The Visual Effects Society (VES) has announced its inaugural inductees to the VES Hall of Fame. In concert with the Society’s milestone 20th Anniversary, the VES Board of Directors created the VES Hall of Fame – a new honor to recognize exemplary individuals that came before us and upon whose shoulders we proudly stand. This distinction is being bestowed upon a select group of professionals and pioneers who have played a significant role in advancing the field of visual effects by invention, science, contribution or avocation of the art, science, technology and/or communications.
“The VES Hall of Fame represents a class of exceptional artists and innovators who have had a profound impact on the field of visual effects,” said Mike Chambers, VES Board chair. “We are proud to pay homage to those who have helped shape our shared legacy and continue to inspire future generations of VFX practitioners.”
These distinguished Hall of Fame honorees or family members on their behalf, as well as our 2017 Fellows and recipients of the Founders Award, Lifetime Membership and Honorary Membership, will be recognized at a special evening program and reception at the 9th Annual VES Summit, “Inspiring Change: Building on 20 Years of VES Innovation.” The interactive forum on Saturday, October 28, celebrates the Society’s 20th Anniversary and will bring together top creatives, executives, thought leaders and visionaries from diverse disciplines to explore the dynamic evolution of visual imagery and the VFX industry landscape in a TED Talks-like atmosphere.
The roster includes both living legends and those being honored posthumously. The inaugural class of the VES Hall of Fame consists of:
- Robert Abel (posthumous) – VES and Clio Award-winning innovator in Digital and CG Visual Effects (Tron, Star Trek: The Motion Picture)
- Ed Catmull, VES – Multiple Academy Award-winning president of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studio, VES Fellow and recipient of the VES Georges Méliès Award
- Roger Corman – Independent producer and director who helped start the careers of Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese and James Cameron (A Bucket of Blood, Tales of Terror, Boxcar Bertha, Battle Beyond the Stars)
- Linwood Dunn (posthumous) – Academy Award-winning VFX photographer who refined the Optical Printer and was an Honorary VES member (Citizen Kane, Mighty Joe Young, The Great Race)
- Peter Ellenshaw (posthumous) – Academy Award-winning matte painter (Treasure Island, Darby O’Gill and The Little People, Mary Poppins)
- Jim Henson (posthumous) – Pioneering puppeteer whose Creature Shop was the gold standard (Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, The Dark Crystal, Fraggle Rock, Labyrinth)
- Ub Iwerks (posthumous) – Academy Award-winning animator and VFX innovator who perfected combining live-action with animation (Steamboat Willie, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Birds)
- John Knoll – VES, BAFTA and Academy Award-winning VFX supervisor and co-creator of Photoshop software; chief creative officer at ILM and former VES Board member (The Star Wars, Star Trek and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises, Avatar, Rango, Super 8, Hugo, Pacific Rim)
- Grant McCune (posthumous) – Academy Award-winning VFX artist and modelmaker (Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Battlestar Gallactica, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Ghostbusters II, Speed, Sphere, Red Planet)
- Syd Mead – VES Visionary Award-winning visual futurist and conceptual artist responsible for the look of seminal films including Blade Runner, Aliens and TRON
- George Méliès (posthumous) – Illusionist and director (Le Voyage Dans La Lune, The Voyage Across the Impossible)
- Dennis Muren, VES – Multiple Emmy, BAFTA and Academy Award-winning VFX supervisor; VES Fellow, Lifetime member of the Society and winner of the VES Lifetime Achievement Award (Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Jurassic Park)
- Willis O’Brien (posthumous) – Visual effects stop-motion animation pioneer, writer and director (The Dinosaur and The Missing Link, King Kong [1933], The Lost World)
- Carlo Rambaldi (posthumous) – Multiple Academy Award-winning VFX artist (King Kong [1976], Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alien, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial)
- Phil Tippett, VES – Multiple Emmy, BAFTA and Academy Award-winning VFX supervisor; VES Fellow and winner of the VES Georges Méliès Award (Jurassic Park, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, Dinosaur!, Starship Troopers)
- Doug Trumbull, VES – Multiple award-winning VFX supervisor; VES Fellow and Lifetime member of the Society and winner of the VES Georges Méliès Award (Blade Runner, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Close Encounters of the Third Kind)
- Joe Viskocil (posthumous) – Academy Award-winning special effects artist who specialized in miniatures and pyrotechnics (Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgement Day)
- Petro Vlahos (posthumous) – Emmy and Academy Award-winning pioneer in blue-screen technology (Ben-Hur, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope)
- Albert Whitlock (posthumous) – Emmy and Academy Award-winning matte painter (The Birds, The Sting, The Hindenburg)
- Stan Winston (posthumous) – Multiple VES, Emmy and Academy Award-winning practical, prosthetic and creature effects artist, director and producer (Edward Scissorhands, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Aliens)
- Matthew Yuricich (posthumous) – Academy Award-winning VFX matte painter (Ben-Hur, Blade Runner, Die Hard)
The daylong VES Summit at the Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills will host a stellar roster of experts and provocateurs. As previously announced, these include:
- Keynote speaker Ava DuVernay, acclaimed writer/director/producer
- Keynote speaker Syd Mead, acclaimed visual futurist and conceptual artist
- Featured speakers president of IMAX Home Entertainment Jason Brenek; data security expert and CEO of SSP Blue Hemanshu Nigam; head of Adobe Research Gavin Miller; sr. research engineer at Autodesk Evan Atherton; and founder/CEO of the Emblematic Group Nonny de la Peña
- Roundtable discussion moderators from Atomic Fiction, Digital Domain, The Elumenatii, LLC, Esri, FuseFX, ILM, MastersFX, The Mill, NVIDIA, SideFX, Unreal Enterprise (Epic Games) and WME.
