanuel Nevado

OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

Secret Level; Armored Core: Asset Management; Mech Pilot
Zsolt Vida
Péter Krucsai
Ágnes Vona
Enric Nebleza Pañella

Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred; Neyrelle
Chris Bostjanick
James Ma
Yeon-Ho Lee
Atsushi Ikarashi

Disney; Holidays 2024; Octopus
Alex Doyle
Philippe Moine
Lewis Pickston
Andrea Lacedelli

Ronja the Robber’s Daughter; Vildvittran the Queen Harpy
Nicklas Andersson
David Allan
Gustav Åhren
Niklas Wallén

OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Civil War; Washington, D.C.
Matthew Chandler
James Harmer
Robert Moore
Adrien Zeppieri

Dune: Part Two; The Arrakeen Basin
Daniel Rhein
Daniel Anton Fernandez
Marc James Austin
Christopher Anciaume

Gladiator II; Rome
Oliver Kane
Stefano Farci
John Seru
Frederick Vallee

Wicked; The Emerald City
Alan Lam
Steve Bevins
Deepali Negi
Miguel Sanchez López-Ruíz

OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Kung Fu Panda 4; Juniper City
Benjamin Lippert
Ryan Prestridge
Sarah Vawter
Peter Maynez

The Wild Robot; The Forest
John Wake
He Jung Park
Woojin Choi
Shane Glading

Transformers One; Iacon City
Alex Popescu
Geoffrey Lebreton
Ryan Kirby
Hussein Nabeel

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl; Aqueduct
Matt Perry
Dave Alex Riddett
Matt Sanders
Howard Jones

OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

Dune: Prophecy; Pilot; The Imperial Palace
Scott Coates
Sam Besseau
Vincent l’Heureux
Lourenco Abreu

Dune: Prophecy; Two Wolves; Zimia Spaceport
Nils Weisbrod
David Anastacio
Rene Borst
Ruben Valente

Shōgun; Osaka
Manuel Martinez
Phil Hannigan
Keith Malone
Francesco Corvino

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power; Season 2; Doomed to Die; Eregion
Yordan Petrov
Bertrand Cabrol
Lea Desrozier
Karan Dhandha

OUTSTANDING CG CINEMATOGRAPHY

Better Man
Blair Burke
Shweta Bhatnagar
Tim Walker
Craig Young

Dune: Part Two; Arrakis
Greig Fraser
Xin Steve Guo
Sandra Murta
Ben Wiggs

House of the Dragon; Season 2; The Red Dragon and the Gold; Battle at Rook’s Rest
Matt Perrin
James Thompson
Jacob Doehner
P.J. Dillon

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes ; Egg Climb
Dennis Yoo
Angelo Perrotta
Samantha Erickstad
Miae Kang

OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT

Alien: Romulus; Renaissance Space Station
Waldemar Bartkowiak
Trevor Wide
Matt Middleton
Ben Shearman

Deadpool & Wolverine; Ant-Man Arena
Carlos Flores Gomez
Corinne Dy
Chris Byrnes
Gerald Blaise

Dune: Part Two; The Harkonnen Harvester
Andrew Hodgson
Timothy Russell
Erik Lehmann
Louie Cho

Gladiator II; The Colosseum
Oliver Kane
Marnie Pitts
Charlotte Fargier
Laurie Priest

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Dune: Part Two; Atomic Explosions and Wormriding
Nicholas Papworth
Sandy la Tourelle
Lisa Nolan
Christopher Phillips

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes; Burning Village, Rapids and Floods
Alex Nowotny
Claude Schitter
Frédéric Valleur
Kevin Kelm

Twisters
Matthew Hanger
Joakim Arnesson
Laurent Kermel
Zheng Yong Oh

Venom: The Last Dance; Water, Fire & Symbiote Effects
Xavi Martin Ramirez
Oscar Dahlen
Hedi Namar
Yuri Yang

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Kung Fu Panda 4
Jinguang Huang
Zhao Wang
Hamid Shahsavari
Joshua LaBrot

Moana 2
Zoran Stojanoski
Jesse Erickson
Shamintha Kalamba Arachchi
Erin V. Ramos

The Wild Robot
Derek Cheung
Michael Losure
David Chow
Nyoung Kim

Ultraman: Rising
Goncalo Cabaca
Zheng Yong Oh
Nicholas Yoon Joo Kuang
Praveen Boppana

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

Avatar: The Last Airbender; Legends; Koizilla
Ioan Boieriu
David Stopford
Per Balay
Saysana Rintharamy

Shōgun; Broken to the Fist; Landslide
Dominic Tiedeken
Heinrich Löwe
Charles Guerton
Timmy Lundin

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew; Pilot; Spaceship Hillside Takeoff
Travis Harkleroad
Xiaolong Peng
Marcella Brown
Mickael Riciotti

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power; Season 2; Shadow and Flame; Balrog Fire and Collapsing Cliff
Koenraad Hofmeester
Miguel Perez Senent
Miguel Santana Da Silva
Billy Copley

Three Body Problem; Judgement Day
Yves D’Incau
Gavin Templer
Martin Chabannes
Eloi Andaluz Fullà

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE

Better Man
Mark McNicholl
Gordon Spencer de Haseth
Eva Snyder
Markus Reithoffer

Dune: Part Two; Wormriding, Geidi Prime, and the Final Battle
Christopher Rickard
Francesco Dell’Anna
Paul Chapman
Ryan Wing

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Joerg Bruemmer
Zachary Brake
Tim Walker
Kaustubh A. Patil

The Wild Robot
Sondra L. Verlander
Baptiste Van Opstal
Eszter Offertaler
Austin Casale

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE

Shōgun; Broken to the Fist; Landslide
Benjamin Bernon
Douglas Roshamn
Victor Kirsch
Charlie Raud

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew; Episode 6; Jaws
Rich Grande
Tomas Lefebvre
Ian Dodman
Rey Reynolds

The Boys; Season 4; Life Among the Septics
Tristan Zerafa
Mike Stadnyckyj
Toshi Kosaka
Rajeev BR

The Penguin; After Hours
Jonas Stuckenbrock
Karen Chang
Eugene Bondar
Miky Girón

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL

Virgin Media; Walrus Whizzer
Sebastian Caldwell
Alex Grey
Kanishk Chouhan
Shubham Mehta

Coca-Cola; The Heroes
Ryan Knowles
Alex Gabucci
Jack Powell
Dan Yarcigi

Corcept; Marionette
Yongchan Kim
Arman Matin
Yoon Bae
Rajesh Kaushik

Disney; Holidays 2024
Christian Baker-Steele
Luke Warpus
Pritesh Kotian
Jack Harris

OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT

Blitz
Hayley Williams
David Eves
Alex Freeman
David Watson

Constellation
Martin Goeres
Johara Raukamp
Lion David Bogus
Leon Mark

The Penguin; Safe Guns
Devin Maggio
Johnny Han
Cory Candrilli
Alexandre Prod’homme

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD

Dune: Part Two; Nuke CopyCat
Ben Kent
Guillaume Gales
Mairead Grogan
Johanna Barbier

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga; Artist-driven Machine Learning Character
John Bastian
Ben Ward
Thomas Rowntree
Robert Beveridge

Here; Neural Performance Toolset
Jo Plaete
Oriel Frigo
Tomas Koutsky
Matteo Oliviero Dancy

Mufasa: The Lion King; Real-Time Interactive Filmmaking, From Stage To Post
Callum James
James Hood
Lloyd Bishop
Bruno Pedrinha

The Penguin; Phase Synced Flash-Gun System
Johnny Han
Jefferson Han
Joseph Menafra
Michael Pynn

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT

Dawn (entry from ESMA – École Supérieure Des Métiers Artistiques)
Noah Mercier
Apolline Royer
Lorys Stora
Marie Pradeilles

Student Accomplice (entry from Brigham Young University)
Spencer Blanchard
Lisa Bird
Anson Savage
Kiara Spencer

Pittura (entry from ARTFX – Schools of Digital Arts)
Lauriol Adam
Lassère Titouan
Vivenza Rémi
Marre Helloïs

Courage (entry from Supinfocom – Rubika)
Salomé Cognon
Margot Jacquet
Nathan Baudry
Lise Delcroix