2025 VES Winners Include ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,’ ‘Dune: Part Two,’ and ‘The Wild Robot’

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” won the top VFX prize for Best Photoreal Feature at the 23rd annual Visual Effects Society Awards, held February 11 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and hosted by The Sklar Brothers (“What We Do in the Shadows”). This marks the fourth VES win for the “Apes” franchise and Wētā FX, which also took home the character award for the Robbie Williams CG chimp from “Better Man.”

However, “Dune: Part Two” bolstered its status as the Oscar frontrunner for DNEG by grabbing the most awards with four: Oscar-nominated Greig Fraser’s CG cinematography for Arrakis, the Arrakeen Basin environment, simulations for atomic explosions and wormriding, and compositing and lighting.

“Civil War,” meanwhile, won the supporting VFX prize for Framestore. DreamWorks’ “The Wild Robot” earned top animated film honors and won four awards (including the animated character Roz, the Forest environment, and animated effects simulations).

“Shōgun” was named Best Photoreal Episode and snagged three awards (including Osaka environment, and effects simulations); and “The Penguin” also garnered three awards: supporting visual effects, practical effects, and compositing and lighting.

As previously announced, special honorees included Emmy Award-winning actor/producer Hiroyuki Sanada (“Shōgun”), receiving the VES Award for Creative Excellence; Academy Award-winning director and visual effects supervisor Takashi Yamazaki (“Godzilla Minus One”) receiving the VES Visionary Award; and acclaimed virtual reality/immersive tech pioneer Dr. Jacquelyn Ford Morie receiving the VES Georges Méliès Award.

Director Yamazaki told IndieWire that his upcoming “Godzilla Minus One” sequel is currently being scripted and storyboarded for Toho and that he will be supervising the VFX with his team. He has been promised a slightly larger budget than the $10-$15 million for his blockbuster VFX Oscar winner. As far as AI, he predicts he will be a late adopter, considering his preference for shooting on film and hands on effects control, but he is keeping a close eye on how AI progresses and can be useful to the workflow.

‘Dune: Part Two’Warner Bros.

The full list of winners is below:

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

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

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Civil War
David Simpson
Michelle Rose
Freddy Salazar
Chris Zeh
J.D. Schwalm

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
The Wild Robot
Chris Sanders
Jeff Hermann
Jeff Budsberg
Jakob Hjort Jensen

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
Shōgun; Anjin
Michael Cliett
Melody Mead
Philip Engström
Ed Bruce
Cameron Waldbauer

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
The Penguin; Bliss
Johnny Han
Michelle Rose
Goran Pavles
Ed Bruce
Devin Maggio

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT
Star Wars Outlaws
Stephen Hawes
Lionel Le Dain
Benedikt Podlesnigg
Andi-Bogdan Draghici

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL
Coca-Cola; The Heroes
Greg McKneally
Antonia Vlasto
Ryan Knowles
Fabrice Fiteni

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT
D23; Real-Time Rocket
Evan Goldberg
Alyssa Finley
Jason Breneman
Alice Taylor

OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Better Man; Robbie Williams
Milton Ramirez
Andrea Merlo
Seoungseok Charlie Kim
Eteuati Tema

OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
The Wild Robot; Roz
Fabio Lignini
Yukinori Inagaki
Owen Demers
Hyun Huh

OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
Ronja the Robber’s Daughter; Vildvittran the Queen Harpy
Nicklas Andersson
David Allan
Gustav Åhren
Niklas Wallén

OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Dune: Part Two; The Arrakeen Basin
Daniel Rhein
Daniel Anton Fernandez
Marc James Austin
Christopher Anciaume

OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
The Wild Robot; The Forest
John Wake
He Jung Park
Woojin Choi
Shane Glading

OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME
PROJECT
Shōgun; Osaka
Manuel Martinez
Phil Hannigan
Keith Malone
Francesco Corvino

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

OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT
Alien: Romulus; Renaissance Space Station
Waldemar Bartkowiak
Trevor Wide
Matt Middleton
Ben Shearman

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Dune: Part Two; Atomic Explosions and Wormriding
Nicholas Papworth
Sandy la Tourelle
Lisa Nolan
Christopher Phillips

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
The Wild Robot
Derek Cheung
Michael Losure
David Chow
Nyoung Kim

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
Shōgun; Broken to the Fist; Landslide
Dominic Tiedeken
Heinrich Löwe
Charles Guerton
Timmy Lundin

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE
Dune: Part Two; Wormriding, Geidi Prime, and the Final Battle
Christopher Rickard
Francesco Dell’Anna
Paul Chapman
Ryan Wing

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE
The Penguin; After Hours
Jonas Stuckenbrock
Karen Cheng
Eugene Bondar
Miky Girón

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL
Coca-Cola; The Heroes
Ryan Knowles
Alex Gabucci
Jack Powell
Dan Yargici

OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT
The Penguin; Safe Guns
Devin Maggio
Johnny Han
Cory Candrilli
Alexandre Prod’homme

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD
Here; Neural Performance Toolset
Jo Plaete
Oriel Frigo
Tomas Koutsky
Matteo Olivieri-Dancey

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT
Pittura (entry from ARTFX – Schools of Digital Arts, France)
Adam Lauriol
Titouan Lassère
Rémi Vivenza
Helloïs Marre