9th Annual VES Awards2014-07-16T23:51:00-07:00

The outstanding work you are about to see was created by artists who have dedicated their lives to recreating reality, or creating a new reality, to better tell a story. This field has not only grown into the mainstay of the entertainment industry – allowing magic to be liberally sprinkled on virtually every project, but it has also become the prime money generating force within the industry. Consider that each of the current list of top 40 grossing films of all time are visual effects driven films, earning a total of $34,841,501,183 to date. Thirty-Five Billion dollars of gross cash earnings!

Every story begins with the wonderment of words born into reality by the storyteller: in the entertainment industry it is the writer, the director, the cinematographer, the editor and the talents of the visual effects artists – all supported by our patrons, the studios. These visual effects artists do it not for the love of money, but for the love of the art and the promise of tomorrow. They possess the ability to tell a story, stretch what the mind can imagine, and create a new tomorrow for all of mankind. Just as Jules Verne and Leonardo di Vinci created today with their imaginative works, visual effects artists are creating tomorrow in the same way.

Visual effects is a vision, and we are proud that Christopher Nolan is our first Visionary Award recipient. He has singularly employed visual effects in his films not just in a manner that seamlessly tells the story, but to stretch the imagination and challenge our view of reality. And in doing this he has also contributed to creating a positive view of the future world. He has laid down the challenge with his work and it is up to us, the visual effects Community, to embrace it and bring it to reality.

Ray Harryhausen, our Lifetime Award Recipient, represents the supreme artist who not just uses his talent to tell a story, but who has created the very tools to enable those stories to be told! Stories that have entertained millions and stretched our imaginations in ways that had never been possible before. Ray has most importantly lived a life of selfless contribution and education to the others within the entertainment industry. His works stand on their own for their sheer creativity and also for the pure humanity of his characters.

So sit back and prepare to be amazed and entertained by the most outstanding work of 2010, created by the visionaries who go by the title of Visual Effects Artist!

Date: February 1, 2011

Location: The Beverly Hilton Hotel. Beverly Hills, CA