The HPA Awards turned the spotlight on the exemplary contributions of the post production industry tonight, honoring work in color grading, sound, editing, restoration, and visual effects for theatrical features, commercials, and episodics. Held at the Television Academy’s Wolf Theatre, additional honors included the HPA Judges’ Award for Creativity and Innovation presented to Sphere, the Las Vegas venue being heralded as the future of entertainment. In addition, the previously announced winners of the coveted Engineering Excellence awards were honored.

To acknowledge the heart, spirit and difficulties of the past year the evening included an HPA-produced short film, “Tribute to Post;” a heartfelt salute to the resilient members of the post production community. Directed by Clyde Bessey of Origin Point, the short features commentary from industry luminaries Wendy Aylsworth; Jill Bogdanowicz; Mike Brodersen; Larry Chernoff; Michael Cioni; Carolyn Giardina; Seth Hallen; Nikki Jee; Rob Legato, ASC; Loren Nielsen; Sabrina Plisco, ACE; Leon Silverman and Mandy Walker, ASC-ACS.

The winners of the 2023 HPA Awards Creative Categories are:

OUTSTANDING COLOR GRADING – LIVE ACTION THEATRICAL FEATURE

  • “Barbie” // Yvan Lucas // Company 3
  •  “The Fabelmans” // Michael Hatzer // Picture Shop
  • “Asteroid City”// Gareth Spensley // Company 3
  • “Oppenheimer” // Kostas Theodosiou, Kristen Zimmerman // FotoKem (WINNER)
  • “Tár” // Tim Masick // Company 3

OUTSTANDING COLOR GRADING – ANIMATED THEATRICAL FEATURE

  • “Elemental” // Susan Brunig // Pixar Animation Studios
  • “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” // Jason Hanel // Company 3
  • “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” // Natasha Leonnet // Picture Shop (WINNER)
  • “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”// Mitch Paulson // Company 3

 
OUTSTANDING COLOR GRADING – LIVE ACTION EPISODE OR NON-THEATRICAL FEATURE

  • “Swarm – Stung”// Alastor Pan Arnold // Keep Me Posted
  • Walter Volpatto // Company 3 (WINNER)“Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty – One Ring Don't Make a Dynasty” // 
  • “American Gigolo – Pilot”// Shane Harris // Picture Shop
  • “Great Expectations – Episode 2”// Toby Tomkins // Harbor
  • “Wednesday – Wednesday's Child Is Full of Woe”// Siggy Ferstl// Company 3

 OUTSTANDING COLOR GRADING – DOCUMENTARY

  • “Descendant” // Sam Daley // Light Iron
  • “Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming with Dave Letterman”//Taylor Black // Apache
  • “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie”// Stefan Sonnenfeld, Adam Nazarenko // Company 3
  • “Chimp Empire – Paradise” // Blair Wallace // Evolutions Post Production (WINNER)
  • -“Shaq – From Shaquille to Shaq” // Taylor Black // Apache

 
OUTSTANDING COLOR GRADING – COMMERCIAL

  • Zara – “Man SS23 Studio Collection” // Tim Masick // Company 3
  • Levi’s – “One Fair Exchange in the Greatest Story Ever Worn” // Sofie Borup // Company 3
  • Expedia – “Wisdom & Obi” // Mark Gethin // Trafik (WINNER)
  • Duracell x Williams Racing – “Scream” // Tyler Roth // Company 3
  • Belvedere – “Daniel Craig” // Matthieu Toullet // Company 3

OUTSTANDING EDITING – THEATRICAL FEATURE -Sponsored by Blackmagic Design

  • “Barbie” // Nick Houy, ACE
  • “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” // Eddie Hamilton, ACE
  • Jennifer Lame, ACE (WINNER)// “Oppenheimer” 
  • “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” // Michael Andrews, ACE
  • “Tár” // Monika Willi

OUTSTANDING EDITING – EPISODE OR NON-THEATRICAL FEATURE (30 MINUTES AND UNDER)
Sponsored by Blackmagic Design

  • “The Righteous Gemstones – Burn for Burn, Wound for Wound, Stripe for Stripe” // Justin Bourret, ACE
  • “Barry – it takes a psycho” // Franky Guttman, ACE
  • “What We Do in the Shadows – Local News” // A.J. Dickerson, ACE, Thomas Calderón
  • Ali Greer, ACE (WINNER)// “Barry – a nice meal” 
  • “How To With John Wilson – How To Watch Birds” // Cori Wapnowska

 
OUTSTANDING EDITING – EPISODE OR NON-THEATRICAL FEATURE (OVER 30 MINUTES) 
Sponsored by Blackmagic Design

  • “The Last of Us – Endure and Survive”// Timothy A. Good, ACE, Emily Mendez
  • “White House Plumbers – The Beverly Hills Burglary” // Erick Fefferman, Roger Nygard
  • “Succession – With Open Eyes” // Ken Eluto, ACE
  • “The White Lotus – Arrivederci” // John M. Valerio, ACE (WINNER)
  • “White House Plumbers – True Believers” // Grady Cooper, Jon Merchen

OUTSTANDING EDITING – DOCUMENTARY Sponsored by Blackmagic Design

  • “100 Foot Wave –Lost at Sea” // Alex Keipper, Alex Bayer
  • “A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting” // Eric Schuman
  • “Being Mary Tyler Moore” // Mariah Rehmet
  • “Branson – Episode 2, Atlantic” // Paul Trewartha
  • “Moonage Daydream” // Brett Morgen (WINNER)

OUTSTANDING SOUND – THEATRICAL FEATURE

  • bie” // Ai-Ling Lee, Kevin O'Connell, Dan Kenyon // Warner Bros. Post Production Services“Bar 
  • “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” // Scott Gershin, Chris Richardson, Masanobu 'Tomi' Tomita, Andrew Vernon, Dan Gamache // Sound Lab a Keywords Studio
  • “Creed III” // Aaron Glascock, Tom Ozanich, Walter Spencer, Curt Schulkey // Warner Bros. Post Production Services
  • Mark Stoeckinger, Andy Koyama, Casey Genton, Alan Rankin, Manfred Banach // Formosa Group (WINNER)// “John Wick: Chapter 4” 
  • “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” // Jason W. Jennings, Julian Slater, Greg P. Russell, Paul Pirola, Ken McGill, Mia Stewart // Warner Bros. Post Production Services

OUTSTANDING SOUND – EPISODE OR NON-THEATRICAL FEATURE

  • “Star Trek: Picard – The Last Generation” // Matthew E. Taylor, Michael Schapiro, Todd Grace, Ed Carr III, Ian Shedd // Warner Bros. Post Production Services
  • Michael Benavente, Marc Fishman, Kevin Roache, Chris Terhune, Chris Battaglia // Formosa Group (WINNER) “The Last of Us – Infected” // 
  • “Barry – it takes a psycho” // Sean Heissinger, Matthew E. Taylor, John Creed, Rickley Dumm: Warner Bros. Post Production Services // Elmo Ponsdomenech, Teddy Salas: Sony Pictures Entertainment
  • “Wednesday – A Murder of Woes” // Mike Baskerville, Jamie Sulek, John Loranger, Alastair Gray, Dan Sexton // Company 3
  • "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Hegemony” // Matthew E. Taylor, Michael Schapiro, Todd Grace, Ed Carr III, Sean Heissinger // Warner Bros. Post Production Services

OUTSTANDING SOUND – DOCUMENTARY

  • “32 Sounds” // Mark Mangini, Robert Kellough, Eliza Paley, Joanna Fang, Blake Collins // Formosa Group
  • “A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting” // Daniel Timmons // Harbor Sound
  • “Good Night Oppy” // Mark Mangini, Dave Whitehead, Tim Walston, Dave Bach, Angela Claverie // Formosa Group
  • George Foulgham, Philip Moroz, Alex Gibson, Tom Verstappen, Miles Sullivan // George Foulgham Soundscapes Ltd. (WINNER) // “If These Walls Could Sing”
  • “Moonage Daydream”// Nina Hartstone, David Giammarco, John Warhurst, Paul Massey // Public Road Productions

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS – LIVE ACTION FEATURE

  • “Avatar: The Way of Water” // Christopher Egden, Nick Epstein, Wayne Stables, Pavani Rao Boddapati, Sergei Nevshupov // Wētā FX (WINNER)
  • “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” // Aaron Weintraub, Jeffrey Schaper, Cameron Carson, Emma Gorbey, Warren Lawtey // MPC
  • “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”// Guy Williams, Daniel Macarin, Mike Cozens, Mark Smith, Marvyn Young // Wētā FX
  • “Avatar: The Way of Water” // David Vickery, Lee Briggs, Jan Maroske, Steve Ellis, Miguel Perez-Senent // Industrial Light & Magic
  • “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” // Matt Aitken, Mike Perry, Aaron Cowan, Kevin Estey, Jong Jin Choi // Wētā FX

​OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS – LIVE ACTION EPISODE OR SERIES SEASON

  • “Andor – Season One” // Mohen Leo, Scott Pritchard: Industrial Light & Magic// TJ Falls: Lucasfilm // Joseph Kasparian: Hybride // Jelmer Boskma: Scanline 
  • “House of the Dragon – The Heirs of the Dragon” // Angus Bickerton, Nikeah Forde, Mike Bell: MPC // Sven Martin, Mark Spindler: Pixomondo (WINNER)
  • “The Last of Us – Season One” // Simon Jung, Aaron Cowan, David Hampton, Dennis Yoo, Ben Roberts // Wētā FX
  • “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – Season One” Ron Ames, Jason Smith, Jesse Kobayashi, Ryan Tudhope, Sam Scott // Amazon Studios
  • “The Mandalorian – Season Three” Grady Cofer, Abbigail Keller, Paul Kavanagh, Delio Tramontozzi: Industrial Light & Magic // Bobo Skipper: Important Looking Pirates

 OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS – EPISODE OR SERIES SEASON

  • “Barry – Season Four” Justin Ball, Laura Hill, Andrew Kalicki, David Lopez, Manuel Guizar // Crafty Apes
  • Viv Jim // Digital Domain (WINNER)“Citadel – Secrets in Night Need Early Rains” // Aladino Debert, Greg Teegarden, James Reid, Mathew Rotman, 
  • “Interview with the Vampire – Is My Very Nature That of a Devil” // Ted Rae, Tavis Larkham, Matthew Harris, Hugo Leveille, J.V. Pike // FuseFX
  • “The Night Agent – Season One” // Grant Miller, Hallana Barbosa, Pierceon Bellemare, Mariia Osanova, Ben Stommes  // Ingenuity Studios
  • “The Righteous Gemstones – Season Three” // Bruce Branit, Valeri Pfahning: Rough House // Fred Ruff: Refuge VFX //        Ed Bruce: Screen Scene Studios // David Lebensfeld: Ingenuity Studios

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN RESTORATION

  • “Casablanca” (1942) // Warner Bros.
  • “Cinderella” (1950) // Disney
  • “Cimarron” (1931) // Warner Bros
  • Paramount Pictures (WINNER)// “The Godfather” (1972) 
  • “Winds of Chance” (1925) // First National Pictures and Christopher Gray Post Production 

As previously announced, winners of the coveted Engineering Excellence Award include Adobe for Adobe Premiere Pro Text-Based Editing, Flanders Scientific for  XMP550, and Kino Flo for Mimik 120, with StypeLandXR receiving an Honorable Mention.

The HPA Awards are made possible through the generous support of diamond title sponsor Blackmagic Design; dessert sponsors Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services Worldwide; Xytech, event sponsors Deluxe, FotoKem, and Pixelogic; supporting sponsors Adobe, AVID, Colorist Society, Sohonet and The Sound Lab a Keywords Studio.

HPA extends gratitude to its industry partners, including the American Society of Cinematographers, American Cinema Editors, and Cinema Audio Society for their collaboration on craft categories, as well as its judging facility hosts FotoKem, Pixelogic, and Deluxe Digital Cinema. More information about the HPA Awards and the Hollywood Professional Association can be found at www.hpaonline.com.

Awards About the HPA®
The HPA Awards were created to foster awareness and recognize the achievements of the individuals and companies that have contributed to groundbreaking technologies and creative excellence within the professional media content industry and build involvement in the Hollywood Professional Association. Information about the HPA Awards is available at http://www.hpaonline.com.

About the Hollywood Professional Association
Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) serves the professional community of businesses and individuals who provide expertise, support, tools and the infrastructure for the creation and finishing of motion pictures, television, commercials, digital media and other dynamic media content. HPA continues to extend its support of the community it represents. Information about the HPA is available at http://www.hpaonline.com.