It was the “night of Avatar and Zoic” on Sunday evening, as Zoic Studios was victorious in three categories at the VES Awards, held at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The annual event recognizes outstanding visual effects in more than twenty categories of film, animation, television, commercials and video games.

“Zoic Studios is extremely proud to have achieved this level recognition from the VES,” said Andrew Orloff, Zoic’s executive creative director. “It’s been a fantastic year for us, and it is great to be recognized for the creative work we’ve all put into the broadcast medium. All the artists from Zoic this year, winners and nominees alike should be proud of the work they have done in continuing to raise the bar in television visual effects.”

Zoic earned the following VES awards:

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Ep. 1001 “Family Affair” — Rik Shorten, Sabrina Arnold, Steve Meyer, Derek Smith

Outstanding Created Environment in a Broadcast Program or Commercial
V – “Pilot” Atrium and Ship Interiors — Chris Zapara, Chris Irving, David Morton, Trevor Adams

Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program or Commercial
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Ep. 1001 “Family Affair” — Derek Smith, Christina Spring, Steve Meyer, Zach Zaubi

In addition to Zoic’s honors, Avatar was the evening’s big winner, taking home six awards including Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture. The animated feature film Up was honored with three awards, including Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture.

For those unable to attend the live event, the 2010 VES Awards can be viewed on Friday, March 5 at 10pm ET/PT on REELZCHANNEL.

Congratulations to everyone at Zoic on this momentous achievement!

For more info: The official VES site; read about CSI and V.

Zoic Studios has been nominated for eight VES Awards this year! Here are the nominees:

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or a Special

Ben 10: Alien Swarm - “Montage
Evan Jacobs, Visual Effects Supervisor
Sean McPherson, Visual Effects Supervisor
Andrew Orloff, Visual Effects Supervisor

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series

Fringe – episode 206 “Earthling”
Robert Habros, VFX Supervisor
Eric Hance, Visual Effects Artis
Andrew Orloff, VFX Supervisor
Jay Worth, VFX Supervisor/Producer

V - “Pilot”
Johnathan R. Banta, Lead Compositor
Karen Czukerberg, VFX Producer
Andrew Orloff, VFX Supervisor
Chris Zapara, VFX Supervisor

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation – episode 1001 “Opening Sequence”
Sabrina Arnold, VFX Producer
Steve Meyer, Compositor
Rik Shorten, VFX Supervisor
Derek Smith, Compositor

FlashForward - “No More Good Days”
Kevin Blank, Visual Effects Supervisor
Andrew Orloff, VFX Producer
Steve Meyer, 2D Supervisor
Jonathan Spencer Levy, Facility VFX Supervisor

Outstanding Created Environment in a Broadcast Program or Commercial

FlashForward - “Pilot” “Freeway Overpass”
Colin Feist, Compositor
Paul Ghezzo, CG Supervisor
Roger Kupelian, Matte Painter
Steve Meyer, Compositor

V – “Pilot” “Atrium and Ship Interiors”
Trevor Adams, CG Artist
Chris Irving, Lead Compositor
David Morton, Matte Painter
Chris Zapara, VFX Supervisor

Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program or Commercial

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation – episode 1001 “Opening Sequence”
Steve Meyer, VFX Supervisor
Derek Smith, Compositor
Christina Spring, Compositor
Zach Zaubi, Compositor

Congratulations to all the Zoicians who received nominations:

The Visual Effects Society is a professional honorary society, dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences, and applications of visual effects, and to improving the welfare of its members by providing professional enrichment and education, fostering community, and promoting industry recognition. It claims 1,500 members in 17 countries.

The 8th Annual VES Awards will take place on February 28, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

Good luck in February, everyone!

More info: “VES Announces Nominees for 8th Annual VES Awards” on VES web site.

Yesterday evening, Zoic Studios hosted the Visual Effects Society 2009 Holiday Party from 7:00 – 10:00 PM. About 200 VES members showed up at Zoic’s Culver City studio to schmooze over booze and enjoy delicious catered hors d’œuvre.

From the VES web site:

The Visual Effects Society (VES) is the entertainment industry’s only organization representing the full breadth of visual effects practitioners including artists, 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. Comprised of a diverse group of more than 2,000 members in 20 countries, the VES strives to enrich and educate its own members and members of the entertainment community at large through a multitude of domestic and international events, screenings and programs.

The 8th Annual VES Awards Show will be held on February 28, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Beverly Hills.

More info: The new VES web site; the photoset on Flickr.

The Visual Effects Society (VES) has issued a call for entries for its 8th Annual VES Awards. The last day to submit entries is November 3oth; the awards ceremony will be held in February.

Films fêted in last year’s ceremony included David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (four awards, including Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture); plus Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight and Pixar’s Wall-E took home three awards each. Television winners included FOX’s Fringe, Sci Fi’s Battlestar Galactica and the BBC’s Doctor Who.

From the VES site:

An exciting awards season lies just ahead. The winners will be announced at the 8th Annual Awards event on February 28, 2010[, a]t the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel [in Century City, California].

Submission Forms may be downloaded from www.vesawards.com. There you may also access the Rules & Procedures [PDF] and Awards Policies [PDF] that will guide you through a successful submission process.

Submission Forms will be accepted until close of entries on November 30, 2009. Please note that viewing materials must be uploaded between November 16 and November 30, 2009. (Please see schedule below.)

If you have any questions, please contact us at awards[at]visualeffectssociety.com. We are here to help.

The 2009 VES Awards Committee

Entry Forms Available – Oct. 12, 2009
Upload Viewing Materials – Nov. 16 – Nov. 30, 2009
Submission Deadline – Nov. 30, 2009
Nominations Announced – Jan. 18, 2010
On-Line Viewing & Voting (Members Only) – Feb. 11 – Feb. 22, 2010
Awards Event – Feb.28, 2010

The Visual Effects Society is a professional honorary society, dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences, and applications of visual effects, and to improving the welfare of its members by providing professional enrichment and education, fostering community, and promoting industry recognition. It claims 1,500 members in 17 countries.

More info: the Visual Effects Society website; the VES Awards website; the Rules & Procedures on PDF; the VES Awards Policies on PDF.