Visual Effects Society

The Visual Effects Society (VES) is the entertainment industry's only organization representing the full breadth of visual effects practitioners including artists, animators, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and producers in all areas of entertainment from film, television and commercials to music videos and games.

Consisting of a diverse group of more than 3,300 members in 30 countries.

The Visual Effects Society is a professional, honorary society and
 * Members are more than 3,300 artists, technologists and practitioners in the visual effects field
 * Represented in 30 countries, including United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and Brazil
 * Produces the VES Awards Gala (February), Production Summit (October) and more than 25 educational events, reaching an international audience of 10,000+ annually.
 * Nearly 50% of VES members are freelancers or independent contractors
 * Membership currently consists of 20% women.
 * VES members have garnered over a hundred Oscar and Emmy awards
 * More than 2/3 of members have 11+ years in the visual effects field
 * VES Membership requires at least five years of full-time production experience as a visual effects professional and the endorsement of two Visual Effects Society members, or having received one of the industry's top honors.
 * VES circulates news and information to the international audience of over 10,000.
 * Publishes the quarterly visual effects magazine, VFX Voice.

VES Awards
Since 2002, the VES Awards has honored film, television, commercials, music videos and video games. Recipients are honored with a statue, manufactured by New York firm, Society Awards.

Film
An * denotes a film that also won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
 * Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Motion Picture:
 * 2002: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers*
 * 2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King*
 * 2004: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
 * 2005: King Kong*
 * 2006: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest*
 * 2007: Transformers
 * 2008: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*
 * 2009: Avatar*
 * 2010: Inception*
 * 2011: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
 * 2012: Life of Pi*
 * 2013: Gravity*
 * 2014: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
 * 2015: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
 * 2016: The Jungle Book*
 * 2017: War for the Planet of the Apes
 * Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture:
 * 2002: The Sum of All Fears
 * 2003: The Last Samurai
 * 2004: The Aviator
 * 2005: Kingdom of Heaven
 * 2006: Flags of Our Fathers
 * 2007: Ratatouille
 * 2008: Changeling
 * 2009: Sherlock Holmes
 * 2010: Hereafter
 * 2011: Hugo*
 * 2012: The Impossible
 * 2013: The Lone Ranger
 * 2014: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
 * 2015: The Revenant
 * 2016: Deepwater Horizon
 * 2017: Dunkirk
 * Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture:
 * 2002: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers* ("Gollum")
 * 2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King* ("Gollum")
 * 2004: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ("Hippogriff")
 * 2005: King Kong* ("Kong")
 * 2006: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest* ("Davy Jones")
 * 2007: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End ("Davy Jones")
 * 2008: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ("Benjamin Button")
 * 2009: Avatar* ("Neytiri")
 * 2010: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 ("Dobby")
 * 2011: Rise of the Planet of the Apes ("Caesar")
 * 2012: Life of Pi* ("Richard Parker")
 * 2013: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug ("Smaug")
 * 2014: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes ("Caesar")
 * 2015: The Revenant ("The Bear")
 * 2016: The Jungle Book ("King Louie")
 * 2017: War for the Planet of the Apes ("Caesar")
 * Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture:
 * 2002: Stuart Little 2
 * 2003: Finding Nemo ("Speaking whale")
 * 2004: The Incredibles ("Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible")
 * 2005: Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit ("Gromit")
 * 2006: Cars ("Mater")
 * 2007: Ratatouille ("Colette")
 * 2008: WALL-E ("WALL-E and Eve truck sequence")
 * 2009: Up ("Carl")
 * 2010: How to Train Your Dragon ("Toothless")
 * 2011: Rango ("Rango")
 * 2012: Brave ("Merida")
 * 2013: Frozen ("Bringing the Snow Queen to Life")
 * 2014: Big Hero 6 ("Baymax")
 * 2015: Inside Out ("Joy")
 * 2016: Finding Dory ("Hank")
 * 2017: Coco ("Héctor")

Television

 * Best Visual Effects in a Television Series
 * 2002: Firefly - "Serenity"
 * 2003: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - "Chosen"
 * 2004: Star Trek: Enterprise - "Storm Front, Part 2"
 * 2005: Rome - "The Stolen Eagle"
 * 2006: Battlestar Galactica - "Exodus"
 * 2007: Fight for Life - Episode 4
 * 2008: Battlestar Galactica - BSG Space Battle (Season 4)
 * 2009: Battlestar Galactica - "Daybreak"
 * 2010: Caprica
 * 2011: Terra Nova
 * 2012: Game of Thrones - "Valar Morghulis"
 * 2013: Game of Thrones - "Valar Dohaeris"
 * 2014: Game of Thrones - "The Children"
 * 2015: Game of Thrones - "The Dance of Dragons"
 * 2016: Game of Thrones - "Battle of the Bastards"
 * 2017: Game of Thrones - "Beyond the Wall"

The VES List of the Most Influential Visual Effects films
In 2007, the Visual Effects Society unveiled their list of the 50 most influential films in visual effects. Due to ties, there were actually 51 films in the list. The films were:


 * 1. Star Wars (1977)
 * 2. Blade Runner (1982)
 * 3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
 * (tie) The Matrix (1999)
 * 5. Jurassic Park (1993)
 * 6. Tron (1982)
 * 7. King Kong (1933)
 * 8. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
 * 9. Alien (1979)
 * 10. The Abyss (1989)
 * 11. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
 * 12. Metropolis (1927)
 * 13. A Trip to the Moon (1902)
 * 14. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
 * 15. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
 * 16. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
 * 17. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
 * 18. Titanic (1997)
 * 19. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
 * 20. Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
 * (tie) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
 * 22. Toy Story (1995)
 * 23. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
 * 24. The Ten Commandments (1956)
 * 25. The War of the Worlds (1953)
 * (tie) Forrest Gump (1994)
 * (tie) Citizen Kane (1941)
 * (tie) The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
 * (tie) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
 * 30. The Terminator (1984)
 * 31. Aliens (1986)
 * 32. Mary Poppins (1964)
 * 33. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
 * 34. Forbidden Planet (1956)
 * 35. Babe (1995)
 * 36. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
 * (tie) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
 * 38. King Kong (2005)
 * 39. Planet of the Apes (1968)
 * 40. Fantastic Voyage (1966)
 * 41. Jaws (1975)
 * 42. Ghostbusters (1984)
 * 43. Sin City (2005)
 * 44. Superman (1978)
 * 45. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
 * 46. The Lost World (1925)
 * (tie) Return of the Jedi (1983)
 * 48. What Dreams May Come (1998)
 * 49. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
 * 50. Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1958)
 * (tie) The Fifth Element (1997)

In 2017, an additional 21 films were added to the list:


 * 300 (2007)
 * Apollo 13 (1995)
 * Avatar (2009)
 * Back to the Future (1985)
 * The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
 * District 9 (2009)
 * Ex Machina (2015)
 * Gertie the Dinosaur (1914)
 * Godzilla (1954)
 * Gravity (2013)
 * Inception (2010)
 * Independence Day (1996)
 * Life of Pi (2012)
 * Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
 * The Mask (1994)
 * Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
 * Starship Troopers (1997)
 * The Thing (1982)
 * Total Recall (1990)
 * Transformers (2007)
 * Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)