The VES Awards Shine a Light on Sanada, Yamazaki, and Morie's Impact
The Visual Effects Society (VES) celebrated the remarkable individuals shaping the future of visual effects at its 23rd annual VES Awards, held at the Beverly Hilton.1 The evening focused on honoring exceptional contributions to the field, recognizing both established leaders and pioneers pushing the boundaries of what's possible.2
The heart of the evening was the recognition of three special honorees. Keanu Reeves presented the prestigious VES Award for Creative Excellence to the acclaimed actor and producer Hiroyuki Sanada (Shōgun). Sanada expressed his deep appreciation for the award and his collaborative experience with the VFX team on Shōgun. "Yeah, I'm so happy. First of all, there's a great union with the VFX crew of Shogun and, yeah, such an honorable power they give me. So I'm so excited," Sanada shared. He also hinted at future projects, saying, "Absolutely. Well, ... character? I will play the same character, but you know, we have some good ideas, so make surprise to the audience. And yeah, we don't have any novels anymore, but we have history. We know what happened. And then writer's room, everyone knows the taste of James Crow, so we got an essence from him, so we gonna try to create the original fictional entertainment. Yeah, I can't wait to read the whole script."
The VES Visionary Award was bestowed upon filmmaker and VFX Supervisor Takashi Yamazaki (Godzilla Minus One). Yamazaki, reflecting on his Visionary Award, shared his deep roots in the VFX community. "I'm very, very honored and flattered to be here tonight, especially because I came from the VFX community. That's what I used to do before I did all of this. So it's really awesome to be surrounded by my peers and honored in this way... If you could have anything that you would want to see happening in the world of VFX in the next 5, 10, 15 years, what would it be? ...to be a big factor in the VFX world, and I'm not entirely sure what the appropriate distance is going to be to maintain between myself, creators, and AI, but keeping an eye on how that evolves over the next five to 10 years," Yamazaki commented.
Dr. Jacquelyn Ford Morie, a true pioneer in virtual reality and immersive technology, received the VES Georges Méliès Award, recognizing her groundbreaking work in the field.5 Morie expressed her excitement at the recognition and noted the growing support for her work in VR, a field still considered nascent in the broader landscape of visual effects and technology. "It's interesting to see how many people are really behind what I have done, considering that virtual reality is still considered to be something very new in the modern age of visual effects and technology," Morie remarked. She is widely regarded as an "OG goddess" of the virtual reality world.
The awards show, hosted by the comedic duo The Sklar Brothers, also featured a slate of notable presenters, including Kelvin Harrison, Jr., Krys Marshall, Mary Mouser, Russell Hornsby, Tanner Buchanan, Eric Winter, and Rachael Appleton of Autodesk, who presented the VES-Autodesk Student Award.6 The evening celebrated the dedication and ingenuity of the visual effects artists who bring stories to life.7