See the full list of VES Awards winners right here

February 26, 2026
Photo by Johnny Banta.

Avatar: Fire and Ash won seven awards and KPop Demon Hunters won three. See all the award winners below.

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

Film producer Jerry Bruckheimer was honored with the VES Lifetime Achievement Award. Wētā Workshop co-founder and Chief Creative Officer Sir Richard Taylor received this year’s VES Visionary Award.

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